Posted on Saturday, 11th July 2009 by CreditCardGuru
With gas stations coast to coast, it comes as no surprise that the Chevron credit card is one of the most widely issued gas cards in America. But be warned… before you fill out an application to get your own, there are a few important things you should know. Is the card a scam? No, because what they’re doing is completely legal. Is it is a good way to save money? No, and here’s why…
The Interest Rate Shocker…
Chevron includes Texaco (they acquired the company in 2001) so they issue similar cards under each brand. Their ordinary cards are not affiliated with any major payment networks (like Visa, MasterCard, etc) so they can only be used for purchases at their stations. Two of them offer no rewards on fuel purchases, and the other one that does requires cardmembers to pay a $25 annual fee just to have the ability to earn cash back… not cool! These all carry sky-high interest rates, currently 21.49% APR and up at the time this article is being written.
The company also issues another, different category- the Visa Chevron Texaco cards. The interest rate on these is not cheap either… which can be as high as 20.49% when this post was published.
The Rewards Exposed…
Let’s be honest here. The only reason 95% of us apply for a gas card is because we are looking to get a cash back rebate on our fuel purchases. So you would think these would have fantastic rewards? Well, think again. In fact, according to their official page, it appears their “personal” cards only gives you cashback for the first 2 months only. After that, there’s no great benefits offered. For example, they list “zero fraud liability” as a benefit, when in reality, virtually every credit card on the market gives you that. And if they didn’t, federal law protects consumers - you can only be held liable for upto $50 in fraudulent charges - so for them to call this a “benefit” is certainly a stretch. And if you pay the $25.00 for the “premium” card do you think it’s any better? Not much! They only offer a small rebate but it’s not even on gas… only specific travel services, and only those booked through their reservation service (which is rumored to give overpriced bookings, too).
Now their Visa-version does offer gas rewards, but they’re certainly nothing to write home about. It saves up to a dime a gallon, but only at their gas stations (which usually costs a lot, anyway). Also, if you do the math, at $3.00 gas, that only equals out to be about a 3% rebate per gallon.
It Gets Worse…
Our research has found complaint after complaint peppered across the net. For example, one story was by a loyal California cardholder of many years. According to her, she had always paid her bill in full each and every month, never late. While on an unexpected roadtrip, she was struck with a big surprise… GE Capital (who manages these cards) allegedly decided to cut her credit limit from $3,200 to $100 out of the blue. They cited no negative reasons for the change. Her trip was thrown into haywire, as she counted on that card to fill her tank.
The Solution
Stay away from the Chevron credit card. There are so many other options out there when it comes to rebate cards. For example, you may want to check out the no annual fee Discover More card which offers a full 5% cashback bonus in a number of rotating categories, one of them being gas (any station!) The rewards on the Chevron cards are laughable in comparison. To be completely honest with you, I want to disclose that this site does indeed have a financial (advertising) relationship with Discover. However we also do with many other banks too, so there’s many other cards I could promote here instead but I’m not, because I truly believe this is the best and you can see this for yourself…
Check out our full review of the Discover More card to learn more.
Tags: chevron credit card, chevron gas card, chevron texaco cards
Posted in General | Comments (29)
July 13th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I cut up mine a year ago. No point in having a card that is so unfriendly to its cardholders like that.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Applied for chevron/Texico visa because of 13.49 rate. I have great credit score and was approved. When the card arrived the rate was 17.49. I called them and was told to bad did I want to cancel card. That’s nice. Beware of this scam. It’s GE Money Bank!!!!!!
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Chevron has instituted a $5.00 per month “report delivery” fee for mailing a statement to customers. I have hundreds of vendors we make payments to and none has made such a policy. We have never been late and have a 30 year relationship with Chevron. It has taken repeated calls on my part and weeks of wiating to get a response from a supervisor and then they chose to let us cancel our $700/month company account rather than reverse these charges. To boot, they were rude and dismissive! Thanks for the lead to Discover Open Road! Goodbye Chevron!!
September 4th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Paid my Shoveron off when I got my tax return as the revolving interest was eating me alive and left for dead!!!Horrible interest you pay.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I had a Cheveron / Texaco account for almost twenty years. I always paid on time. I cancelled my card prior to a deploymeny with the National Guard. Upon returning, I found that they did not cancell the card. They had also charged me for the travel club and late fees. When I returned home, they would not even discuss it with me as they had sent it to collections. Some of the worst customer service that I have ever encountered. I have cancelled the card again, and I will not be purchasing gas from them. If you are thinking of getting a card from them… DON’T DO IT.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
So glad I came across this blog. I logged on to apply for the Chevron Card because at the pump it read “15 Cent off Per Gallon” but did not say how long. I thought “what the heck”. When I went to apply I noticed that the site was not sucure, so I back up and found this blog. Thanks for all the info. I will just stick with my American Express.
