Stations to pay up for gas gouging
Eleven gas stations in the Fort Worth area will have to reimburse customers for price gouging during Hurricane Harvey, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.
Sun Macro Corp., Mr. Group Inc., Star Impex Inc., Happy Hill Grocery and Lucky Mart will reimburse eligible customers who paid $3.99 per gallon or more for regular unleaded grade gasoline between Aug. 31, 2017 and Sept. 6, 2017.
As Hurricane Harvey approached the Texas coast, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster. That made price gouging on necessities, including gasoline, illegal. But, the attorney general’s office said they received thousands of complaints about inflated prices at gasoline pumps.
Some gas stations charged up to $4.99 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline during the hurricane, according to the settlement. This settlement comes after another in July, in which 48 businesses paid $166,592 in restitution to refund consumers. Most of the gas stations involved with that settlement are also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and according to Kayleigh Lovvorn, spokes-
person for the Texas attorney general, a majority of consumer complaints originated in this area. Other cases are still ongoing.
Consumers will be refunded the difference between the price they paid and the average price for the same grade of fuel charged by the company on Aug. 30, 2017.
Customers will receive an automatic refund to their debit or credit card they used to purchase the fuel if they submit an eligible claim. The companies will pay the state a restitution amount of $27,004 to be used for customers who paid cash. Customers who did not pay with a card will be reimbursed by the state by check.
To make a claim, a customer must attach the receipt to the claim form or fill it out in full. The form must include the name of the gas station, the address, the date of purchase, the price paid per gallon of fuel, the number of gallons purchased, the total sale amount, and the make and model of the vehicle for which the fuel was purchased.
The claim form can be mailed to Hurricane Harvey Price-Gouging Claims Administrator, c/o Dahl Administration, PO Box 3614, Minneapolis, MN 55403-0614. Or, it can be emailed to harveyclaim@dahladministration.com.
Claim forms will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2019, and can be found on the Attorney General of Texas website.
Those who believe they have been scammed or price gouged by any business can call the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-6210508 or email consumeremergency@oag.texas.gov.