FAQ

At Skyfuel we pride ourselves on having great customer service and generally we don’t get many complaints. However, one of the complaints we receive on a regular basis is the preauthorisation process used at our retail sites. Therefore, we would like to explain the process of purchasing fuel via credit card from one of our 24/7 retail sites.

Fuel purchased via credit card is conducted using a pre-authorisation process. This means that once you estimate the purchase value the card issuer (Mastercard, Visa etc) will place those funds on hold pending the actual purchase. Once the purchase is completed at our retail site our software sends a message that releases the funds, however, the card issuer will release the funds held on the credit card in accordance with their own policy.

It is important to understand that this is not a Skyfuel policy or controlled process, it is completely out of our hands. The Card Issuer determines the number of days the cardholder‘s funds remain on hold. As a guide, the funds may be held between 4 and 10 days for Australian banks but may be longer for overseas banks.

In addition to this, we also find that a customer may not follow the prompts on the point-of-sale display. We have had customers enter their pin number when the system is asking for the preauthorisation amount, therefore placing several thousand dollars on hold on your card. Please make sure you follow the prompts on the display.

If you find this process is not suitable for you, we do suggest making an application for a SkyFuel Carnet Card where you are able to make fuel purchases and be invoiced at a later date.

Our retail sites accept credit cards 24/7 and 99% of the time we do not have any problems.

One of the problems we do come across is the point of sale terminal may not allow credit card sales to be processed if the internal printer is not working correctly. We conduct regular maintenance on the system to keep them operating correctly, however, there are 3 main ways the system will not accept credit cards.

  1. Printer out of paper
  2. Printer paper jammed
  3. No internet
The paper rolls typically last up to 3 months and we always keep back up paper available, so its pretty rare for the printer to be out of paper.
The printer can jam and cause problems and this is also very rare. The one problem we do find is that some customers that use the system do not wait for the paper to self cut and they pull on the paper receipt. This causes a jam on the paper cutter rendering the system unusable. Please do not pull on the paper receipt. If it does not cut or issue a receipt, please call us. Under current consumer law we must provide a receipt for sales over $75.00 therefore the retail sales terminal will not work if it can not provide a receipt.
One way to avoid this is to have a Skyfuel Carnet card as this will work even if the printer is offline. This is due to the fact that the fuel is purchased on an account and we provide you with an invoice for your purchase via email at the end of the month.