Confusing credit card charge for free charging

[borski]

Ha! I just charged today. Had one immediate connection failure, and the second attempt pinged me to identify the charger station # via the app. The wording suggested the possibility of a charge per kWh, but upon entering the station number, the charge was set at zero. Charged to 80%, and got my receipt for $0.00 both on the station screen and an email from Lucid, but I now have two Lucid charges pending for $75 each. I don't care a bit about them, as I am 100% confident that they will become a misty memory in about a week, other than Lucid possibly replacing them with two pending $75 credits. Now, if Lucid wants those credits to post, that would be just fine by me, but it ain't gonna happen.

Precisely. This thread should be dead now, as this is precisely what is happening. No charges are getting posted.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Precisely. This thread should be dead now, as this is precisely what is happening. No charges are getting posted.

I agree, but the issue refuses to die. I have tried to explain it on several different threads, but some people remain quite concerned about these charges. That said, I agree that it's been explained more than enough, and too easily gets muddied with other issues, such as the loss of free charging.

 

[new owner]

But, was it for some rounded amount, like the typical credit hold, or was it for the $ amount showing on the charging station as the actual charge amount? If it's the latter, that's a different issue from what I'm talking about. By all means, it may still be a valid issue, but a different one. (BTW, have you verified that the charge has actually been fully posted? I once had what looked like a charge on the station, but it never actually posted to my account.)

I think a lot of people have kind of inexplicably been getting free charging, while others are on structured one, two or three year programs, and others yet are on semi-structured 'up to X dollars or Y kWh free' plans. Depending on your situation, you may want to escalate with Lucid.

It wasn’t the hold charge ( I see those come and go now)
It was the typical charge for charging session
The amount It was listed on my charging history ( never happened before as is always 0 charge) BUT it did not show on the credit card so I wasn’t charged at all . Perhaps is is due to it being an Evolve EA station in NY
Have to say it was a quick charging session

 

[audiojerry]

Back in January there was lots of noise about owners losing their complimentary charging. I received a notice from Lucid customer care that my complimentary charging would end.
"Your Lucid Air 50EA************* is currently enrolled in complimentary charging with Electrify America, scheduled to end on February 5th, 2025."
Soon after, I followed the advice found here to register my credit card with EA with the understanding that I would only be charged for idle time. Before doing that I emailed Customer Care on 1/23 asking for clarity on the situation. I finally got their reply today on Feb. 25th:
"Hello J....,

After further research on your account you do not have free complimentary EA charging and would need to add a payment method in your lucid portal and upgrade to the Base charging plan.

This method of payment will also be used for any idling fees incurred after charging.

Best Regards,
Lucid Customer Care"

Prior to leasing my AT on June 30th, my sales rep told me he wasn't sure if the complimentary charging benefit was still being offered, but I was enjoying free charging up until the last time I used it on Dec. 6th. I don't know if I still get it, but be fore-warned: Don't ask Customer Care to verify if your account is eligible for complimentary charging.

 

[Halodde]

Small correction it is $75 hold now as of yesterday.

Why the hell would they do that? $50 was already excessive

 

[borski]

Why the hell would they do that? $50 was already excessive

They (and anyone) authorize it for a maximum amount so that you don’t have to “swipe” twice. Gas stations usually authorize for $100-150.

 

[Halodde]

They (and anyone) authorize it for a maximum amount so that you don’t have to “swipe” twice. Gas stations usually authorize for $100-150.

I don't know if that logic works in this scenario. I understand/get it with gas stations. But in the case of gas station auths, there is at least a theoretical maximum amount because of the amount of gas you can put in the tank. In this case, at $0.40/minute, $75 is a little over 3 hours of idle time which, while a stupid long time for someone to leave their car idle, is not a maximum amount of time someone *could* leave their car idle. Clearly, someone at Lucid or EA decided that $50 was not enough and settled on $75. And although my question was largely rhetorical, I am curious how that thought process played out.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

There is one other possibility, and I wish I had taken a screenshot of this. I charged two days ago, and the handshake failed. When the app initiated the process where you click the EA button and the app then prompts you to enter the station number, I could swear that the app instructions said something that alluded to charging for both the energy rate per kWh and idle fees. Not just idle fees. Entering the station number worked as expected, in that it reset my rate to zero, and then initiated charging, but I got the impression that, if I did not have free charging, it would have gone ahead and billed me the going energy rate. If that's the way it works now, then exceeding the original $50 pre-auth is easily possible. BTW, I have NOT signed up for the Lucid Charging - Base Plan, so it was not that.

 

[Halodde]

There is one other possibility, and I wish I had taken a screenshot of this. I charged two days ago, and the handshake failed. When the app initiated the process where you click the EA button and the app then prompts you to enter the station number, I could swear that the app instructions said something that alluded to charging for both the energy rate per kWh and idle fees. Not just idle fees. Entering the station number worked as expected, in that it reset my rate to zero, and then initiated charging, but I got the impression that, if I did not have free charging, it would have gone ahead and billed me the going energy rate. If that's the way it works now, then exceeding the original $50 pre-auth is easily possible. BTW, I have NOT signed up for the Lucid Charging - Base Plan, so it was not that.

Makes sense

 

[borski]

I don't know if that logic works in this scenario. I understand/get it with gas stations. But in the case of gas station auths, there is at least a theoretical maximum amount because of the amount of gas you can put in the tank. In this case, at $0.40/minute, $75 is a little over 3 hours of idle time which, while a stupid long time for someone to leave their car idle, is not a maximum amount of time someone *could* leave their car idle. Clearly, someone at Lucid or EA decided that $50 was not enough and settled on $75. And although my question was largely rhetorical, I am curious how that thought process played out.

They are authorizing for the charge costs, not idle fees. They do it this way even for people that don’t have free charging anymore (me, for example).

It is simpler to do it one way than to have a special case for people who have free charging. Since it doesn’t ever actually post anyway, I imagine the decision was made that simpler was better.