Wawa Inc. has introduced a new advertising campaign called Prices You Can Trust, which began Aug. 17 in the Greater Philadelphia area, in an effort to educate customers about fees that an increasing number of retailers charge when customers purchase fuel with credit cards.
Wawa noted that while some retailers post fuel prices on signs that advertise a lower price, that price is only associated with cash purchases, and when customers pay with credit several cents per gallon are added with minimal disclosure. Wawa said it is now promoting its one low price for both cash and credit, and never imposes a credit surcharge in any of its 270 stores with gasoline.
Through billboards, banners and full-page newspaper ads in the Philadelphia area, Wawa will alert customers to be on the lookout for credit surcharges and draw attention to a price structure that can be confusing. The campaign will explain that at Wawa gas is always the same, low, price no matter what form of payment customers use, making the pricing structure competitive and straightforward.
“At Wawa we are committed to simplifying the lives of our customers, and in some cases, this means making concepts as easy to understand as possible,” said Howard Stoeckel, president and CEO of Wawa, which operates more than 560 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. “We realize people might not be aware that they are paying more for gasoline when using credit and that retailers may be advertising their cash price, not the price customers will actually pay if they use a credit card. We are encouraging people to pay attention to the fine print, and let all customers know that at Wawa you always get gas for the same low price, whether paying with cash or credit.”
Wawa has a long history of avoiding surcharges going back to 1995, when the first ATM’s were installed in stores, and Wawa refused to apply an upfront surcharge to our customers.
“We believe in pricing that is fair and simple to understand, which is consistent with our core purpose and our core values,” said Stoeckel. “We will continue to be driven by our desire to delight our customers by providing the best pricing possible for fuel and other products that we carry, at prices you can trust.”