It is common for petrol prices to surge around Christmastime as more drivers take to the roads to visit family – but prices shouldn’t soar above $200,000.
Canberra resident Tina Tian stopped to fill up at the Costo Service station in Majura Park on December 19 and thought she had paid $126 with her credit card.
Three days later, she checked her bank details and discovered that she had actually been charged $201,265.20 for a full tank of petrol – and the retailer still hasn’t rectified the error.
Canberra resident Tina Tian stopped to fill up at the Costo Service station in Majura weeks ago
Ms Tian thought she was paying $126 for petrol, but her credit card was charged $201.265.20
‘I’m in big trouble now, because I use my credit card for most things I pay for, but now I can’t…I just feel awful and feel no hope. It’s brought me a lot of stress, especially on a holiday,’ Ms Tian told 7NEWS.
‘They should have tried to solve the problem as soon as possible, but a [Costco] manager told me they would need another couple of weeks to solve it.
Visiting family on the Gold Coast, Ms Tian was forced to freeze her credit card and was told by Costco that they are ‘working to rectify’ the issue.
After she explained the situation to Costco, she was told to visit a Brisbane outlet. But after driving for almost two hours, she was told that ‘Canberra transaction details were not able to be accessed from Brisbane stores’.
Ms Tian also said that her credit limit is only $25,000, and she doesn’t understand why her bank did not stop the transaction from going through.
Tina doesn’t understand why the bank didn’t stop a $200,000 charge for petrol going through
A statement released by Costco said that the company has been in contact with the customer
‘Normally when the amount of money is too big, the bank would stop the transaction from going through,’ she explained to the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘If you can let this amount of money pass through, what’s the meaning of a limit for a credit card?’
A statement released by Costco said that the company has been in contact with Ms Tian: ‘We have been able to verify this was an isolated incident and are investigating the cause’.