It’s not legal for a store to charge an extra fee or percentage when customers pay by credit card, but it is legal to offer a discount to customers who pay in cash. Great. The flaw in this plan is that, at least in New York state, there aren’t any laws regulating how big that discount can be. Which is why some Long Island gas station operators recently hiked the price per gallon of gas a dollar, then offered a one-dollar discount to customers who pay cash. [More]
Gas Prices Have Gone Up 18 Cents In The Past 2 Weeks
By February 27, 2012
If you’re running a little low on gas but don’t need to fill up until a few days from now, you might consider gassing up anyway. The way things are going, pump prices will be much higher by the time your tank is almost empty. Prices have shot up 18 cents in the past two weeks. [More]
New Device Lets You Pay Cash To Fill Up Your Tank Without Leaving Deposit
By December 21, 2011
If you want to pay cash at the gas station, chances are you either need to pre-pay or leave some sort of deposit inside before the attendant will even unlock the pump. But a station in Saginaw, MI, is testing a new pump technology called Post-Pay that allows cash-paying customers to unlock the gas pumps with a mere swipe of a driver’s license. [More]
Gas Prices Dip Across The Country While Still Being Really High
By November 29, 2011
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to gas prices. First, yay! Gas prices are falling! But boo, they’re still at record highs for this time of the year. [More]
Gas Prices Rose Almost 6 Cents A Gallon In Last Two Weeks
By September 12, 2011
Gas prices are expected to rise during holiday weekends, but this year’s Labor Day price bump reportedly turned into a ramp. In the past two weeks ending Friday, the national average regular gas price crept up 5.76 cents to $3.667 per gallon. The increase echoes the rise in the cost of crude oil, and an ethanol price rise also was a factor. [More]
Orlando Shell Station Charges $5.59/Gallon, Shocking Drivers
By August 31, 2011
Gas prices are high, but $5.59 a gallon? That’s what drivers pulling up to a Shell station at in Orlando, FL are paying. They say they don’t find out what the price is until they get their receipt. Talk about Shell-shock. [More]
Walmart To Offer Lower Gas Prices In 18 States For Next Three Months (There's A Catch)
By June 29, 2011
Gas ain’t cheap these days, and it probably isn’t going to be cheap again until someone invents the Mr. Fusion machine. But for the next three months, if you have a Walmart credit card, the nation’s largest retailer is offering discounted fuel at stores in 18 states. [More]
Gas Prices Have Tumbled Nearly A Penny A Day The Past 2 Weeks
By June 27, 2011
Welcome to the era in which $3.63 gas is welcomed as a relief. After a rapid, budget-breaking price surge at the pumps, drivers have finally caught a break with the average gallon of gas Friday dropping 11 cents over the previous two weeks. The price is still nearly a dollar more than gas cost a year ago. [More]
Decreasing Demand, Falling Oil Prices Lead To Gas Price Dip
By June 13, 2011
The road trip activity that goes hand in hand with the end of the school year tends to drive up gas prices, but drivers are instead finding a bit of relief at the pump. Thanks to a drop in demand, an expected increase in production and fading crude prices, U.S. gas prices have dropped 4 percent over the past three weeks. [More]
GM CEO Thinks $1 Increase In Gas Price Would Do Us All Some Good
By June 7, 2011
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson believes in educating the consumer. That’s why, rather than GM being compelled by Washington to make more fuel efficient cars that might cost us more to purchase, he thinks the drivers of America need to learn a lesson in frugality by being forced to pay more money at the pump. [More]
Gulf Oil CEO: Gas Should Be Down To $3.50/Gallon By July 4
By June 2, 2011
The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. has been hovering just below the $4 mark for quite some time, with the average now at around $3.80 per gallon. But earlier today, the CEO of Gulf Oil said he expects that price to dip down at least another $.30 by the time we’re setting off fireworks and painting our faces red white and blue for the Fourth of July. [More]
Gas Prices Drive People To Buy Homes Closer To Work
By May 20, 2011
A survey by Coldwell Banker of its realtors finds that gas prices are figuring big in the calculations made by new home buyers of where to live. 75% said the spike gas prices is influencing decisions made by their clients, pushing them to choose homes closer to where they work. [More]
Senators Ask FTC To Investigate Possible Price Fixing By Oil Refiners
By May 17, 2011
Even though the U.S. Attorney General has already begun an inter-agency investigation into the manipulation of oil prices, three senators have asked the Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and Consumerist pal, to investigate possible price fixing by this country’s oil refiners. [More]
Drivers Line Up For Cheap Gas After Glitch Lowers Price To $1.10/Gallon
By May 16, 2011
When people in the L.A. neighborhood of Wilmington began to get word that a Valero gas station was selling gas for the low, low price of $1.10 a gallon, there were soon cars lined up around the corner. But this wasn’t some crazy promotional discount; it was a computer glitch that lost the station’s owners thousands of dollars. [More]
The Cities That Guzzle The Least & Most Amounts Of Gas
By May 11, 2011
As gas prices exasperate consumers at the pump nationwide, you might be throwing your hands up in despair and grumbling about how your neighborhood probably has it the worst. A new report shows that it’s not necessarily the biggest cities that are spending the most on gas. [More]
Higher Gas Prices Leading To Increase In Stranded Drivers With Empty Gas Tanks
By May 5, 2011
Now that it’s more expensive to fill up your gas tank than it is to take a family of six out to the movies, folks are trying to stretch that fuel dollar as thin as they possibly can. Unfortunately this has led to a jump in the number of stranded motorists in need of a few drops just to get them to the next gas station. [More]
Not Filling The Tank On Your Rental Car Could Cost You $9 A Gallon
By May 4, 2011
Next time you’re running close to the deadline for returning a rental car and have to choose between a late fee or being penalized for not having a full gas tank, be sure that you’re using the right per-gallon dollar amount when figuring out which will cost less. According to a new USA Today survey, the penalty for having to fill up a rental car’s tank can now set you back over $9 per gallon. [More]
Swiping Your Debit Card At The Pump Could Put A Huge Hold On Your Checking Account
By April 29, 2011
When customers pay by debit card, it’s a common practice in the hotel and restaurant business to put a hold on their account for an estimated amount of the purchase. That way, there is still flexibility for you to write in a tip or to cover any other ancillary costs. Now, more and more gas stations are taking this approach for debit card customers who swipe at the pump, putting holds in the range of $50 to $100 that can linger on your account for days. [More]
