CyberCJH's Blog

Here are some random pictures I’ve recently taken with my cell phone.

Chris & Tina and Mom & Ida at Friendly’s …
 

Me driving w/ some Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. Yuuummmmmmmm…
 

written by cybercjh

Did you hear ExxonMobil is planning to sell its 2,220 gas stations because they’re, ‘not profitable enough.’ GMAFB. Anyway … whatever, because I don’t go to either Exxon or Mobil. Exxon because of Alaska (which is still working its way though the court systems, many many years later) and Mobil because they screwed my grandmother out of my grandfather’s pension. So, screw them both.

In other news, what the hell is up with gas stations charging different prices now depending on how you pay? I pull into the BP station today at the intersection of US-1 and SW Village Green Drive in PSL where the sign out front says $3.99/gal (cheapest around). I pull up to the pump and see this sign:

So, I figure the credit price is $3.99/gal and the cash price must be cheaper. Nope, the cash price was $3.99/gal and the credit price was $4.04/gal.

The government is going to really have to start stepping up their enforcement on these gas stations that post the lower, cash price on the signs but charger a higher, credit price at the pump. That’s not allowed. In fact, I think it’s illegal.

• Charging and posting one price but then charging extra to use a credit card at the pump = NOT ALLOWED.
• Charging and posting one price but offering a discount for cash = ALLOWED.

The station I stopped at should have posted $4.04/gal as their price, not $3.99/gal. I ended up getting gas there anyway since I get 5% cash back (soon to drop to 3%, the bastards) on my American Express card which brought the effective price down to $3.85/gal.

06/16/08 Update : Under Florida law, I have found that signs informing customers about the dual pricing don’t have to be visible from the road. Under state law, stations are required to post their prices for a particular method of payment so that they are ‘visible to prospective customers.’ So, posting cash prices so they can be seen from the road and then posting a higher price for credit purchases at the pump is legal in Florida.

In Other News : The buffoons who own the Chevron and Shell stations on Gatlin Blvd and the BP station on St. Lucie West Blvd in PSL all must think merchant agreements are for chumps. The Shell station charges 50¢ for credit card purchases < $5. The Chevron charges a $2 ‘ATM Fee’ if you opt to get cash back from a debit card purchase at the register. The BP station imposes a $5 minimum purchase to use your credit card. All these things are direct violations of their merchant agreements with Visa & MasterCard. As far as I know, American Express allows its merchants to require minimum purchase amounts.

written by cybercjh