Ga. officials look into price-gouging after Hurricane Helene

AUGUSTA, Ga. – As many Georgians may still need a place to stay after Helene, Georgia’s Emergency Management Agency says hotel rooms are limited with some hotel chains reporting zero availability statewide.

As a result, several hotels are going for much higher than normal, sometimes nearly four times their regular rate.

The state’s Consumer Protection Division says since Helene passed through the state of Georgia, it’s received nearly 300 complaints of price gouging on everything from gas and fuel to food, and hotels.

After the Consumer Protection Division receives a complaint— it begin to investigate it.

The staff will often issue a “notice letter” to the business responsible and if they are, in fact, price gouging— they can be fined anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000 per violation.

State officials say they only expect the number of complaints to increase.

“We’re going to see more complaints come in. It may take some time for a consumer to look at their credit card statement, for example, in a month, and realize they shouldn’t have paid that much for a service or hotel room,” said Shawn Conroy of the Georgia Consumer Protection Division. “We will get complaints weeks from now.”

If you think you’ve been the victim of price gouging, the state wants you to report it.

You can call the state’s Consumer Protection Division at 404-651-8600 or file a complaint online.

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