AP: Gas Customers Rage About Pump Prices

Gas Customers Rage About Pump Prices
May 29
By TIM MOLLOY
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES

Tempers are rising along with gas prices. Gas stations across the country report that drivers are taking out their gas rage against big oil by yelling at clerks and cashiers and sometimes driving off without paying.

"Everyone is suffering at the same time," said Sam Shirazie, a clerk at a Chevron station east of downtown Los Angeles. "If I could help to reduce that pain, I would."

No detailed statistics are kept on incidents of gas rage. But the National Association of Convenience Stores said anecdotal evidence indicates they have increased since prices began climbing in February.

Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from "just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices," owner Ed Roitz said....

***

The convenience stores association advises store owners to ensure that employees understand the costs associated with gas, and encourages them to explain to customers that in some cases they aren't making any profits despite the soaring price of fuel. Retailers make about two- thirds of their profits from items inside the store, he said....

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/29/D8HTJ80O0.html

gas was goin' down? I guess not far enough!

It WAS $2.89 in town, now down to $2.69. Best I saw was across the state line, $2.62.

. . . 3.29 a gallon. I don't know how anyone can get gas here and drive away without paying though. All the stations I've been in require pre-payment or a credit card to pump the gas.

It's going to get very ugly as energy prices rise to $4, $5, $8 and $10 per gallon.

Then of course, there's always the criminal and "entrepreneurial" element:

" In Austin, Texas, a man was arrested this month for investigation of stealing hundreds of gallons of fuel from underground tanks while posing as a parking lot cleaner. He sold the gas from his driveway, police said.

In Fond du Lac, Wis., the number of reported cases of customers driving off without paying for gas doubled to 100 in the first four months of this year compared to the first four months of 2005, police Maj. Kevin Lemke said.

"We've talked to a lot of the owners that are having problems and made some suggestions like maybe they need to start thinking about pre- pay," Lemke said, "but in a small community like Fond du Lac they don't want to inconvenience even their good customers because of a few bad customers."

Actually, if anyone remembers- for a time, pre-pay was not at all uncommon....

Take away men's ability to drive, and things will get even uglier than when you convince 'em Meskins are coming for their jobs.

are just wishing they had a penis ?

Women could have invented them, but wouldn't have had to.

Sure, there are a few good reasons to drive big honkin' SUVs, but mostly, I think, we drive them because of the uniquely American confusion of the car with the penis.

But if you are getting a car and a penis confused....

:D :D

...then no wonder you can't even use a turn signal. :D

Of course Bush's nutjob foreign policy and demand from Asia are helping drive up prices, but it seems the oil companies have decided that they'll increase their profit margin on it at the same time.

because the almighty dollar has fallen about 40% in value since Stupid stole the office. Currency traders are allergic to a currency that is turning into typical fiat money with a Chimperor who thinks if he needs more, he can just print some.

Expect inflation to roar all the way through this economy. It isn't going to get any better until revenues are raised by rolling back the centerpiece of Stupid's regime, his tax cuts to the people who needed them the least.

Prices are going to continue to rise steadily (per the moving average)- and the models show that they may well fluctuate rather dramatically.

Bottom line is that Americans believe that they can just keep on with their wasteful and unsustainable lifestyles ad infinitum- that geophysical (and macroeconomic) laws don't apply to them. DeToqueville noted this type of phenomena 170 years or so ago- and called it American exceptionalism.

Welp, I have news- cheap energy isn't just going to appear out of thin air- any more than the far right and their dozens of allies in the Democratic party are going to hold the oil companies accountable or apply a windfall profits tax.

So, it's going to get very ugly over the next decade- and probably sooner than people think.

my habits accordingly. Why can't people really think about how much gas they waste each day and change their habits? It is not hard to do. As a senior, I plot my course so I am not running about needlessly.Do it all in one swoop.I am sure there are thousands out there who can change their habits. It sure helps the old wallet.Especially now.

and not pre-paying for gas. It was quite a suprise.

I wonder if the clerks are held responsible if some schmuck pulls away without paying, and if there's a correlation between the amount of customer hostility and the size of the car that they drive.

Wanna piss off the bush lovers a little bit more. Print out a bunch of pressure sensitive labels that say "BLAME BUSH!".
Everytime you stop for gas, paste one on the pump right under the price. A side benefit; maybe a few murkins will get the message and vote the rethugs out of office in November. :evilgrin:

somebody printing MISSION ACCOMPLISHED on pressure sensitive stickers and getting them put right there on the price/gal spot that everybody looks at.

DU'ers are from every state in the union. I personally have some that say "Impeach Bush/Cheney" and fit nicely on the pump.

Frankly, I was expecting more of a response to the gouging. And maybe it's too soon to tell. I read somewhere that people are just paying whatever it takes, and not really altering their driving habits. Personally, I haven't seen any reduction in traffic at all. During the day and even at night, I haven't seen any reduction in traffic. And at the local gas stations, they still have about the same traffic by the pumps despite most fill-ups topping $50.

