ShaunCarter.com

I had discussed in an earlier post the rumor I heard from a Speedway clerk here in Holland about the fuel discounts being discontinued in Michigan.

I got some great information from a commenter here, Jason, who is a Speedway employee in Michigan and he was able to find out that the ban only applies to fuel discount coupons and will not affect discounts reflected on the pump by using a Speedy Rewards card or the Chase Speedway Credit Card. Here’s what he had to say:

“Well, after talking to my manager and calling Speedway, I think I finally have an answer to this. It is a state law, not national (as I had heard from my ass’t. mgr.), and it makes fuel discount COUPONS illegal. So, reductions at the pump are still allowed, i.e. with the Chase credit card. The lady on the phone said that the law “makes it illegal to get gas coupons with the rewards card”, so I assume that the Summertime Gas Rollback will not be affected, since it is a price reduction, not a coupon.”

I decided to do a little more searching online now that the change has taken effect and it turns out that the law has always been in effect and is being enforced by the Michigan Department of Agriculture as a violation of the State’s weights and measures law. Essentially the state is claiming that because the discount is not reflected on the pump at the time of filling up, it is illegal because of all the laws that govern gas pumps.

This is an incredibly stupid law in my opinion because the gas stations are not going to continue offering discounts in a different form, they will just discontinue them all together, further hurting the local economies they serve. The elimination of this form of discount will likey cost consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost discount opportunities in 2008.

A special thanks to Jason for his information gathering on this topic!

Technorati Tags: speedway, fuel discount, coupon, shaun carter, michigan, gasonline