Sunday, October 15, 2023

"Junk Fees": Biden's One Good Idea

 Long essay at this link.

Short form:

...I brought up one of the most annoying features of American commerce, which is known as the junk fee. We’ve all experienced these in one form or another. You go to a hotel, and instead of being given the price quoted to you online, they add a $25 “amenity” fee, or “resort” fee, or something like that.

It’s not just hotels who charge undisclosed fees, but banks, rental car companies, landlords, live event firms, auto dealers, restaurants, phone companies, internet service firms, universities, private airports, prisons, movie theaters, credit card companies, etc. Junk fees are indeed everywhere - aircraft owners have to deal with hidden charges by Fixed Base Operators, and independent pharmacists have to put up with endless fees from pharmacy benefit managers.

Such cheating is pervasive at this point, built into the business model of firms across the economy. According to Consumer Reports, 85% of Americans “have experienced a hidden or unexpected fee for a service in the previous two years,” and 96% found them “highly annoying” and said they were paying more in hidden charges than they were five years ago. There’s even an airline-specific consulting firm, IdeaWorks, that releases regular reports cheering on the industry for increasing fees. (I’m not kidding, just browse the press release section of its website.)...

Biden wants those little surprises to go away by requiring that a business post the ENTIRE cost of XYZ goods to include any fees.

Surprisingly for a Biden idea, that's good for competition, as going forward, sellers can no longer obtain sales by under-stating the actual price, which does include fees.  Their under-statement deprives the honest seller of business.  It's a predatory practice, not only on the consumer, but on other business.

By the way, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should still be eradicated.

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