You're kidding right? "The only time a gas station should change prices is when they get a new delivery in the ground." That was not telling a business person how to operate his/her business? That remark sounded like you wanted Congress to pass a law. Anyone can communicate a poor thought and maybe this was yours. The rest of your thoughts were legitimate comments as a consumer, but I wasn't writing an editorial. Your statement rubbed me the wrong way because many many posts from others, instruct business owners how to run their businesses without any training or experience in that field. They are not all the same.
I don't have the time to explain decades of knowledge to you in a mere paragraph or two, but.....
To elaborate on just a few cases where prices may change;
* There was an invoice error from any number of sources (Oil Companies as you know them, Jobbers, Independents)
* Human error (owner,operator,employee)
* Supply and demand is the most basic and is the concept that is most misunderstood. This is the target of your statement. The demand is up at one particular time and so a business person may alter the price to compensate, BECAUSE at other times the price is pushed lower than cost due to lower demand and competition. You win some, you lose some. This is at the risk of infuriating the ignorant consumers and casting their business elsewhere.
* And the biggest.....change in revenue generators. Gasoline is only one of many products a convenience store offers to the consumer; food, services, lottery and the list goes on and on. The price for fuels can be used for many purposes. Cash flow, profit, enticement or incentive, and necessity. Revenue sources are ever changing in the convenience store business.
