The station is the only one around for miles in the Mojave desert
This summer, gas prices are lower than they have been in the past. In some places though, some gas stations have a “I know what I have” attitude, resulting in some seriously high prices. One desert gas station is like this, and it doubles down on the pricing with a disclaimer for customers.
Najah’s Desert Goods sits in the middle of absolutely nowhere in the Mojave Desert right at the intersection of Route 66 and Interstate 40. Well it’s not technically nowhere; it’s in a place called Fenner, California, which, if you know, might as well be nowhere. At Najah’s Desert Oasis sits a Chevron $CVX (CVX) station and, as seen in a tweet from Twitter $TWTR X user @mbateman, this station has some of what’s likely the highest if not the highest gas prices around. Regular is at $8.59/gallon, plus is at $8.65/gallon and premium is $8.75/gallon. Outrageous prices anywhere else, for sure.
However Najah’s Desert Goods knows there is a need. The owners also know that people will complain about the prices of the gas. A second picture in the post shows a disclaimer that the station has posted for anyone that’s considering complaining to someone about the gas prices. It reads:
Our overhead is extremely high. Delivery cost is double with this location. There is a vast of almost 100 miles of desert, with no service. Please do not complain about the prices. You have a choice to be a customer or not. We are here for your convenience. Thank you for supporting a family owned business.
On one hand they have a point. You do have a choice on whether or not you choose to stop, pay their prices and get gas. On the other, saying “You need us because look where you are! What other choice do you have!” can be a turn off for some. And it reflects in the station’s reviews: 1.4 stars on Yelp and 2.3 on Google $GOOGL. That’s from nearly 500 total reviews. And from some of the reviews, the station’s prices aren’t the only things wrong.
“With the price they’re charging for gas and other items inside the shop, they can’t be bothered to fix two out of three of the bathroom stalls. Nothing inside has a price tag, just pick up what you want and have a heart attack at the register,” read one review from earlier this month.
I’m not usually price sensitive, I know sometimes you have to charge a premium, but this seems so extreme—more like gouging desperate people than charing fair prices. “I also went inside and paid $8 for water…” read another review.
It seems like if you’re ever in this part of the Mojave desert in California, you should just stock extra gas and bypass this place entirely. Or if you don’t mind paying nearly $5 more than California’s average gas price, pull in and knock yourself out.
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