Cuomo slams gas stations for higher credit card price
An estimated one-third of Long Island gas stations are deceiving consumers, most by using a “bait-and-switch” tactic that involves posting lower cash-only prices on signs visible from the street and not revealing higher prices for credit-card customers until they reach the pump, the state attorney general’s office charged yesterday.
“I feel pretty stupid that I didn’t check out exactly how much I was paying,” said Eileen Calder, 60, after a sign advertising $3.85 for a gallon of regular lured the East Williston resident to a pump at an Exxon station in Mineola. While pumping the fuel, she discovered she actually would be charged a credit-card price of $3.93 per gallon.
“Next time, I’m going to be more careful about where I use my credit card, where I use my cash,” Calder said.
While stations are allowed to offer discounts to customers who pay with cash, they cannot levy a surcharge over the posted price on those paying with a credit card, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office said.
“With summer gas prices reaching an all-time high, the last thing Long Island drivers need are gas stations hitting them with exorbitant prices for paying with a credit card,” Cuomo said in a news release.
A similar survey of 150 upstate stations found only five engaged in the practice, said Alex Detrick, a spokesman for Cuomo. A similar survey is under way in New York City, he said, where results so far show a problem worse than upstate but nowhere near as bad as on Long Island.
It’s unclear why the problem is worse on Long Island, Detrick said.
“One plausible explanation is that, given the relative geographic isolation of Nassau and Suffolk, residents would be forced to drive longer distances to find cheaper gas prices, which means there is less pressure to keep the market
honest,” he said.
Cuomo’s office is sending letters to 43 stations on Long Island that either use the deceptive signage or that authorities suspect could be saddling credit-card customers with a surcharge. Those who ignore the letters could face civil penalties such as fines, Cuomo’s office said.
Consumers who see a cash-only price from the street and then discover separate prices at the pump for using a credit card should contact the attorney general’s consumer help line at 800-771-7755.
At the Mineola Exxon on East Jericho Turnpike, cashier Rajpal Singh denied the station’s road sign is deceptive, because it indicates the price is for “cash.”
But that indication alone isn’t enough, Cuomo’s office said. Both prices - one for cash, and one for credit card payment - must be listed on all signs if a station is going to charge different prices, according to the attorney general.
After receiving several complaints earlier this summer, the attorney general’s office inspected approximately 120 gas stations in Nassau and Suffolk counties, finding about one-third of those were engaging in at least one of the practices.
Those that used the “bait-and-switch” practice are being sent cease-and-desist letters. A few others that appeared to be levying a surcharge on credit card customers will get letters asking them to explain their pricing.
At a BP station on Walt Whitman Road in Huntington Station, none of the three customers interviewed said they knew the $3.86 per gallon for regular unleaded was 10 cents more expensive if they used a credit card. The different cash/credit prices were shown at the pump.
“That stinks,” said Courtney Lent, 30, of Huntington, who used her credit card to buy $20 worth of regular. “I had no idea. I would not have stopped here if I knew that.”
FROM THE STREET
An Exxon service station on West Jericho Turnpike in Huntington yesterday displays its gasoline prices - for cash customers - on a large sign.
AT THE PUMP
A smaller sign on one of the station’s pumps shows the higher prices for customers who pay with a credit card.
BE ON GUARD
To avoid paying a higher price for fuel being purchased with a credit card, keep a sharp eye.
Be wary if a single set of prices is listed on a gasoline station’s roadside signs, but two sets of prices - one for cash and a higher price for credit - are listed on signs on top of the station’s gas pumps.