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We Americans have simply accepted that the price on the menu bears only token resemblance to the price paid. Laws like this make great talking points on the ca
by iambateman 3y ago
We Americans have simply accepted that the price on the menu bears only token resemblance to the price paid.
Laws like this make great talking points on the campaign trail, but I doubt anyone thinks there’s a path to enforcement…especially since almost no Americans care enough to change their behavior on these fees.
- bruce511 3y agoI confess, living outside the US, laws around hidden costs simplify my life a lot. In short, with very few exceptions [1], the advertised price is what I pay. In the grocery store taxes are included, online the advertised price has to include-everything- and so on. [1] exceptions are usually some sort of limit. For example in a restaurant there may be a mandated service charge for large parties, that sort of thing. But 99% of the time if I see a price, I pay that number, to the penny.
- Permik 3y agoI wholeheartedly agree on this. In Finland we also have laws that the price has to include unit pricing in addition to the regular price. For example: Per liter for liquids, per kg for foodstuffs, per item for diapers, toilet paper rolls ect. I freaking love how trivial comparing prices comes when the unit price is shown on the price label. This also really gets through the bullshit of misleading packaging design. (Making products look like they have more product than they really contain)
- piva00 3y agoWhat baffles me is that even Brazil has the same rules: prices need to be displayed in standard units (per kg/g, or per roll of toilet paper, per unit inside a multi-unit package, etc.). If a large developing country (almost on par in population and area size to the USA), with extremely messy bureaucracy and taxation system can do that, why can't the USA? I have to believe it's by design and choice, not from a lack of need or capability.
- votepaunchy 3y agoThe US does have unit pricing, but this is mandated at the state level by our Constitution. Interstate commerce is regulated by the federal government, not labels on store shelves.
- earthling8118 3y agoI'm sure they could find a way to use the commerce clause for this if they wanted. They can use it for nearly anything already.
- bananapub 3y agoI love arguments like this. How did the federal government end up nationally banning all fun drugs aside from nicotine and alcohol? (it just did it, and even when states legalise e.g. weed, weed vendors are locked out of the proper banking system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Drug_Abuse_Prevention_and_Control_Act_of_1970 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Drug_Abuse_Preve...). How did the federal government make ~every state have the same (mad) drinking age of 21? (federal highway funding blackmail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_...). the constitution is not an actual barrier to the federal government doing things over the heads of states.
- treffer 3y agoI never got this TBH. In Germany and Europe it's simple: the price on the item is what you pay at the cashier, at least of you pick the cheapest payment option (cash). Most don't bother to charge for other payment methods, a surprise price basically never happens. Credit card payments are capped at 0.3% of the transaction value. Large credit card cashbacks don't exist for that particular reason. But it's dead simple to know the price.