Some antique U.S. gas stations can't raise prices

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Some antique U.S. gas stations can't raise prices

Sat Sep 3, 2005 7:34 AM BST

BOSTON (Reuters) - As gasoline prices vault to well over $3 a gallon in many parts of the United States, some gas retailers are turning customers away because their pumps can't be set above $3.

About 200 gas sellers in rural Vermont own pumps too old to compute the higher prices, state authorities said on Friday, causing some to shut their pumps when prices spiked above $3 after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"I knew my pump was old but I didn't expect prices to rise this fast," said Bill MacDonald, owner of central Vermont's Waits River General Store, whose 25-year-old pumps can't display any price above $2.99 a gallon (4.5 litres).

MacDonald kept selling below $3 until his pumps ran dry on Thursday and then briefly closed until authorities could find a solution. Another operator, Elmore Store, shut its antique pumps after facing the same problem.

Officials decided late on Thursday to allow retailers like MacDonald to cover up all price information and only display the number of gallons pumped.

They could advertise the price per gallon on roadside signs and then compute the charge face-to-face with customers, said David Lane, Vermont's Deputy Secretary for Agricultural Development.

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these guys must have rocks for brains
sel it for $2.-- and add a buck a gallon manually or am I missing something about the legalities?

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I think they need to get to work and buy some new and updated pumps--gas prices are only going to get higher.

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North Carolina addressed this Thursday. They allowed retailers to sell by the half gallon, so the pump reads 1.64 per half gallon.

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I can't imagine that they would be making enough money to pay for updated pumps.

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If they were really antique, you would turn the crank till the big glass bubble on top of the pump was filled to the two, three, or whatever gallon mark you thought you could afford. Then you would open the valve and let it run down to the tank.

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so why not just sell it for 2.99 a gallon? They only buy the gas every two weeks or so. They sell it at 2.00 a gallon or 3.00 a gallon they still paid the same price for the gas they are selling. I guess they will just have to take some of those extra funds and invest in new pumps. I have no sympathy for anybody in the energy business. Even the mom and pop gas stations. I'm surprised there are any left anyway.

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You'd be in trouble if you were paying what we pay at around $8.30 a gallon Sad

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Don1 wrote:

You'd be in trouble if you were paying what we pay at around $8.30 a gallon

I wouldn't pay that! I'd be riding my bike to work. Can't really do that when winter comes though. That's where they get you! Boise Idaho has a terrible mass transit system. The bus doesn't even come close to my neighborhood.

My next car is going to be a hybrid.

Besides, shouldn't the country that buys the most fuel get the best rate (Bulk Rate)

The gas that I buy doesn't even come through the Gulf and I'm still paying higher rates. Now they are talking about dramatically increasing the price if Natural Gas which has nothing to do with oil. The whole energy industry needs to be lynched!

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I agree absolutely on the lack of connection between gas and oil. Also on the winter cycling. One patch, and you can lose a year's worth of gasoline savings.

Oil will flow towards the highest prices, though, so where it's refined and which field it was produced from make almost no difference.

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