If you have noticed higher gas prices, you may be wondering if they are the result of price gouging.
Florida's Attorney General has a price gouging hotline that has been activated in response to last week's historic flooding in Broward County.
State law bans price gouging on essential items like equipment, supplies and gas during a declared state of emergency.
The law does not specify how much an increase needs to occur in order for it to be a violation. But the state will look at the average amount charged for the good or service in the previous 30 days and compare it to what it was after the state of emergency was issued to see if there is a "gross disparity.” You can read the state statute here.
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Just because you see a price increase, it does not automatically mean it is price gouging. Under Florida law, if the price increase is the result of additional costs incurred by the business or the result of market trends, then the higher price would not be considered price gouging.
The Florida Attorney General's Office is responsible for investigating price gouging complaints in the state. There are several ways to file a complaint:
- You can call the price gouging hotline, 1-866-9-NO-SCAM
- You can download the No Scam Stop Price Gouging app on your phone's app store
- You can click here to submit the complaint through the AG's website.
Philip McChesney, the director of Broward County's Consumer Protection Division, said as of Thursday morning, they had not received any recent price gouging complaints, but if they do, the county will refer people to the state. To read more about the types of complaints you can file with Broward's Consumer Protection division click here.
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Responding to every consumer complaint
"If you want to file a complaint, include as much information as possible," McChesney said. "Have photographs, signs showing the price, receipts, estimates, include the name of the product or what the quantity was - anything that you have that demonstrates that there's price gouging."
He added, "The Attorney General's Office will handle it to determine if the case is in violation of the price gouging statute and then they'll take it from there as to any legal repercussions or ways to get restitution.”
The Attorney General’s Office said they had received about 80 complaints as of Thursday, many of them related to gas prices.
"If we identify a potential price gouging violation, we will take action to resolve the matter as well as any related business practices," a spokesperson said. "Court action may be required. Remedies can certainly include consumer recoveries."
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said gas prices in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale were about 12 cents higher Thursday than they were a week earlier and about 25 cents higher than a month ago.
But he said that was consistent with what the rest of the country was seeing and emphasized the higher prices were not directly a result of the flooding experienced in Southeast Florida.
DeHaan added that we could start seeing some relief from those higher gas prices as early as this weekend, since the price of oil and wholesale gas are starting to drop.
But if you suspect price gouging at a specific location in Broward County involving gas or any other essential supplies, you can file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office so they can investigate.
