Buc-ee’s has a loyal following—but a new rule about how you pay for gas is leaving some customers frustrated.
Buc-ee’s is known for having some of the cleanest restrooms in the country (no, really – they won Cintas America’s Best Bathroom Contest in 2012), but it also has a whole lot of fans. And who can blame them? They’re a convenience store that’s got hot (oh, that brisket!) and cold food and drinks, camping stuff, fudge, a bakery, merchandise, typically over 100 gas pumps (with good prices!) and an adorable little mascot in the form of buck-toothed beaver named Buc-ee.
It’s almost impossible to step into a Buc-ee’s for a potty break and NOT walk around and buy a bunch of “stuff.” That includes if you’re “just” going inside to pay for gas. However the powers that be at Buc-ee’s throughout the country have recently changed how and where you can pay for your gasoline at Buc-ee’s.
It was Houston Historic Retail that first reported something new at the pumps:
So I’ve been seeing these signs on social media that say Buc-ee’s is no longer letting you pay for gas with a card inside. Seems like you can still pay cash, but all card purchases are now pay-at-the-pump.
Anyone who has ever tried to pay for gas inside at Buc-ee’s knows it was already a bit of a hassle. They made you confirm your car on camera to make sure the pump number was correct. Hopefully, this has the side effect of speeding up the checkout, which has recently been understaffed at the location I stop at most.
Customers are NOT happy
- They’re concerned about card skimmers.
- Banks that will flag 2 consecutive purchases within a certain time frame as fraud (I suppose if you’re paying for gas outside and then paying for “stuff” inside)
- They put a $125 hold on your debit card when you pay outside. Inside they don’t. (a few people weren’t sure about that concept, until someone explained: “At the time the card is swiped at a gas pump they have no idea what the total will be so there is a temporary charge placed on the transaction to validate you have enough credit limit or bank balance if debit card to pay for the average transaction. That amount can vary by location and the temporary charge may stay in place for several days depending upon bank. In store they know exactly how much your total is and the system validates that you have the credit limit or balance.”)
- The pumps are sometimes out of receipt paper.
Why would they make this change?
I can think of a couple of reasons:
Long waits at the pumps
If someone is getting gas for their car and then goes inside to use the facilities and buy stuff, the vehicle is going to be at that pump for significantly longer than the time it takes to fill the gas tank. That makes for a bottleneck at the pumps, with people waiting for an open pump so they can buy gas.
Long lines in the stores
Every person who goes inside to pay for their gas is one more person in line to pay at the register. That’s also going to cause a backup at the registers, especially during busy times of the day, like first thing in the morning, when people are buying their morning coffee.
Was it just there? Or everywhere?
The photo was from a Buc-ee’s in or near Houston. But there are dozens upon dozens of Buc-ee’s locations in Texas, along with other locations scattered across ten other states. So I asked my friends and family across the country if the Buc-ee’s near them had the same sign.
And they did.
- A friend who lives in New Braunfels, Texas said she saw the sign at her local Buc-ee’s.
- A friend from high school lives near a Buc-ee’s in Denton, Texas and he saw the same sign at his Buc-ee’s too.
- And finally, a friend in Missouri (there’s a Buc-ee’s near his house in Springfield) took a picture of the one near him:
So it’s apparently countrywide.
Our take on it
With gas prices as high as they are, it’s no wonder that more people are buying their gas at Buc-ee’s, since they tend to be a bit cheaper than other popular brands. Leaving your vehicle at the pump while you go pee and buy stuff means the next person has to wait until you get back, which could be a matter of minutes to upwards of a half hour, if you do some serious shopping or the line at the register is particularly long. The more considerate thing to do is buy your gas, then get a regular parking spot so you can do whatever you want inside the building.
Buc-ee’s gas pumps do have tap-to-pay, so you don’t have to worry about skimmers.
For those using a debit card, you can enter your PIN at the pump, which often signals to the bank that the transaction is “verified” immediately, which can sometimes result in a faster release of the $125 hold.
If a pump is out of paper, it typically tells you as much as says to go to the register to get your receipt. So there’s nothing stopping you from noting what pump number you were using, driving away from it, finding a parking spot and then going inside to tell a cashier that you bought $60 of Regular at pump #72 and you need a receipt.
As for a credit card company that will say a card is fraud with back-to-back transactions at the same location, well, I suppose using two different cards could fix that. Or paying cash for one of the transactions.
I can see Buc-ee’s reasoning for the change. It may not be popular, but it could make things run more smoothly—especially at busy locations. Fortunately, there are still a few easy workarounds.
*** MANY thanks to Chris and Gabbi, and a HUGE shout-out to Geof-in-Springfield, for their help!
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