When bloodsuckers demand the right

Last week, right before monster storm Hurricane Milton crushed parts of Florida like a thin potato chip, my youngest daughter sent me a link to a Tik Tok video she was reposting.  In the video was a frustrated young man, a Floridian, who was talking to the camera, very upset by the fact that he, and many others like him, were unable to comply with evacuation orders from his local county government.

Apparently, by the time the evacuation orders came down, the young Floridian alleged, the gas stations had run out of fuel. And if he wanted to fly out of where he lived in Florida, the airlines had jacked the prices up so much, where a regular $217.00 ticket to fly to a safer city in Florida suddenly cost over $1,700.00.

“People like me can’t evacuate a killer storm because we can’t afford too,” he complained. 

I pray that young man did find a way out of harm’s way in time, and that he’s alright today. But the fact remains his is the perfect case for how price gouging hurts the average person where they’re suddenly trapped by an immediate, unforeseen spike in pricing, and are held hostage by their unforeseen circumstances, as long as conditions allow greedy opportunists to get away with fleecing folks in the name of “free market conditions.”

Now this is where my blood pressure medicine is as useless as a diploma from Trump University, because I can’t stand bullies or opportunists, especially after disaster strikes, and innocent people are left helpless.

Now, are there laws on the books in Florida and North Carolina to protect people from price gouging calamities during natural disasters? Yes, and what’s supposed to happen is those laws are triggered once the governor or legislature declares a state of emergency.

But as recent reporting discovered, even with that so-called ”protection,” that doesn’t stop predators from getting as much as they can until they either are stopped or get caught.

For instance, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Florida officials are investigating 160 allegations of price gouging. Given what the powerful storm did to areas there, there shouldn’t be even one.

Same here in North Carolina.

Almost-Democratic-governor Josh Stein, currently state Attorney General, reports that his office had received 308 price gouging complaints by Friday, October 11th in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, particularly in the Buncombe, Henderson and Cleveland counties area.

Businesses monstrously inflating prices on groceries, gasoline and hotel accommodations.

We’re also talking jacked up prices from so-called contractors and tree removal services. Most folks who specialize in these services are honest, professional and can be counted on for fair prices given the circumstances after a storm.

But then you have the bloodsuckers with two legs and no heart who lie, cheat and steal as sure as they breath. If you’re reading this, and feel you’ve been scammed by one of these wolves, go to  www.ncdoj.gov/Helene, or call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM, (that’s 1-877-566-7226).

But this isn’t just about the animals who engage in this routine practice.

This is also about the conservatives who have the nerve and gall to say, “So what’s the problem here?” with a straight face.

Yep, there are folks who actually walk this Earth who believe that making an obscene profit from folks who are on their knees during a personal or natural crisis is a-ok because after all, the business man has rights too.

The excuse for this mafia-like attitude is that when there is an emergency of some sort, where the general availability of supplies are impacted, that naturally forces the price for those items to rise because there are automatically less of them.

After all, we do live in a capitalist, supply-and-demand economic and political system, the argument goes. 

In the case of a natural disaster, demand exceeds supply, or the need has suddenly risen to a level where people will pay the prescribed price, the theory continues.

(Sorry for the instant economic class, but I want to be fair expressing this before I lower the outrage BOOM!)

But during a crisis, like the recent Covid pandemic, we saw folks panic buying certain items in bulk for fear that they would not be able to get anymore for a while, like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. That was a sudden event that definitely affected supply, but should not have justified inflating the price per unit beyond a reasonable cost. 

So to me, selling toilet paper at $10.00 bucks a roll, but only if you bought five at a time, would have been obscene to say the least. Plus, what happens if the store is able to suddenly get more toilet paper on the shelves without a problem? How long should they  continue to fleece folks?

The natural, conservative answer would be, as long as they can get away with it. After all, the conservative argument, as expressed by Doug Reich of Capitalism Magazine in a 2015 article titled “The Moral Case for Price Gouging,” is, “Price controls by definition force individuals to relinquish their property or labor at a lower price than they would agree to voluntarily. Under price controls therefore, there is literally no actual ownership of property (or at best nominal ownership) since an individual by definition can not voluntarily choose how to dispose of it. The resulting situation is chaos and economic stagnation….”

