I really like when sites where you can buy plane tickets list the price with the tax and fees. Then you know exactly what you're going to be paying when you buy the ticket. Which is nice because if you travel and stay in a hotel, your hotel bill is all but guaranteed to be filled with taxes and fees of all sorts.
Hidden fees continue to drive me crazy, and I may have a new favorite hidden fee. And when I say "favorite," I mean "fee I find absolutely ridiculous."
Two friends and I split a room this past weekend for a friend's wedding. We ended up in a "suite" with a pull out couch so no one had to sleep on the floor. We were told the "suite" cost an additional $10 over the price of a standard room with a rollaway.
Fine, no problem.
We were expecting all sorts of taxes and perhaps a few extra fees on our bill, as that seems to be the norm with hotel bills, but I was quite surprised to see this one: extra occupant charge - $20/night.
I know what you're thinking. Three people in a room designed for two (even though there was a pullout couch). So they charged extra for that third person. Prevents college kids from cramming 15 people in a room that sleeps three. Fine.
Except that this extra occupant charge wasn't just for one person. It was charged for the extra TWO people in the room. That's right - the standard room rate was just for one person.
I can't even begin to explain how ridiculous I find that. How much more can it actually cost the hotel for a second person in the room, especially a room with only one bed? I suppose it might be a bit of extra work for housekeeping. And I suppose that's two showers instead of one, and two sets of towels instead of one. But still. $20 for a second person in the room?
Extra occupant charge. Ridiculous.
Showing posts with label hidden fees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hidden fees. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The spammers are costing me money!
I have text messaging on my phone, but I don't have an unlimited plan. I pay 10 cents to send a text and 2 cents every time I receive one. I've done the math, and at this point, I just don't send and receive enough text messages to make the unlimited plan worth it. For now, I'm content to pay per message.
Except now, I have started getting spam texts. Porn spam texts, of course. I knew that spam texts were common for people with unlimited text plans, but until recently, I had been spared the spam.
I'm not sure how the spammers got my number, but every so often, I check my phone and find that two or three new spam messages have come in. I have to pay for those!
Okay, so it's only 2 cents per message. So the three messages I just discovered only cost me 6 cents. But this goes back to my hidden fees post - how many of these do I get over a period of time? How much money does it end up costing me? A dollar a year? More? And I've discovered that these spam messages were coming more frequently than they used to.
I'm not sure if I'm going to contact the phone company or not. After all, it was only 3 messages. Only 6 cents. Maybe I am overreacting. And it's probably not worth my time to sit on hold for 5-10 minutes only to get 6 cents credited to my account.
But I still find it a little frustrating.
Except now, I have started getting spam texts. Porn spam texts, of course. I knew that spam texts were common for people with unlimited text plans, but until recently, I had been spared the spam.
I'm not sure how the spammers got my number, but every so often, I check my phone and find that two or three new spam messages have come in. I have to pay for those!
Okay, so it's only 2 cents per message. So the three messages I just discovered only cost me 6 cents. But this goes back to my hidden fees post - how many of these do I get over a period of time? How much money does it end up costing me? A dollar a year? More? And I've discovered that these spam messages were coming more frequently than they used to.
I'm not sure if I'm going to contact the phone company or not. After all, it was only 3 messages. Only 6 cents. Maybe I am overreacting. And it's probably not worth my time to sit on hold for 5-10 minutes only to get 6 cents credited to my account.
But I still find it a little frustrating.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Hidden fees drive me crazy!
I am a huge fan of the column Red Tape Chronicles on msnbc.com. In it, Bob Sullivan writes about things like internet scams and consumer fraud. While we all hear stories about scams and fraud and think "Oh, I would never have fallen for that," this column uncovers stories that perhaps some of us might have fallen for, or at the very least, things we wouldn't be expecting to be a scam.
This morning, I came across an article by Mr. Sullivan entitled Why hidden fees are a big deal. Like me, Mr. Sullivan hates hidden fees that companies pile onto us. I have to agree. I hate signing up for a service that advertises it will cost $39.99 and find that my end bill is over $50. Why? Taxes and fees. Usually I just shrug and figure it's part of the deal, but that doesn't mean I don't find it frustrating.
Before I read Mr. Sullivan's article, I thought I was pretty good about watching for hidden fees. I check my credit card statement a few times a week, and when the bill comes, I go through the statement and reconcile it with my records in Microsoft Money. I do the same with my bank accounts to be sure that I'm not getting any additional fees. I also check the bills for various services (cable, cell phone, etc) to be sure that the charges are all valid.
