Gas stations cheating credit card customers

Associated Press
7:09 PM EDT, August 28, 2008

As New Yorkers fill up their tanks before driving out of town Labor Day weekend, they should be wary of running across greedy gas station owners, who are ripping off credit card customers, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

“Our investigation revealed that New York City is rife with gas stations that engage in deceptive practices where they display one price as a way to lure customers — and then charge them more at the pump,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The investigation looked at some 130 gas stations around the city and found that 25 percent engaged in a “bait and switch” con with large street signs displaying prices that applied only to cash purchases. Customers could not see the higher credit cards prices until they parked at the pump.

The “cash-only” notice was often in tiny print and the credit card prices displayed on the other side of the sign faced away from the street,” the investigation found. The deceptive pumps charged about 10 cents more per gallon for credit card purchases at a time when more people are likely charging at the pump because of the rising cost of gasoline.

Gas prices are about 32 percent higher than they were last summer, Cuomo’s office said.

Although it is illegal for the gas stations to add a surcharge for credit card purchases, they can offer a cash discount. The different prices have to be clearly displayed however, otherwise it can be considered false advertising. Cease and desist letters were sent to the offending gas station, the AG’s office said.

Meanwhile, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is auditing the gas station prices along the New York Thruway to check for price gouging and wants the Thruway Authority to post prices at all its rest stops.

Other Useful Blogs
• Work at home careers
  So you're not happy at your current jobs and life seems tough and without options, have you ever thought of the possibility of working at...
   
  
• South Waziristan offensive over, says Pakistan PM
  Pakistan's army has completed its ground offensive against the Taliban in the country's South Waziristan tribal region, Prime Minister...