# Gasoline Gouging **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043 "2001-09-12T08:26:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BingoBurringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BingoBurringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BingoBurringo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/1 "2001-09-12T08:26:18Z")
Will the pricks that charged five bucks a gallon for gas be prosecuted? Will they serve time as an example? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/2 "2001-09-12T10:26:09Z")
I doubt it. The problem of price gouging at the gas pump will pale in comparison to what else is on America’s plate over the next month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Chaosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Chaosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chaosopher)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/3 "2001-09-12T12:02:44Z")
Gas prices in my area varried from 1.40 per gallon to 3.50 per gallon. Our state attorny has already come out saying that unless the people charging 3.50 can come up with a valid reason, he’s going to fine them for price gouging. I have a feeling that the fine will be more than they made in selling their gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/4 "2001-09-12T12:31:11Z")
Just remember who they were and that they tried to profit from tragedy. If enough people remember, he will be out of business. ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/5 "2001-09-12T12:54:25Z")
At 6:00pm yesterday, I saw gas at $1.57/gallon. By 9:30pm, it was $1.68. This morning, it had surged to $1.98. Co-workers report seeing it as high as $6.00/gallon on the outskirts of Columbus. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/6 "2001-09-12T13:31:00Z")
Gas prices of up to $2.00 per gallon were understandable, in light of the stupidity of American motorists who descended on the stations like starlings on a corn field for no better reason than to gas up before the prices rose from some unspecified future shortage scenario. As for the obvious attempts to charge unprecedented prices for gasoline in the face of such persistent stupidity, one side of me says anyone who was out stampeding gas stations deserved what they got, but the more calm-headed side of me notes that some people may actually have needed gas, for which besetting sin they shouldn’t have to pay exorbitant prices (such as the $4.00 per gallon reported in Michigan just north of Toledo). ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/7 "2001-09-12T13:40:50Z")
Not that I’m doubting any of you saying that there is price gouging, but would anyone mind posting a few links to newstories verifying this? There’s been so many rumors over the past 24 hours . . . and I can’t find anything. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/8 "2001-09-12T13:42:23Z")
MI Attorney General (quite the consumer activist–I love her) has also said she’ll investigate price gouging and prosecute as appropriate. I love the starlings-on-a-cornfield simile. I’ll be using that again, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/9 "2001-09-12T13:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > \*\*Not that I’m doubting any of you saying that there is price gouging, but would anyone mind posting a few links to newstories verifying this? There’s been so many rumors over the past 24 hours . . . and I can’t find anything. \*\* Well, this is all I found . . [http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2001-09-11-oil-surge-attack.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2001-09-11-oil-surge-attack.htm) Somehow, I STILL have trouble believing this. Sounds like “false reports” to me! ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/10 "2001-09-13T03:00:03Z")
CNN has it on its website and actual pictures on its channels. The owners all said it was in response to keep people from PANIC BUYING. What ever this is. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/11 "2001-09-13T03:49:49Z")
Could somebody explain to me what the problem is, charging a price for a product that people are willing to pay? If I can get $7 a gallon for gas, and you’re willing to pay it, why is it anyone else’s business? The increased price reflects that demand exceeds supply, so if I don’t charge more, then I will run out, and maybe someone who _really_ needs it won’t be able to get it. I guess I don’t see why the irrefutable law of supply and demand shouldn’t apply in this case, as it does in absolutely everything else. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/12 "2001-09-13T04:42:38Z")
