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Author	Topic: Tricky gas price signs make motorists upset	Post a Reply Back to Topics

PD Moderator	Message Posted: Jun 9, 2011 10:40:35 AM Ignore PD Report Abuse I've been seeing and hearing about it more and more lately. Gas stations have been experimenting with how to show you how low their prices are- but many times there is a catch, so beware! Recently, a BP chain of stations local to me started doing with what many of us are already familiar with- advertising a discounted price that either means an additional purchase or using cash. While we ask that you only post credit prices (while noting cash prices in the comments), we know things are different at many stations. I've had to squint sometimes to see the "with car wash" in tiny letters before, but such signs make it even more important to make sure you're posting the non-discounted price. There's nothing worse in my mind... Visit GasBuddy Blog for full article

Moderator

Message Posted: Jun 9, 2011 10:40:35 AM

Ignore PD Report Abuse

I've been seeing and hearing about it more and more lately. Gas stations have been experimenting with how to show you how low their prices are- but many times there is a catch, so beware!

Recently, a BP chain of stations local to me started doing with what many of us are already familiar with- advertising a discounted price that either means an additional purchase or using cash. While we ask that you only post credit prices (while noting cash prices in the comments), we know things are different at many stations. I've had to squint sometimes to see the "with car wash" in tiny letters before, but such signs make it even more important to make sure you're posting the non-discounted price.

There's nothing worse in my mind...

