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Are those fees not included in the advertised price? The issue is not fees themselves but fees that are added on at the checkout screen.

by ezfe 1y ago

breadwinner 1y ago
Nope. This is an extra fee that they add to recover the cost of making your phone calls work. This fee is not included in the advertised price.
brewdad 1y ago
Typically the will be advertised as BIG MONTHLY PRICE $50/mo Then an asterisk and tiny, tiny print somewhere below stating "plus taxes and fees" So it depends on how you define "fees not included in the advertised price" but the last time I had a postpaid plan, I couldn't even know how much those added taxes and fees were until my first bill arrived.
- throwawaymaths 1y ago
  it's really never as bad as it is for hotels. I once booked a hotel stay in san francisco which looked like $300 on the website, but after I was done I was charged an extra $200 for various fees which was mostly a san francisco hotel tax.. I never saw it until I checked out. It doesn't even matter if every hotel in SF gets that tax, I don't care, I want to see it before I book the place. Ideally at the "price map" screen. As an aside, I don't know why AirBnB can't get their shit together and push all the fees to the map. My guess is that most of those fees are not per night? Well make the front matter say "$120/night + fees" and when you select your dates you know what the total cost is.
  - KennyBlanken 1y ago
    AirBnB doesn't put it on the map because they're competing against hotels, B&Bs, and services like VRBO. Everyone has an incentive to list as low a price as possible. For fucks sakes even car dealers are pulling this shit, listing EVs with tax rebates - that people may or may not qualify for - already deducted.
    - FireBeyond 1y ago
      > For fucks sakes even car dealers are pulling this shit, listing EVs with tax rebates Following Teslas lead, who for a long time showed monthly prices that included “estimated gas purchase savings” by default (you could see the actual number but you had to flip a switch to do so. At least now they have to have the sensible default).
  - Swizec 1y ago
    > As an aside, I don't know why AirBnB can't get their shit together and push all the fees to the map. My guess is that most of those fees are not per night? Well make the front matter say "$120/night + fees" and when you select your dates you know what the total cost is. The problem is that everyone says we want this then votes with our wallet that we don’t. Stubhub once tried to be upfront honest about fees. Bookings dropped like a stone. People just didn’t want concerts at those prices. But an extra $20 when you’re already paying $80, ehhh sure okay I’ve already come this far and feel pretty committed to going. > As the study found, “Overall, the StubHub users who weren't shown fees until checkout spent about 21 percent more on tickets and were 14 percent more likely to complete a purchase compared with those who saw all-inclusive prices from the start.“ https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/stubhub-and-the-case-of-the-stubborn#:~:text=As%20the%20study%20found%2C%20%E2%80%9COverall,inclusive%20prices%20from%20the%20start.%E2%80%9D https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/stubhub-and-the-case-of-th...
    - thomquaid 1y ago
      The StubHub example is the abuse that is being banned. Yes, you can bait and switch people and take more of their money than they are otherwise willing to spend if you deceive, manipulate, and withold disclosures. It is (arguably) wrong/bad, but profitable.
      - Swizec 1y ago
        Exactly. When consumers don’t vote in their own best interest with their wallets, legislation is the only option. Let’s do airlines next
        Spivak 1y ago
        Voting with your wallet is like trying to turn a river by getting a bunch of people together with buckets. Voting with your votes is building a dam.
        _blk 1y ago
        Except that legislation is also not in their favor because companies will just find new ways to make money [as they should - I just wish they were more creative in providing value rather than just the "added fee shortcut"] In the end it's on consumers: People should just reward better service instead of picking the seemingly cheapest option and then cry that the world is unfair and someone has to fix it for them..
  - shawabawa3 1y ago
    In the UK/EU that's exactly what happens You see the full price of your stay on the map, when you click through you see the breakdown per night plus any fees
- mschuster91 1y ago
  The fees can be calculated in advance. Taxes, I'll admit that given the inanity of how the US does sales taxes, I'm fine with leaving these out of advertising, but at the time where you filled out the forms and make the final confirmation, the taxes should be shown.

