Yeah I read it, it just doesn't work for me. I guess there's no right or wrong way - it's whatever suits the individual!
Carrefour fuel pumps warning
- Thread starter Monsieur
- Start date
Cards are fine, except when they are not. Two examples:
1. When you buy a coffee for EUR 2.30. Does the cafe owner always want to accept a card transaction for such a small amount?
2. When a small enterprise does not accept cards at all.
Have a bit of cash to hand.
Cash is fine, except when it’s not.
A lot of shops and services are stepping away from cash. This is not, as some think, some devilish plan by ‘Them’ to control our every bit of spending. But rather the convenience. My local, small but pretty busy pub went cashless a couple of years ago. Why? Because there is no longer a bank nearby to deposit the takings. Not least, the till is linked to the card reader, so transactions and the books are balanced simultaneously; there is no more ‘cashing up’ at the end of the evening. Transactions are quicker too, with no more customers, counting out sums from a fistful of coins, also known as ‘Drinkers pocket’.
Have a card to hand.
1. When you buy a coffee for EUR 2.30. Does the cafe owner always want to accept a card transaction for such a small amount?
2. When a small enterprise does not accept cards at all.
Have a bit of cash to hand.
Cash is fine, except when it’s not.
A lot of shops and services are stepping away from cash. This is not, as some think, some devilish plan by ‘Them’ to control our every bit of spending. But rather the convenience. My local, small but pretty busy pub went cashless a couple of years ago. Why? Because there is no longer a bank nearby to deposit the takings. Not least, the till is linked to the card reader, so transactions and the books are balanced simultaneously; there is no more ‘cashing up’ at the end of the evening. Transactions are quicker too, with no more customers, counting out sums from a fistful of coins, also known as ‘Drinkers pocket’.
Have a card to hand.
Yes, it’s not good practice to use a foreign exchange card for fuel, not to pre-pay hotels.
I use a Caxton FX currency card loaded with enough cash for the trip, but pay for fuel on a zero fees Mastercard. Hotels are fine on the Caxton card as long as is to settle the final bill, and of course its primary purpose is cash.
€250 in cash to start off
Catxon FX card - this is a pre load, no fees for taking cash from an ATM - but beware many ATM's charge their own fees which can be €5, so it make sense to draw reasonable amount out, can be topped up easily using the app. Exchange rate is pretty much FX rate. I don't use this for fuel or any pre-pay - see above.
Santander Zero - zero fees master card, for fuel and anything pre-pay.
This covers most things.
Amex Platinum with no limit, and also provides the travel insurance, in case of emergency. This is hidden!
Catxon FX card - this is a pre load, no fees for taking cash from an ATM - but beware many ATM's charge their own fees which can be €5, so it make sense to draw reasonable amount out, can be topped up easily using the app. Exchange rate is pretty much FX rate. I don't use this for fuel or any pre-pay - see above.
Santander Zero - zero fees master card, for fuel and anything pre-pay.
This covers most things.
Amex Platinum with no limit, and also provides the travel insurance, in case of emergency. This is hidden!
They didn’t, as I found out late one evening in Dieppe. Managed to get a local biker to fill my tank and gave him the cash.
Then they did, and all was bliss.
Interestingly, I found one where it wouldn’t in May in Brittany, but another pump at the same station worked.
Then they did, and all was bliss.
Interestingly, I found one where it wouldn’t in May in Brittany, but another pump at the same station worked.
Hahaha, the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. A lot of it revolved around nothing more than France’s late adoption of chip’n’pin. I opened a French bank account, simply to get a French card and circumvent the problem.
Very occasionally you do still get a glitch, but it’s definitely now the exception rather than the rule. My usually very reliable Halifax card was rejected a couple of weeks ago at a petrol station I often use in St Omer. I thought it odd, as I have used it lots of times there previously. Removing the card, reinserting it again, brought it all back to life.
It is though one of the reasons I carry a spare credit card. One fuel station I encountered, I think it was near Dijon, refused point blank to accept one of my credit cards, no matter what. I simply switched cards and all was well.
PS You should of course add, that it is completely impossible to buy petrol in France on a Sunday, as it’s against the law!
Jesting shirley
And you can’t buy a spark plug cap on a Monday, either.
And they’re not called “capuchon de bougie” as I had guessed, and Google confirms, they’re called “antiparasite” which would translate as “suppressor (cap)”.
But that discussion had to wait until Tuesday.
And they’re not called “capuchon de bougie” as I had guessed, and Google confirms, they’re called “antiparasite” which would translate as “suppressor (cap)”.
But that discussion had to wait until Tuesday.
Jesting shirley
Oui. C’est un, ow you say, le joke, non?
UKGSer used to be full of bods, terrified of being unable to buy fuel on a Sunday in France. The good news, is that it put some of them off going at all.
Yeah Mondays can be a bit of a shock if you're used to UK opening hours
Fermeture hebdomadaire
Fairey snuff
It's probably been to BMW's advantage as well in terms of GSA sales figures.
On our way back through France earlier this week (in the vicinity of Lesparre-Medoc NW of Bordeaux) we were unable to buy fuel at the time required, when Gary Garmin directed us to two petrol stations that no longer were petrol stations, and then a third which despite attempts to use two different cards at two different pumps refused to dispense any fuel. Gesticulating at a four-wheeled native who suffered the same indignity led to the thought that the pumps were empty. Moving on to a fourth fuel station ended any thoughts of range anxiety/credit card failure/will mummy save me.