September 14th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Recently received a bill at my husband’s company from Chevron which indicated a late fee in excess of $175.00. Review of the card indicated the last payment of $400 was one week over the due date of the bill. When I telephoned Chevron to inquire how they arrived at the late fee, they informed me they charge interest on all charges outstanding at the date of lateness, including current charges not yet billed to the customer, and apparently past charges already paid. In my case they indicated late charges accrued on over $1600 worth of charges. My new bill was less than $500. No matter how I worked it, I could not figure out any formula that would justify their charges. Needless to say, after decades of business with Chevron, my husband and I have elected to spend our money with other fuel companies…
September 19th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
similar thing happened with me..I filled gas in my car at my neigbor gas station and they charged for that twice on my card..i talked to them..but they didn’t listen and I had to pay for that ..so i also recommend not to do business with chevron..they are cheaters..
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Judith, please respond to me. We have the same issue and want to do something legally about it. Exhorbitant late fees, interest on late fees, late fee charges on non-late amounts, etc.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Thank you for this blog and the comments it helped me to make my decision about one of these cards! A definite NO and now I do not even have to read there legal fine print jargon.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Terrible rip-off and they don’t care. Regarding the finance charges-I’m a bookkeeper and I keep telling my clients to cancel their cards. They are paying over $1000 a year in late fees. They barely mail out the bill in time to pay it before the due date-then they say they can’t be responsible for the mail. You would think that for $5 they’d get it to you sooner. It’s all part of their game. I expect that their finance charges represent a very large amount of income to Chevron.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:08 am
I recently was charged a 39.00 late fee on a 44.00 balance which was paid 2 days late! It took 10 days from the date of mailing the payment until it was posted. I pointed out to the “customer service rep” that it was impossible for my payments to get there timely. They have a 14 day billing system, It takes 7-10 days each way. Which means your always going to have a late fee! I had been a customer for 20 yrs, didn’t seem to matter. Chevron refused to credit the late fee! So long chevron-Texaco
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:58 am
Rather than pay the billing fee (extortion) I elected to receive my business statements on line. After Chevron changed mailing addresses without sending out a mailed notice my payment was received after the due date. I was hit with a “late fee” of over 300.00 as well as interest! When I called customer service to either remove the late fee or cancel my account the rep called me dog and hung up on me and still didn’t close my account! Why has fair business practices been replaced by corporate greed. I believe that Chevron needs to be held to task for this by our legislators.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I want to order a credit card FOR GAS ONLY for my son in another city, What card do you suggest I get?
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
My company Chevron bill arrived today. Not surprised, had late fee of $175 plus interest. This account is paid in full every month and well before the due date. Statement posted the payment being made on the 25th. The due date was the 12th. Because this has become a regular occurance the payment was sent USPS certified return reciept requested. Reciept shows delivery on the 10th, two days before the due date! When called, the explanation was that it took 3 days to enter the payment and an additional 12 days to verify the funds. FTC complaint is in the works. Anybody else treated this way?
November 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I got the same bullsh_t excuse. Their remit to address used to be in Concord, CA (same county as we are). They changed that to North Carolina AND reduced the number of days before it’s due. I asked for an overnight mailing address they refused to give one and said “you can pay with a credit card”. Why would I pay a credit card bill with another credit card? We were charged $100 plus interest! I think it’s time to say bye bye Chevron!
November 8th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
We use our Chevron card for travel and pay it online as soon as we get home and pay no interest. We can almost always find a Chevron station wherever we go and have been very happy with it. It’s for convenience in buying gas, not ‘rewards’. You would pay for it with a debit/credit card for the same reason you would pay your cable or electric bill that way. Seems to me the problem people are really having is running up their charges, and sure, you’re going to pay big that way. We used to have the same problem with VISA when we’d run it up and then only pay the minimum payment. But you agree to that when you purchase the cards, so why blame the company?
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I am a 25 year customer. In July, they raised my limit for being a good customer. I paid my bill. In August, they said I was late, $39 late fee, raised my interest rate to 31%. I sent a letter with my two statements, showing there was no way that I was late. GE Money never responded to my letter. All they do is call and threaten me, won’t even discuss. I am contacting my attorney. THAT is why I blame the company!
December 10th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
We were 18 years with this rip-off company. We switched from regular chevron to the new Visa by GE (deceptive trade company)! What jerks. The worse scammers I have ever dealt with. They need to take lessons from American Express in customer service. With this scam on late charges, billing, interest rates and price fixing if I don’t sue first; when someone is ready to sue them, I am on the band wagon.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Same as others story. Been a customer for years with no problems also ahve AMEX ansd others. No problems The chevron bill has always been paid in full at the end of each month. The have a due date on Sunday. they do not post on Sunday so it is when ever they get around to postinf they will charge you a $39 late fee doe $22 worth of gas.
It seems no matter how you pay they are out to get your money. Pay by phone they charge you $25. They send my statement5s on the e-mail and If i mail from the mail post office that same day it takes them from 11/25 to 12/11 and the check is still not clear. Over two weeks. I am sure I will have a compiled excessive late fee. What can we do about one of the major oild companies riping off small business and senior citizens ?
Someone need to help put an end to this.
