Dan_the_Man

Actually you would be suprised how many conventions and meetings are held in the area. My company in particullar holds the majority of our meetings in Cocoa Beach during the winter months.

fairviewroad

On a certain level, you have to appreciate the candor of the station owner.

However, the local TV stations can do all the breathless on-the-scene reporting they want, but if the majority of customers are tourists or conventioneers, they won't see the reports anyway. So yes, it's negative publicity, but not the kind that will have a sweeping impact.

craz

for those of you whom dont know NJ is 1 of I believe 2 or 3 States where its against the Law for a person to pump the gas themselves, although its not reflected in the price of gas , meaning I can still save over .50 a gal in NJ then where I live in NY just next door (5 min drive).

Well I was running low and pulled into a Gulf @ 2.49 (by me the cheapset is 3.13) gave them my Amex Hilton (5 pts per $1 on gas) and was told sorry we dont accept Amex , said Sorry and drove off.

Next time I saw a 2.49 station I pulled in told the guy fill it up and tried giving him my Amex he said I'll pay at the end.(Not all stations have the pay at the pump feature). Well he comes over and says thats $32 I gave him my Amex and he says we dont accept Amex and shows me a sign on the cubicle where they process the CCs that does in fact say that , but I never even saw it, but at least to their credit there is a sign, just a person needs to read everything before actually getting the gas.

Dont know what they would have done if I didnt have my Visa on me , had 2 Amexs and $5 cash, and no way was I gonna do a cash withdrawl, at the ATM they have right inside the store. Yep there was another person next to me who to do just that.

Yea I get 1.25% back but would have preferred the HH pts.

I dont think they are out to Game anyone like MCO is, but its a lousy feeling just the same.

mkt

Oh, I won't. I lived in MCO until about 3 months ago

However, the number of tourists still trumps the number of business travelers.

chemist661

I had a rental property in this town. The ARCO charged about 20 cents/gal less (that was when gas was only $1/gallon) than the Chevron that took plastic. I would fill up at the Arco station & go to the Chevron, put 50 cents in using my credit card. The reason I did this was I didn't need to ask for a receipt at the ARCO station that takes only cash (and for an extra charge, debit), and I would just look at the year end credit card statement for my trips to my rental. Made recordkeeping easier for me.

I would put the bare minimum on the card. (say 10 cents or whatever a very little squeeze on the pump lever). That would be a way to spite them. I don't like those kind of places. I haven't been to Orlando in a few years.

flyerwife

Count me as one who nearly fell victim to this gas station ripoff this week.

It was ingrained in my head to tell hubby to 'stay away from the Chevron by MCO'...and we did. However, this station (and yes, it is the same one as pictured in the links provided in mkt's post) is now named SUNCOAST ENERGY and honestly looks nothing like a Chevron.

They were charging $4.39/gal for regular when all other stations in Orlando are charging $2.69 or $2.79 at most. Heck, even the Hess Stations on Disney property aren't gouging anyone and are keeping their prices at $2.79 for regular and only 10c more per octane upgrade (which is still way less than I am paying here in NY these days).

Hubby pulled in, got card authorization, removed pump from the holder, saw the price, and left, heading north on Semoran a block or two to the Exxon station, paying $2.69/gal.

I'm happy to report that there was no one else getting ripped off at this station when I was there (rush hour, 6pm).

FLOIR

Actually, there have been more then a few times that Disney has actually been cheaper (at least by a few pennies) then the stations south of there, such as Davenport and Winter Haven. It was really surprising the first time I noticed it, but now if I am going that way, I wait and fill up there rather then ahead of time.

DFWDave

This place almost got me too on Sun 9/23/07. Thankfully I looked at the prices on the pump before fueling and "saved" $22 by going up the road. I guess their $4.40 was cheaper than the $6.99 that Hertz would have charged.

My co-worker's neighbor is related to the guy that owns this shop. Chevron contacted him earlier this year and asked that he take the Chevron name off of all signs because they were received complaint calls DAILY. He asked if they were requiring that he find a new gas supplier, and they said no, they'd gladly sell him the gas, but just didn't want their name associated with it!

Reindeerflame

There's nothing wrong with stations charging high prices. That's the free market.

Somebody has something that somebody else wants. If you don't want it, don't buy it.

sethb

And there's equally nothing wrong with other people discussing the high prices and warning still other people which places to avoid.

flyerwife

There was a WSJ article on rental cars dated 10/3/07 and this gas station was specifically mentioned:

In Orlando, the Suncoast Energy gas station near Orlando International Airport was charging $4.39 for regular unleaded as of yesterday, well above the city's average, which is $2.80, according to AAA. The station also doesn't have a large sign displaying its prices, which can lead customers to start pumping before realizing the price. Bob Barnes, the station manager, explains that the price is posted on the pump, as required, that it costs more to operate a station by the airport (because of high property taxes) -- and that the price is actually a deal for rushed rental-car returners. "If you're in a real hurry and you just drop it off at the rental car return, it's going to cost you $7 a gallon to do it," he says.

nsx

The author undoubtedly subscribes to TalkMail, in which this thread was recently featured.

flyerwife

Actually, the article was mostly about rental cars and how the majors are not replacing their fleet as quickly as they used to. The mention of this gas station was to correlate their prices to the rental companies gas prices.

If you do a search on google on Suncoast Energy, you will see that many TV stations, newspapers, etc. have been all over this station for their seemingly deceptive pricing practices.

ElmhurstNick

It was?? Wow, that's the first thread I ever started that was featured, and I didn't even realize it.

I was just talking about this location on Friday at lunch, with a co-worker who travels frequently to Orlando for business. He specifically does not rent from Hertz there (one of the few cities where he does not) because of the fact they are off-site instead of in-terminal, and we started talking about the gas station across the street.

krobbins

I live in Orlando and know all about the place but last week I was on fumes, and went ahead and got gas there - $2 worth! Less than half a gallon, but enough to go another mile down the road to fill up for much less. The place is infamous...