3 ms·

This is still misrepresenting it, though? They are free to not pass the fees through directly to users. They are required to pay the fee to the municipality.

by taeric 3y ago

This is still misrepresenting it, though? They are free to not pass the fees through directly to users. They are required to pay the fee to the municipality. These are not, necessarily, linked things. You are correct that it would somewhat increase their costs, such that they may have to increase their billing rate, but they are in no way required to pass the bill through directly to the customer. Note that this is very different from taxes. Those are typically collected by the business, but owed by the purchaser. Right?

tptacek 3y ago
I'm having trouble understanding how they are anything other than taxes. They're called "pass-through fees" because the underlying contracts (or, in some cases, statutes) set the expectation that they'll be passed directly to the consumer. They're fees governments charge to their residents, through service providers, for services the government does not itself provide. They're not even tolls. They're taxes. I like taxes! I'm a Democrat! But I think these particular taxes are pretty shady.
- taeric 3y ago
  Snidely, they aren't taxes for the simple reason that I couldn't itemize them in federal deductions. That isn't quite as relevant nowadays, I suppose. There is also usually a benefit for Comcast in this, as well. As such, it feels somewhat ok to treat them separate from taxes collected by Comcast. In particular, it is not uncommon for the franchise agreement to free up a ton of advertising concerns that the company would otherwise have to do. I do think an interesting question is if this is counted as revenue for them? I'm currently assuming that they do count it in gross revenue? As such, it is literally them finding a way to get more revenue for places that cost more to do business, without open faced charging more. That is, yes it is an expense that they have to pay, but so is, for example, the gas they have to pay to send a technician out. For that matter, the vehicle is also an expense of doing business. I'd be annoyed if those were line item added to my bill as a way to inflate what I paid. Not sure how this is any different?
  - xbar 3y ago
    I do not accept Comcast’s response. Nor do I accept your justification. Comcast has alll the data it needs to produce an accurate bill and is free to price its service in a manner that hides municipal fees if it chooses. Or not and it can advertise low rates and break the fees out. Comcast wants to make a profit out of lack of transparency and leverage that lack of transparency in marketing against competitors, public and private.
    - tptacek 3y ago
      Explain how Comcast makes a profit by quoting the maximum possible price from all the municipalities in the region it serves.
    - taeric 3y ago
      I'm confused, what am I justifying? I am asserting that they are inflating revenue by adding line item costs of business to bills. That seems to align with your complaint?

by taeric 3y ago

tptacek 3y ago

I'm having trouble understanding how they are anything other than taxes. They're called "pass-through fees" because the underlying contracts (or, in some cases, statutes) set the expectation that they'll be passed directly to the consumer. They're fees governments charge to their residents, through service providers, for services the government does not itself provide. They're not even tolls. They're taxes. I like taxes! I'm a Democrat! But I think these particular taxes are pretty shady.

taeric 3y ago
Snidely, they aren't taxes for the simple reason that I couldn't itemize them in federal deductions. That isn't quite as relevant nowadays, I suppose. There is also usually a benefit for Comcast in this, as well. As such, it feels somewhat ok to treat them separate from taxes collected by Comcast. In particular, it is not uncommon for the franchise agreement to free up a ton of advertising concerns that the company would otherwise have to do. I do think an interesting question is if this is counted as revenue for them? I'm currently assuming that they do count it in gross revenue? As such, it is literally them finding a way to get more revenue for places that cost more to do business, without open faced charging more. That is, yes it is an expense that they have to pay, but so is, for example, the gas they have to pay to send a technician out. For that matter, the vehicle is also an expense of doing business. I'd be annoyed if those were line item added to my bill as a way to inflate what I paid. Not sure how this is any different?
- xbar 3y ago
  I do not accept Comcast’s response. Nor do I accept your justification. Comcast has alll the data it needs to produce an accurate bill and is free to price its service in a manner that hides municipal fees if it chooses. Or not and it can advertise low rates and break the fees out. Comcast wants to make a profit out of lack of transparency and leverage that lack of transparency in marketing against competitors, public and private.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    Explain how Comcast makes a profit by quoting the maximum possible price from all the municipalities in the region it serves.
  - taeric 3y ago
    I'm confused, what am I justifying? I am asserting that they are inflating revenue by adding line item costs of business to bills. That seems to align with your complaint?