Originally Posted by
indyws6
http:///forum/post/2566207
Greetings
Gas price changes - pet peave!
Two weeks ago, I was going to fill-up on Thursday because the previous week they raised prices on Friday (to gouge the weekend travelers, no doubt). But, they threw a change-up and raised prices on Thursday morning. Missed it and paid more than necessary.
Last week, I figured I would fill-up on Wednesday since they caught me off-guard the previous week. So what happened? They raised prices on Wednesday morning. Missed it again.
This week, I figured I would be smart (
) and fill-up on my way home from work Monday - no way they would raise prices that early in the week, right? Wrong! They raised prices on Monday morning. !$#@%@$%
Right now, gas is $3.49 for regular here (about 30 miles NE of Indianapolis). What annoys me more than anything is the fluctation. Lately, and this is typical for my area, gas will increase 30 cents or more per gallon - all at one time - and then go back down to where it was over the course of 5 or 6 days. Then the cycle starts all over. That is why everyone tries to guess which day it will jump and fill-up ahead of time. (Clearly, I'm not very good at it...). There is no valid reason for the gas prices to fluctuate that much only to come back down to the starting price (an announcement of an increase in the price of a barrel of oil does not immediately increase the value of the gas sitting in the underground tank. Oddly enough, when oil prices decrease, the cost of gas doesn't seem to drop nearly as as much, or as quickly, as it went up...). This has been the approach by the gas stations in my area for a long time. In the past, the mark-up was more like 10 cents a gallon, but now it is at least 30 cents.
Now, if the price of, let's say Milk, were to jump that drastically, you simply wouldn't buy it. Eventually, the lack of demand would force lower prices. That doesn't work for gas since everyone "must" have it - and that is being used to take advantage of the consumer. Add to that the efforts of the gas stations to change the patterns of price changes to trick the consumer into paying a higher price. That, to me, is an unethical business practice and something that should be legislated. I'm not big on government involvement (especially when a significant portion of the cost of a gallon of gas is taxes), but this might be a situation that warrants it.
<Stepping off soapbox>
Make a complaint to your local dept of consumer affairs and the Better Business Bureau.might be a shady gas station
