A Dunedin woman believes the new self-service petrol pumps at
Pak'n Save in South Dunedin are having "teething problems",
which have left her with a major cash-flow problem.
However, Pak'n Save co-owner William McDonald denied there
was a problem with the pumps.
The Dunedin woman, who declined to be named, said she used
one of the pumps yesterday to fill her car.
It charged her the expected $150 "pre-authorisation" fee for
using her credit card to pay for the fuel, but the machine
stopped before the fuel tank was full.
"It only pumped $23.46 into my car - it was nowhere near
full."
She pulled the trigger several times but the machine did not
restart.
An attendant also tried to restart the pump but without
success.
The transaction was closed and she was asked if she wanted to
swipe her credit card again to try to fill her car.
"But I would have had to pay another $150 fee on my credit
card, so I decided not to.
"It wasn't a good experience," she said.
Mr McDonald said the machine did not malfunction.
He believed it was user error which caused the problem.
The machine was designed to stop when there was "back flow"
or too much "back pressure" in the flow of fuel to the tank.
He believed the machine stopped without the customer
realising, and by the time she did notice, the machine had
"timed out".
Mr McDonald apologised for the inconvenience, but the
transaction had to be closed, and said a new transaction had
to be started if she wanted more fuel.
The woman disagreed.
"It just stopped.
"I knew as soon as it stopped.
"When you're holding on to the nozzle, it's hard not to
notice."
She was concerned the $150 pre-authorisation fee could cause
people with low incomes to "max out" their credit cards -
particularly if they have to use it more than once to fill
their car.
The $1.3 million unmanned petrol pumping station is supplied,
but not branded, by BP.
The pumps take eftpos, credit cards and cash and offer Pak'n
Save shoppers discounts on the otherwise standard fuel
pricing.
Empty feeling
We have had a similar experience with Pak n Save fuel pumps. We are travelling New Zealand and while in Dunedin attempted to fill our car with diesel, we put in our debit/eftpos card, NOT a credit card, we then realised we were parked too far away from pump for it to reach, by the time we had moved the car the pump had 'timed out'. We tried again but were declined for lack of funds, we had funds in there but $150 was being held after our failed attempt. We have therefore spent the whole weekend with no money and we are furious. We didnt use a credit card so are amazed that this amount can be held back, also the fact that we didnt get a drop of diesel for our efforts. I have contacted Kiwibank also to ask for an explanation but of course it is the weekend.