Heads up on paying for gasoline with debit/credit card

[Colibri]

Some of you may have already been cautious enough to only pay at PEMEX with cash, but I have had no problems paying with my Banorte credit or debit cards...until this past Saturday. After filling up the tank and signing the debit card slip for 643 pesos, I returned home and found an additional charge notification for 800p only 40 seconds after the first (real) charge. Now, I have to go through the process of trying to get a refund. Bank says it can take up to 45 days to get a refund! This happened at the gas station in San Javier where I've been buying gas for years. That little paranoid part of my brain has already asked "Now that PEMEX is under the hammer for stealing gas outright, is this their newest enrichment campaign?!" Happen to you?

[Peter]

Not to exclude the possibility of theft at the gas station, I also wonder if this may have been merely an automatic "authorization" posted onto your card for gasoline up to the stated amount.

If so, within a day or two it should have been reversed, and just as automatically. Curious to know if it was reversed, or if it was theft.

[Colibri]

My bank account hasn't shown a credit yet. Assuming I WILL get it back, I guess I could take the optimistic outlook that not having it at hand helps curb impulse spending for a month! (Albeit, sans interest...)