Robert Reich

Airline ticketing fees. Concert fees. Bank overdraft fees. Fees for everything.

Corporations call them “convenience fees” or “service fees.” Probably because they “conveniently” “serve” to pad their bottom lines, costing Americans at least $29 billion/yr.

It’s all a huge scam.

Apr 11, 2023 at 6:07pmWeb
Show threadRobert ReichApr 11, 2023
What are some of the worst junk fees you’ve ever paid?
Show threadBrian VastagApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Every 'resort fee' at every single hotel. What a scam; never included in quoted prices.
Show threadRick NewhouseApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Bank fees on some student loans. Double dipping I'd say. Loan amount, then high up front fee subtracted from loan amount (so amount received is reduced), then interest due is applied to the loan amount.
Show threadVissApr 11, 2023
@rbreich ticketmasters 'convenience fee', the irs federal tax payment websites that take a percent to accept the payment, which is huge, because its a percent of a yearly tax payment. cable and phone 'activation fees', restocking fees for digital goods
Show threadShawnApr 11, 2023
@rbreich $70+ in overdraft fees after an investment app pulled $3 from my account a few times. It was one of those things that helped you invest a little trickle at a time. Maybe the worst was avidly being charged $35 after I told the bank to disallow overdrafts and just declined the transaction altogether. They eliminated overdrafts on my account and then charged me $35 for them to decline a purchase.
Show threadDouglas HimesApr 11, 2023
@rbreich I would say Ticketmaster, but I don't buy any tickets from Ticketmaster, ever, so I don't pay those fees.
Show threadAnne OminousApr 11, 2023

@rbreich after seeing John Oliver's expose on HOA's and the way they use fees, my fee experience has paled in comparison to what some folks have gone thru.. (tens of thousands....)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrizmAo17Os

Homeowners Associations: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube
Show threadRev. GothAliceApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Overdraft fee. Which, in paying, incurred a transaction overdraft surcharge. Luckily, it was not infinitely recursive.
Show threadBTApr 11, 2023
@alice
You got lucky. I had to bail out someone years ago and PNC just kept tacking more and more overdrafts on overdrafts onto their account. Was only able to argue down to 2 or so.
@rbreich
Show threadJoel PomalesApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Spirit airlines. Especially when it's the only airline with consistent flights to where I want to go.
Show threadkcdeeApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Legal Zoom
Show threadMax KaehnApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Fox "News" bundled with my cable TV.
Show threadWe Can Be GyrosApr 11, 2023
@rbreich taxes on items I purchase and food every day. We are triple taxed.
Show threadGregryCApr 11, 2023
@rbreich every penny I've ever paid to Ticketmaster.
Show threadThomas H Jones IIApr 11, 2023

@rbreich

Going to restaurants, post-COVID and getting bills that look like Verizon started making meals.

Show threadLorentzApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Student life fees despite my university paying me a salary and charging my advisor tuition.
Show threadVincent St. Pierre 🇨🇦Apr 11, 2023

@rbreich a $400 bill from Bell Canada. :/

Apparently, Canadians pay x1000 the data fees that the Finnish pay. 

Show threadJohn A IrelandApr 11, 2023
@rbreich ATM network, electronic bill payment (our water utility charges $19.99 to pay it online with a credit or debit)
Show threadHansyApr 11, 2023
@rbreich demand charges for one off electricity charges at peak times extrapolated for the whole month.
Show threadSome rights reservedApr 11, 2023

@rbreich nonrefundable application fees for apartment rentals. I can see passing on the cost of running a background check after a first pass review, or maybe even asking for a substantial refundable deposit to cut down on applicants, but giving a property manager $100 or more just for the opportunity for them to tell you the unit is rented... a scam.

Even worse when apartment hunting in a tight market can blow the entirety of your first month's rent and still leave you without a place

Show threadmeepthorpeApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Door Dash
Show threadLeos KralApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Broadcast TV Surcharge of $22.20 per month to get the networks on my Spectrum TV streaming service.
Show threadJ$Apr 11, 2023
@rbreich bars asking admission fee
Show threadBruceApr 11, 2023

@rbreich

Changing an airline reservation, priced at about 90% of the full ticket price.

Though, once, I got out of it completely. I was helping a disabled friend and needed to delay a return home. He spent almost 3 hours on the phone arguing with the airline, before _they_ buckled and asked him to never darken their door again. I bowed down to the master.