Hey Doug, my problem with your so-called “moral’ argument for price gouging is people who have been suddenly thrown into sink-or-swim situations have to decide whether to spend their limited resources on food, shelter, or whatever other life-sustaining needs required to see their way through ordeals that may be hourly, if not by the minute. And they are in no position to “agree” to anything because they’re forced to stay alive.

So now comes someone who offers access to those life-sustaining limited resources who, because they feel they’re both empowered and entitled to profit from an opportunity of which the rules are now life or death, charges say ten bucks for a bottle, NOT a case, of water, primarily because clean, drinkable water in the aftermath of a natural disaster is scarce.

That scenario turns the word “agreement” on its head, because the folks needing the water are “agreeing” with a gun to their head.

“Here’s my water. Here’s my price - $10.00 a bottle. Take it or leave it!”

There’s no “moral’ compass anywhere near that scenario, Dougie!

Ahhh, but these conservative economists won’t quit. They’ll come back and say, if business folks can’t price gouge, how are they going to control supply to the marketplace, and get those limited supplies to the people who need them the most in times of need?

First of all, please spare me this, “we’re looking out for the folks with the most need” bull, ‘cause when there’s obscene coin to be made, you could care less.

Secondly, when it comes to a natural disaster that clearly impacts how much anybody can get of anything, have you ever heard of “rationing,” the art (if not science) of making sure that vital resources are spread as widely as necessary so that as many people as possible can access them and survive, even for a shorter period than desired?

        This is done by limiting the amount each customer can get at one time. Either the business does it on its own, or after someone rats you out, the government can do it for you.

Let me put this another way - no one has the entitlement to be in business. It is a risk, like so many other things in life. If you provide a vital service to the community, and do so at a fair market price during the normal course of commerce, you are allowed to do so as part of your ongoing contract with your customers and the community.

Unless there’s a clear reason for supply shortages (like when shipments were delayed at our ports recently and no one knew when they would be resumed), that contract with your consumers should ensure a reasonableness to any price hikes you institute in order to cover your losses.

That’s NOT socialism. That’s common sense!

Bottomline is that, in my mind at least, there is no justification for fleecing folks of their hard-earned money just because you feel they have no choice but to come to you in moments of stress or crisis! Always treat folks fairly, especially when they’re at their lowest, and that promotes a sense of community and loyalty that pays off in the long-term.

Such an uncouth tactic as price gouging tells me you really don’t want my business ever again, and trust me, I would make sure you NEVER so much as get a whiff of it as I live and breath!

So in times of crisis, work with the community as best as you can, businesspeople. That short-term profit is not worth it in the long run.

UPDATE ON MY NEWSOBSERVER SUBSCRIPTION RIPOFF DRAMA -     

        About two weeks ago in my commentary titled “The Great (almost) Newspaper Robbery,” I shared with you how on Sept. 23rd, I noticed that my credit card balance was at least $500.00 too much, and I didn’t know why. 

So I checked my statement and determined that $514.79 had been mysteriously taken from my account for “N&O SUBSCRIPTION” on Sept. 17th without either my knowledge or permission.

In fact, I hadn’t had a subscription to The News and Observer newspaper since I had cancelled it several months earlier. So I called the customer care number listed, and was told I would have to prove exactly when I cancelled my subscription, or else the best they could do is give me half my money back, which was nuts!

To cut to the chase, I was able to find an email from March 7, 2022 where N&O Subscription confirmed cancellation of my account. Once I forwarded that to customer care (which I later found out was in Colombia, South America), they promised in writing to refund the $514.79 within 7 to 10 business days back to my card they had no right to touch in the first place. Imagine, solely because you were once a customer, these folks felt they had the right not only to charge you over $500.00 big bills, but then try to blackmail you into getting only half of it back! That's called STEALING where I'm from!

And when I didn’t see my money by the end of the promised refund period, I called customer care back and sternly asked, “What’s up?!!!

A courteous young lady said they didn’t have my address, but once they got that, I should see my money. They obviously could have told me that days earlier instead of waiting for me to call back.

The lesson here again - when you cancel a service, have a written record of that cancellation that you keep for at least two to five years. And religiously check your credit card balances for charges that have no business being there!

Work hard to earn and keep your money? Work just as hard to protect it! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!