How Much Do You Pay A Year In Sneaky Fees?

from the more-than-you-might-think dept

For years, we've discussed how silly it is when some firms like telcos and cable companies try to hide extra charges in unnecessary fees, often pretending that those fees are required by the government (they rarely are). Usually, it's just a scam so that companies can claim a lower price in advertisements or hide rate increases. But have you ever looked at just how much those fees really cost you? According to a recent report, the average is just under $1,000/year, which is pretty impressive when you think about it. Add it all up, and companies are making about $45 billion in hidden fees each year. And, as Broadband Reports notes in the link above, we've yet to see any government step forward and note that most of these fees seem to be false advertising when they're really used to charge you more than an advertised rate.

Filed Under: fees

Sprint Takes Away 3 Unnecessary Fees, Replaces Them With 2 New Unnecessary Fees

from the fee-fee-fee-fee dept

Mobile operators have a long history of trying to hide price increases by adding official looking, but totally unnecessary fees to customer bills. The fees usually have quasi-governmental names to them, such as "Federal Programs Cost Recovery," which makes many customers (falsely) believe that these are actually taxes required by the government. Instead, they're simply a way for the operators to squeeze more money out of you while claiming to keep the price low. There's been something of a crackdown on these fees lately, and Sprint has decided to throw in the towel... sorta. It's getting rid of three of the fees, but replacing them with two other fees, just to make things even more confusing. Again, it doesn't appear that either fee is required, but rather they act as a way to hide a price increase while being able to publicly market a lower price.

Filed Under: fees, telcos