Show threadFirefighterGeek Apr 11, 2023
@rbreich Florida's resort tax.
Show threadCristy TruesdaleApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Uber charges an additional "airport service fee" if you get a ride to or from the airport. Doubt the drivers ever see any of it.
Show threadCarly SaganApr 11, 2023
@rbreich foreign transaction fees for every single stupid card transaction. Like, really? Are we all supposed to walk around with wads of cash when traveling?
Show threadVitamotApr 12, 2023
@carlysagan @rbreich there are plenty of cards not charging foreign transaction fees and giving rewards or miles for each transaction. Please research online.
Show threadTheCatsMeowApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Definitely Ticketmaster. I purchased tickets to see a local band. The base ticket price was very reasonable—$21. Ticketmaster added $7 in fees—a 25% mark-up. The show was at a small venue that had no seats—it was General Admission. I’m not sure what the 25% mark-up covered at all.
Show threadCaren WhiteApr 11, 2023
@rbreich A re-stocking fee on a broken monitor.
Show threadJoshwaaApr 11, 2023
@rbreich twitter verification….NOT
Show threadJESSICA BApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Samsung charges a prolonged sales tax on installment t payments that never go away...ever. Worst billing system on the planet. You can't tell what you bought, how it's being billed, when it ends...its mind numbing. TD Bank is the billing partner. It took me a year to realize I was still paying insurance on a phone for my deceased partner....for a year. No refund though. It took the teller an hour to figure out all the line items and that the insurance was one of them.
Show threadRealGene ☣️Apr 11, 2023

@rbreich Everything on my Verizon landline bill that wasn't an actual government tax.

"Franchise fee recovery fee".
"Local property tax recovery fee".

Then there's Eversource, with their *21* items that form the delivery charge for electricity:

"Exogenous Cost Adjustment"
"Attorney General Consultant Expense Adjustment"

Show threadadrianmadethisApr 11, 2023
@rbreich Every single “online purchase” convenience fee. Most egregious are those which are percentages based on the total bill.
Show threadDarth SoupApr 12, 2023
@rbreich ticket master introduced convenience fees. Every single one since then it's"the worst". There used to be a cost to doing business. Now the consumer foots all of it while the companies depreciate everything and have zero tax liability. We're covering everything.
Show threadphlewApr 12, 2023
@rbreich HOA fees
Show threadHanover FisteApr 12, 2023
@rbreich health care deductibles and copays.....
Show threadGurtbeef RobeApr 13, 2023
@rbreich taxes on unemployment checks
Show threadMichael Gouker ✅Apr 11, 2023
@rbreich Yeah, it's been out of hand for a while. Yesterday I bought a $35 ticket too see a smaller band at a local venue downtown $13 service fee. By the time I'm done checking out the price is over $55.
Show threadJ. Steven York RESISTSApr 11, 2023
@rbreich If we called them a "private tax," which is what they are, people would pay a lot more attention.
Show threadRickApr 11, 2023
@rbreich All the fees would be fine if they were just required to include them in the up-front advertised prices.
Show threadAviva GaryApr 11, 2023
@rbreich word
Show threadbouriquetApr 11, 2023
@rbreich So wouldn’t the usual recourse of corporate America then just roll the fees into the price? They seem to have no problem raising prices anyway. Nothing regulates the price thanks to the GOP.
They never lose. They have the product or service. We’re stuck paying for it if we want it.
Show threadArt Saves Us AllApr 11, 2023

@rbreich

Yes it is.

Show threadVHaschApr 11, 2023

@rbreich

Fees and tips (from trash collectors, no less) on top of inflation have me in economic lockdown. I'm not buying anything but food these days.

Food plus bills leave a zero balance anyway.

Show threadJordan WarshavskyApr 11, 2023

@rbreich it’s not a scam. They are not fooling anyone, or engaging in a deceptive practice.

They are just plain ole price-gouging.

Cause they can.

Not a scam… just unbridled capitalism.

Show threadTang_FishApr 11, 2023
@rbreich junk fees
Show threadThreePuttBogeyApr 12, 2023
@rbreich and credit card surcharges
Show threadCharlie B. BarkinApr 12, 2023
@rbreich Recently I rented a car, and went over a toll bridge costing $3.50. Hertz charged me $55.00 for that.
Show threadPeter LudemannApr 12, 2023
@rbreich
The American custom of adding 20% tips at restaurants, cafes, etc. is a huge "junk fee". It lets businesses not pay decent wages and also show lower prices on the menu. In France, I get better food at a lower price despite the waiters being paid a decent wage and the menu showing the prices including service charge. And if you think that tips encourage good service, go to Japan where there are no tips and service is fantastic.
(There are lots of other things wrong with tips; I'm just focusing on the "scam" part of it)
Show threadAh-ClemApr 12, 2023
@rbreich