Our family just passed through NJ yesterday on a trip back from NC/Outer Banks. We went to refuel at a Gulf station near our hotel and didn’t realize it was full service only (as apparently all NJ stations are). I gave my card to the attendant, who put it in the swipe slot at the pump, then left it there (in the slot). This pinged my paranoia meter a bit, since everywhere - and I mean everywhere - else I have ever refueled, you just swipe the card and return it to your wallet, and the transaction completes when you are done pumping. I was outside the vehicle, and the card never left my sight, but there seems to be no shortage of scams and schemes these days regarding card cloning, theft of data/info, etc., and a family of four in a minivan from VT certainly could seem a likely target for fraud.
So, what’s the Straight Dope on gas purchases in NJ? Is this “holding the card at the pump” practice common, or even required, for some reason? Perhaps the gas jockeys just check to verify the card, then manually transact at the end of fueling?
I checked the card and there is no unusual activity so far, but I’d feel better knowing if this is a peculiar thing to do according to residents/frequent visitors.
Thanks!
BTW…
What’s up with the whole Full-Serve-Only bit, anyway? Only Oregon mandates this as well, and it seems a cultural thing there, according to the obligatory wiki search. I don’t buy the safety angle, since the rest of the entire country gets along just fine with self-serve. Quite happy to have someone pump, mind you - just curious. Side note - prices in NJ were a full 20-to almost 40 cents cheaper than NY and surrounding states we went through (highway prices), so it doesn’t seem to be labor cost related. Strange.
I just moved to New Jersey a few months ago, so I am in no way an expert, but this is how all credit card transactions I have had at the pump have gone. The impression I get is that they leave the card in the pump so that you always know exactly where the card is, and so the same attendant doesn’t have to finish pumping for you when it’s busy. One guy can go around and get people started and the other collects the card and returns it to you and there is no confusion about who’s card is who’s.
As to why full service only? I don’t know. But I have gotten used to it, and have even come to appreciate it in some instances. As long as I am able to plan when I fill up I don’t have to wait in lines and it was awesome when it was 18 and windy and I needed to fill up.
I don’t have an answer for you WRT to the NJ aspect of this, but as far as card skimming, I believe the skimmers work by just swiping your card. Leaving the card in the pump wouldn’t have anything to do with it unless they were hoping you would forget the card and drive away.
The only thing I can think of is that the card needs to be swiped at the end of purchase instead of the beginning and since you already handed it to him, that would be a better place to keep it then, say, in his pocket. On the one hand, that would be a long shot, since, like you said, pumps don’t work that way. OTOH, I’ve never used pumps in a full service only state. They could very well be programmed differently.
NJ here. I usually pay cash, but when I do use a card, they leave the card in the slot, then at the end, the attendant grabs the receipt, grabs the card, and hands them to me together.
Very common and nothing to worry about. It may give the driver a bit of a pause before driving off, perhaps with the pump nozzle still in the car. When you are given back your CC the transaction is completed and it’s drive off time.
I imagine that leaving the card in the slot makes it very obvious to other attendants that they do not need to collect cash from you. Surely, they could look at the pump to see that the bill is paid, but the card is one more obvious flag to the next attendant.
I like the Jersey system, except for those rare times when I’d rather just pump it myself and get going. It’s pretty darned convenient.
What does happen is that folks who spend most of their lives in New Jersey suddenly find themselves facing a puzzle the first time they fill up when out of state. It’s not rocket science, but more on par with figuring out those subway metro card vending machines the first time you encounter them.
Yeah, I get a little stabby when the lines at the NJ Turnpike rest stop pumps are ten cars deep because they only have two pump jockeys working 8 pumps.
I agree that holding the card until the end is totally normal and wouldn’t be required to clone it anyways.
Thanks for responding, all. Dopers to the rescue once again. I kind of hoped nothing nefarious was going on but you never know these days, and this was my first overnight in NJ (spotless room in a Holiday Inn Express and reasonable to boot - $69usd). I’m in my mid-40’s and well remember the days of no self-serve at all, and how I missed attendants when they were phased out. Given the pricing and staffing situation in NJ, frankly I’m a little envious.
On that note, anyone know why the relatively large price differential from NJ to NY? Tax structure? I’d think NJ is suffering from revenue shortfall just like everyone else these days. We filled up in E.Brunswick, then stopped a few hours later in NY on I-87 and the price at the rest area was 50¢ higher. I know highway prices are always inflated, but that’s a pretty high spread.
I think part of the reason for the lower gas price in NJ is that the two major roads are mostly toll roads. The NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are toll roads for most of their length, and I think 195 may be toll for parts of it. The tolls collected offset the lost gas tax revenue from lower gas tax. I’m sure that there are more subtle reasons though.
It’s a trade-off for all the “Jersey smells” jokes.
No, really…all those petrochem refineries along that northern chunk of the Turnpike, which are responsible for the gawdawful smell that people joke about? They’re churning out all that lovely petrol. Since it’s done in-state, we save on transport costs, interstate shipping taxes, etc., all of which work to keep it relatively cheap here.
There are intemittant suggestions that NJ raise the fuel taxes. But it’s a mistake in focus, IMHO. You can’t look at one tax in isolation. NJ has low fuel taxes, but has among the highest (or possibly the highest) RE taxes in the nation. In general, NJ is a very high tax state.
You would think so, but I’ve found the prices for the service stations on the GSP suprisingly competitive.
I don’t think that’s correct. To my knowledge, it’s essentially all a differential in fuel taxes. (Those refineries are a lot closer to NY than to many parts of NJ.)
It isn’t just the refinery location, rest stops on the toll roads in NJ are contractually obligated to only change prices by so much per week. They can’t just jump up the price $0.10/day every day like so many other stations do.
When I was visiting Oregon to observe the construction progress on my race car, I went to fill up my rental car before turning it in at the airport. Upon discovering that Oregon was also full-serve only, I said to the attendant “In NJ we’re assumed to be too stupid to pump our own gas. What’s Oregon’s excuse?”
I’ll pull up to a pump, shut off the engine, and politely wait a minute or so. After that, I get out and pump my own gas. There’s only a few different ways the attendants unlock the pump to enable it, if you use the credit card swipe. There are far more varieties if you’re trying to enable the pump for post-pay.
On the infrequent occasions when I drive the race car through NJ, a simple “You don’t want to do that” if they reach for the pump will cause them to hand over the nozzle and let me do it. That’s also common for motorcycles and anything else where the auto-shutoff won’t operate or the nozzle needs to be held in place while filling.