Customers of one Conserv Fuel gas station in Santa Maria say they recently noticed extra charges on their accounts.
Those who pumped gas at the Conserv Fuel gas station at Betteravia and Bradley roads in Santa Maria in the past four months could have been charged for those transactions just this past Monday due to an issue with their credit card processing system called Worldpay.
Many customers of the Conserv Fuel gas station say they were shocked to notice they had recently incurred unexpected charges.
"I thought I better look because I go there all the time, and I looked and my account was overdrawn," said Conserv Fuel customer Dodie Dias.
In a statement, Conserv Fuel said, "It is our understanding that some credit card purchases took place in May, June, July, and August 2019, however, Worldpay did not process those transactions until September 23, 2019. As a result, some of our customers may find multiple Conserv Fuel charges on their latest credit card statements."
After hearing about the incident, Conserv Fuel customer Jake Pinedo decided to check his bank account, which is when he saw the one transaction he authorized but three others he says he did not.
"I think it is a little underhanded to charge people months after they were supposed to be charged because then they all kind of showed up one day all at once and it really looks like there was an issue there," Pinedo said.
Conserv Fuel says the charges are not a result of fraudulent activity.
Still, the customers we spoke with say they reported the charges to their banks and submitted claims.
"The thing is that the two charges that appeared on the 24th were the same charges that had been like two weeks earlier," Dias said. "In other words, they were mirrored charges. They weren't charges I owed them. They charged me again."
Conserv Fuel says they apologize for any inconveniences and they are working with Worldpay to ensure this kind of malfunction does not occur again.
According to Conserv Fuel, Worldpay is a third-party credit card processor which Conserv Fuel has no procedural oversight of.