Are those fees not included in the advertised price? The issue is not fees themselves but fees that are added on at the checkout screen.

by ezfe 1y ago

Are those fees not included in the advertised price? The issue is not fees themselves but fees that are added on at the checkout screen.

breadwinner 1y ago

Nope. This is an extra fee that they add to recover the cost of making your phone calls work. This fee is not included in the advertised price.

brewdad 1y ago

Typically the will be advertised as BIG MONTHLY PRICE $50/mo Then an asterisk and tiny, tiny print somewhere below stating "plus taxes and fees" So it depends on how you define "fees not included in the advertised price" but the last time I had a postpaid plan, I couldn't even know how much those added taxes and fees were until my first bill arrived.

throwawaymaths 1y ago
it's really never as bad as it is for hotels. I once booked a hotel stay in san francisco which looked like $300 on the website, but after I was done I was charged an extra $200 for various fees which was mostly a san francisco hotel tax.. I never saw it until I checked out. It doesn't even matter if every hotel in SF gets that tax, I don't care, I want to see it before I book the place. Ideally at the "price map" screen. As an aside, I don't know why AirBnB can't get their shit together and push all the fees to the map. My guess is that most of those fees are not per night? Well make the front matter say "$120/night + fees" and when you select your dates you know what the total cost is.
- KennyBlanken 1y ago
  AirBnB doesn't put it on the map because they're competing against hotels, B&Bs, and services like VRBO. Everyone has an incentive to list as low a price as possible. For fucks sakes even car dealers are pulling this shit, listing EVs with tax rebates - that people may or may not qualify for - already deducted.
  - FireBeyond 1y ago
    > For fucks sakes even car dealers are pulling this shit, listing EVs with tax rebates Following Teslas lead, who for a long time showed monthly prices that included “estimated gas purchase savings” by default (you could see the actual number but you had to flip a switch to do so. At least now they have to have the sensible default).
- Swizec 1y ago
  > As an aside, I don't know why AirBnB can't get their shit together and push all the fees to the map. My guess is that most of those fees are not per night? Well make the front matter say "$120/night + fees" and when you select your dates you know what the total cost is. The problem is that everyone says we want this then votes with our wallet that we don’t. Stubhub once tried to be upfront honest about fees. Bookings dropped like a stone. People just didn’t want concerts at those prices. But an extra $20 when you’re already paying $80, ehhh sure okay I’ve already come this far and feel pretty committed to going. > As the study found, “Overall, the StubHub users who weren't shown fees until checkout spent about 21 percent more on tickets and were 14 percent more likely to complete a purchase compared with those who saw all-inclusive prices from the start.“ https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/stubhub-and-the-case-of-the-stubborn#:~:text=As%20the%20study%20found%2C%20%E2%80%9COverall,inclusive%20prices%20from%20the%20start.%E2%80%9D https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/stubhub-and-the-case-of-th...
  - thomquaid 1y ago
    The StubHub example is the abuse that is being banned. Yes, you can bait and switch people and take more of their money than they are otherwise willing to spend if you deceive, manipulate, and withold disclosures. It is (arguably) wrong/bad, but profitable.
    - Swizec 1y ago
      Exactly. When consumers don’t vote in their own best interest with their wallets, legislation is the only option. Let’s do airlines next
      - Spivak 1y ago
        Voting with your wallet is like trying to turn a river by getting a bunch of people together with buckets. Voting with your votes is building a dam.
      - _blk 1y ago
        Except that legislation is also not in their favor because companies will just find new ways to make money [as they should - I just wish they were more creative in providing value rather than just the "added fee shortcut"] In the end it's on consumers: People should just reward better service instead of picking the seemingly cheapest option and then cry that the world is unfair and someone has to fix it for them..
- shawabawa3 1y ago
  In the UK/EU that's exactly what happens You see the full price of your stay on the map, when you click through you see the breakdown per night plus any fees
mschuster91 1y ago
The fees can be calculated in advance. Taxes, I'll admit that given the inanity of how the US does sales taxes, I'm fine with leaving these out of advertising, but at the time where you filled out the forms and make the final confirmation, the taxes should be shown.