As if I needed another reason to hate living in NJ beyond the inflated house prices, worst in the nation real estate taxes, and population density, now I find out that I can’t get the gas rewards with my credit card either!
This all started because I got a new credit card which I love. You can read my earlier post but the gist is that you get 5% back on gas purchases, 2% on groceries, and 1.25% on everything else. Phenomenal card right? Not if you live in NJ.
Like any other red-blooded hippie capitalist, I of course audited the first statement I got from VISA. It seemed to have accurately credited me with $2.24 for my $112.26 in grocery purchases. However, it failed to recognize any of my $137.14 in gas purchases. This resulted in $5.02 in missed rewards. I was not pleased and immediately called PenFed to get it fixed. To my chagrin NJ is the only state that treats gas purchases made at the pump the same way as paying inside a store at the register. Because the credit card companies cannot delineate a difference, they cannot give their cardholders the appropriate reward.
I do not have a solution to this issue, but I would love to hear anyone else’s ideas/comments.
** Follow-up: A similar audit of my Perfectcard revealed that it gets it right so this is a PenFed issue and not fully a “I hate Jersey” issue. I will be using the Perfectcard going forward for gas purchases in NJ.