Instances of alleged price gouging multiply across the territory

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Members of the community are observing the sudden price increases for essential goods such as cases of bottled of water, bread, frozen foods like boxes of chicken and turkey tails and other food items including sugar, rice, and a variety of other staples.

A side issue is also coming to the fore, from the complaints, allegations of price gouging being done by “Asian-owned’ stores only. Samoa News should point out that most grocery stores in the territory are Asian-owned, and often referred to as “faleoloa o Saina” (store owned by Chinese), whether Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, or Filipino owned.

While there are no statistics readily available from the local Department of Commerce, identifying how many stores are Asian-owned, it should be noted that by observation — especially in the Nuuuli and Tafuna villages, as well as along the main road heading west and into parts of the eastside (Fagaalu, Fagatogo, Pago Pago, and Aua) — multiple Asian-owned stores are observed, both grocery as well as dry goods.

As a result, when it comes to pointing fingers at who is doing the price gouging, it’s no surprise that many residents, (not all), are referring to “Asian-owned” stores as the culprits. However, in one case, a Samoan-owned store owner, Mrs. Jane, believes she is not making enough profit and the cost of living is rising as a direct result of Chinese-owned stores.

MRS. JANE

The owner of a small-to-medium sized shop in the Fagatogo area, who only identified herself as Mrs. Jane, expressed the following about the rising cost of living and blamed it for her business’s lack of profit.

“The cost of living is an ongoing issue in American Samoa, even us small shops are not able to make much profit, due to developing Chinese-owned supermarkets,” said Mrs. Jane.

She said the rise in the cost of chicken in recent years is an example of how things have gotten out of control.

“Back then chicken was always sold for a reasonable price and besides the expensive mutton flaps, we were always relying on chicken to change our food menu daily, nowadays the cost of a box of chicken is almost equivalent to the price of mutton flaps,” she said.

“Yes, maybe it is due to the pandemic but it is confusing. Even for me as a shop owner, I am always assured if I buy my stock from local wholesale most of their goods and products are reasonable.”

OTHER STORIES OF PRICE GOUGING

Another woman in the Fagatogo area told Samoa News that she bought 3 cases of bottled of water from an Asian store in Fagatogo on Monday night for $6.99 per case, however, when she visited the same store last Friday, the price of a case of bottled of water was $7.99.

The woman said she questioned the cashier about the change in price but the answer was mixed up because she had a hard time understanding what the cashier was trying to tell her (the implication seems to be the cashier didn’t speak Samoan or English).

She said she contacted the local Police Station in Fagatogo for help but the lady who answered the telephone instructed her to contact the Attorney General office for assistance.

A man from Pago Pago shared the same concerns over the steep hike in prices in several stores in the area. The man, who wished not to be named told Samoa News that he and his family faced the same problem when they visited one of the Asian stores in the Pago Pago village and noticed the price increases that had occurred over just a few days.

The man said when he went shopping on Wednesday morning, the price for a case of chicken was $17.99, however, three days later — last Saturday the price was up to $19.99 for one case of chicken.

“I confronted the cashier about the quick change but she told me to speak to their boss, but when I asked for her boss’s whereabouts, she didn’t answer,” the news source said.

A female from Aua (eastern side) contacted Samoa News last Friday morning to report price gouging at one of the stores in her village. The caller gave the description of the store and the location.

According to the caller, this is the same store her family has regularly gone to for their shopping so she’s familiar with prices of almost all of the items on the shelves. However, when she went to the store to buy bread for her father’s breakfast, she found that the wheat bread that usually costs $3.25 was raised to $3.75.

A couple from Nu’uuli also shared the same concerns with Samoa News during the weekend called out alleged price gouging at some of the Asian stores in the Nu’uuli area.

According to the couple, they went shopping at one of the stores on Saturday, Feb. 19 and they purchased several items for the family including cases of waters, boxes of chicken, a bag of rice, two cases of milk and several other food items.

They had kept their receipts so when they went to the same store this past Saturday morning, Feb. 26, they said there was a huge difference in price for some items.

For example, according to the couple, a case of milk was $17.90 during their first shopping but when they went there a second time last weekend, a case of milk was $19.95 — a $2.05 different within one week.

The couple stated that they would contact the AG’s office this Monday to report the alleged price gouging. They will also provide proof of their claims.

Several members of the public have expressed concerns at the rising cost of living and urge leaders to do something to stop this ongoing problem.

One resident told Samoa News that American Samoa, like many vulnerable Pacific Island economies, continues to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in global trade and the supply chain, which has led to local companies increasing prices due to a hike in freight and import duty costs.

A 43-year-old shop supervisor, who works in an Asian-owned business in the Tafuna area and refused to give his name, said the rising cost of living is a major hurdle for him as prices of goods appear to increase on a weekly basis.

He said he is even seeing price increases in the shop he currently works in and often tries to negotiate with the business’ owner for a “fair price” for local customers.

He told Samoa News, “Even though I cannot change the prices on goods and products within our store, I still try my best to reason with our [business] owner for fair prices for our customers when I see fit.”

As an example, the shop supervisor cited the shortage of many goods such as rice experienced in American Samoa a few months ago, due to the delay in the arrival of a container ship.

A lot of stores immediately increased the price of their remaining rice stock, according to the store supervisor, but the owner of the business he works for did not hike the price, after his own staff expressed concern at any plans to increase the price.

“Because our store's owner has seen our concern, and that even with our earned income, we still are not able to meet our everyday needs and wants.”

The store supervisor then appealed to ASG to do random inspections of businesses, if the rights of the customers are to be protected.

“This can serve as a reminder to the government to pay visits to supermarkets and stores, once in a while, to inspect if fair prices are given to the public for their goods and products.

A government official explained that price gouging is illegal and shoppers can report any suspicious action to the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Attorney General office.

The Attorney General’s Office advices shoppers that if you suspect a business is price gouging by raising its prices more than 10%, report it to the Dept. of Public Safety, 633-1111.

Needed information is the item bought, what it cost before Code Red and what it costs now. Keep your receipts. Don’t confront anyone. Let ASG handle it.

“The AG’s office needs to know the name of the product as well as the price before and after the emergency, so please provide detailed information about the store, business, or person that has raised its prices since the beginning of the declared emergency,” the government official said.

Under the law, an increase of more than 10% of an item, after a declaration of emergency is illegal, UNLESS, a business can prove that the cost of the product has gone up due to a suppliers rise in cost such as airfreight versus sea freight, or a new shipment has arrived within the time frame of the price increase changing the price.

The government official stated they would send someone to the stores to investigate the price increase. If the price increase is confirmed, we will look into the reason for the price increase.

“Our goal is to obtain voluntary compliance with the law. If we find that someone is price gouging, we will determine an appropriate course of action. We may give a warning and explain the law.

“Violators are also subject to civil fines of up to $1000 per violation, the loss of a business license, or criminal prosecution as a Class A misdemeanor,” the AG’s office said.

In the interest of transparency, Samoa News points out that this newspaper is owned by the Annesley family, whose descendants on their mother’s side are also part Chinese — Ho-Ching — their grandfather was “Ching Ho”.