Phoenix gas prices remain fairly high, with many parts of Tempe still in the 3.05 to 3.09 range. That’s why on the way back from feeding a friends cat, I decided to stop at an Arco gas station for their 3.02 gas. Deal.
So I pop my card into their shitty paypoint machine, which looks like it hasn’t seen any care for years, and it can’t read my card. No biggie, I’ll move to the other side. Pop in the card, and I get a message saying it’s declined. Okay, time to leave. Then I see another paypoint next to pumps on the other side of the building and decide to give it a try.
It works! hurrah. Then informs me there will be a .45 surcharge for my debit card. Excuse me? I’ve bought gas from Arco before, and never seen this. This little nuisance brings the gas price for the 7 gallons I need up to 3.08. Not such a great deal. I’d like to take this moment to cordially invite Arco gas stations to blow me. Their lousy paypoint system has sucked hard for a long time and posting a price on gas then kicking in the surcharge is a real insult. I bailed.
Turns out there’s a place down the street from my apartment at 2.99 and doesn’t charge for using a debit card. w00t.