Petrol Rip off at Rouse Hill
June 13th, 2009
I hate filling up the car on the weekend. You always pay too much. Knowing that the cycle is Thursday to Wednesday, you pretty much line up to refuel from a Monday. But when you can't, you cop it sweet, but curse nonetheless.
But this is not what I am writing about today. Instead I am reporting something different. Something illegal. And something you ought to know about. At around 1:25pm today I drove into Woolworths Caltex petrol station at Windsor Rd Rouse Hill. The price advertised for regular unleaded was 126.9. I did not have a discount docket. A bummer. I got out of the car and removed the cap and popped the nozzle in. It was there I noticed that the price on the pump was 127.5. Huh? Is that correct? My first thought was that I was putting a different fuel in. I checked and I wasn't. "Oh well" I thought, "Its an error, prices go up not down at this stage in the cycle, they probably changed the price board BEFORE the bowser. An honest mistake."
After filling the car I went inside to pay. I told the guy at the counter, "pump 4 thanks" and he said "$60". Which is what it said. I told him the price was wrong at the bowser compared to the price board. He told me it was an IT error and I said, "So what, you realise that it is illegal to have a price higher than advertised..." he just shrugged and repeated his IT comment. He charged me the $60 and did not offer to adjust the price. I was flabbergasted. He then told me there was a price rise.
How brazen is that? By this time the queue behind was building. The guy was not budging. Would I make a scene for thirty odd cents. I don't think so. As most Australians hate any confrontation it would be pointless to even bother.
But that stinking attitude. That Woolworths petrol needs my 30 cents and everyone else's more than we do. Woolworths is about the richest Australian company at the moment. This problem is systematic of the corporate greed and panic that exists right now.
Woolies will no doubt go unpunished, rather they will probably just pressure me to drop this article. That's what corporate bullies do. Pick fights with little guys to protect their 'image'.
So we will let you know what happens. If anything develops.
But simply put, through a lack of training and understanding and rigid internal policy, Woolworths Caltex petrol at Rouse Hill breached the Trade Practices Act today.
They cheated the general public for a time.
And now you know.
Briefly, a check up of petrol prices around the area saw Caltex on Quakers Hill Parkway selling regular unleaded for 123.9 and the nearby Mobil selling fuel for 120.9.
What does that tell you?
The 4 cent docket thing is a scam.
I would suggest supporting your local indies like the two operators on Sunnyholt Rd, the El-Khoury's BP and the United service station next door, both in their own battle to stop Woolworths moving in there and using predatory pricing to kill them off.
Petrol 'too high', as oil prices slide
Daily Telegraph,
September 10, 2008 09:49am
AUSTRALIANS are still paying a high price for petrol despite global crude oil prices dropping, a motoring group says.
Petrol prices should be at least seven cents a litre cheaper using the Singapore Mogas benchmark price, the NRMA said.
"The oil companies' old blame Singapore line is a myth,'' president Alan Evans said.
"The Australian government says it is doing all it can and all the while Australian families continue to suffer at the hands of an oil industry that snubs its noses at everyone.''
Oil falls below $US100
Brent crude oil slipped below $US100 a barrel overnight for the first time since April 2, sinking to $US99.50 in London.
Oil prices peaked at record high levels above $US147 in July but have since trended downward to the psychological $US100 barrier, first crossed in early January.
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) members Iraq, Iran and Venezuela have identified $US100 as the minimum price they would like to see for a barrel of oil.
