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June 4, 2008
Found in LA: Not So 'Thrifty' Gas
LAist Featured Photos contributor Marshall Astor titled this photo "Holy Fuck Part Deux! Thrifty Gas in San Pedro Goes for Broke."
He continues to say "this gas station's prices have gone nuts, but every time I drive by, there's some moron at the pump getting gouged.
"For reference, I paid $4.01 at a nearby station last week, and most other nearby stations are in the low $4.10-20 range.
"I'm expecting this pump to hit $5.00 soon. I have no idea what's going on at this place."
The Los Angeles average price of one gallon regular gas is $4.27 as of Wednesday, June 3, 2008.
Last week, federal investigators announced that they had been looking into possible price manipulation since December.
Photo by Marshall Astor via Flickr
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I remember ten years ago it cost .90 a gallon at Thrifty.
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I sometimes pick the more expensive gas station because my company reimburses the expense, and I get more reward dollars on my personal CC =)
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I took the above photo this morning on my way into work at 9, and when I drove home at 5, the price for regular unleaded had gone up to $4.69.
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!!!! re: what Marshall said
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I call shenanigans!
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Thrifty is not exactly Thrifty in the IE either because gasbuddy.com is listing them as the highest price in the zip code where I work as well...
Also, how can it not be price fixing at this point? How is ARCO selling it for $4.15 and Thrifty is up at $4.69?
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and as far as what Marshall said:
I have seen the gas prices in the IE rise by 10 cents A DAY since Monday...started below $4 and now is averaging right around $4.40...
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I'm not so sure it's fair to call Thrifty price gougers or the people buying gas there "morons." Yes, last week gas was about $4 in the LA area, but TODAY I'm not finding gas anywhere for less than $4.35, at least in Hollywood/East Hollywood. As kifbox noted, the price is rising daily...
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Know this station well. Coincidence that it is in the lowest income area of town? I doubt it.
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Which is strange because there is another gas station right next to it.
Not making a left turn just cost me $.30 a gallon!
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Thrifty is the higher priced station in Woodland Hills (across from a Chevron, which is also above average, at $4.61, yet still better than Thrifty's $4.78), and in Hawthorne, where it is the higher priced ($4.78) across from a Shell ($4.59).
Either a) these stations serve as foils to drive traffic to "name brand" gas stations where the price is already fixed, or b) they are dangerously low on fuel and deliberately pushing up price to avoid buying today's higher-priced barrels. Or, as one commenter suggested, they have decided to become the niche market for expense account customers.
I never used Thrifty Gas, but still, driving by one continues to elicit a big WTF.