This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support the only free online newspaper in Pike County. Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Thanks for supporting Pike County's only free online newspaper!
By Guest Columnist Debbie Lord
Courtesy of The Upson Beacon
THOMASTON - Last week prior to Tropical Storm Irma hitting, Twice the Ice in Thomaston reduced its prices in an effort to help residents in Thomaston and Upson get prepared in case of power outages. The owner of One Stop Citgo, located at Hwy 19 and Atwater Road, was accused of buying in bulk at the reduced price during Tropical Storm Irma and then reselling it for a higher price, basically price gouging. As it turns out, that is not what happened at all.
Someone snapped a photo of him loading his vehicle and put the story out there. The story was shared hundreds of times on Facebook. Basharit Ali Khan said he would never do that to his community or customers, and it isn’t true. And the folks who own Twice the Ice believe him.
Khan said their small store rarely sells ice, and maybe makes $10 a week when he does. He explained that his ice machine has been broken for six weeks and he has been purchasing 15 bags of ice three times a week from Twice the Ice since.
He said, “The store’s ice machine has been broken and we’ve spent more than $350 trying to get it fixed. I have been buying 15 bags three times a week. I truly did not know why the ice was on sale until I was buying it. It was on sale, but there wasn’t signage and I simply thought it was just on sale. I do not know anything about computers or Facebook. I did what I always do and then it’s on the internet that I am trying to hurt people. I would never do that. This has hurt all of us deeply, and our family’s reputation.”
“We have a fountain machine that must be kept cold. So we ice it down twice a day. If the cylinders go bad it would cost us hundreds of dollars. We cannot afford to replace them. We do not have loaded shelves, and do not carry a lot of stock. We can’t afford it. We get by and my God is the same as your God, he provides all we need. We have good relationships with our customers and most know we would never do that. My family is very hurt by all of this and I am. We keep the ice in the box outside of the store, that is the only place we can keep it so it won’t melt. We rarely sell ice and when we do it’s at a lower rate than other stores.”
Khan, his wife and four children have lived in Upson County for close to 30 years and have owned One Stop since they moved here. Khan said, “We are proud American citizens. I love my community, we try to help and people here have helped us when times were hard. My four children have attended and graduated from school here. I would not do that to my community. We are good people. I am not sure why someone would do this to us. We are very hurt by all of this. We struggled for years after our gas was removed. People helped us; we sell our stock at lower prices because people have been so good to us. We would not hurt anyone.”
The week before the storm, Khan arranged a meeting with a company that leases ice machines hoping to resolve the situation, but the storm prevented the meeting from happening. The Beacon asked Twice the Ice if they just advertised it on Facebook and they confirmed Facebook was their only form of advertising the storm relief pricing. They said, “We were told he buys ice from us on a regular basis. I sincerely believe that he was buying out of good faith for his customers. We also lease ice machines and will be sending our agent to see him. We think he was doing what he needed to for his customers.”