Kathy Homziak of Squirrel Hill had a problem with Giant Eagle's fuelperks program that she thought she could resolve by explaining it to the clerk at a GetGo gasoline station in the East End.

Miss Homziak, 50, a personal care aide who shops for clients who no longer drive, had accumulated a $4.48-per-gallon discount as of Feb. 29. But she wanted to use only 38 cents per gallon because that amount was set to expire at midnight.

The gas tank of her 2002 Honda was more than half-full and she didn't want to use the entire $4.48 for about five gallons of gas.

Miss Homziak said the clerk told her she wouldn't be able to use just 38 cents. She called Giant Eagle and spoke to a customer service representative who reiterated what the clerk had told her, but the rep said a one-time adjustment would be made to her account if she called back on Monday.

Miss Homziak did call back and another customer service representative restored the 38 cents discount that had expired.

But she said neither the gas station clerk nor the customer service reps could tell her why it wasn't possible for customers to use only a portion of their total fuelperks discount.

"I cannot understand why Giant Eagle will not program their [cash] registers to accommodate us, the consumer," she said. "We should be able to use whatever dollar amount discount we want for our fuel purchases."

Miss Homziak, who asked the rep to have someone in upper management return her call, contacted the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette because "no one" from Giant Eagle had addressed her concerns.

I faxed her letter to Giant Eagle.

In an e-mail response, spokesman Dan Donovan said the company has "no plans to alter the program" that involves "more than 3.8 million" Advantage Card households.

"A major reason for the program's popularity is its simplicity," he said.

"Customers know that every $50 spent in-store earns a [10 cents] per gallon discount on fuel at GetGo, and that there are no limits to the amount of fuelperks earned. If the amount of fuelperks rewards earned exceeds the price of fuel, the difference is carried forward to their next fill-up.

"Customers are required to redeem their fuelperks rewards in full in one transaction [unless the discount is greater than the price of a gallon of gasoline]. They are also provided with a rolling 90-day window for fuelperks redemption."

He said most customers redeem their fuelperks within 30 days.

"Any significant changes, such as allowing customers to redeem portions of their fuelperks earning, would call for significant systems development. Since we very rarely receive feedback asking for this particular change, we currently have no plans to alter the program as such.

"However, we will continue to take these and similar recommendations into consideration," he concluded.

Miss Homziak wasn't pleased.

"I think it's a cop-out," she said. "What's so hard about redeeming just 38 cents? It's not that hard to punch numbers into a computerized cash register. ... If they wanted to do it, they could. They just don't want to."

I asked Giant Eagle if Miss Homziak could be issued another Advantage Card that she could use for smaller gas purchases. Spokesman Rob Borella said the store "would be happy" to issue cards to her clients that Miss Homziak could use when she buys groceries for them.

Mr. Borella said the clients could then permit Miss Homziak to use their cards when she buys gas. Or, he said, they could contact the company's Customer Care Center "to request an alternative reward in Giant Eagle gift cards to be used on future purchases."

Fuelperks discounts can be used to purchase up to 30 gallons of gas. Although some customers would like to fill up two vehicles from the same pump to maximize their discounts, that practice isn't allowed "for both safety and traffic congestion reasons," Mr. Donovan said.

"We do permit customers to redeem up to the 30-gallon maximum allowance by using approved fuel containers should their vehicle tanks hold less than 30 gallons."