SM. Las Vegas
December 27th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Look at all the rip off stories and they are similar. This company will do everything they can to screw you, however I have found that I CAN FIGHT BACK. Here is how I do it. First of all, I over paid my bill by 10 cents, then put the card in a drawer and decided to use my Discover card for all future gas purchases. When the Chevron bill comes, I had a credit of 10 cents. That will force them to spend the price of a stamp every time the end of the month rolls around and they have to send me a credit of 10 cents. It’s a reminder to myself that I can screw around with them. It’s not much but it’s the satisfaction that counts.
By the way, if they ever send me a check for 10 cents, I will cash it and then charge 10 cents, and over pay 20 cents and let the entire game start again.
I am hoping that some human being from the company will call me and ask me why I am keeping a credit of 10 cents on the card, then I can tell them why I am messing with them the same way they are messing with me.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
I was a cardholder for 18 years. I only used Chevron gas because it was the first gas credit card I received. I had always paid my Chevron bill with my paycheck on the 15th of the month. They changed my due date without notifying me to the 12th, causing me to be late. I called customer service and the service was horrible. They raised my interest rate from 18% to 29.99% since I was late. Even though it is the first time in 18 years I had ever been late. I cancelled my card after this horrible treatment and have not been to a Chevron station since. I would encourage any law office to look into a class action lawsuit for deceptive business practices. I now get gas at Valero with my new Valero credit card. I would urge you to avoid to avoid Chevron at all costs, you will be sorry later!
January 20th, 2010 at 12:26 am
I have a business gas card with Chevron. They are just as evil. I won’t even get into the details, but beware.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:37 am
been a chevron card customer for yearsss, never been late. they raised my already high interest rate of 21.46 % to 29.99 % for no reason, and they did this to all customers for no reason. i’m paying this card OFF w/ my tax return. what a waste of money. chevron charges more for gasoline anyways, than most gas stations.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:38 am
These guys are a ripoff card, not a gas card. Got it because they offered the discount per gallon; was late paying a few months and tried to get is straightened out, they charged late charges on the day I made payments; you have a 10-days to make the payment after receiving the bill, there’s a $5.00 report fee; fees fees fees fees is what the card is all about. You never make up for it on the gas rebates. DO NOT USE THIS CARD. I owed them $42 and they charged me $205 which was the balance from the last statement; now I have to wait 4-6 weeks to get my $163 refund. There’s absolutely no advantage to using this card at all.
February 21st, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Just cut those loan sharks off an hour ago on the phone!!! Been with them since 1988. Then GE Money Bank came in, and the rate became 29.99%. Hell Mobsters won’t even try to squeeze a rate that high out of you. Anyhow I owed them $212 bucks…. BUT it’s the principle of it. Money/credit cruch my $@@! Take’em shopping…high rates and games..dump’em. Will not buy Chevron Gas. If any of you all have any cards now owned taken over by GE MONEY…CLOSE THE ACCOUNT FAST!!! The will attempt to squeeze you..AVOID GE Money Bank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 1st, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Got my bill today with a 29.99 late charge plus interest. I have the cancelled check for the charge in question which shows paid on time. Somebody wrote in the for line on the check another account number than mine. Isn’t that fraud? Not even close to my handwriting. Why should I have to take them time and energy to handle their fraudulent employee problem? 35 years of paying my entire bill monthly and always on time. They shut down my credit amount to 180 dollars and want me to send a letter and check copy so they can investigate. They can eat me!
March 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Hi everyone. I’m from Los Angeles California and the business I work at uses a “charge card”. We were late by two days on a payment of about $700 and we were charged late fees on charges of $4000 because of the way they charge late fees. They even admitted to me on the phone that there is no way a customer can tell by the cardmember agreement how Chevron calculates late fees because they define the term “New Balance” anyway they like without defining it on paper.
Please note that we have a business charge card, that is it needs to be payed off at the end of the moment. This is different than a credit card and while I’m not sure, I think laws differ as well because its a business card and because its a charge card.
My name is Miguel and my phone number is 310-345-9518. I really want to know if what they do is legally, but we don’t have money to hire a lawyer at $400 an hour.
I contacted the FTC with my complaint but they don’t look at individual complaints. I also contacted the Los Angeles County Consumer Affairs department and they don’t look at business complaints, but they do mediate between companies and that’s where my case is currently heading. I have no idea how that will turn out.
Maybe we can get a couple of business together to split the cost of a consultation fee to find out if what Chevron is doing is legal and if it isn’t, let the lawyer file a class law case. I don’t care for the money at this point, I just want to give it to Chevron.
March 14th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I was a long term Chevron customer. I cut up my
Chevron credit card today.The Chevrons bill arraived today in the mail,on the due date, now the late charge is $ 20.00
Also an additional $5.00 statement mailing charge
will be charged for future mailings. A new statements arrive every 14 days and the credit card limit has been cut back.
Scam! Scam ! Scam!
Chevron must be in financial trouble to have to rip off the customers.
Please cut up your Chevron card and be happy1
thanks,