Based upon the following thread:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8777166#post8777166
is it true that Canadian gas stations will not accept American credit cards? Or, did it only mean that the pumps won’t accept the cards, but if you go inside the workers will be able to process the sale?
(sorry for the poorly worded question)
Yes, you can still use them inside, although not at the pump as far as I am aware.
This is also true of Canadian credit cards at American gas pumps.
Thanks for the quick reply!
:dubious: Is this a recent thing? Are we talking about VISA/MC and AMEX? I’m pretty certain that I’ve used my [Canadian] credit cards on I-80 and I-91 in NY in recent years.
Some gas stations do accept them at the pump, especially noticeable to me at the highway service station rest stop oasis areas between Port Huron - Detroit - London - Toronto - Buffalo, where there are 'Merkins aplently.
A sign just appeared on the pumps of my regular gas station saying exactly that. I’m not sure if that’s a new thing or they just got fed up with having to explain it.
I have paid at the pump using my VISA card while in Vancouver.
Two weeks ago I drove from Vancouver to Jasper and back, filling the tank several times. I used my Mastercard at the pump every time. There were no problems.
Had all kinds of problems buying gas in Toronto before I had Canadian credit or debit cards…
I’d suddenly realize I was low on gas, stop at a gas station, and the pump would tell me to “see the attendant”… and 90% of the time, they’d tell me I couldn’t use my U.S. cards… And explaining that I had used them at other stations did nothing to improve my odds…
Can’t use my U.S. cards to pay for cellphone service in Canada either…
At a number of places I’ve gone in BC, there was no pay at pump for anyone.
The gas stations accepted my card as soon as I went in, though one woman did say that she made Americans prepay as we were so used to paying at the pump, we’d drive off before paying for gas.
I’ve never been able to use my non-MC/VISA debit card in Canada for anything other than an ATM. But the credit cards have always gone through.
The only time I had a problem using a US card at at a Tim Hortons in Vancouver. Tims doesn’t take credit cards, so I gave the lady my debit card. Here in the US debit cards are branded with either a VISA or Master Card logo. The [del]Tim’s employee[/del] bitch saw the logo and told me it would not work, that only debit cards would work. I showed her where it very plainly said debit on the face of the card, but she insisted that my debit card was not a debit card. :rolleyes:
She would not even attempt the transaction.
I’ve used my Canadian credit cards at American pumps. I did so not two days ago, in Michigan.
I’ve been using my Canadian TD Visa at gas pumps in Maryland since I moved here four months ago and haven’t had a single problem with machines not taking my card.
Probably because it wasn’t an Interac debit card–that’s the Canadian national debit card network. VISA or Master Card have nothing to do with the Interac network or debit cards up here, so your card wouldn’t work, no matter whether it said “debit” or not.
If it makes you feel any better, my debit card doesn’t work in the US. Because it’s also coded to allow it to work with US banking networks, I can use it at American ATMs. But I can’t use it at a retailer who offers payment by debit card–even though it’s plainly a debit card.
You found a Tim’s that takes debit?? The ones around Montreal all have signs up saying that to maintain speed of service, they don’t take cards of any kind, just cash. Which really sucks when I need to go get a $20 out of a bank machine so I can get a coffee.
This is kind of funny. There are commercials down here for one of the major credit-card carriers (VISA or MC, I forget). They show people paying for all sorts of items with a swipe of their cards, one by one … and then one person pulls out a wad of cash. The music stops, people drop their drinks, flowers wilt. The cashier, with a heavily perturbed look on her face, completes the cash transacton with a huff. The next customer whips out their card, and life is great again.
They are trying hard to sell that cash is far, far slower than cards.
Were you trying a Discover card, perchance? They are rarely accepted anywhere outside the US.
And fewer and fewer places in the US.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that in the ad you’re thinking of, the woman brings out her checkbook and starts writing a check for her purchases. Which is the slowest damn way to pay for anything, ever, and should be outlawed.
Well, a gas station in NY state didn’t accept my parents’ Canadian credit card in May. I had to use my American one.