New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on May 10 that New York-based Kost Tire Distributors will pay a $275,000 penalty for charging customers a phony $2 fee for oil changes, local media reports. The company owns 25 service stations in New York, with several in the Syracuse area.
Since Jan. 1, 2012, Kost Tire collected $181,500 by charging customers an additional $2 “oil and filter recycling fee” with each oil change, violating New York law, Schneiderman said. New York’s Environmental Conservation Law prohibits service stations from charging fees for accepting and disposing of used oil.
Kost Tire has agreed to pay the state $181,511 from the “oil and filter recycling fees,” and a civil penalty of $93,489. It is not yet known if customers will receive any of the money from the penalty Kost Tire will pay.
Kost Tire said in the settlement it separately described and quoted an “oil and filter recycling fee” on invoices, which was potentially misleading to customers because it implied the fee was mandated by law.