Ok... so we have hashed this out all over the net. There are those that fall into the "windfall" profit tax believers b/c that profit has really shot up as the fuel costs per gallon increase for us, and excessive profits should get excessively taxed. Then there are those that feel 8.5% of 10billion is more than 8.5% of 5billion, and as long as the profit margin hasn't increased the problem with fuel costs lies elsewhere, if any problem at all (just supply and demand.) There may be more opinions, but that is not the point of this post..
My question is where is the competition? Getting a tank of gas has gone from $25 up to $45 in the Canada household. It has gone from filling up the car at will, to a real calculated event like any large purchase where a little price tracking and strategy play in before the "big purchase." For the most part I am price driven only, but I always take into play external factors. Lets bring it into my realm, airline tickets.. I may find that getting from Detroit to Houston and back will set me back a min of $400, so that is what I must accept to go point A to B and back to A. However that is my basis, then I consider, direct or with a stop, then dept and arrival times, then perks. On the perk scale Continental Airlines and Frontier are the only airlines that still serve everyone a meal at meal time, on the other spectrum Northwest is flirting with the idea of charging $1 for your drink if you want one (American Eagle on the West Coast already does.) Does the airline want me to pay more to sit on the aisle or window seat (NWA does that too, as do many European Airlines.) So taking all those considerations I purchase a ticket for $450, I am on Continental direct flight on a mainline airplane, getting a meal, free drink, in an aisle seat, and getting miles toward the next level of elite status. So I didn't buy just the cheapest!
Now back to gas.... what I am saying is we are spending major money to fill up no matter what, even if you do it only $20 at a time, but you go 8 times a month to the gas station. I think people are driving past the first gas station they see b/c they have a plan in mind when it comes to fueling up. Speedway has started a perk card. For a while I got 5cents off the posted price. Now it is more of an incentive to get me in to buy some ho-ho's or a coke b/c people aren't spending money in the stores as the prices go up. We know they are making more money and I think the pumps, service, etc should reflect it. If was a station owner I would have the nicest well lit clean station to start with. My bathrooms would be as clean as your home, and you wouldn't need to check out a key. I would start programs on Tue, Wed, and Thurs where it is full service for no charge. There would be free tire air and water stations. How about a shoe shine to clean off your shoes while standing at the pump from one of those little electrical automatic spin kind. After so many dollars spent in gas you would get a complimentary car-wash. You get the point.
So to you "Mister Crappy looking Gas-Station that shadows your neighbors price by being 1cent cheaper" I snub you as I pull into that other gas station that has taken the profit and reinvested it into me the customer with some amenities. It may not be much, but if I am taking a days wages into the tank at every fill up, at lease treat me good while your revenues are skyrocketing or "Canada's Gas" will open up around the corner and put you under, and nobody likes Canada's gas!
No comments:
Post a Comment