Is This Price Gouging In Bismack?

We are all feeling the aches and pains of this miserable, violent, dangerous, cold weather
Here in North Dakota, the one thing that sooner or later we all have to come to expect is the winter, and several times during that span temperatures drop to a dangerous level.

This is what we have experienced the last day or so. Here is my question to you, Can some people actually profit from this? Yes.

Are There Any Anti-Gouging Laws In North Dakota?

So there is NOT a law against it. As always you can file a complaint to the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division. Why did I bring this up? Well, local Uber drivers have

been accused of dramatically raising their fares. According to the Bismarck People Reporting News Facebook group page, here is what Anonymous posted yesterday:

"Uber is ripping everybody off again, just because of the cold weather advisory. Rates have tripled. What a rip off"

What followed this person's statement was around 120 comments. I didn't go through each one, but it was obvious that Anonymous ruffled a few feathers. Many people wrote

in saying that there are other options to use - like Lyft..

"Uber and Lyft ARE not employees - they are INDEPENDENT contractors..."

An excellent comment from one of the many who responded..."Uber and Lyft are not employees, they are Independent contractors..." They drive their own car, they maintain

the safety of their vehicle. YOU are not blindsided when you decide to use their service. Like the majority of the comments, we should feel lucky that we have people providing a

service in this dangerous weather. If you google the obvious question "What are the Uber and Lyft prices?" The general answer is that they "vary by city, region, and time of

day" That makes perfect sense to me. This is one of those deals where you just have to expect their rates to be higher. We all have to "Bite The Bullet" sometimes.