State jumped the gun in price gouging claim
With fill-ups costing as much as $60 to $70 for some SUVs and full-size pickups, the price of gas is a constant concern. With those prices hovering around $3 per gallon — sometimes more — there have been cries price gouging is rampant.
It’s a hot-button issue and one Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers tried to use to his advantage earlier this week. Bombarded by thousands of phone calls on Tennessee’s price gouging hotline, and confronted by claims the state isn’t doing enough to keep gas prices low, Summers simply didn’t do his homework before leveling allegations against local store owner Jess Whitlock.
Whitlock was accused by one of his customers of charging $7 a gallon. When the woman called the state hotline and signed an affidavit, the case suddenly made Nashville news.
“We will not tolerate people charging $7 a gallon,” Summers said while shaking his fist on Nashville TV news.
The only problem was our state officials in Nashville had no idea who they were leveling charges against. They had no idea because they didn’t do one thing to investigate the $7 a gallon claims made by Susan A. Smith.
State officials took Smith’s signed affidavit and figured it was good as gold. They didn’t even make a phone call to Whitlock to find out his side of the story.
The result was a nearly 100-page document filed at the Warren County Courthouse which claimed Whitlock was price gouging. He was summoned to appear in court on Tuesday and the case quickly drew media attention because a so-called price gouger would be brought to justice.
The only problem with this scenario is Whitlock is not a price gouger. At $3.50 a gallon, his gas may be expensive, but it’s sure not $7. His tiny, country store on rural Short Mountain Road is kept open as a social gathering spot as much as it is to make money.
Whitlock is well respected in this community and a church-going man. Many people have been quick to rush to his defense by calling Summers’ office in an effort to set the record straight.
It’s with that in mind, Summers has classified the case as a “misunderstanding” and dismissed the complaint.
“After further investigation, it appears there was a misunderstanding over the posted gasoline price and a hand-written note on the pump doubling the price,” Summers said. “We feel confident Mr. Whitlock did not intend to mislead anyone about his gas price. We have informed Mr. Whitlock that we are dismissing the complaint.”
There is one basic problem with that statement – the phrase “after further investigation” is not accurate because there was never any investigation in the first place. “After further investigation” indicates there was some investigative work done before charges were leveled, which there clearly wasn’t.
When these allegations broke, the Standard made sure to contact Whitlock so his side of the story would be told. If Tennessee officials took the same precautions, we’re confident there never would have been any charges at all.
Mr. Whitlock’s name has been cleared and the charges erased. Let’s hope there’s no lingering damage to his otherwise solid reputation.