 My first exposure to this confused me, and I never thought about it until tonight. My first exposure involved gas stations. If an owner of a gas station was charging less for his gasoline, it was explained to me that if the owner was aware of another gas station was charging higher prices, he was required to raise his prices also.
That was way back in the 80s, and today I had a similar experience, that brought back that memory, only with the Crest movie theater in downtown Sacramento. They used to charge matinee prices on movies starting before 5PM, but they told me today they changed their policy a couple of months ago when they found out that the Tower, another movie house that also shows foreign, art, and independent films, had a different pricing strategy which was more expensive than theirs, the Crest's, originally.
It still seems to me if a business can offer their service at a lower price, that it competition, and it keeps prices down. But if the system requires the same price to be paid for everything, anyone can raise their prices, requiring everyone to raise their prices, and I thought such price fixing was illegal in the United States.
Anyone here with a law degree to explain how this is legal? Maybe you have a chance to file a class action civil law suit and make a few thousand bucks? Or is this actually legal, leaving all us pathetic consumers to be forced to pay higher prices for everything?
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