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How about a new state motto? Something along the lines of: Welcome to Florida, the gouge-a-tourist state!
I'm all for making a buck — make that many a buck — off our friends who flock here to lie on our beaches and broil themselves that special shade of tourist pink, or to sweat it out with Mickey and the masses under the summer sun or, if we're really lucky, to bring big conferences and meetings here.
I am all for selling them mouse ears at $11.95 a pop, all for tourist taxes to maintain our state.
But on behalf of our visitors and their wallets, I'm appalled at some predatory gas pricing going on in our sister city of Orlando, home of the aforementioned mouse ears and destination of many a Florida tourist.
Gas hovering under $4 a gallon is bad enough. But the Orlando Sentinel reports that two stations close to Orlando International Airport have taken it up a notch.
Unwitting visitors headed to the airport and looking to top off their rental cars have pulled into the Suncoast Energys gas station or the Sun Gas across the street. Neither place sported the traditional high-up signs you see from the street announcing what they charge per gallon.
Some customers assumed the price would be about the same as at other stations around town and were in mid-pour when they spotted the numbers on the pump.
And probably dropped their souvenir snow globes on the spot.
Just last week, the price was, get ready, $5.79 a gallon, more than $2 more than the typical price and among the highest in the nation. Complaints have come into the city and gone all the way to the Attorney General's Office.
We have a law to protect us against predatory price-gouging during a state of emergency. Doesn't apply here.
Maybe you're thinking: Sorry, sucker. Free market, capitalism and all that. Absolutely. Station owners can charge $20 a gallon if they want.
A lawyer for one station told the Sentinel it was "practically a charitable organization" compared to what rental car companies charge for gas. But most of us know about those notorious gas prices. I've had rental agents themselves warn me to fill up elsewhere before I drop a car off.
A gas station not posting prices on signs is hardly sporting when customers are in a hurry to catch a plane. With apologies to Mickey, it sounds about as fair as cheese in a trap.
Buyer beware? You're right there, too. Consumers are responsible for finding out prices. They should even leave time to shop for gas — in case they happen into a station lying in wait.
But they didn't. And they're our visitors, ones we hope will come back carrying their wallets.
No one can accuse Orlando of not valuing such tourists. The city stepped up with an ordinance requiring signs with prices. The stations have sued. The case goes to trial later this year, and maybe fairness wins the day.
Here's another thought: Maybe some legislator who similarly values our tourist friends will step up with a plan to make the posting of prices that are viewable from the street the law of the land, or at least the state.
Until then, here's another motto we can try on: Florida, where we never stop trying to build a better tourist trap.
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