I’m not sure if this is true at other gas stations, if it’s just a Safeway thing, or maybe these limits are set by the credit card companies themselves. Maybe it’s just this particular Safeway. Typically Visa and MasterCard are neck to neck on these policies.

Update: Thanks to Ungsunghero for pointing me to this article: $75 limit on credit card charges at gas pump causes frustration:

Station owners say they simply are passing through policies of Visa and MasterCard, which won’t reimburse them more than $75 per transaction at the pump if there’s a disputed charge or a fraudulent card is used.

However, this article does state that both Visa and MasterCard has a $75 per transaction limit. Ungsunghero’s guess is that since Visa is the most common credit card out there, making it the most common one to commit fraud with, Safeway may be trying to lower their risk, which I can agree with.

Update #2: The thing as Ungsunghero later pointed out (which I also already knew) is that profit margins are very slim for gasoline. Before they would make 10 cents in profit per gallon and if you used your credit card, half of that probably goes to paying the transaction fees. And the thing with credit card fees is that there’s a base fee per transaction + a percentage of the total transaction. So as gas prices go up, so do the fees. If I recall correctly, the fees have now gone over the 10 cent profit margin.

“It’s the merchants’ decision to limit purchases,” says Visa spokesman Paul Wilke. He adds: “Customers always have the option of paying with the card at the cash register” where its policy differs from the pump.

[…]

Station owners say they don’t like the limits. If customers reswipe their card to fill up, it forces retailers to pay the card issuers more transaction fees. If they drive off without a full tank, the station lost revenue.

The reason why everyone swipes at the pump is because it’s more convenient. Who really wants to go into the convenience store, wait in line, pay a set limit, and then walk all the way back?

What I find completely ridiculous is that credit card companies are only covering a set limit per transaction, but they’re allowing customers to reswipe their cards multiple times?!?! I have to side with the gas stations on this one. Why not only allow the customer to swipe once and give a higher protection limit. I know the answer, you don’t have to tell me. Credit card companies are greedy bastards.

There’s actually a longer version (80 seconds vs 60 seconds) on their homepage: Moccona Coffee – Never settle for less than special. At first I didn’t notice any differences, but as I watched them side by side, I realize that it showed more of the women’s responses.

While searching for the music, I found this page: Moccona Coffee in Quest for Romance

The Quest was developed at M&C Saatchi, Sydney, by creative director Ben Welsh, art director Michael Jones, copywriter Lizzie O’Hara-Boyce, agency producer Rod James.

Filming was shot on location in Montevideo, Uruguay, by Noah Marshall via The Sweet Shop, with director of photography Ian McCarroll, and producer Tony Whyman.

Post production was done at Digipost and Fin Design in New Zealand.

Moccona is a brand of coffee produced by the Dutch corporation Douwe Egberts and popular in Australia and New Zealand. The coffee is regarded as one of the superior brands in the market. In my household Moccona jars are kept to store nuts and confectionery. The lid does look as though as it could have been formed by the sea.

Inside the comment area, M&C Saatchi posted:

Thanks for the comments guys. The music was created for us by composer Elliott Wheeler through Nylon Studios in Sydney. We’re soon going to post an mp4 on the moccona.com.au website that you’ll be able to download. For a ltd time there’s also a longer (80sec) version up there.

In the posted YouTube video, Mocconateam posted:

Thanks for all the positive feedback – we’re glad you like the work.
The commercial was filmed in Montevideo, by a director called Noah Marshal from The Sweetshop (Aukland). We cast all the actors locally except for the hero and the blonde woman who came from Argentina. The music was by a composer called Elliott Wheeler who we commissioned specially for the job through Nylon Studios here in Sydney, Australia.

Since the music was “specially commissioned” for this advertisement, that means it’s no where to be found besides ripping it from the ad. I also wasn’t able to find the .mp4 file that they mention would be posted on their homepage.

Update: Thanks to Chriszam for letting me know that Moccona has released the mp3 for the track on their homepage. The mp3 is zipped up into a 1.2MB file: Download

Enjoy!

Update #2: blufindr pointed out the cute girl in the ad is Caitlin Stasey (an Australian actress that played Rachel Kinski in Neighbours).

I will admit they do look very similar and Moccona is an Australian coffee, though I still have my doubts. I did a search on Caitlin Stasey and Maccona and found nothing that linked them together. Also, the director noted: We cast all the actors locally except for the hero and the blonde woman who came from Argentina. The heroine isn’t blonde, so I would’ve assumed she was cast locally, meaning she would’ve been from Montevideo (largest city, the capital and chief port of Uruguay). Caitlin Stasey on the other hand was born in Melbourne, Australia.

Update #3: Thanks to marcus6 for identifying the mystery girl as Uruguayan actress Ana Lia Badani:

You can see more pictures of her on her official site.

Update #4: Looks like the removed the mp3 from their servers. Here’s a mirror: 01-Moccona-Quest.mp3. Enjoy!