Consumers report price gouging in the Coachella Valley

COACHELLA VALLEY- Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, items like toilet paper and hand sanitizers have been hard to find in stores.

Due to the high demand, prices on certain products have increased.

Many consumers in the valley have reported seeing price gouging, or an unfair price for a product.

The Public Interest Research Group, PIRG, education fund has found several examples of this illegal activity, including an amazon seller offering 6 rolls of toilet paper for $98.

“Price gouging is really taking advantage of Californian’s who are already so scared for our health and the health and safety of our loved ones,” said Claudia Deeg with PIRG.

The Riverside County District Attorney has established a hotline, 951-955-0764, to report price gouging.

“The incidents in the Coachella Valley have primarily been pertaining to things like toilet paper, eggs, meat and cleaning products. Our investigators have confirmed that these are price increases directly related to increases that the businesses have received from their distributors,” said John Hall with the Riverside County DA.

Hall says no reports have led to violations of local businesses at this point.

In a statement from Eisenhower Medical Center’s president G. Aubrey Serfling says that gouging effects hospitals as well.

“There is price gouging in this current market and a supply/demand problem. For instance, our buyer of PPE, the largest in America, previously sold hospital isolation gowns and N95 masks for 32¢ and 42¢ respectively. Today, these prices are between $3.50 and $6.50 per item,” said Serfling.

Now California lawmakers are asking online marketplaces to crackdown.

“State legislators and attorney generals are calling on retailers to change their algorithms to prevent these overpriced items from being on their sites for the first time. They’re encouraging these companies to create a fair pricing portal or platform where consumers can report these incidences directly to the companies,” said DEEG.

If you’d like to donate to Eisenhower Medical during this time, you can call their donation hotline at  (760-837-8988).