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Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

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101–110 of 136 posts

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one area America needs to legislate which I am usually against. There is no excuse but sleezy marketing to not show what something costs. I'd go far even to make sure every price sticker is regulated and should include final sales price . That means, all taxes, all tips, everything. There is only one problem I see – sales taxes are state dependent so it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) De…

Sales tax is worse than state dependent, they are city dependent.

State, county, and city - and separate "transit" taxes for county and city. And then most locations have a use tax which may be different from the sales tax. It sounds complicated, but I had to work on a project in India during the GST transition, and came to appreciate the relative simplicity of the US system.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#102
post #43

To go against all the negative comments here - I love Turo and use it all the time. The comment regarding money laundering doesn't even make sense - Turo charges for insurance and fees, it would be an expensive way to launder money. The fact that you don't see the final price right away is annoying but not uncommon. It's usually way cheaper than traditional car rental companies, anyway.

But, you can decline the extra insurances through a traditional car rental company, even if the salespeople hassle you to buy them or insist on seeing your actual liability (!) card (which is not proof of rental coverage anyway.) It doesn't sound like you can decline these coverages through Turo, which (if truly mandatory) would make them deceptive, especially if they are generating profit through them.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the fee putatively for? Was it a cleaning fee that would have been less per day on a longer rental? It doesn't seem right to call something a "service fee" if it doubles the total purchase price.

Engaging at any level with the idea that the fee is for any purpose other than lying about price in advertisements is giving it too much credit.

I'm waiting for the "free" car rental where the actual cost is wrapped up in fees.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#104

Airbnb, DoorDash, Turo and others need to stop with the outright price lying. I’m a repeat customer let me turn on “true price” option somewhere because it makes me want to use your products LESS. Jfc product manager of growth how do you live with yourself.

The egregious thing with Turo is that it even says "Total price" explicitly that doesn't match the daily price. And STILL tacks on more fees

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I share your sentiment, but I'm not sure there are any legislators I trust to understand or regulate dark patterns effectively.

Dark patterns in general, yes, but I'd think "The displayed price must include all fees" would be easy to write into law.

I think people would find ways to partially skirt the law using formulas.

There are some legitimate uses for formula pricing, e.g., rent a U-Haul with a per-mile cost, or a cell phone bill with a per GB data cost, or a per-user SAAS model.

I imagine a dark pattern for the "resort fee" might be a complicated formula described in words in size 6 font at the bottom of the page if you took the time to read the footnote.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#106
post #43

To go against all the negative comments here - I love Turo and use it all the time. The comment regarding money laundering doesn't even make sense - Turo charges for insurance and fees, it would be an expensive way to launder money. The fact that you don't see the final price right away is annoying but not uncommon. It's usually way cheaper than traditional car rental companies, anyway.

But, you can decline the extra insurances through a traditional car rental company, even if the salespeople hassle you to buy them or insist on seeing your actual liability (!) card (which is not proof of rental coverage anyway.) It doesn't sound like you can decline these coverages through Turo, which (if truly mandatory) would make them deceptive, especially if they are generating profit through them.

You can completely decline coverage on Turo for a car. They give you a big fat warning to be careful as your insurance may not cover a Turo car (which is true for some providers), and you're SOL if something happens.

Depending on the price of the car, they may take a 2k deposit for an accident, but that's pretty normal. It's returned to you once the car is returned.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one area America needs to legislate which I am usually against. There is no excuse but sleezy marketing to not show what something costs. I'd go far even to make sure every price sticker is regulated and should include final sales price . That means, all taxes, all tips, everything. There is only one problem I see – sales taxes are state dependent so it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) De…

>> Tips should be made illegal That's about as dystopian as possible. Telling people that they cannot just hand money to other people might be the end of the entire concept of charity.

Ok fair point, what needs to made illegal is the paying-below-minimum-wage to recoup it from Tips. Furthermore, I guess I want to remove the expectation of Tips from our culture. Maybe legislation is too strong but I love this aspect of society where Tips are truly optional.

In America, we have a situation where I’ve seen waiters put on a facade of niceness which is so fake, and if you don’t tip, you’re an asshole. This implicit guilt needs to be made uncool.

I tried tipping room maker in a Hotel in Japan and they promptly refused and handed me the cash.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#109

While I absolutely loathe dark patterns, I just wanted to share one thought. They may have to "add" you to their insurance plan or carrier before renting you the car. That infuriating service fee might actually be personalized for your driving record. As for the credit card, it is user-hostile at best to demand this before being able to see a price. I wish there was an easier way to complain about businesses that ope…

Common misconception that may vary state to sate - insurers insure the car, not the driver, and a lot of the follow-on driver specific fees can be fine-print disputed if you really want to go to the mat over it.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same happens with hotels and "resort fees", especially in places like Las Vegas.

This is one area America needs to legislate which I am usually against. There is no excuse but sleezy marketing to not show what something costs. I'd go far even to make sure every price sticker is regulated and should include final sales price . That means, all taxes, all tips, everything. There is only one problem I see – sales taxes are state dependent so it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) De…

> Have a database of sales taxes for all states. But it can be done, I am sure.

Not only can it be done, it is done. Companies don't have to brew up their own sales tax calculators, there are providers of that. Just enter the address, get the tax rate.

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