Well, here in Illinois, it is against the law. Casey General Stores is being sued for gouging. If this is proved, which seems likely, Casey General Stores will probably not be allowed to do business in Illinois again. It harms consumers if prices are raised arbitrarily high on goods that they need. Most of the gas gouging, in this state at least, are in lower population areas. Here in my part of Chicagoland, the prices stayed for the most part near levels they have been for the last week. I don’t know if it was because none of the stations did not want to be the first one to hike prices, or if the proximity of so many other stations made the move likely to be unprofitable. In areas of less competition, gouging is more likely and more heinous because it is not as easy for the consumer to just go to the competition. Gouging is bad also because it encourages panic, kinda the opposite of insuring domestic tranquility. It is against the public interest to have panic on the streets. It is also disruptive to the economy in the near and mid term. For example, if a working mother has to pay her whole month’s budget for gasoline to pay for a weeks worth of gas, unless she has considerable savings, she may be forced to not pay or delay paying other bills. If this happens to enough people, then the whole economy suffers for the sake of a few assholes. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/13 "2001-09-13T06:36:57Z")
Let’s not turn this into a debate about whether ít’s right or wrong to increase prices that way. That question has already been debated in GD, if my frazzled memory serves me. Let’s stick to answering the question of whether it’s legal or illegal to increase prices that way. I suspect the answer will depend on the state. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/14 "2001-09-13T14:36:57Z")
If I might be permitted a simplified answer to the question **CurtC** posed, the point isn’t that people stupid enough to rush to buy gas when they didn’t need to shouldn’t pay the cost of such silliness. There are, however, people who actually needed the commodity, for whom the attempt to make as much money off the sudden “panic” can be a real pain. ---
**Author:** ![Delta-9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Delta-9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delta-9)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/15 "2001-09-13T14:50:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurtC \* > \*\*Could somebody explain to me what the problem is, charging a price for a product that people are willing to pay? If I can get $7 a gallon for gas, and you’re willing to pay it, why is it anyone else’s business? > \*\* Except this isn’t about supply and demand. It’s about gas companies allegedly taking advantage of the current situation. I think we all understand that gas is a commodity and that the price will fluctuate (sometimes very steeply in a short time). But this was extreme enough to raise quite a few eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/16 "2001-09-13T14:52:17Z")
In answer to the OP, the news here reports that a number of price gouging cases in Texas have been referred to the Texas Attorney General for prosecution. The AG responds here: [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2001/20010912prgouging.htm](http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2001/20010912prgouging.htm) > [@](#): > > “Price-gouging in the wake of Tuesday’s disasters in New York City and Washington, D.C., is illegal and violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” said Attorney General Cornyn. “Legal action can and will be taken by the Office of Attorney General to enforce the law and protect Texans from such despicable business practices.” There’s also a FAQ from the Texas AG on price gouging here that specifically addresses gouging in the wake of recent flooding, but answers questions about how to file complaints, etc.: [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/flood\_faqs.htm](http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/flood_faqs.htm) I doubt anyone will serve any jail time for this, but if the complaints are proven, the businesses involved should face substantial fines and penalties. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/17 "2001-09-13T15:27:46Z")
Not widespread, perhaps, but there’s certainly isolated cases. > **[stltoday.com](https://www.stltoday.com/?OpenDocument&PubWrapper=A-section)** > > St Louis news source: Latest St. Louis City and County news from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch & STLtoday.com. Headlines on local weather, entertainment and events. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/18 "2001-09-13T17:01:44Z")
Sorry, I didn’t mean to resurrect any Great Debates. I just truly don’t understand how one might define “gouging,” when the price simply reflects supply and demand in an open, free market. It’s not like there’s only one place to buy gas - there are gas stations on every street of every small town in America. If they didn’t raise their prices when a rush is on, then they would run out. There wouldn’t be enough of it to go around. So how is “gouging” defined? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gasoline-gouging/81043/19 "2001-09-14T02:49:09Z")
Boycott. Price of oil is around $27.50 today according to Bloomberg. I haven’t paid close attention to it recently, but that is not far off where it’s been for the past few months. Thus $5/gallon gas is extreme gouging. This is not about supply and demand. This is about exploiting a panic situation. IMHO, there is a big difference. You can ensure that it will not happen next time, by voting as consumers and boycotting any station that has engaged in price gouging. That is a free market response.