Hotel rooms for $ 1,000 per night. Gasoline prices are rising. Even bottled water prices double or triple overnight.
Texas officials say the winter storm caused energy and water to millions of residents it provides an opportunity for some unscrupulous traders to take advantage of the situation by charging exorbitant prices for essential supplies.
A system set up Wednesday in Houston for residents to report falling price incidents received more than 450 complaints in less than 20 hours, said Harris County Federal Attorney Christian Menefee, the county’s top civil lawyer. great of Texas.
“The main kind of thing we see is that hotels set prices at ridiculous prices,” Menefee said. “We have seen allegations of selling water packs for two or three times the normal price or distributing water packs and selling individual bottles at excessive prices.”
Dashawn Walker, 33, searched a hotel room Tuesday night to avoid the cold of his helpless Dallas apartment. After finding all the rooms booked in Dallas, he ended up driving to an extended hotel stay in the suburbs of Lewisville just to pay $ 474 for an overnight stay.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “I mean why would you go up to hotels in the middle of a crisis? How, friend, go now. Everyone is trying to achieve this and capitalizing on a crisis, and that is so unfair to people who really can’t afford it. “
These price increases are illegal under Texas law, which prohibits selling fuel, food, medicine, housing, building materials or other necessities “at an exorbitant or excessive price” during a state or federal disaster declaration.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office urged residents who suspect they are victims of pricing to file a complaint at their office. Violators may have to reimburse consumers and may receive civil penalties of up to $ 10,000 for an offense. Additional penalties of up to $ 250,000 can be imposed if the victims are large.
Dallas innkeeper Larry Hamilton said that while there may be legitimate price-crushing complaints, he also wondered if some complaints had no merit. He said prices at his 193-room Aloft Hotel in downtown Dallas average $ 94 a night and that a customer was irritated when he was quoted at $ 109.
“He called my general manager and threatened to sue us for having blown him up,” Hamilton said. “Besides, and this is Economics 101, the price is the one that creates balance between supply and demand, and is an important regulator. The price fluctuates and it should be like that ”.
The hospitality business has had an economic blow over the past year, largely due to government closures and people’s hesitation to travel during a pandemic. Hamilton, who had to close another boutique hotel in Dallas due to a power outage, said hotels in the area have occupied less than 10 percent during the pandemic.
“It’s been a bloodbath,” he said.
In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson said he asked the attorney general to investigate complaints about falling natural gas-related prices, which has risen amid supply problems and extreme cold surrounding a large downtown area and of the southern US.
“I realize the scarcity of whether it’s fuel, whether it’s natural gas or whatever it may be, but I also don’t want anyone to take advantage of it,” Parson said, adding that he was frustrated that prices “shot up” after only a few days of very cold temperatures.
“I can’t imagine what the shock of stickers will be like when a lot of people receive their bills. It’s going to be a tough environment, ”Parson said.
In Houston, Menefee encouraged companies to take a neighborhood approach and that “we should look at each other.” Otherwise, the visit of a state or local investigator to a company accused of lowering prices is usually the only thing necessary for prices to return to normal.
“If you raise prices, you can end up on our list,” he said. “If you raise them to a level that really raises your eyebrows, you can count on one of our researchers knocking on the front door.”
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Murphy reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press reporters Jake Bleiberg in Dallas and Jim Salter in St. Louis. Louis, contributed to this report.