Do you feel sick from high gas prices? Ren Gladu from Massachusetts is. And Ren can do something about it — kind of.
Ren is the proprietor of Ren’s Mobile, a small-town gas and service station that caters to a college crowd. Amherst College and the University of Massachusetts are just a few blocks away. Hampshire College lies less than five minutes drive.
Ren’s had it with the skyrocketed cost of fuel. He told the Daily Hampshire Gazette, “This is the biggest ripoff that ever has happened to people in my lifetime.”
The cost of gasoline soared to $4.75 earlier this month. Ren swore he wouldn’t charge anything higher.
Ren was then evicted by ExxonMobil, who increased its price 20 cents per gallon twice in a row. He bailed out of the petroleum-peddling business altogether, hanging cardboard signs that read “Out of Gas.”
Ren, who took control of Amherst in 1973 could be facing the end. Per the Gazette, he’s operated “through the gas lines of the 1970s to the rising retail prices during wars and after hurricanes.” But now he’s had enough.
It’s no surprise that prices have skyrocketed. Bill Maher recently joked that the CDC recommends wearing blindfolds at the pump so you don’t have a heart attack over the price it costs to fill up.
AAA reports that the average national price is $4.98 as of June 20, 2018. In Massachusetts, it’s $5.01.
Ren’s trying to stand up for the customer, but he’s been bested by Phoenix gas station owner Jaswiendre Singh. According to AZFamily reports, Jaswiendre bought fuel at $5.66 per gallon earlier in the month and sold it for $5.19.
Ren pins the blame for Ren’s dilemma on corporate greed, potential collusion.
“Dealing with Mobil, they don’t think through their pricing policies anymore. I’ve served their product, but I refuse to do it anymore, because they’re only getting richer. … People shouldn’t have to pay these prices to go to work, to go to church, or to do whatever they have to do. It seems like the oil industry is in this together.”
But in an email to the Gazette, ExxonMobil Corp Operations Media Manager Julie King explained it’s out of the company’s hands:
“Service stations are individually owned and price their fuel based on local market competition and other business factors. Prices at the pump are influenced by the price of crude, and wholesale price of products which fluctuate according to demand and supply factors — such as economic conditions and seasonal factors, fuel production, inventory levels, storage and transportation cost.”
To hear Ren tell it, he’s always “tried to keep [his] prices as fair as can be.” Now customers are pulling up and learning there’s no offer…on offer.
“A lot of people are stopping by to offer me their condolences,” he said, “but I actually feel sorry for them because some of them have been my customers for close to 50 years.”
His pity doesn’t appear to be unfounded — he’s just taken away, according to him, quite possibly the best price in town.
Ren, as well as all Massachusetts residents may not know how lucky they really are.
Let ’em come to California and have a taste:
Southern California gas prices are at an all-time high. The corner of Alameda Street, Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue saw their gas station surpass the $8 per gallon mark. pic.twitter.com/2jK8qjbbRA
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) May 31, 2022
-ALEX
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