Visit GasBuddy Blog for full article

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Grampa1949 Rookie Author Detroit Posts:1 Points:1,470 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: May 17, 2013 5:06:15 PM Ignore Grampa1949 Report Abuse I went to a station based on gas-buddy's price and it was the car-wash price, the sans car-wash price was 10 cents higher. gas-buddy should modify the price reporting screen to specify credit price should always be reported unless the reporter checks a cash/discount special box. it sucks to drive to a station just to find that's not the real price.
Artmaker Rookie Author Michigan Posts:2 Points:140 Joined:Aug 2012	Message Posted: Aug 3, 2012 10:43:03 AM Ignore Artmaker Report Abuse I just wish articles here would include who to contact to file a complaint. Amazing I found this page showing a BP sign. Because it was a BP who got me just yesterday only their car wash was not even a fraction of the size in the photo shown on this page. So it worked. I thought I was getting a deal and filled up. They got me. They can only do that once. I'll NEVER go to another BP again. And now I'll look more closely at all signs. Any station pulling this nonsense will NOT get my money.Seems counter productive doesn't it?
vjs3 Champion Author Denver Posts:2,547 Points:650,890 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: May 28, 2012 1:45:36 PM Ignore vjs3 Report Abuse Drove by one this morning that posted $3.60 for regular only to find out that it is $.15 higher if you want to use your card. Luckily I read further BEFORE purchasing and was able to find it for $3.62 (real price) just down the street.
Reishman Veteran Author Illinois Posts:384 Points:517,365 Joined:Sep 2006	Message Posted: May 28, 2012 9:30:56 AM Ignore Reishman Report Abuse I blame Obama.
albert2008 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:7,357 Points:1,481,985 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: May 28, 2012 7:38:34 AM Ignore albert2008 Report Abuse you have to read between the lines
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:22,129 Points:1,386,995 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 10:46:11 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse Because of the 'sign games' some stations play, especially stations near highways; it is even more important for GB members to include comments to explain any available discounts on gas prices.
Vette1967 Champion Author Albany Posts:5,972 Points:1,277,725 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 3:35:43 PM Ignore Vette1967 Report Abuse You are so right. Those that post gas prices need to be careful about listing the proper credit prices and noting the cash price difference under comments. I personally stay away from those stations whose prices are hard to see or have multiply listings.
Donatelo Champion Author Dayton Posts:1,124 Points:293,545 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 1:59:38 PM Ignore Donatelo Report Abuse k
albert2008 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:7,357 Points:1,481,985 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 11:40:56 AM Ignore albert2008 Report Abuse not nice
StillWillIV Sophomore Author South Bend Posts:185 Points:361,995 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 10:44:01 AM Ignore StillWillIV Report Abuse I just don't go to those places.
D61 Rookie Author British Columbia Posts:90 Points:82,575 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: May 27, 2012 9:47:58 AM Ignore D61 Report Abuse Why bother trying to trick us, we already know were being robbed everytime we fuel up.
asog75 All-Star Author Indiana Posts:836 Points:278,405 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: May 26, 2012 10:42:10 PM Ignore asog75 Report Abuse sometimes the sign and pump don't match,!!!
Occams_Hammer Rookie Author Long Island Posts:55 Points:80,920 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: May 25, 2012 8:19:13 PM Ignore Occams_Hammer Report Abuse One word.... FRAUD
livable1 Champion Author New York Posts:2,323 Points:283,265 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Aug 20, 2011 10:49:18 PM Ignore livable1 Report Abuse May be a good idea all around.
rgpiccone Champion Author Philadelphia Posts:3,542 Points:692,030 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 20, 2011 9:14:54 PM Ignore rgpiccone Report Abuse Agreed. I'm not sure how GB would monitor this, I guess by members reporting incorrect prices. There are a number of ways that mistakes can be made (one station near me posts reg, mid, prem, kerosene; another posts reg, prem, diesel). In the first case you could easily mistake kerosene for diesel, in the second case you could easily mistake prem and diesel for mid and prem. You can also miss fine print like "car wash" or "cash". Also, if the amount posted is only a couple of cents off, its possible that the prices could have changed since the posting. Since mistakes can easily be made, they would need to notify these members of their mistakes. On the other hand, frequent abusers should definitely be banned!
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:22,129 Points:1,386,995 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Aug 20, 2011 6:07:30 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse GB members that play hocus pocus with gas prices should be banned from this site.
rgpiccone Champion Author Philadelphia Posts:3,542 Points:692,030 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 20, 2011 6:02:41 PM Ignore rgpiccone Report Abuse luwachris below states that they "figured" the sign they saw was the price with a car wash or something. Apparently, even after discovering the regular price sign, they still couldn't determine for sure the meaning of the first sign. Sounds like the first sign doesn't state how to get the lower price. If so, this would most definitely qualify as false advertising. I suggest that he go back there and really look at the sign. If there are no qualifiers such as "with purchase of car wash", he should contact the authorities in Los Angeles to report this!
