Lauren Sackstein always uses plastic at the pump. But whenever she gases up, the pump shuts down at just $50, whether her tank's full or not.
"It fills up my car maybe three-quarters of the way, but it cut it off at $50, no more than $50," she said.
Gassing up Cori Orr's Escalade is a bank breaker.
Even though a full tank costs more than $100, the pump clicks off at $95.
"And as I'm driving home, I realize that my tank hasn't been filled and I have to go get more gas, Orr said.
"It will be either $50, $75, $100 or as much as a $125, depending upon the type of account that you have," said Andy Harris, of the Long Island Fuel Buyers Association.
These are limits credit card companies put on the amount you pump. Visa and Discover have a $50 limit. MasterCard is $75, and American Express' limits vary by type of card.
The reason is to provide protection against theft.
"If a card gets stolen, they don't want to run into a problem with somebody running rampant on the credit card for gas," Harris said.
There are two ways to get around the card limitations, but they take away the convenience of using the card at the pump. The first is to pump twice, keeping both totals under the maximum. The other is to go inside to pay, where there are no limitations.
"It's an inconvenience for everyone except for the credit card company," Harris said.
One driver, Patrick Gibson, is fighting back. He ditched credit for cash.
"Paying cash right now for gas, I tend to get smaller amounts at the pump," he said.
Officials from Visa say they just raised their limit to $75, but some merchants haven't made the switch yet. Just remember, the way around it is to do two transactions or pay inside and sign.
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STORY BY: Eyewitness News consumer reporter Tappy Phillips
WEB PRODUCED BY: Bill King