Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Unfair Pricing tactics used by gas companies

It seems that the gas companies use a very interesting strategy in determining the price per gallon of gas. We have all heard some of the reasons (or excuses) for the rising cost of gas, the war in Irag, the fire at a refinery, etc... My favorite reason was the one about the cost of transporting gas has increased (So, gas prices went up because of the rising cost of gas).
But what you may not know is that the gasoline companies have some partners in this situation. Companies that you may think are on your side, looking out for the little guy, are actually helping the gas companies to get an unfair advantage.
In a press release from AAA, results from a survey of their members revealed that 32.1 million people were planning a trip by car this summer. AAA considers this a 1.8% increase over last year and reports that the gas prices are not making travelers alter their vacation plans.
A separate survey by Travel Industry America went so far as to say that gas prices would have to reach $3.50 a gallon before people cut back on their driving. This is the exact same thing as the gas companies doing a survey asking people how much they are willing to pay for gas. The only difference is that people are actually answering the travel companies.
Yet another independent survey from a company that is most likely owned by a gas company stated that consumers planned to cut back on their shopping so they could afford gas.
So, now the gas companies have all the information that they need to know that the prices are not yet high enough, what the maximum price would be and they know that they can even raise prices beyond that and customers will still buy gas they just won't eat.
Not surprisingly, gas prices went up the day after the press release, so what is the reason for that increase? I think the real reason for the increase is imply that they want to make more money. My idea is to call the gas companies using SpoofCard
to make it look like I am calling from the Associated Press. Then conduct an interview using LiarCard
and ask why the gas prices are rising.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Every year we go through the same thing and everyone says, the market, oil prices, the war - yadayadayada...It's as simple as this- Summertime!
It's amazing how they always go back down in September, isn't it?
Great blog, btw