The fuel stations listed on Garmin’s database are notoriously unreliable. This though is not Garmin’s fault, as they rely on the maps supplied by Here, who in turn rely on those that have submitted ‘Points of Interest’ to keep the locations up-to-date as well. Other navigation devices and providers, suffer from the same problem.
Tip one. When hunting fuel in a list created by a dumb (but really quite clever device)….. head for any supermarket fuel stations you can see on the list, as these are usually pretty much correct. Or, Google ‘Fuel near me’ or ‘Petrol near me’ on your phone. Google’s database is generally more up to date and / or you can switch into Streetview to see if what was a petrol station is now a dog grooming parlour. The same Google listing also usually carries the opening hours, which (might) be correct, too.
Tip two. When you’ll need fuel in about 30 to 45 minutes, don’t wait until 29 or 44 minutes have passed, to start looking. If yiu pass a fuel station that’s open drop in ‘early’ and fill up.
PS Love the post, we’ve all been there
Tip one. When hunting fuel in a list created by a dumb (but really quite clever device)….. head for any supermarket fuel stations you can see on the list, as these are usually pretty much correct. Or, Google ‘Fuel near me’ or ‘Petrol near me’ on your phone. Google’s database is generally more up to date and / or you can switch into Streetview to see if what was a petrol station is now a dog grooming parlour. The same Google listing also usually carries the opening hours, which (might) be correct, too.
Tip two. When you’ll need fuel in about 30 to 45 minutes, don’t wait until 29 or 44 minutes have passed, to start looking. If yiu pass a fuel station that’s open drop in ‘early’ and fill up.
PS Love the post, we’ve all been there
+1 Especially during the fuel delivery strikes......PS Love the post, we’ve all been there
Yep same here, never any issues with Starling Card, no holding funds, no brainer
I'm not particularly fussed (and/or smart) with my payment methods.
I have an Amex charge card that is my primary payment method for everything everywhere, I would switch to Monzo or my HSBC credit card if Amex is not accepted, but I tend not to use the cards (credit/debit) connected to my main account where possible, so mostly I stick to Monzo in those cases.
I just recently got a Wise card too (had a Wise account for ages), for some euro operations (cash machines mostly) when in Italy. Monzo and Wise euro exchange rates are not wildly dissimilar, but using the Wise card in euro at ATMs sometimes makes it easier.
I do have an overdraft facility on my Monzo card in case it goes to zero (like a rogue fuel pump - that never occurred to me). Free if you top it up before midnight. Negligible negative interests is you do it after a few days.
Anyway, while you went on this thread I was in France. I wanted to do a test at a Carrefour, but I found a Total Energies and I had only 25km range so...
Seems a Carrefour only issue. You can see the timing top left.
BTW, last year while in south of France I lost my wallet the last day, just before driving back to Rome.
4 cards + driving license and other random items.
Drove to Rome using my Amex and Monzo still on Apple Pay, blocked them at destination (both banks knew the cars were lost, we agreed to keep them on Apple Pay for emergency).
I think I wrote about this before, funnily HSBC "the global bank" was the only one unable to send me replacement cards while I was in Italy (I did stay another 2 or 3 weeks) while Amex and Monzo sent replacement cards at my parents' address in Rome (after verification) in a jiffy.
Got back home ok. Nothing happened.
I have an Amex charge card that is my primary payment method for everything everywhere, I would switch to Monzo or my HSBC credit card if Amex is not accepted, but I tend not to use the cards (credit/debit) connected to my main account where possible, so mostly I stick to Monzo in those cases.
I just recently got a Wise card too (had a Wise account for ages), for some euro operations (cash machines mostly) when in Italy. Monzo and Wise euro exchange rates are not wildly dissimilar, but using the Wise card in euro at ATMs sometimes makes it easier.
I do have an overdraft facility on my Monzo card in case it goes to zero (like a rogue fuel pump - that never occurred to me). Free if you top it up before midnight. Negligible negative interests is you do it after a few days.
Anyway, while you went on this thread I was in France. I wanted to do a test at a Carrefour, but I found a Total Energies and I had only 25km range so...
Seems a Carrefour only issue. You can see the timing top left.
BTW, last year while in south of France I lost my wallet the last day, just before driving back to Rome.
4 cards + driving license and other random items.
Drove to Rome using my Amex and Monzo still on Apple Pay, blocked them at destination (both banks knew the cars were lost, we agreed to keep them on Apple Pay for emergency).
I think I wrote about this before, funnily HSBC "the global bank" was the only one unable to send me replacement cards while I was in Italy (I did stay another 2 or 3 weeks) while Amex and Monzo sent replacement cards at my parents' address in Rome (after verification) in a jiffy.
Got back home ok. Nothing happened.
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FYI For any Irish tossers travelling en France I filled up at a Carrefour Contact supermarket unmanned pump on Friday. Paid with PTSB debit card and pump notified me of €120 pre authorisation. Checked bank when got back to digs couple of hours later and only the amount bought (20-something Euro) was debited.
Haven’t read the whole thread cause simply don’t have the energy. So apologies if already mentioned, the initial pre-authorisation is simply that and it’ll fall off your ‘pending’ transactions once the actual amount is debited. This is why banks tell you not to bother them until it’s moved from pending to actual charges.
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