Shell Illegally Charges Gift Card Gas Customers the Higher Credit Price at the Pump, Lawsuit Claims

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A proposed class action alleges Shell Oil Products US has violated California law by failing to make gift cards sold after January 1, 1997 redeemable in cash for the card’s value, namely for consumers who attempt to use a Shell gift card as a cash payment for gasoline. 

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The 18-page suit says that although Shell gift cards are the equivalent of cash, the company has nevertheless failed to sell gasoline at the cash price to consumers who use a Shell gift card to pay for their purchase. Instead, Shell routinely charges gift card customers the higher credit card price, the filing claims. 

As such, Shell has violated California’s Civil Code and Business and Professions Code and unjustly enriched itself at the expense of gift card-carrying gas customers wrongfully forced to pay the credit price at the pump, the gas station gift card lawsuit contends.

 According to the complaint, Shell has more than 1,100 gas stations across California, at which it offers different price tiers for cash or credit. Per the suit, this split pricing generates additional sales and revenue by encouraging cost-conscious consumers to “seek out Shell stations in order to take advantage of the lower price for using a payment method other than a credit card.”

However, Shell, “despite selling a Gift Card that, by law, is the equivalent of cash,” has failed to honor the cash rate when a consumer uses said gift card to buy gasoline, the suit reiterates. 

“Shell’s pricing scheme is false, deceptive, and misleading to reasonable consumers who purchase gasoline with a Shell Gift Card because, contrary to the expectations of reasonable consumers, Shell treats Gift Cards like credit cards, charging unsuspecting consumers the higher ‘credit’ price rather than the advertised ‘cash’ price,” the case alleges, claiming Shell’s conduct has caused “millions of dollars of damage to California consumers.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons who paid for Shell-branded gas with a Shell gift card in California and were charged a “credit” price in lieu of the “cash” price within the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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