Gas Prices are Making Consumers Angry
The future of oil and gas looks bleak to consumers who have finally had enough. Don’t exptect things to get better either as gas and oil prices are expected to soar during summer.  I don’t blame the gas stations for the high gas prices, and it is unfortunate that gas station attendents are taking the brunt of unhappy consumers.
Tempers are rising along with gas prices. Gas stations across the country report that drivers are taking out their gas rage against big oil by yelling at clerks and cashiers and sometimes driving off without paying.
“Everyone is suffering at the same time,” said Sam Shirazie, a clerk at a Chevron station east of downtown Los Angeles. “If I could help to reduce that pain, I would.”
No detailed statistics are kept on incidents of gas rage. But the National Association of Convenience Stores said anecdotal evidence indicates they have increased since prices began climbing in February.
Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from “just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices,” owner Ed Roitz said.
Division manager Ron Davis hears complaints firsthand.
“Out of all our customers, probably 1 percent does the loudest squealing,” he said. “I don’t want to repeat some of it. They’ll talk about the blankety-blank oil companies.”
The convenience stores association advises store owners to ensure that employees understand the costs associated with gas, and encourages them to explain to customers that in some cases they aren’t making any profits despite the soaring price of fuel. Retailers make about two- thirds of their profits from items inside the store, he said.
But, “don’t dismiss customer complaints because we’re in the customer service business, and anytime you don’t address customer complaints they’ll go somewhere else,” association spokesman Jeff Lenard said.
Steve Grosse is trying humor to defuse tempers. At his Shell station in Manhattan Beach, he replaced the price of gas with the words “arm,” “leg” and “first born.”
In Los Angeles, Chevron station co-owner Anthony Sinai has started giving free sodas to customers who pump $20 worth of gas. He wants to avoid a repeat of an incident last year when an upset customer threw a cup of coffee at a female clerk and knocked over display items.
Consumers might finally be getting at least a temporary break at the pump. The latest figures released May 21 by the Lundberg Survey indicate the nationwide average price of self-serve regular fell about 1.45 cents in the previous two weeks to $2.93 a gallon _ the first dip since the Feb. 24 price of $2.24 began to climb.