stanleyvision All-Star Author San Diego Posts:869 Points:439,595 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Aug 18, 2011 11:59:28 PM Ignore stanleyvision Report Abuse Wowzers
Vette1967 Champion Author Albany Posts:5,972 Points:1,277,725 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Aug 17, 2011 10:43:26 PM Ignore Vette1967 Report Abuse It can get confusing when driving by.
luwachris Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:1,082 Points:224,370 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Aug 15, 2011 4:22:02 PM Ignore luwachris Report Abuse Yeah, I was recently taken in by this for the very first time, the Arco in Long Beach on the corner of Long Beach Blvd and Wardlow has their regular sigh down low on the ground and I saw what I thought was the regular sign (regular 3.559) and went in only to get to the pump and wonder why the pump was saying (regular 3.659). Needless to say I kept looking around confused until I and several other confused patrons noticed that the sign that got us to pull in was in front of their regular price sign so we figured that the sign we saw must of been the price if we got a car wash or something, we were not happy at all and I wasn't in the mood to buy gas from them anymore either.
nate31379 Champion Author College Station Posts:333,888 Points:326,145 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Aug 15, 2011 4:09:07 PM Ignore nate31379 Report Abuse Not cool!
kathcom Rookie Author New York Posts:13 Points:120,625 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Aug 11, 2011 5:38:50 PM Ignore kathcom Report Abuse I've seen forum users say that only the low cash price should be reported. Your instructions are pretty clear. Mistakes can happen but the price without discounts of any kind is the information that will help me.
york29 Rookie Author California Posts:69 Points:56,990 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 11, 2011 1:10:05 AM Ignore york29 Report Abuse not good
sdslim Champion Author Florida Posts:1,889 Points:1,711,675 Joined:Feb 2007	Message Posted: Aug 10, 2011 6:18:37 PM Ignore sdslim Report Abuse Complain to the managers & don't buy from them.
JJ763 Champion Author Michigan Posts:1,234 Points:289,415 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 4:07:55 AM Ignore JJ763 Report Abuse Not nice? Can you say JAIL?
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:22,129 Points:1,386,995 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 11:01:10 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse People that play hocus pocus with prices should be banned.
rgpiccone Champion Author Philadelphia Posts:3,542 Points:692,030 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 4:10:15 PM Ignore rgpiccone Report Abuse It's hard to believe these tactics even work! They may capture some sales from people that drive in and don't pay attention to the price on the pump, but I think most people would notice. Unlike very large ticket items that you buy only once every few years (like a car), gasoline is at least a weekly purchase for most people. This makes these gas stations extremely dependent on repeat business. Why would they treat customers this way? Very short sighted!
Splent Rookie Author Chicago Posts:18 Points:75,035 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 3:15:49 PM Ignore Splent Report Abuse I wonder how many car accidents have been caused by this. This is the case in a LOT of places here in the Chicago area. Lots of with car wash, or credit/cash prices.
albert2008 Champion Author Winnipeg Posts:7,357 Points:1,481,985 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 1:56:53 PM Ignore albert2008 Report Abuse not nice
ddoucet2 Rookie Author Houston Posts:12 Points:569,590 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 7, 2011 5:21:18 PM Ignore ddoucet2 Report Abuse Today while driving on Hwy 6 in far SW Houston I pulled in--and out--of several stations all posting regular at $3.39. It's after you pull in that you find out that's the "cash card" price and YOU will pay $3.59. One of the stations even had the "real" regular price on the green diesel sign. Wonder how many pick-ups that pulled off the street...
blinkynm All-Star Author Santa Fe Posts:674 Points:573,905 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Aug 4, 2011 12:13:31 AM Ignore blinkynm Report Abuse It seems like gas stations are going to treat unlike airline passengers. Advertise a cheap ticket price and then nickel and dime you on a myriad of other fees
SavingInNC Champion Author North Carolina Posts:5,793 Points:1,094,440 Joined:Oct 2006	Message Posted: Aug 3, 2011 4:21:38 PM Ignore SavingInNC Report Abuse Don't like the tricks
kbnce Champion Author Toronto Posts:3,763 Points:639,170 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Aug 2, 2011 11:08:49 PM Ignore kbnce Report Abuse No problem
livable1 Champion Author New York Posts:2,323 Points:283,265 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jul 31, 2011 7:36:57 AM Ignore livable1 Report Abuse Thanks pingme, great info!
DandeNC Champion Author Greensboro Posts:3,802 Points:722,710 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jul 31, 2011 4:15:19 AM Ignore DandeNC Report Abuse I have not seen this but will be on the lookout for it
thuathienhue Champion Author Michigan Posts:3,458 Points:634,540 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Jul 30, 2011 1:03:56 PM Ignore thuathienhue Report Abuse Thanks, will keep a look out.
