NY Gas Gouging is Rampant: How I confronted One Gouger today

[jzodda]

This is my story from today living just north of NY city. When I woke up I needed gas so I drove to the gas station about a mile away and the price for regular was $3.49

I was loathe to pay that much so I started driving around comparing prices and I found prices for regular ranging from $3.10 to $3.79 in the area. I must have looked at about 25 stations to get this comparison.

The most interesting part was what I found at a Hess station and an Exxon station. On one side of the street the Hess station weighing in at $3.19 a gallon for regular. Not good but considering what I found today, one of the lowest. Across the street was an Exxon with regular for $3.64

For whatever reason this angered me alot so I drove into the Exxon and got out of my car. I told the worker that I was a reporter for the NY Times and wanted to do a story on why the price here is $.45 higher then the regular across the street. I even took a notepad and a pen out with me to make it look real.

He said the owner was inside so I walked into the little office. After telling him who I was and that I wanted an answer as to why his prices were so high he told me to F myself, told me he wasnt going to answer my questions and proceeded to lock himself in the bathroom. From there he put out a steady stream of obsenities with a thick foreign accent. From his looks and the sound of it, I think it was an Indian Subcontinent accent. Of course his race means nothing, as gouging could and does come from any race but I mention it cause I have never been cursed at like that in a foreign accent, and he threw in some curses from another language that I am still trying to figure out :)

When I asked from outside the bathroom door what caused him to raise the price of regular about 50c in one night he said he was calling the cops from his cellphone. At this point I just told him that he was going to be part of a front page NY Times story tomarrow and left.

It was quite fun to actually confront the Gouger! I only wish I could actually have a real effect on things

[msongs]

1. how is his national origin and accent relevant to the price of gas? nt

[havocmom]

6. Anybody but me remeber the gentleman selling gas lower than others in NYC

a year or so ago? The oil company took his franchise away from him. The man lost all the $$ he put into improvements because he sold gas for less than his suppliers wanted him to.

He was also from the sub-continent. Good and bad comes from all over. When confronted with something that smells racial, tell an opposing tale ;)

[jzodda]

8. dont look too deep about the racial part

In fact its meaningless to the story except for the fact that it sounded quite funny to be cursed at like that with a thick accent :)

The guy across the street who owns the Hess is an Indian and his price was alot lower. Gougers come in all races

[liberalpragmatist]

17. They did a Daily Show piece on that guy didn't they? - n/t

[jzodda]

2. Its just part of the story-means nothing

[havocmom]

3. Holding people accountable for what they do or fail to do is good.

We sure seem to hold the poor accountable around here. Time for the well-heeled heals to face their actions.

[EDT]

4. My friends son owns a big chain gas station- they don't set the prices.

This was news to me, but she told me this well before this recent increase. She stated that he was frustrated as he could not lower his price to match the competing gas stations on the same street. Prices were dictated by the regional office.

[havocmom]

7. see my post 6 about a man who sold for less than he was told to

The corporations are fucking everyone.

[ohio_liberal]

11. Thank you!

My best friend's father has owned a Sunoco gas station for 40 years. He does not set the prices.

[Quakerfriend]

5. Great story!

I bet he was wishing he had kept that pottie a bit cleaner!

[Spinzonner]

9. The's a saying about being being part of the problem or the solution

you're perilously close to being part of the problem with this sort of behavior.

Maybe you can't do much to solve the mess, but why add it to it ?

How much do you know about the economics of running a gas station and the pressures they're under ? He has to pay to replace the gas that gets used at the price of the newer gas so he has to make sure he's getting enough for his current stock to do that.

You also don't know about the partiulars of his vendor relationship thnat might differ from nearby station.

He's caught in the middle of a process he has no control over, just like you. Don't take things out on your fellow 'suffers'.

[jzodda]

14. I do not know anything about the economics of running a station

But I am sorry-call me nuts or paranoid if you must but I can not see how one can raise the price that much overnight. Especially when its so much lower right across the street?

Of course I have no hard data to back up a gut feeling but I believe these corporations and some greedy station owners are raping the public on purpose.

[ohio_liberal]

10. Listen!

Gas station owners/operators who belong to chains normally do not set prices themselves. Let me say it again. The chain gas stations like BP, Exxon, Sunoco, Marathon...the gas station owners and operators do not set the prices. The corporate offices set the prices daily.

[Mr_Spock]

12. Excellent!! More people should take these people to task

for the raping of people simply for greed. I wonder what political party thinks that this sort of "free market" activity is good? :D

[fleabert]

13. interesting, but what does his ethnicity or language have to do with it?

[jzodda]

15. nothing-gouging has nothing to do with race: just human greed

could be any race

[Lerkfish]

16. Just FYI, impersonating the press is a nono.

for a lot of good reasons, but mainly, you can be sued, and you can get hurt.