5 On Your Side

5 On Your Side: How to recognize price gouging

Viewers have sent images of signs charging $3.59 a gallon for regular unleaded gas, or even $3.94. One sign showed $9.98 a gallon, and a post online was selling gas for $16 a gallon.

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By
Monica Lalibete
, WRAL executive producer/5 On Your Side reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — No crisis should be used to rip people off.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein reports more than 600 complaints of price gouging so far this week.

People have sent images to WRAL News of signs charging $3.59 a gallon for regular unleaded gas, or even $3.94. One sign showed $9.98 a gallon, and a post online was selling gas for $16 a gallon.

But when is it really considered gouging? The legal definition is not what many might think.

Stein said state law prohibits a seller charging an unreasonably excessive price, he said. However, complications come with the term "unreasonably excessive," which can be hard to define.

A number of factors are considered, including prices over the previous 60 days and any added costs paid to get gas to pumps.

"Maybe it costs them a little bit more to resupply than we would want them to do. We should be prepared to pay a little bit more for it," said Stein.

As it turns out, the station that charged $3.59 a gallon told WRAL News they used a different distributor and had to pay a premium, which was passed on in the final cost.

While 5 On Your Side wasn't able to verify the legitimacy the post of someone selling "extra" gas at $16 a gallon, Stein addressed the possibility.

"If you’re on Craigslist or eBay and you were charging an excessive price, you were violating North Carolina’s law," he said.

Some posted prices, like the one near $10 a gallon, were also not what they appeared.

"There are definitely good-faith mistakes," said Stein. "When we asked, the gas stations were putting $9.99 on their sign as a signal to let people on the highway know they were out of supply."

Stein says anyone trying to make a quick buck off of people’s desperation is price gouging – and breaking the law.

If you see any price gouging, take picture of the sign and your receipt and call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM to report it.

Gas stations can face fines of up to $5,000 for each violation.

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