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Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

passingtime.substack.com

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Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#191

Post by carlosjobim »

michaelmrose wrote: post #103
MichaelNolan wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should be able to do that with a card as well. They can’t charge your card more than you authorize. (And if they did a call to the CC company will get it all taken care of).

They can decline to charge payment for anything other than the full figure leaving you with the ability to walk out or pay. If you opt not to pay you are dining and dashing and subject to prosecution the fact that you offered to partially pay notwithstanding. Logically pay the bill then leave a negative review and never eat there again.

You are not right. The crime being committed is fraud and the guilty party is the restaurant. If they refuse payment for the actual payment, that is their problem. Any court in any jurisdiction in the world will side with the customer in a case such as OPs.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#192

Post by HelixEndeavor »

crazygringo wrote: post #84

Note that drip pricing for restaurants (e.g. 10-20% non-tip surcharge) is illegal in many jurisdictions (if not "conspicuously advertised" before eating), but some restaurants try to do it anyways (claiming the policy is "conspicuously advertised" on the last page of the menu, or a tiny sign behind the bar). Sometimes you can just refuse to pay it and they'll back down because they want a repeat customer more. Someti…

Every day it seems more and more like restaurants in general are a completely unsustainable business unless you want to pay $20 for a cheeseburger.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#193

Post by II2II »

crazygringo wrote: post #93
lolinder wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sometimes they'll insist, but you can still just... not pay it, if you don't plan on going back. It's not like they're going to call the police, and you're paying the main bill. This only works if you have enough cash on hand to cover the main bill or you're able to be really pushy and get them to run only the main bill on the card.

Yup, you definitely have to be willing to waste 10+ minutes of polite arguing and be willing to insist they run only the main bill or you'll walk out without paying anything at all. Which in many (most?) social situations, it's not worth doing. But if you're willing to take a moral stand against sneaky surcharges, maybe you care enough. Again, literally everything about it sucks.

Restaurants must be happy that I am not the type of person who eats out more than once or twice a year. I don't tip unless there is table service. I withhold tips if the quality of the product is bad (sorry servers). Even in social situations. That doesn't mean I don't tip when it is appropriate, but I view it as more of an incentive for good service than to reinforce bad business practices.

I'm not sure how I would respond to sneaky surcharges since I haven't encountered it. Most likely, I would pay and never go back. If the amount was excessive and I was on my own, I would likely protest it and never go back.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#194

Post by toast0 »

flemhans wrote: post #166

Is there any place to purchase airline tickets at e.g. cost + 15%, with no BS?

Cost of your seat on the plane is hard to determine before the fact. Depends on how many people were on the plane, what route it ended up taking (so how much fuel was used and how many hours were logged), assumptions about depreciation, which staff were on it, since different pilots have different wages, etc.

If you don't want BS, I recommend living near an airport that's a hub for an airline, and always book on that airline from their website if they serve your destination with no connections. Bonus points if they don't do a lot of BS anyway. Try to plan several months out, and prices will at least be OK.

Otherwise, call a charter company and they probably don't have a lot of margin or BS. It's just really spendy, because you're going to have to pay for the time you're in the plane as well as the time to get to where you can get in.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#195

Post by adrianmonk »

pixelatedindex wrote: post #190
adrianmonk wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't actually want restaurants to be the ones providing health insurance. I want the workers to have insurance. Within the framework of the laws that exist today (which, like you, I think should be changed), there are tax advantages for employers that provide it, so that's the most practical approach right now.

> I don't actually want restaurants to be the ones providing health insurance. I want the workers to have insurance. Then who provides this insurance? Are you saying they should buy their own via Obamacare?

No, I'm saying that, given the constraints of the law, restaurants should do it. But I don't think of it as ideal.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#196

Post by HelixEndeavor »

abawany wrote: post #129
jrochkind1 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very impressed that my Cricket bill is what they say it would be -- inclusive of taxes even. They say $25, $25 is what my card is actually charged, total! I almost couldn't believe it until it happened over and over again. So it's not actually industry-wide... and hopefully even serves as a differentiator?

Most prepaid vendors afaik seem to offer a tax-included price - two examples are Visible and Mint.

Why are prepaid carriers so much better then traditional ones, it seems? I've been on Metro for years, service is identical to T-Mobile at a fraction of the cost with no hidden fees.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#197

Post by spiznnx »

abawany wrote: post #129
jrochkind1 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very impressed that my Cricket bill is what they say it would be -- inclusive of taxes even. They say $25, $25 is what my card is actually charged, total! I almost couldn't believe it until it happened over and over again. So it's not actually industry-wide... and hopefully even serves as a differentiator?

Most prepaid vendors afaik seem to offer a tax-included price - two examples are Visible and Mint.

Mint doesn't include fees in the advertised price.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#198

Post by mjmahone17 »

alistairSH wrote: post #13
bradleyjg wrote: post #4

This is far worse than Airbnb. As annoying as the cleaning fees are, they are disclosed before you obligate yourself. A 20% fee only disclosed after you’ve already ordered and eaten is just fraud.

This. The other industries mentioned might tack on fees at check-out time, but the service/product hasn't yet been consumed, so the consumer can back out. This isn't true with dining out, where you see a price list, order, eat, and then get a bill at the end. You can no longer opt to eat elsewhere. You either make a scene or pay the undisclosed fees. Restaurants should at least put a notice on the menu in a highly vi…

Ideally the list price should include all expected costs. So a menu item should have taxes and the expected 20% or whatever tip (and any other fees) built in.

Then the receipt can break things out and charge less per line item + add in total tax and fees and leave space for a tip (with the default applied unless you choose differently).

Likewise with AirBnB: when browsing for specific dates either show the total cost or the amortized per night cost, inclusive of all fees.

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#199

Post by toast0 »

post_break wrote: post #123
pjsg wrote: post #43

I always object to US retail adding Tax to the price of the items. In the UK (and I expect Europe) the price on the shelf is the price that you pay. VAT is included. In the US, you walk into a store and have to become an expert at understanding local taxes in order to figure out how much anything costs. Hotels often have four of five extra fees tacked on. I'd like "The price you see is the price you pay" to be the ru…

In the US when you buy a vehicle you pay the tax on it. Every time. It's ridiculous.

Some states charge you sales tax only on the difference between the new car and the trade in. Often person to person car sales aren't charged sales tax (but maybe sometimes there's a transfer tax?)

Re: Companies use drip pricing to overcharge consumers

#200

Post by cute_boi »

This is a pattern I see everywhere. The last time I purchased Verizon FiOS, there was a big $25 per month advertisement. I purchased it. Later, I realized it is only for the select 5g plan. I have to 5g plan, but later I realized it is only for the "selected" 5g plan which I don't qualify.

They didn't mention it during the order, I only realized that on the first billing.

The only solution is to make sure all tipping, taxes, etc. is included in the menu. Unless it is codified I am not sure anything is gonna happen soon.

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