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Gas station owner continues to raise prices because he doesn’t like complainers

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XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Sausalito-gas-station-charges-8-a-gallon-6133057.php

Prices at a Marin County gas station climbed so high this week — up to nearly $8 a gallon for the regular stuff — that rubberneckers thought it was a joke.

But the prices were real. And on Friday, David Mann, owner of the independent Bridgeway Gas in Sausalito, provided an unusual reason for the surge: He doesn’t like complainers.

“Yesterday, some guy asked me, 'How high are you going to go?’” said Mann, who seven years ago bought the gas station that sits across the street from the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. “I said, 'As high as I need to go to get you to stop complaining.’”

Brooding over gas prices, however, is an American pastime, and raising prices is not generally viewed as a way to make people stop grumbling.

By Thursday, owing to complaints about prices in the $6 range earlier this week, Mann bumped regular unleaded to $7.97 a gallon — well above the Bay Area’s average price of $3.48, according to AAA.

But this is Marin, and the motorists who don’t see Mann as a scoundrel have continued to pull up to the pumps.

“I live in town and I don’t drive that much so the price isn’t as big of a deal,” said Paul Leclerc, 68, a poet who filled up the tank of his turquoise 1965 Thunderbird on Friday. “I can stop in here and clean my windows and (the owner) is friendly and he plays classical music.”

It also helps that Sausalito boasts a large share of unwitting tourists attracted to the city’s stunning waterfront, plus residents with a median household income of about $115,000 a year.

“People in Marin County have a lot of money. They don’t care about $2 or $3 higher per gallon,” Mann said. “I don’t want to take advantage of it. I just want to get rid of the complainers.”

The gas station used to have more competitive prices. It went head to head for value with a nearby Shell station, and even earned four-star and five-star reviews on Yelp. Customers praised it for its cheap gas as well as its classical guitar serenades.

Mann, who operates independently of the big oil companies, said that when his supply costs went up, he was forced to raise prices. That’s when the complaints started, he said, and that’s when he began pushing prices up further — in direct correlation with the amount of protest.

His Yelp rating began its quick descent to 1.5 stars.

“I feel like I just got mugged,” wrote Yelp user Lolia S. of San Francisco, who filled up earlier this week. “I will never EVER go here again even though it’s on my way home from work. FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS GO TO BRIDGEWAY GAS.”

Will Vee, a 53-year-old garage door repairman, felt similarly on Friday. He put $10 worth of gas in the tank to avoid running empty on his way to a job in San Francisco.

“I just put in enough to get where I’m going,” he said. “It could be worse. I could be in Death Valley.”

The Shell station about a mile away was much busier Friday, with cars lined up for regular at $3.49 a gallon.

“The locals come here,” said Manuel Reyes, the supervisor and cashier. “We don’t raise our prices.”

He said only tourists go to Bridgeway Gas because they don’t know better.

Indeed, Mohamed Oubewla, 35, who was visiting with his husband from Morocco, said he noticed gas prices at Bridgeway seemed high. But he didn’t want to risk not finding another place to fill up.

“I was looking at my gas meter and I saw that I needed gas now,” Oubewla, said. “I was afraid I wasn't going to get up the hill.”

Apparently, though, complaints about prices subsided a bit by Friday.

Mann brought his rate back down — charging $4.97 a gallon.
Click to expand...

XSkQPS9.jpg
 
A

Apt101

Member
I don't know who is more stupid: the owner, or the people who were like "durrrr I live in town I like getting gouged durrrrr".
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Almost reminds me of a local gas station right near Orlando International Airport here in Florida. This dude charges almost $6/gallon and literally right next door is another station with the average $2.30/gallon going on right now.

People still pull up and pay the 6 bucks...just absolutely blows my fucking mind like no tomorrow.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
shinobi602 said:
Almost reminds me of a local gas station right near Orlando International Airport here in Florida. This dude charges almost $6/gallon and literally right next door is another station with the average $2.30/gallon going on right now.

People still pull up and pay the 6 bucks...just absolutely blows my fucking mind like no tomorrow.
Click to expand...

It's like name brand drugs versus generics. The name brand is usually 3x the price or more, but people still buy them over generic, even though it's the same thing.

I don't get it, but some people have more money than sense...
 
DoomGyver

DoomGyver

Member
shinobi602 said:
Almost reminds me of a local gas station right near Orlando International Airport here in Florida. This dude charges almost $6/gallon and literally right next door is another station with the average $2.30/gallon going on right now.

People still pull up and pay the 6 bucks...just absolutely blows my fucking mind like no tomorrow.
Click to expand...

"Hey look how rich I am, buying my overpriced gas, driving my ridiculously expensive vehicle!"
 
B

Booshka

Member
This gas station near me doesn't give a fuck about the pricing. Right off of a freeway so people will randomly get fuel and not realize, or don't care.

It's also an AM/PM so people just go in there for snacks.

safe_image.php


When the prices actually were close to these numbers no one noticed, but once they dropped below 4, then 3, then low 2's, people realized the owner's didn't care at all.
 
B

Big-E

Member
DiscoJer said:
It's like name brand drugs versus generics. The name brand is usually 3x the price or more, but people still buy them over generic, even though it's the same thing.

I don't get it, but some people have more money than sense...
Click to expand...

In this case with the gas station wouldn't it be people paying 3x more for the generic when the brand name is cheaper?
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
shinobi602 said:
Almost reminds me of a local gas station right near Orlando International Airport here in Florida. This dude charges almost $6/gallon and literally right next door is another station with the average $2.30/gallon going on right now.

People still pull up and pay the 6 bucks...just absolutely blows my fucking mind like no tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Tourists who don't know any better and/or don't look around very well?
 
B

braves01

Banned
He's probably charging closer to the actual cost of gas when you consider all the negative externalities of consumption.
 
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