Hell or high water, it's all the $ame

Today's story comes courtesy the Binghamton (NY) Press and Sun-Bulletin, written by staff writer Liz Hacken regarding a wee bit of price gouging that took place during the devastating flood which hit the NY/PA areas in late June.
JOHNSON CITY -- A village hotel must refund more than $500 to guests that it overcharged at the peak of late June's flooding, as well as pay a $7,500 civil penalty, following an investigation by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
The settlement announced Tuesday calls for the Best Western of Johnson City, on Harry L Drive, to repay $510.20 to seven customers who were overcharged for their stays around June 27.
Spitzer's office said the hotel raised its room rates by at least 87 percent for some guests.
The hotel customarily charges $79.95 for any room and often charged less, Spitzer said in a press release.
On June 27, the hotel hiked its rates to $150 per room, well above the maximum room rates of $99.85 for a double and $110.95 for a king room, he said.
"State law requires that increased prices in a time of market disruption be linked directly to increased costs. Anything other than that is price gouging," Spitzer said.
The investigation began June 29 after Spitzer's office had complaints from two customers that they were overcharged.
In a statement Tuesday, the hotel's management said at the end of the evening on June 27 it charged its top rate on about six rooms out of more than 100 rooms at the hotel, which had recently been renovated. The management decided to charge that rate to offset the tens of thousands of dollars it had donated during the flooding, including allowing late cancellations at no charge and selling rooms to the American Red Cross and county social services department at one-half of the normal rate.

Sure. That's swell. Out of the goodness of your heart, you robbed Peter to give to Paul. Can you say, "Indian giver?"