"Cash" Price for Gas at Hess Station

For the past week or so, the Hess station on Route 7 has been offering a "cash" price and a "credit" price.

I'm not sure what the State Legislature had in mind for its new Bill. Some said that the intent was to save us money by allowing stations to give a discount for cash. However, it appears that neither laws nor franchise agreements ever barred stations from doing this.

But what Hess is doing is absurd. Instead of offering a cash discount, it is simply charging more to customers who use a credit card. It's "cash" price is just about the same as every other station on Route 7.

In addition, a person using a debit card won't get the "cash" price at Hess even though money is taken from a debit account immediately, is riskless and doesn't require human time for handling and deposit.

The invention of the debit card was the darling of retailers who were anxious to find a quick, guaranteed way to get paid. Now it's a dirty word?

So far, this is the only station in Town that's playing this game. Buy your gas elsewhere.