Got hit with a $418 bill after charging at a dealership's 'public' charger a few times — is this normal or did I get scammed?

Which network was it on? Most dealer fast chargers are on ChargePoint or something similar, and the dealer sets the price. The rate shows up in the app before you start. It's not a scam, it's just expensive.

Not a scam, but this happens a lot. Dealers can set whatever price they want, and some of them set it high on purpose so random people don't tie up the charger their service department uses. I saw a thread a while back where someone got hit with almost the exact same amount. Do you have any way to charge at home, even L1? That changes the math a lot.

It's legal as long as the price is posted somewhere, and somewhere usually means three screens deep in an app. I'd still email the dealership and ask them to explain the rate. Sometimes they'll refund part of it to avoid a bad review. Either way, put the per kWh price in a PlugShare review so the next person sees it before they plug in. That's really the only pressure these places feel.

I didn't use an app at all. It showed up on Google Maps, there was a card reader on it, so I just tapped my card. The screen showed kWh going up and a total at the end, but I never looked at the rate before I started. I know, my fault. It was 5 or 6 sessions.

$418 in one month is more than most people spend on gas. This is why I keep saying an EV only makes sense if you can charge at home. Public fast charging is expensive even when the price is fair.

@caseyo_19 They said they needed to charge a few times. Doesn't sound like they're relying on it.

For comparison, the whole charging bill for our 5800 mile round trip from Cincinnati to Vancouver BC was $34.52. Granted, that was mostly free EA charging that came with the car, but even paying full price I've never seen anything close to 4x normal rates on a major network. Dealer chargers are the wild card. Some are priced reasonably, some are basically there for the service department and priced to keep everyone else away, and some don't work half the time. The card reader screens almost never show the rate up front, which I think is a real problem, though I doubt it's illegal. What I do now with any charger I haven't used before is check the recent PlugShare comments first. If the price is outrageous, someone has usually complained about it there. I trust the comments more than the star rating.

If the card reader screen didn't show the price at all before the session started, I'd call your card company and ask. Can't hurt. Worst case they say no.

Funny, I always complain fast chargers should have card readers like gas pumps. Guess I should add that they need to show the price on the screen like a gas pump too

Was it billing per kWh or per minute? Some of these card reader units bill by time, and if your car only pulls 50kW on a 150kW unit you pay for all those minutes. That can easily look like 4x. Either way, dealers gonna dealer.

Called the dealership this morning. The service desk guy said the charger is "run by a third party" and he couldn't do anything about it, and he gave me a number that went to voicemail. Going to try the card company like @nkowalski said. Honestly the charge itself was fine, I just wish I'd known.

"Run by a third party" is what they all say... the dealer still decided to put it there and someone at the dealership agreed to that rate. Since you found it on Google Maps, leave the review there too, not just PlugShare! That's where the next person tapping a card is going to see it.

Look at your card statement for the merchant name on those charges. It's usually the network or the payment processor, not the dealer, so at least you'd know who to call instead of a voicemail box.

5 or 6 sessions for $418 comes out to $70-80 a session. That's what a full tank of gas costs in LA, and you're getting maybe 200 miles out of it. Definitely worth disputing if the screen never showed a rate.

The price was almost certainly on the screen or on a sticker somewhere. Card companies usually won't reverse a charge for a service you got just because it cost more than you expected.

What was the actual per kWh rate? Divide the total on one receipt by the kWh shown. If it's per minute like someone said above, the math won't come out to a round number.

Dealer DC chargers are a gamble. The Volvo dealer near me charges more per kWh than Electrify America and half the time it's derated anyway. I just don't bother with them anymore unless I'm desperate.