On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:25:56 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:

>My uncle got nailed by this a while back. He owned a huge van, with a
>huge gas tank. We were in Idaho, where gas is cheaper, so he wanted to
>fill his tank. He got US$75 worth and the pump stopped. It would not
>give him any more gas until he completed that transaction and started a
>whole new one, from the beginning, which he did for the additional US$10
>worth of gas. I'm guessing that prices had gone up too fast for the
>station and the credit card company to up the hold amount.

That is probably more a function of the floor limit for the credit card.
I went to a local independent and the credit card companies wouldn't
authorize more than $50 per purchase - after $50 the credit card company
was on the hook for a false charge.