ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Gas station owners are guilty of "luring" customers to their pumps and then pulling a "bait-and-switch" with a credit fee, according to ABC's Good Morning America, according to a report by the Business & Media Institute (BMI), which tracks anti-business bias in the media. The segment suggested "outraged" drivers were being swindled into paying more for gasoline than was advertised.
Click hereto view the ABC segment.
"Most drivers don't carry enough cash to be able to afford [image-nocss] gas at these record prices," ABC correspondent Bianna Golodryga said in a June 9 report. "But take a look at what happens when you swipe: $4.27 turns into $4.35." The gas station in question displayed a price sign for regular unleaded at $4.27. But after she used a credit card the price went up to $4.35.
But the pump featured in Golodryga's report clearly listed a $4.35 price tag for credit purchases, said BMI. The increase at the station was about 2%, the same fee retailers pay credit card companies. ABC portrayed the price hikes as more sinister than owners offsetting costs involved in selling gasoline on credit—despite the fact drivers could still pay the lower price in cash.
Michele Mount, a spokesperson for AAA, called it a "typical bait-and-switch," although video used in Golodryga's report showed that at least some stations clearly noted their posted price for "cash purchases."
Mount told GMA another reason gas stations offer cheaper gasoline for cash is so customers have to go inside to pay, "because while you're there, you're going to also pick up a coffee, a soda, maybe even a sandwich."
But Kathy Chu explained in USA Today, cited in BMI's report, that "a growing number of gas stations across the nation are launching promotions to encourage drivers to choose cash over credit. They're doing so because as gas prices rise, so do credit card fees, thereby cutting into the stations' already slim profit margins."
Golodryga shared clips from an ABC affiliate showing a gas station that allegedly hiked its price 50 cents per gallon for credit card users. "Does that seem like a lot to you?" the reporter asked the man behind the counter. "Do you use a credit card when you fill up here?" He answered, "No," and the reporter said, "I didn't think so."
But National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) spokesperson Jeff Lenard told BMI that such a hike is extremely rare. "That is not the industry by any stretch," he said, adding that when gas stations do add a surcharge, "they get the sale but they don't get the customer. That is not a way to stay in business."
He also explained that one way or another, either the cash customer or the credit card customer is going to get hit. When gas stations don't have a cash benefit, they lose the cash customers. When they do, the credit card customers think they are paying a surcharge when they are not, and they take their business elsewhere, he said.
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