Change You Can Believe In!

[rubato]

Short-term there is a little pain. Long-term it is the route to prosperity and national security.

$6/gal ! Wonderful if it lasts.

yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

The cost of diesel has reached a staggering £6.50 a gallon - a new record high - according to AA figures released today.

On average, beleaguered motorists are paying 142.99p a litre (or £6.50 a gallon) for diesel, with petrol now at 137.24p a litre (or £6.24 a gallon).

At the current rate, petrol prices are on target to hit £1.50 a litre by Christmas as greedy speculators, spiralling oil costs and a weak pound combine to push the cost of a full tank to over £100.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1LW66kg9P

That's $10.65 a gallon US and $2.21 a litre Au.

[Gob]

[Timster]

Uhmm no. It is 3.99 per Gal at the moment. In the Midwest that is.

[Gob]

Those prices are in litres Tim.

[Timster]

Ahhh.

[oldr_n_wsr]

For the record it's $4.27 here on Long Island. First time in my life it took over $10 to fill up my motorcycle.

[Sue U]

Price at my local pump here in South Jersey came down 2 cents yesterday; now at $3.77 if you pay cash, $3.85 for credit.

[Crackpot]

I've been running ethanol at about $3.30/gal.

[Gob]

Price at my local pump here in South Jersey came down 2 cents yesterday; now at $3.77 if you pay cash, $3.85 for credit.

Wow! They are allowed to do that?

[Timster]

I use to believe in 'change'...

[oldr_n_wsr]

I've been running ethanol at about $3.30/gal.

You can thank gov tax subsidies for that.

[loCAtek]

Price at my local pump here in South Jersey came down 2 cents yesterday; now at $3.77 if you pay cash, $3.85 for credit.

Lucky you. Was riding around with a friend today, who fueled up with cash priced gas at $4.08 ...and that was riding around trying to find the cheapest.

[oldr_n_wsr]

$4.19 was the cheapest I saw over the weekend here on Long Island.
heading to MAryland on thursday (duaghter graduates on Friday) and am glad Jersey prices are a bit cheaper. I'll put in just enough to get me into Jersey then fill up there.

[Sue U]

Oldr: Yesterday (Sunday) I filled up at $3.75, credit price (Lukoil). If you get off the Turnpike at Exit 7 (Route 206 South) there's a Valero station rght there that's usually got a pretty good price; from there you can get right on to I-295 south and continue on to MD without the Turnpike tolls.

[Gob]

So in the US dual pricing cash/credit is allowed for petrol? Where does that leave credit cards.

[Sue U]

So in the US dual pricing cash/credit is allowed for petrol? Where does that leave credit cards.

What do you mean? Yes gasoline dealers can and do charge different prices for a cash vs. a credit transaction. Some do charge the same whether cash or credit, but they are usually a couple of pennies higher than cash sales -- though cheaper than credit sales -- at other nearby places. But since I rarely have $50-$60 cash with me just for filling up the tank, I usually end up paying with a credit card. If I end up paying 80 or 90 cents more for a tank of gas, it's the price of convenience; but I don't do a lot of driving so a tank of gas usually lasts me 3 weeks (when I'm not doing a lot of traveling for work).

[Gob]

Thanks Sue.

I screwed up there I meant "debit cards"!

Here the price you see is the price you pay, cash or credit. Though some stores will give discount for cash on goods, I've never heard of it on gas before.

[Sue U]

Common practice here. Usually about a 6-8 cent difference, but the gap widens when prices go up and narrows when they come down.

N.J. gas stations offer cheaper prices for customers who pay in cash
Published: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 9:00 PM Updated: Monday, January 11, 2010, 5:32 AM

By Danny Teigman/The Star-Ledger

Print When Frank Gutowski drove by an ExxonMobil gas station in Rockaway recently, he did a double take. On a sky-blue sign high above the ground were two numbers: $2.49 and $2.93.

What caught Gutowski’s attention was both were for a gallon of regular unleaded. Just above the cheaper price was the word "Cash" written in large yellow letters. Next to the more expensive number, in much smaller letters, was the word "Credit." For an extra 45 cents a gallon, you could buy the exact same gas with your Visa or MasterCard.

