Okay, Let Me Try My "Gasoline Refund" Idea Again...

It's a novel idea, and one I just imagined as I drove by a gas station and noticed them changing the price.

With most retail stores, if you purchase an item for say $49.99, and the following week, it goes on sale for $29.99, with no need to have the actual item, you can take your receipt to the store, and they’ll refund you the difference in the price. More succinctly, recently I purchased a new computer chair at Office Max at $129.99. Two weeks later, not one, but two weeks later, the chair went on sale for $99.99. With my receipt in hand, Office Max gladly refunded the difference, and would have done so up to 30 days!

So, here’s the question, if you purchase gasoline at $2.99 per gallon, and it goes on sale for say $2.69 the following week or even two weeks, why shouldn’t we be able to get a refund? Why should all of the money go in one direction and not the other?

Yes, I know what you’re saying. It’s a consumable product; you have nothing to return, or proof of how much remains in your gas tank. As I drove along this morning, I wrestled with that question. The answer became crystal clear. It doesn’t matter whether you consumed it or not. You purchased it. You have a receipt that shows date, price, and quantity. Therefore, with your next fill-up of gasoline and receipt in hand, you should be able to have your payment reduced by the difference in price of your last purchase to this purchase. And since your gasoline tank takes a finite amount, you are only getting a refund on the amount used, not the amount that remains.

You’re also saying, or will shortly, the Oil Companies will never do that! Well, at first they won’t. But let’s say a large company, like Sheetz, that we have in Pennsylvania, does. They have their own refinery, trucks, and convenience stores along with their pumps. If they give refunds, won’t the retailers of say BP convenience store want to do the same? And won't they put pressure on their oil company to follow suit? It’s the same concept of Office Max having a sale on chairs, and Staples following, not to mention volume and regular customers. It’s competition. Something we're lacking in the oil monopoly. And after all, the big money is from those going into their convenience store and purchasing additional items. Not that I’m a big fan of buying coffee, doughnuts, and hoagies at a gas station, but many people do.

In short, when the price goes up, you pay the increase and the oil companies get a huge windfall profit. But when the price goes back down, you don’t get the benefit of a refund from the higher amount, and the small windfall you rightly deserve. If the oil companies can get into our pockets, why can't we return the favor?