'Alarming' Price-Gouging Complaints Before Fay Include Flashlight Batteries
'I Am Concerned,' McCollum Says
POSTED: Monday, August 18, 2008
UPDATED: 8:13 am EDT August 19,
2008
 |
ORLANDO, Fla. -- An "alarming" number of price-gouging complaints are being reported in Florida, including apparent spikes in prices for flashlight batteries, according to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.The amount of gouging reports has surprised McCollum."I am concerned," McCollum said during a news conference Monday. "Twenty-one calls are quite large, it seems to me for this storm when we've just begun the process of seeing it begin to come ashore and it is a relatively minor storm up to this point. It does alarm me."The complaints could include gas, food and water."(People) need to know if they are seeing a price increase that is dramatically different -- that there is a gross disparity is the technical term -- from what it was during the last 30 days in any product in gas, food, water," McCollum said. "We got call on batteries for your flashlights among these calls."Anyone found charging an additional price during a state of emergency faces a $1,000-an-incident fine."That can add up pretty quickly if you think how many different times people go up to a gas pump or go into a store and buy batteries or what ever it happens to be." McCollum said.Floridians were urged to call a hot line 1-866-9-NO SCAM to report incidents of price gouging.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Previous Stories:
- August 18, 2008: Storm Closes Central Fla. Schools
- August 18, 2008: Path Shows T.S. Fay Passing Through Orlando; Landfall As Cat. 1
- August 18, 2008: Sandbags Offered In Orlando, Daytona
- August 18, 2008: Path Pushes Fay Over Orlando
- August 18, 2008: Current Trends Move Fay Path East
- August 18, 2008: T.S. Fay's New Path Jogs East; Aims For Landfall Near Tampa As Cat. 1
- August 16, 2008: Path Puts Tropical Storm-Force Winds In Orange County Next Week
- August 16, 2008: Path Moves Fay Through Central Fla. As Weak Hurricane Or Tropical Storm
- August 16, 2008: Crist Declares State Of Emergency
- August 16, 2008: New Path Puts Category 1 Hurricane On Top Of Florida Early Next Week
- August 15, 2008: Tropical Storm Fay Targets Florida
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