PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A local businessman says his newfound awareness of the difference in the price of a gallon of gas between what some service stations charge credit card users versus cash users saves his company thousands.
Palm Beach Gardens-based North County Cooling has a fleet of 12 trucks.
“Our gas bill monthly is about $3,000,” said owner Pat Igo of his air conditioning installation and repair company.
WATCH: More stations are charging card users $1 more
He recently went to fill up a truck near his business. Then he stopped at the pump.
“I noticed this little box at the bottom,” said Igo, holding his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. “And it didn’t match the price that was out on the street.”
Igo says the small sign at the pump showed credit card users would pay a dollar a gallon more, so he went in to see the manager and asked if it was a mistake.
“And he said no,” Igo responded, "I can make it any number I want, and so I walked out.”
Igo and other drivers say they are noticing significant higher charges for credit card users by more service stations.
I first showed the difference back in November, when callers said we need to look at it.
“I definitely felt I was taken advantage of,” driver Robert Ziker told us Nov. 12.
He was livid when he showed a picture of the sign on the Chevron station at the corner of Indiantown Road and Alternate A1A in Jupiter that advertised gas at $3.15 a gallon on the sign he could see from the road.
At first, he didn’t notice the one square-inch sign at the pump showing credit costing a dollar a gallon more.
So, I asked him when did he learn it was $4.15 instead of $3.15?
“After I finished pumping my eight gallons of gas and I was shocked that I paid $35.”
Back then, we found that Chevron in Jupiter and two other stations near the Interstate 95 exit on Okeechobee Boulevard charging a dollar a gallon higher for credit card users.
A week after I started asking questions, the two stations dropped the difference between cash and credit to 90 cents a gallon.
Five months later, I followed up at the Chevron on Indiantown Road and Alternate A1A in Jupiter; the BP near the I-95 exit on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach; and at the Shell across Okeechobee Boulevard from the BP. I found all stations charging credit card users a dollar a gallon more than cash payers for regular gas.
I also priced four service stations in Palm Beach County where people filed complaints with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
The AG can do nothing because the practice is legal.
But I found a Shell in Tequesta on U.S. 1; a Shell with the title Gardens Market at Northlake and Military Trail in Palm Beach Gardens; an Exxon station on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach; and a Chevron on North Federal Highway in Boca Raton. All of them also are charging credit card users an extra buck a gallon.
At all seven stations, I went inside to find out why they’re charging credit card users a dollar store.
Some had no comment, others said speak to the service station owners, who were not around.
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“Do I agree with how it works? Not really. But they’re independents. They’re allowed to set the pricing the way that they want to,” said Ned Bowman, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Marketing Association, which represents 7,000 stations selling gas in our state.
Bowman says several cities and counties, including Palm Beach County, once had ordinances requiring the visible posting of cash versus credit prices.
In 2015, state legislators passed a law negating local rules for gas station signs.
Bowman supports the idea of uniform statewide rules, as some counties had different regulations regarding height, color, or locations of signs.
As for not displaying the discrepancy of credit versus cash prices?
“You have a fair market and a free market,” said Bowman. “You hate to say it, but buyer beware. But if you do get caught up in it, you have the right to never go back there again.”
Pat Igo makes sure his crews never go back to stations that charge a buck a gallon more.
He doesn’t mind ones that add five or ten cents a gallon to cover the fees credit card companies charge businesses.
“That’s normal. That’s what they should be charging,” said Igo, whose tone changed when the difference is a dollar, not a dime, per gallon.
“There should be a law showing what they’re going to charge you, if you use a credit card,” he added.
Only Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut mandate gas stations post cash and credit prices that a driver can see from the road.
Since Florida has no law, here’s what you can do to protect yourself:
- Look closely at the pump before inserting your credit card, and if the price is not clear, ask the clerk inside the per gallon difference.
- Withdraw cash from your bank’s ATM before filling up.
- And be especially careful at stations near major highways.
Some stations near interstates don’t depend on repeat customers as much as ones in neighborhood shopping centers do.