But I tend to ignore those various fees that are always tacked on. The ones that claim to be various taxes. I figure that's all part of the deal. But this sentence from Mr. Sullivan's article made me pause:
"The most successful firms are now the ones that hide their prices best: Under asterisks, deep inside terms and conditions, in fees they call taxes, bills that come months after the fact, or around a dark corners in auto dealerships where the manager’s office is."
You mean that perhaps these fees aren't taxes after all? Then what are they? And while they may only be a few dollars every billing cycle, those few dollars add up! On this website, I'm tracking how much I really can save by just putting a dollar a day into a savings account. Think how much more I could save if I could put a dollar a day plus all of those little fees that pop up every month! The article states that the average amount that a consumer spends on these types of fees per year is $946. As Mr. Sullivan points out, that means that while some people manage to minmize their fee expenses to under $300, others are paying nearly $2000 per year in hidden fees!
I don't know what we can do about these fees. I have a feeling that if I called my cell phone company to inquire about a fee, they would tell me that it's a tax that they are required to charge me and that would be the end of it. But I do think I'm going to start paying more attention to my bills. I distinctly remember a few months back where I stayed in a hotel and when it was time to pay the bill, there was a random $3 charge on it. I asked about it, and the desk clerk shrugged and said it was just a standard fee. I was on my way to the airport, so I didn't bother to argue. At that point, it was worth losing the $3 to be sure that I got to the airport on time and didn't miss my flight home. After all, it was only $3. But now that I think about it, how many times have I done something like that? How many little $3 charges have I just written off because "Oh, it's not worth it to fight that, it's only a few dollars."
I'm not going to become a crusader against hidden fees. But I think I am going to start asking questions. If nothing else, I should at least know why I'm being charged that additional money. Then, if I shouldn't be charged, I can work to get it taken off my bill. It's not a huge step, but it's a step in the right direction.
This morning, I came across an article by Mr. Sullivan entitled Why hidden fees are a big deal. Like me, Mr. Sullivan hates hidden fees that companies pile onto us. I have to agree. I hate signing up for a service that advertises it will cost $39.99 and find that my end bill is over $50. Why? Taxes and fees. Usually I just shrug and figure it's part of the deal, but that doesn't mean I don't find it frustrating.
Before I read Mr. Sullivan's article, I thought I was pretty good about watching for hidden fees. I check my credit card statement a few times a week, and when the bill comes, I go through the statement and reconcile it with my records in Microsoft Money. I do the same with my bank accounts to be sure that I'm not getting any additional fees. I also check the bills for various services (cable, cell phone, etc) to be sure that the charges are all valid.
But I tend to ignore those various fees that are always tacked on. The ones that claim to be various taxes. I figure that's all part of the deal. But this sentence from Mr. Sullivan's article made me pause:
"The most successful firms are now the ones that hide their prices best: Under asterisks, deep inside terms and conditions, in fees they call taxes, bills that come months after the fact, or around a dark corners in auto dealerships where the manager’s office is."
You mean that perhaps these fees aren't taxes after all? Then what are they? And while they may only be a few dollars every billing cycle, those few dollars add up! On this website, I'm tracking how much I really can save by just putting a dollar a day into a savings account. Think how much more I could save if I could put a dollar a day plus all of those little fees that pop up every month! The article states that the average amount that a consumer spends on these types of fees per year is $946. As Mr. Sullivan points out, that means that while some people manage to minmize their fee expenses to under $300, others are paying nearly $2000 per year in hidden fees!
I don't know what we can do about these fees. I have a feeling that if I called my cell phone company to inquire about a fee, they would tell me that it's a tax that they are required to charge me and that would be the end of it. But I do think I'm going to start paying more attention to my bills. I distinctly remember a few months back where I stayed in a hotel and when it was time to pay the bill, there was a random $3 charge on it. I asked about it, and the desk clerk shrugged and said it was just a standard fee. I was on my way to the airport, so I didn't bother to argue. At that point, it was worth losing the $3 to be sure that I got to the airport on time and didn't miss my flight home. After all, it was only $3. But now that I think about it, how many times have I done something like that? How many little $3 charges have I just written off because "Oh, it's not worth it to fight that, it's only a few dollars."
I'm not going to become a crusader against hidden fees. But I think I am going to start asking questions. If nothing else, I should at least know why I'm being charged that additional money. Then, if I shouldn't be charged, I can work to get it taken off my bill. It's not a huge step, but it's a step in the right direction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
