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Good. Companies should be able to charge the prices they want, but if that's the case they should be required to disclose the full price and nothing but the pri
by datadrivenangel 3y ago
Good. Companies should be able to charge the prices they want, but if that's the case they should be required to disclose the full price and nothing but the price.
- tptacek 3y agoIn this case, ISPs are charging prices they don't want, but rather are mandated to by local governments.
- pessimizer 3y agoThose are expenses. The ISPs choose the price they want based on their expenses. Complaining about local regulations is no more or less legitimate than complaining about the price of copper.
- tptacek 3y agoNo, they're not. Comcast's price doesn't float municipality to municipality. These are simply taxes that local governments are charging and forcing Comcast to collect.
- frumper 3y agoPrices do change in different municipalities. I've paid different sticker prices in different towns that are within an hour of each other for the same service.
- viraptor 3y agoThis is the real price though. The customer doesn't care normally - the price is what they pay, not the weird partial amount that the ISP itself gets in the end.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> customer doesn't care normally - the price is what they pay A savvy customer should. If 90% of the bill is Comcast, I'm going to negotiate with Comcast. If 90% is municipal fees, I'm going to call my city council.
- supertimor 3y agoOk, sure. And this is exactly why this rule is being put into place. So customers can see a list of fees instead of some nebulous “fee” added on that tells the consumer nothing about what they are actually paying for.
- macinjosh 3y agoThe US has a long tradition of separating taxes from sale prices. Every fast food joint lists a price w/o sales tax. You don't pay sales tax to the state individually. The state is taxing the businesses' sales, but the cost is passed on to you. Why should ISPs not be able to do the same thing Del Taco does? In my area we have small shopping districts that have their infrastructure funded through a 1.7% sales tax on every retail business. Best Buy doesn't change the price of the iPhone 14 to reflect this. Should they? I don't know. Instead taped to the surface of every checkout is a typed note informing the customer of the improvement fund. I think a good compromise would be to allow advertising to remain how it is, but require a full detailed bill at the point of sale.
- wolverine876 3y agoThat's a normal part of business.
- tptacek 3y agoReally? In what other ordinary retail business do you need to get a customer zip code before you can quote them an accurate price on a standard offering?
- vel0city 3y agoPractically all of them. I don't see the final price from pretty much any online store until I put in my ZIP as otherwise it doesn't know shipping or taxes. But at least I can see the final price before I choose to commit to buying the item. Many ISPs won't tell you what the bill is going to be until they've already wired you up for service.
- jcranmer 3y agoE-commerce?
- meepmorp 3y agoZip code isn't nearly enough information to work out telecom taxes/fees, as they often cross political boundaries with potentially different rates and charges. You need a full street address.
- tzs 3y agoSame for sales tax, if you are selling in a way where the applicable sales tax is where the customer lives rather than where the seller is.
- mqus 3y agoDon't they need to know your address anyways to check if they can provide service at all?