I avoid the ARCO station unless I’m filling my F150 with 15 gallons or more to amortize the fee across a big fill up. It just makes filling the Harley with 2.5 gallons a non-player next to a transaction at a slightly higher price per gallon at another station.
Exactly. Obviously, the ARCO station owner assessed his fee structure based on the level of closest competition and taking into account the potential cost to the customer (in money / time / distance, i.e., “convenience”) of getting either alternative station’s fuel or payment method. That’s how businesses operate.
You are doing the same thing, when choosing where to buy, based on the same facts of competing alternatives. Government didn’t interfere in that, and the new rules really won’t change anything for you, they just redistribute the cost / profit between the banks and the station owner. Whoever has lost part of the profit will try to get some of it back in other ways, fees or payment methods, but some credit will now become more expensive for all and/or unavailable to those with worse credit risk.
Government hasn’t changed the competing environment by inserting itself between you and creditors. Another gas station might have.