Pamplin Exxon must pay after price gouging complaint

A Pamplin gas station will be required to reimburse customers who purchased gas at high prices in September 2008 when Hurricane Ike moved through the Gulf Coast.

On Friday, Virginia’s attorney general announced a price-gouging settlement against the Pamplin Exxon Service Center Inc., following a complaint that alleged the station charged prices that were “unconscionable” last year. The station sold gas at prices of $4.999 per gallon for regular gasoline to $5.259 per gallon for premium gasoline, according to a news release.

On Sept. 12, 2008, the store’s price for regular gasoline jumped 37.8 percent over the price charged four days earlier, the release said.

Across Virginia, thousands of consumers complained of price gouging at gas stations that weekend. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services looked into the claims, giving potentially valid ones to the attorney general’s office for investigation.

This is the second settlement related to price-gouging allegations in the Lynchburg area: the first was settled in July against the Timberlake Citgo, which charged $5.399 per gallon for about 12 hours while Hurricane Ike approached the Gulf Coast.

Virginia’s price-gouging law forbids “unconscionable” price increases on items like food and gas when the governor declares a state of emergency, which Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared while Hurricane Ike loomed in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

On Sept. 12, several oil refineries in Texas shut down to prepare for the storm. That prompted concerns about a gasoline shortage and sent hundreds of drivers in the Lynchburg area to fill up while they still could.

The drivers drained the pumps at many stations as prices rose above $4 per gallon in a matter of hours.

The settlement in the Pamplin Exxon case requires the station to set aside $500 in restitution. The company must post notices on its front door and gasoline pumps that tell customers they may be eligible for restitution. It also requires the company to identify credit and debit card customers who purchased the high-priced gasoline and issue them refunds based on the overcharges, the release said.

It is also required to pay $1,250 to reimburse the cost of the investigation and attorney fees and pay $500 to the Salvation Army for disaster relief purposes in lieu of civil penalties.

“Virginia’s Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act leaves room for standard market forces to work in times of disaster and prohibits only the charging of unconscionable prices for necessary goods and services during those rare times,” Attorney General Bill Mims said in the news release. “I am hopeful that our seventh price gouging settlement will send the message that we intend to enforce our statute.”