Fuel/Debit card fiasco in France!

[Emmenay]

Our return trip to the UK in December was fairly uneventful, or so we thought. It turns out that three separate fuel service stations in france had taken not only for the fuel I had, but also some much larger sums as well. The sums do not represent any particular amounts so quite random.
Now I'm not suggesting a crime has happened because in each case the large amounts were repaid four to five days later.
No problem I believed, until I got a phone call from my phone/internet provider in Spain telling me I have been cut off due to lack of funds at that time.
So, I called my Spanish bank just now who informed me that not only has my debit card been withdrawn automatically due to the events, it has been happening quite a lot in France recently.
Anyone had similar problems or can shed some light on what the hell France is playing at.
Aside from that, keep an eye on your finances when filling in France.

 

[Deleted34567]

Happened me too

 

[tonka]

It's my understanding that some self serve stations debit your card a pre-set amount the moment you enter it in the system ie €100... Then after filling the correct amount is debited and the first amount refunded.. A bit like they sometimes do in Hotels. Look's like thats what's happened here but the pay back has not been instant....

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes they normally debit the maximum , 120€, then credit it back. Unfortunately they only appear to do it to foreign
cards. Mine are Spanish as well. I only used one & it debited me 2 x 120€ 1 x 121€ ??????? Then credited back later in day & only took the actual amount used a week or 10 days later.
My bank manager said that in Spain it is an illegal practice.

Plenty of people using UK/spanish cards on a local forum I use have been caught by it.

 

[Glandwr]

CaxtonFX advise against using their card in pay at pump fuel stations in France on their web site for this reason. It is their only caution in using their card throughout Europe for any purchase

Dick

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