Mid-South states on the lookout for reports of price-gouging

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DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — As state health departments deal with the coronavirus, state attorney general’s offices are getting inundated with reports of price gouging.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak we’ve seen the stories nationally, with people paying obnoxious amounts of money, sometimes more than quadruple the normal prices for basic items like hand sanitizer, or face masks. Just this week Amazon announced it’s suspending nearly 4,000 sellers for coronavirus-related price gouging.

“You don’t want to take advantage of people in their worst times, and there are people that want to do that, and we’ll prosecute them,” said DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion.

Champion represents DeSoto County along with several other smaller counties in northern Mississippi. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, his office has had a few people reach out concerned about possible price gouging.

“It’s not illegal to raise your prices as long as your costs have gone up as well,” he said. “They’re entitled to make a profit but they cannot increase their margins by more than what existed than when the state of emergency was declared.”

In a recent complaint his office looked in to involving a Mississippi business, investigators discovered that was the case.

But Attorney General’s offices across the Mid-South are getting calls about possible price gouging since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

The office in Arkansas received nearly 500 reports since the governors emergency declaration.

In Tennessee, as of Monday, the Division of Consumer affairs had received 115 complaints, and 85 allege price gouging.

And in Mississippi a spokesperson said they’ve received about 100 calls and emails they are now reviewing them

“To be fair, not all increased costs constitute price gouging and General Fitch is sympathetic to small businesses that have seen their margins shrink by increased wholesale costs. But the Attorney General’s Office will not tolerate price gouging or any scams that take advantage of these circumstances, especially if it involves the resources our health care providers and first responders need to keep us safe,” the state’s spokesperson said.

While Champion is pleased that, so far, he hasn’t received many calls about businesses taking advantage of people, it has happened in the past.

“When Katrina came through we had several businesses, and it was mostly motels, that were trying to take advantage of people from the Gulf Coast area,” he said.

For now he’s thanking those working overtime, in businesses that we depend on.

“I just appreciate what you’re doing and I hope that no one will take advantage of what’s going on. I’ve been pleasantly, pleasantly surprised, thankful that I’m not seeing more cases of this.”