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerA gas pump at a Shell gas station on Green Pond Road in Rockaway Twp. where there is a two-tiered pricing system, based on whether one pays with cash or credit.

"My wife, she was appalled," Gutowski said.

With New Jersey gas prices averaging $2.53 a gallon, the Rockaway Exxon was offering a better-than-average deal if customers paid in cash. But for pulling out plastic, they would have to pay 18 percent more. That’s another $5 to $12 to fill the tank, depending on the size of the car.

Gasoline and industry experts say the high price of gas in recent years has resulted in more and more people using plastic to fill their tanks, and because station owners must pay credit card processing fees of 2 percent or 3 percent, more of those owners are passing on the extra expense to consumers. As long as stations clearly note their prices, there is no state or federal regulation against two-tiered pricing. The problem for car owners is not only the difference in money, but in these recessionary times, having the extra cash on hand.

"I think it’s here to stay unless it’s outlawed," said David Weinstein, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association clubs of New Jersey.

Two summers ago when the price of oil climbed to $147 a barrel and statewide pump prices peaked at $4 a gallon, credit card transactions spiked at 90 percent of the entire gasoline-buying market. While $2.53-a-gallon pump prices are nowhere near record territory, prices are up more than a dollar from this time last year, and 70 percent of all New Jersey gas purchases are made on plastic.

"Too often credit card fees are a cost of business customers rarely appreciate," said Sal Risalvato, the executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline C-Store Automotive Association, an industry trade group. "Today everybody uses a Visa or MasterCard."

And the fees on each credit card transaction, Risalvato argues, cut into the bottom line no matter the price of oil.

"It’s really up to franchisees and owner-operators to decide at what threshold their profit margin takes a hit without a two-tiered pricing system," Weinstein said. "When gas prices were falling off a cliff last year, gas stations just started charging one price."

Some gas station owners like Tom Meier, of F&S Friendly Services in Bergen County, charge the same prices for cash and credit — but wish they could go to the two-tiered system. The problem for Meir is that pumps capable of dual-price tracking cost $12,000 to $15,000, and that is an upgrade beyond his budget. Instead, his two-pump Lukoil gas station in Hillsdale ends up paying about $1,800 a month in credit card fees.

"Back when the price was $3.50 a gallon, we considered investing in new pumps," he said.

Ultimately, setting costs and adopting two-tiered pricing are decisions left up to individual gas station franchise owners and are not determined by ExxonMobil’s corporate executives, said Kevin Allexon, a company spokesman.

"The dealers who operate gas stations in New Jersey are independent businessmen," he said.

On Monday, Gutowski, who lives in Hopatcong and drives a Ford Explorer fueled by regular gas, drove past the Exxon station off exit 37 on Route 80. He said he was fed up, and plans to try his luck elsewhere, along nearby Route 15, where cash-credit price differences either don’t exist or range from five to 10 cents — not 44.

"We didn’t actually buy any gas at that station," he said. "My wife said forget it."

The gas station’s owner, Eugene Carse, did not return a call for comment.

Staff writer Amy Ellis Nutt contributed to this report.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/0 ... eaper.html

I don't know how they treat debit cards; I don't have one.

[Lord Jim]

For a number of years in this country, after the first "gas shock" in '73, gas stations offered two tier pricing for "self service" and "full service"...

Prior to that there was no such thing as "self-service"...nobody ever pumped the gas at Wally's Service Station except Gomer and Goober..."full service" was the only service...and if they did a good job, they got a tip...I remember those days as a kid; my parents never got out of the car to pump the gas.


"Full service" meant that a service attendant would come out, pump the gas, clean the windows, check the oil, and add air to tires if necessary.... by the time I was driving as a teenager in the 70's the gas stations were charging a hefty per gallon premium for this and nobody under the age of 70 was opting for it....

In the past few years most gas stations have eliminated the "full service" option entirely. (A few months ago the subject came up and I had the pleasure of explaining to Tait what "full service" was about...she had never seen it...)



Well not see his like pass this way again....