I do virtually no pleasure driving anyway, so I have no driving habits to modify.

I agree that gas will have to get close to $10/gallon before things will change. And I have no trouble with gas being at least $5/gallon. But what bothers me the most is that, instead of the bulk of this cost going where it's needed -- in the treasury to fund domestic programs, it's going into the bloated wallets of the treasonous oil executives and, by extension, into the campaign funds of the GOP.

mean that people can afford the price increases so far? Perhaps with budget reshuffling, many people are not forced to sacrifice drastically.

I don't drive, and don't know many people who do. Not a common thing here.

it's gonna get ugly in America... oh nevermind... it's Chavez's fault. He's a lefty....

(in our narrow professional niche - it's like a club - we sorta kinda all know each other) - and ask them to hire me so I can get an Exxon Mobil $400 Million retirement package (I'm 65).

The non-executive techies ain't getting big raises. You have to be a Vice president.

vehicles, their driving habits, or anything that takes away from their right to live an energy wasteful, and over indulgent lifestyle.

I would like to see if the sales of alcohol and cigarettes goes down at convience stores when gas goes up, if they stay constant. Some people will gripe about something, and do absolutely nothing to address it that calls for them to make a sacrifice.

Who is paying those sky-high prices for apartments in the city?
Who is crowding onto the buses and trains?
Who is riding all those nice new bicycles I've been seeing on the roads lately.
Who is buying all the solar panels?

"Who is paying those sky-high prices for apartments in the city?"

Not sure what this has to do with anything in this post.

"Who is crowding onto the buses and trains?"

Ask them if you actually see that, I know here that when I use the bus, it is pretty empty.

"Who is riding all those nice new bicycles I've been seeing on the roads lately."
AGain ask them. I commute by bike, and the bike rack is as empty as ever.

"Who is buying all the solar panels?"

Apparently, no one. I haven't seen one, and don't even know of anyone selling them in the area.

Not really sure what all those questions were supposed to mean...if you have an arguement against my post, please succinctly state it rather than playing 50 questions.

I was citing examples of changes people were making to consume less energy in our area
(Northern California).

Our gas prices are probably quite a bit higher han yours, and your area is a lot more rural,
so some of this may not apply there.

I wish that attitude that is prevelant in your area would migrate eastward. But my experience here, and other parts of the east is that people will not change their lifestyles if it means a less convenient lifestyle. The east coast is choc-fulla people who need their big SUVs and convenience in order to feel important.

:eyes:

The local chamber of commerce tries to paint a pretty face on the high prices.

I think they're whistling past the graveyard, personally.

I was psyched for my trip from the Midwest to New York, I planned to fill up with E85 to see how it compared to regular gas. Regular 87 at the local station was $2.79 and normally E85 is around 2.69,

I pulled up to the E85 and noticed it was now $2.99... more expensive than regular gas??? I was pretty pissed off. I promised myself I would test it for my long distance drive so I paid the extra for it.

I got less than 300 miles before I filled up again (< 20mpg?). My next tankful I filled with regular gas and almost went 400 miles on it. Local/Ciy driving the price has always been a benefit to some degree using E85 but I figured on a longer trip, it would be more of a benefit. Generally I get >= 85% of the mpg compared to the mileage I get from Gasoline so seeing 75% sucked especially at the 30 cent increase in price.

but I do have to admit, I saved $1200 airfare/jet fuel :-)

It seems now that E85 is becoming more publicized, the price has gone up slightly.

Dap

not some poor clerk. Fucking idiots.

I'm going to stop buying gas. This is rediculous. Everytime I go to fill up, the price is atleast 10 cents higher. My next invention: Aqas.

Not only do I drive slower and try to combine errands, but I've also been forced to do something downright dangerous here in the Southwestern Desert: I try to avoid using the air-conditioning until the temps are at least 105. I just hope I don't collapse at the wheel one day, but we simply can't afford to use the A/C the way we used to. I carry a spritzer to spray water on myself, and drink TONS of water (plus I eat snacks with potassium and sodium), to keep cool and avoid dehydration.

I've seen a lot of other people doing this, too...you can tell that the cars are newer (like mine), and so it's not like they're old junkers that don't have A/C.

On a side note, our mailmen/women have been doing this for years, ever since those jerks in Denver decided that our postal vehicles don't need A/C. I'd like to make them work down here when it's 115 degrees out.

I can't remember where and when I read it.

There is a cost to using the air conditioning in your car. But, there is also a cost to driving with the windows open: wind drag.

Please research this to see which truly saves more gas.

:hi:

dp

and republican premium about $3.30/gal. Still about double the cost of Democrat gas in 2000.

Check out this national price map; http://gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

for "ultimate" around here; only for regular and silver gas