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Be careful if you pay for gasoline at the pump. You may be paying more than you think.

News reports – both broadcast and print – over the past several weeks have warned consumers about credit card surcharges being passed on by gas stations.

Apparently, stations haven’t minded covering those charges from credit card companies in the past because they were minimal and credit card use at the pump only accounted for a small part of their business. One report said that those who paid at the pump amounted to about 15 percent of business 10 years ago. That percentage has increased through the years, right along with the price of gas.

This trend has led some gas stations to impose limits on how much gas can be pumped using credit cards and some have opted to not accept credit cards at all.

A station owner interviewed in one news report said that credit fees are close to 10 cents per gallon and that most stations mark up their prices by 11 or 12 cents a gallon, leaving little or no profit.

With circumstances what they are, some stations across the country have begun passing those surcharges on to customers in a sneaky sort of way.

An ABC news clip showed a consumer sliding his card to pay for gas, making the selection and the price per gallon increasing from what was posted. The report said some didn’t realize they were paying more because they expected to be billed for the price posted and with gas per gallon so much higher, didn’t recognize that they had been stiffed with the charges.

An example would be the pump saying $4.09 per gallon and the consumer being charged $4.19. Many wouldn’t notice the difference. A 16-gallon tank filled at the aforementioned price would amount to a surcharge of about $1.60.

Some station owners say they are receiving a double whammy these days because many people who pay at the pump don’t enter the store for those over-priced convenience items. They are stuck with paying the credit card surcharges and are only making a penny or so a gallon on whatever fuel was purchased.

Without financially stressed consumers spending their extra coins on Cokes, chewing gum and chicken strips, it puts convenience stores in the same boat with everyone else.

Interestingly, those store owners interviewed weren’t talking about what they were making before fuel prices spiked, only what they aren’t making now.

I’m one of those people who pays at the pump and seldom enters a convenience store, but my husband more than makes up for lack of patronage inside stores. I haven’t noticed stores in the El Dorado area adding a surcharge, but I haven’t paid that close of attention – yet.

The outrage to this news elsewhere was that some gas stations were simply tacking on the charge and not posting it. People can decide whether they want to pay something if they know about it in advance, but not telling them is flat out dishonest.

Be wary out on the road, folks – and if you’re not attentive and worried about losing a couple of bucks to surcharges, consider buying gas the old-fashioned way and shelling out some cash.

(Shea Hutchens Wilson writes from El Dorado. E-mail her at shwilson@eldoradonews.com.)