Question of the Day: Have You Been Hit With Any Hidden Gas Charges Lately?

I'm with the Aggie, most of the fuel surcharges I have seen were plain BS for the exact reasoning he used. They often charge more for the surcharge than the whole cost of fuel involved, or at least more than any cost increase since the eighties.

My propane bill itemization just had "fuel surcharge" written on it. Had they just called it "temporary fuel surcharge," or "one-time fuel surcharge," and charged $10 or less, me, the reasonable consumer, someone like me, probably would have gone along with it. I told them when I called for a fill-up anytime within the following week would be fine because I had 25% plus left (100 gallons), so they could have combined it with other routes, but they had to come out within 2 hours so they could get their $25 from me.

My daughter, who seems to live under a perpetual cloud, had her water heater conk out two days after Christmas--an expense she couldn't afford until her tax refund arrived. Dad to the rescue! I offered to front the money, got estimates, picked a plumber, put the heater on an "empty" credit card that had a closing bill date of Jan.22 and a due date of Feb.18, and thought I was fine. Then, the plumber came to my daughter's place,located in a small Iowa town from which one can see both the North Omaha water and power plants, and demanded an additional $35 above what the man's boss and I had agreed to on the phone. I stuck to my guns with plumber's boss, got him to admit that the charge would NOT appear on any bill for an address in any McMansion area that was also 4 miles (or more) from North Omaha, and got it rescinded. If daughter truly lived in "the sticks" and not the literal shadow of Omaha, and/or if the plumber had clearly defined the "metro Omaha" included in "free delivery",and if he hadn't called our previously agreed-to price "all inclusive", I'd have paid up. I read an article in a FORBES magazine at my wife's doctor's office that said that the government inflation figures are artificially low because businesses report "list"prices, not "as delivered" prices in govt. surveys.

tony-e30: When I flipped the nozzle holder up to begin the pump, a charge of .04 immediately appeared on the screen before I even squeezed the handle. That's interesting. Same thing has happened to me on more than one occasion recently. Never before. Could be that with prices so high, the pumps are not as accurate as they were when they just plugged along at a liesurly pace. Who knows?