Letters: Credit cards and gas prices
A gas station attendant pumps gas in Portland, Ore. last week. Oil prices briefly spiked to the highest level in three weeks following a report that Iranian oil exports dropped significantly this month. (March 23, 2012) Credit: AP
Anyone who pays a higher price for gasoline using a credit card is a fool ["Credit cards help fuel high gas prices," Opinion, March 19].
I used the same Getty station in my town for 15 years because the owners charged less than the other local stations. But when they started adding a surcharge for using a credit card, I stopped giving them my business. This was in 2008, when gas prices first increased dramatically.
When it cost $20 to fill a tank with gas, everyone could pay with cash. Now that the price is north of $50, people are relying more on credit cards.
As a dentist and small-business owner, I am used to seeing the 2.5 percent fee imposed when someone pays me with a credit card. It is simply a cost of doing business. If my bank fees rise, it means business is good. Similarly, oil companies' percent of profit remains the same.
Although it seems that our politicians are powerless to do anything about rising costs, we as individuals can make a strong statement by boycotting any gas station that imposes this surcharge.
Imagine what a station would do if, starting tomorrow, its business fell by half. It can easily be done. We are creatures of habit, and are numbed by the high cost of gas, resulting in our being resigned to having to pay more. But we can do something about it.
Mark R. Herzog, Rockville Centre
With all this talk about cash versus credit, one issue hasn't been mentioned. Gas stations no longer like giving change smaller than dollar bills. I'm usually on two or three wheels with small gas tanks. Pumping to the 25-cent mark has resulted in arguments at cash gas pumps. Apparently, high prices don't allow for change-making or math skills.
Andrew Colen, Coram
Newsday leaves out the main reason why we are paying more to use credit and debit cards to buy gasoline. The reason is the Dodd-Frank banking legislation that costs banks more to operate. This has a trickle-down effect. Businesses have to pay bank fees on every card purchase, so they pass that cost on to the consumer.
President Barack Obama and the Democrats, with all their policies and regulations, will always harm the consumer in the end.
Patrick Hannon, Centereach
