Do hidden costs annoy you?

They annoy me to no end. It is deceptive.

Love em. Nothing better than getting suckered into screwing up your budget. Woo hoo.

The 5 Most Outrageous Examples of Hidden Charges Companies Pass Off on Consumers—And How to Fight Back

Two words: caveat emptor

I just hate it especially when it comes to hotel bills. At times we won’t be in a situation to search the bills all over, that we just shrug, grumble, and pay up.The main purpose is to confuse the buyers as far as possible and squeeze maximum out of them.

@Smitha I know and it sucks, all costs should be up front, not snuck in at the end of the transaction, makes you kind of think they are not being honest.

You mean like cell phone charges? Or our utility bills?

Me: How much is electricity?
Them: The supply charge is 5.5 cents per kilowatt -hr.
Me: Why does my bill say 10.5 cents?
Them: Oh the delivery charge is 5.0 cents per kW-hr.
Me: Can I come to your office and pick it up instead of paying you?

Yes , very much so ! What I find to be an aggravation are the ‘convenience” & installment fees ! I mean , you have to pay someone to take your money ? Its insane .
Thanks a lot SQUEEKY2 for getting my blood-pressure up ! lol
Good question , as always !
=)

@lx102303 I know from hotel fees, to automotive fees and so on these so called fees should be in the original price,not a surprise at the end.

@SQUEEKY2 I must agree !

I have just taken out a mobile phone contract that promised ‘unlimited free calls’. I noticed the other day they intended charging an extra £8.00 for calls. When I asked why they said they charge (and charge excessively) for calls to certain numbers. I thought this was very deceptive and unfair and I have written to them to say so. I haven’t heard back yet.

The problem is really that we are not told about extra costs. The good news is that we should be and there are ombudsmen watching most services and industries to put a stop to it.

@LornaLove Yes we really should be told of the hidden costs in your country and mine.

I was told my bill would be 40 per month.

Granted. I knew about the modem lease.

^ I used to call Verizon and bitch at them every single month.

“I have the paperwork here from your technician stating that my bill is $99 per month. Not $147. I will not pay $147 because that is not the number on the contract I signed. No, the contract does not specify there are additional fees.”

Next month, same thing.

Pain in the arse, but it was an extra $50 a month.

@Seek_Kolinahr , you’re not alone in your frustrations with Verizon . The misrepresentation of the truth regarding their described services is an ongoing point of contention with me . Every month I have to ‘wrestle’ with them in some way or another .
=/

Just wait until you cancel. You’ll box up all the stuff, return it IN PERSON to their main office, and then you’ll get a bill for all the stuff you never returned. You’ll fight with them for three years, and only get the charge removed when a Verizon sales rep thinks you’re going to sign up again, and wipes your account. Then you’ll let him know you’ll have to “think some more” and kick him out the door.

@johnpowell That invoice is a piece of work. You have probably heard of this site. Back in 2000 they had to pay customers $200,000,000 for six years of overcharging. They have probably got better lawyers since then.

@Seek_Kolinahr , I can hardly wait . I’m not surprised . As dissatisfied as I am with Verizon I have to say , to be fair , that most everyone there has been polite and helpful although they’re not very efficient at resolving the ongoing problems problems I have been having .
I suppose its just another opportunity for me to develop my skills at being patient . Wish me luck .
=/

The biggest thing that annoys me is my bank charges. I specifically asked if there were fees before i signed up and the girl made it seem like no. I didn’t even want a savings account and she signed me up for it. Now every month I get charged $5 for my savings and $10 for my checking. The other thing that drives me crazy is that they also charge you ridiculous fees if its not their ATM. I went to a surcharge free ATM and checked my balance and took money out in same transaction and they charged me $2.50 for withdrawal and $2 for balance inquiry. Then I just took money out the other day and I got charged $2 at the ATM and then my bank charged me another $2.50 on top of that. What is my monthly charges for if they are essentially going to charge me $5 every time I use an ATM?!?!?!?!

@naynay86 :: You need to look into a credit union. Mine, Portland Teachers Credit Union does none of that shit. And while some credit unions have restrictions on who can join a lot don’t. I haven’t paid a random ATM fee in ten years, or any fee for that matter.

I also have another bank account and they charge for nothing, however everytime I turn around I have fraud on my card and have no access to my money until a new one comes because the bank is in another state where I used to live. So, its just a big hassle! But quite a few people have told me to check out a credit union, so I will have to check it out!

I will share two stories: one about my current credit union and one about Bank of America.

BofA: I worked at a University and they had a BofA ATM. I made a small deposit that was a check after work around 6pm on a Friday. Being a bit frazzled I forgot to actually put the check in the envelope. It was only for 25 bucks and I had over 2K in my account.

The next night I went out for dinner and my card was declined. Baffled, I called the bank. They froze my account. I couldn’t pay for dinner. Fraud. They said I dad to go to the branch I opened my account at to have it opened again. I was in Portland and my account was opened in Eugene. I had no way of getting there. It would have cost 30 bucks to get to Eugene and I was worried about the 1.50 (friends covered dinner) to get home. And it was the weekend so I would be broke since even if I got down there I would have had to wait until Monday.

Luckily, After some yelling they admitted I could go to any branch to collect the cash I had in their vault. Which I did…. Bring on the credit union…

PTCU: A lovely credit union. Switching was a breeze. The HR person at the College actually did all the direct deposit stuff. It took 30 minutes to get a checking/savings account that as far as I know I have never paid a single fee for.

A few years ago I botched a deposit. I was putting in a check for 899.00 and forgot the zeros. So I deposited $8.99 which pretty much meant my rent check would bounce. I called (after hours) and they trusted me and fixed it in about 90 seconds..

That is a lot of typing to pretty much say credit unions rule and Bank of America can suck my dick.

I used to have bank of america also, they are bad with the fees, but not as bad as wells fargo lol

I hate hidden charges. I spent several hours comparing various hotel prices and finally came up with the winner, only to find out at the last minute, but before I signed the contract thank goodness, there was an additional $15 a day parking charge.

Then the fall back hotel also informed me there was a cleaning charge that had not been included in the original quote, and when I said that would be a deal breaker and I would not complete the transaction, they waived the extra charge.

@YARNLADY Why can’t these business’s include those hidden costs in the original quote ?
They would come across as more honest,and in my opinion do more business.

Hidden costs annoy me, but not as much as planned obsolescence.

The pollution of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, free of charge.