Maureen Rossi
Suffolk County’s deputy presiding officer Legislator Jay H. Schneiderman represents the second LD which includes the South Fork, Southampton, East Hampton, Shelter Island, East Moriches and Eastport and has 58,000 constituents. People travel from around the world to visit this bucolic stretch of land to enjoy the vast waterways, beaches and marine activities. He says visitors as well as the residents are vulnerable to unscrupulous gas station practices.
Late in March the legislator issued a press release calling for legislation to protect consumers from deceptive practices at gas stations. According to Schneiderman, dual gas pricing (the practice of having different price for cash and credit) should be made abundantly clear for patrons. “Consumers using their debit or credit cards should receive proper notification from retailers of the price difference of a gallon of gas between and cash and credit purchases before they consent to that transaction,” he said. “A hardworking resident shouldn’t be caught off guard filling up their gas tank, that’s highway robbery.”
Schneiderman’s legislation would require a consumer to acknowledge the cash/credit price difference before committing to the purchase. According to Schneiderman a screen would display a notification that says: “YOU WILL PAY _____ MORE PER GALLON FOR THIS CREDIT/DEBIT CARD PURCHASE THAN IF YOU PAID CASH. PRESS YES TO PROCEED WITH THIS TRANSACTION OR NO TO CANCEL.”
Critics of this proposed law say most hard-working people and those living on a budget check prices before mindlessly filling up. Suffolk County Legislator John M. Kennedy (R, 12th district) says this proposed legislation seems like overkill and in addition, is unwarranted. “We have a posting requirement right now regarding price differential between credit and cash purchase,” he explained. Kennedy says State law prohibits placing a surcharge on the credit card purchase but merchants are allowed to discount cash purchases – hence the disparity.
Tom Cilmi (R, 10th district) agrees with Kennedy’s statement about the existence of sufficient laws in place. “To protect himself, a consumer is simply required to pay attention,” he declared. “If someone has the presence of mind to look for some sort of cash-credit differential calculator at the pump, then he should have the presence of mind to notice the relatively large displays indicating both prices also on the pump. This is a knee jerk reaction and that’s a bad way to legislate.”
Kennedy says there is a real legal question as to whether we could compel gas station operators to implement this pre-purchase consent. “Further, based on the range of technologies out there, older, smaller stations with mechanical pumps would have to obtain new equipment,” he added.
Kennedy points out that meeting the demands of gas station inspections has become increasingly difficult. “With the required testing of the octane grade at each pump, the epitome of testing is Sunoco, with five octane grades per pump and with up to sixteen pumps, a Weights and Measures Inspector can be at a facility all day.,” said Kennedy.
Schneiderman says he is merely trying to protect consumers. “Typically a driver will see the large sign in front of the gas station advertising the price and think that is what they will pay at the pump or something close to it if they use a credit card,” Schneiderman said. “However, there are several stations where the price difference is substantial and the consumer gets tricked into paying $20 or more simply because they used a credit card.” Theoretically, an electronic transaction should only cost a station owner a few pennies.
“The bottom line here, once again, is that government has a responsibility to make sure that a consumer can easily ascertain what the price is for a commodity, but we don’t have to beat the consumer over the head to ensure that they really actually read the notices that the merchants are compelled to put out,” declared Kennedy.
If Schneiderman’s bill gets passed, gas retailers wiil have six months to make necessary changes to their automated pumps. He is calling for a hefty $1,000 penalty for those disregarding the law. Is it enforceable? Probably – and if the debated legislation is approved it would be enforced by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, an arm of Suffolk’s government that inspects gas pumps throughout the county.
Kennedy says he sees no reason for the bill and said he will oppose it. Cilmi agrees and says the bill is unnecessary, impractical and reactionary.
“It’s amazing, New York is already at the very bottom of the list of business-friendly states and we have elected officials struggling to find ways to make us even LESS business-friendly. It shows either a complete lack of understanding or a lack of empathy for the ever-mounting challenges facing small businesses today,” said Cilmi.
Cilmi does not deny that certain station owners use gimmicks to lure unwary customers into their stations. However, he says those owners should be exposed and consumers should quite simply just avoid patronizing them. Neither Kennedy or Cilmi said they have received any complaints from their constituents regarding this issue.