Can you guys believe that there are people charging $3, $4,a nd even $5 per gallon of gas in the midwest and north? That makes me sick. They interviewed an owner and he said something along the lines of, "We don't know if se will be supplied with gas in the immediate future." That PISSES ME OFF. These guys (and it was a white guy) are taking advantage of scared people. And you know it's only a matter of time before some A-hole tries to make a profit by selling T-shirts, pins, bumper sticjers, etc. I have no problem with people rising to the occasion and producing and selling supportive goods if, and only if, they are not sold for a profit. Chance
Apparently, it has happened in Texas as well. Gov. Perry signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency as a way to put price controls in place the same way the state would do during a hurricane if people charged $4 for bottled water. According the report on the radio, anyone caught will be fined $10,000 for EACH INFRACTION. That means, for every person that fills up at that price, these guys get $10K tacked on. They deserve it!
The phone numbers to report gouging in Texas to the Texas Attorney General are: 1-800-337-3928 or 1-800-252-8011
People have already touched on this a little in this thread Oil Prices Could SkyRocket This is sickening that oil companies and gas station owners would do something like this. Bush should seriously think about a price freeze on gasoline.
Gas prices fall after officials threaten action against gougers 09/12/2001 Associated Press NEW YORK – Gas prices tumbled in many parts of the nation Wednesday, a day after attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as government officials threatened action against gougers and sought to reassure motorists of adequate supplies. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said there is no indication of shortages that should justify price spikes of $5 a gallon or more. "There's been no supply disruption to justify such prices," Abraham said. He said at a news conference in Washington that the Environmental Protection Agency lifted Wednesday summer clean air gasoline requirements to avert any possible shortage of supplies. The standards, imposed to ease air pollution problems during the summer, had been scheduled to expire on Saturday. Gas prices soared Tuesday on fears of shortages, prompting skirmishes at stations in several states as motorists raced to get to the pump first. One 78-year-old man in Topeka, Kan., was arrested for aggravated assault after he allegedly pulled a pellet gun on another customer. But gas suppliers quickly backed off high prices Wednesday, as many states said they would investigate reports of gouging. In Arkansas, the attorney general's office was instructing all its investigators to work on nothing but gouging complaints. "We made a dumb decision," said Todd Van Zeeland, owner of a gasoline distributor in Little Chute, Wis., who raised the price of regular unleaded gasoline from $1.69 a gallon to $2.95 on Tuesday. He said he would donate the profits to the American Red Cross. Earlier, Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum had called on consumers to boycott gas stations that dramatically raised their gas prices and said officials would investigate if there was any collusion. "Our intention was not to gouge customers or profit from the tragedy. We just wanted to control traffic and prevent a run on our pumps," Van Zeeland said. The R and L Texaco in Oklahoma City increased the price of unleaded gasoline to $5 a gallon after a supplier told the owner it was unclear when the next shipment would be available and at what price. But owner Ralph Pfenninger said he now realizes he overcharged customers and would be offering refunds. "I'm just following orders," said Caroll Lambert, the assistant manager at the Super Pumper Amoco station in Devils Lake, N.D., explaining why she raised and then dropped the price from $3.29 Tuesday to $1.89 by 10 a.m. Wednesday. "The price would have been lowered earlier, she said, but, "I don't have anybody here to change the sign." Some analysts said the worst of the price hikes appeared to be over. They noted that crude oil prices appeared fairly stable in European trading Wednesday. "There was a little bit of a mass neurosis that swept across some areas of the country (Tuesday)," said Tom Kloza, director of Oil Price Information Services, a Lakewood, N.J., publisher of oil industry data. "But there's a little bit less uncertainty now in terms of oil prices." The nationwide average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $1.53 per gallon at the onset of the attacks Tuesday on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to AAA. In Washington, the American Petroleum Institute, the industry trade group, issued a statement reassuring motorists that there is no threat of a fuel shortage. "Fuels are flowing normally to wholesale and retail markets throughout the United States," said the institute, adding that gasoline and diesel fuel inventories "are adequate to meet demand and refinery production remains strong." Gulf oil-producing nations, meanwhile, offered reassurances that they would ensure market stability in the event of any supply interruptions. Emirates Oil Minister Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri acknowledged Tuesday's attacks greatly affected prices and markets, but said it "is temporary and I think will end soon." Oil supplies from the Emirates and the Gulf to world markets were continuing normally, al-Nasseri said. An official at the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. also said loading schedules were normal at Kuwait's oil terminals. Exxon Mobil and BP, the nation's two largest oil companies, sought to calm motorists, urging them to refrain from stockpiling gasoline to avoid artificial runouts. The companies said they had no immediate plans to raise prices.
I've about had it with these gas station owners/managers. They go and create a panic by raising prices significantly and then they use the panic as justification for raising their prices (saying that increased demand is causing the higher prices). But since the panic didn't start until the prices were bumped up (to as high as $5 per gallon 'round here), the increased demand caused by the panic isn't really justification for the higher prices. Had they not originally started raising prices, the panic doesn't happen and the demand increase isn't there. The Attorney General's office in Texas has received over 400 complaints, reportedly, about price gouging. And that's just the people who called in to complain. There are hundreds of stations who saw the tragedy and decided to get as much profit from it as they could get (and who have no respect for State Law). Given how worthless the Attorney General's office is, I'm willing to bet that absolutely NO fines will be issued despite all the gouging.
The Exxon that I went to on Tuesday night, sold out of gas on Wednesday. The gas station reopened later that night with the same price as Tuesday.
I guess this fits pretty well here... <img src="http://www.freep.com/voices/edit_art/091301_mt_450(2).jpg">
all good points mrpaige hopefully the AG will surprise us and the offending stations will get what they deserve!!! i know this is america, and lots of people are just trying to make a buck, but those station owners should feel a sense of responsibility and indebtedness to their community.
I work for the Shell/Texaco Alliance in the Marketing IT group, and I know that the pricing team is looking through the credit card historical databases to locate those locations that raised their prices. Not sure if it's something that will be handled internally or if they'll be reported to the governement.
