Snowfall separates good neighbors from gougers

My favorite quote is: “The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.”

Having the right attitude over the past three weeks has been critical. Watching how different people handle the challenge of the weather has been interesting. But watching how different businesses have handled the sale of items suddenly in demand and in short supply has been even more interesting.

Days before the snow began, Country Homes Supply ran an ad for snowblowers. There was a price in the ad, and once the storm began Dec. 17, the store sold them quickly. Expecting another shipment on Dec. 26, Country Homes Supply had an opportunity to raise the price substantially. It did not. Instead, the store took names for a waiting list for the next shipment, holding the prices as advertised.

Some of the less commendable things we heard from callers:

•Major retailers suddenly selling shovels for $35, much higher than the price of less than $20 before the snow.

•Unsolicited offers to remove snow by individuals who want payment upfront. That is fine, but once they get the money, they are gone.

•The price of ice melt almost doubling overnight.

•Tow truck operators charging double or triple their presnow rates.

Our economy is based on the rules of supply and demand, so of course a snow shovel will be more costly in winter than in July. But when does a price increase become price gouging and not simple capitalism? Good question.

Here is when something moves from being a smart business decision to taking advantage of a situation or emergency: when the item is a necessity and circumstances make the need for the item critical.

So prior to a hurricane, if the price of plywood jumps 200 percent, that would be gouging if the plywood is in very short supply and there are no other choices for the buyer. Is this legal? I’m not sure, but when asked about the ethics of such activity, I have a very clear response. Raising prices by more than 50 percent to take advantage of a disaster or nature-caused shortage is not ethical.

As a business owner, ask yourself this: If I do this now, will these customers come back? If the answer is no or maybe not, you need to rethink your actions.

Challenging times bring out the best and worst in people. Just as businesses should not take advantage of the situation to enrich themselves at the expense of their customers, consumers should not take advantage of business owners trying their best to stay open and serve people.

One of my employees lives in a neighborhood with a small, family-run convenience store. She and her husband wandered over in the knee-deep snow to buy a snow shovel. Of course the store was sold out. So the couple asked the owner, whom they know quite well, if they could borrow his personal shovel to get their car out. He replied he could have, but he was out clearing the sidewalk when a customer came in. He set the shovel in the snow and went into the store. When he came back out, someone had stolen the shovel.

The weather also makes some people cranky and impatient. The BBB already is receiving a slew of complaints about property managers who do not remove snow, business owners who choose not to shovel the walks, mail that does not get delivered, backed-up garbage pickup, medication that arrives late at area pharmacies, and plows that seem to never make it to your street.

To transform your ordeal into an adventure, try to anticipate your needs well in advance, realize that most people are doing the best they can, and remain patient, realizing that it takes five times as long to do almost everything as normal. See if you can enjoy something about the situation – even just cracking jokes about it on Facebook, romping in the fresh powder or putting on your headlamp in the power outage to play Scrabble.

If you are feeling frustrated with the service you’re getting from a business or agency, the best thing to do is go right to the source and talk to the person who is letting you down. Make sure your request is reasonable. If you want to complain to the garbage pickup folks because they will not drive down the alley and get stuck, you just might want to rethink that complaint.

And there is always someone who has it worse than you. On Christmas Day, one of the BBB employees saw a man pushing a child in a wheelchair across the Monroe Street Bridge, surrounded by cars.

Catholic Charities has been flooded by calls from low-income, disabled seniors who are in dire need of snow shoveling services. (To volunteer, call 509-328-8400.)

Bear in mind that when the snow melts, we will recall those who helped us make this memorable winter an adventure and those who tried to make it an ordeal.

I know which group I’d rather belong to.