JLSindy Champion Author Cleveland Posts:3,496 Points:674,240 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jul 29, 2011 4:31:06 PM Ignore JLSindy Report Abuse Thanks for the heads up - we will really be careful when out of our home area where we have not seen these tricks played. There is ONE station in a town near us that does offer lower prices with a car wash - but they make a BIG deal of it and have for years - the consumer knows and is not tricked by misleading signs.
pingme Rookie Author Kansas City Posts:26 Points:47,125 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jul 13, 2011 3:33:56 AM Ignore pingme Report Abuse In most states (as someone has already posted), it IS illegal to charge more for credit. Most merchant agreements (the agreement between the bank, which carries all of the terms by visa/mastercard/who-ever and the gas station)also prohibit it. If you are charged more simply for using a card, document it, figure out how much you would have paid with cash, and turn it into your c/c. Most of the time, you will get a credit for the difference, and the station will be slapped with a fine from the bank. If enough people did this, all the BS from stations charging more for cards would stop, right now, so few people complain, that the stations just eat the occasional fine. My c/c actually encourages me to do this.
Brindfan Champion Author Colorado Posts:8,196 Points:1,536,545 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: Jul 2, 2011 10:58:17 PM Ignore Brindfan Report Abuse In corn belt states, (IL,IA, & NE), they post the Mid-grade price which is usually 10-15 cents cheaper than Regular. This is because their Mid-grade is laced with alcohol which is heavily subsidized in those states.
NakedDriver Champion Author Des Moines Posts:15,861 Points:2,462,175 Joined:Oct 2004	Message Posted: Jul 1, 2011 11:44:13 AM Ignore NakedDriver Report Abuse ə motorist beware!! another scam from days of yore (when cigarettes were less per pack than gas) was to display the price for a pack of smokes prominently and then in smaller print say what it is for, so a lot of people would pull in and pay a much higher per-gallon price because they didn’t read the (smaller-font) gas price. ə
JoeMegaGas Rookie Author Michigan Posts:71 Points:19,420 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 27, 2011 7:23:34 AM Ignore JoeMegaGas Report Abuse One of my fav gas stations just started pulling that scam. I just drive on by now.
GASMANMS Champion Author Mississippi Posts:3,413 Points:704,855 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 23, 2011 6:06:01 PM Ignore GASMANMS Report Abuse Not a problem here.
Donatelo Champion Author Dayton Posts:1,124 Points:293,545 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 23, 2011 4:19:27 PM Ignore Donatelo Report Abuse what..
NealAZ Champion Author Arizona Posts:1,675 Points:463,150 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 19, 2011 7:08:16 AM Ignore NealAZ Report Abuse A Shell station here has a tiny little sight that says "cash", on their sign. You always have to look for the fine print!
lee89GA Rookie Author Atlanta Posts:1 Points:120 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 17, 2011 6:55:15 PM Ignore lee89GA Report Abuse There is nothing more deceptive than this type of marketing tactic. Some may think this is great; however, if you are vision impaired such and I and my wife, it is the dirtiest tactic in the book. Vested interest definitely!
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:22,129 Points:1,386,995 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Jun 17, 2011 1:49:55 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse What makes it worse is when GB members help with the deceptive practices. Question is; are they really just members? Or rather "folks" with a vested interest in the station? [Edited by: teafortwo at 6/17/2011 2:53:05 PM EST]
phillyjoesgirl Rookie Author Fort Worth Posts:1 Points:270 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 16, 2011 4:49:59 PM Ignore phillyjoesgirl Report Abuse Be aware! Rapido on Ector Dr. in Euless is posting gas prices on their sign and the pump at $3.49... after paying at the register... because you can not pay at the pump... they charge the customer $3.51... and refuse to make right with the customer...
brendan12 Rookie Author Connecticut Posts:2 Points:62,140 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jun 14, 2011 8:44:01 PM Ignore brendan12 Report Abuse "Thank you very much for your e-mail regarding Gas Station Advertising. Representative Smith has forwarded your complaint to the Attorney General's office and they will be looking into the matter. The Attorney General's office phone number is (860)808-5318 for further reference. Should you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact Representative Smith or myself. Thank you very much for your e-mail. Ali Legros Legislative Aide House Republicans 860-240-8725 (office) 860-240-0207 (fax)"
Nyc2Mia Rookie Author Miami Posts:1 Points:49,770 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 14, 2011 11:14:13 AM Ignore Nyc2Mia Report Abuse I sometime wonder when i see a gas station, like shell Station by my neighborhood, which is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper(about .15-.18 cents for premium) than any other gas ive seen.and when you look at it its because of cash over credit prices; but still , it reminds me a story my bro-in law told me once of a mom and pops gas station where they were robbing people of gas and money...Eventually it closed down. Gas stations are always finding tricks to fool people, or rob them of there hard earned money. i am now more conscious on where i go or drive slower, or look for alternative in transportation, to economize fuel consumption. My car has an eighteen gallon tank ($70 to fill on premium),but i am glad its a four cylinder. :)
Sheila13296 All-Star Author Ohio Posts:866 Points:112,715 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 12, 2011 1:45:26 AM Ignore Sheila13296 Report Abuse if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.