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California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

oag.ca.gov

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Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#71

Post by twblalock »

rootusrootus wrote: post #45
sneak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This obscures the tax burden from the end user, transparently blending it with the price of the goods and the merchant's profit. Consumers should be consciously aware of the split.

So, the same reason we can't have the convenience of pre-filled tax returns from the IRS? People need to be able to feel the pain of the taxes they pay, because it might help bring them closer to the ideological conservative viewpoint.

If the taxes are just and sensible, you have nothing to fear.

If the taxes are silly and ridiculous (which many are), then they should be rolled back and people should know about them. That's not conservative, it's just common sense.

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#72

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #14
sneak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This obscures the tax burden from the end user, transparently blending it with the price of the goods and the merchant's profit. Consumers should be consciously aware of the split.

Airlines are required to advertise total price, but break out taxes at purchase. This is a solved problem. https://www.transportation.gov/policy/aviation-policy/airlin...

[deleted]

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#73

Post by asdff »

causality0 wrote: post #30

I find it very hard to believe that in the long run companies actually profit from having such a confrontational relationship with their customers. Like is getting an extra five dollars a month from me really worth me hating you?

Companies know that the number of people who would boycott them for a small fee is extraordinarily small. Most people take their medicine and move on with their lives, since its not like you have an alternative for most of these goods and services in life, or the alternative operates the exact same way. If it didn't work well these practices wouldn't be so widespread.

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#74

Post by junofan »

themitigating wrote: post #37
Animats wrote: post #18

This over-regulation will interfere with the God-given right of companies to screw over the suckers. Next they'll be coming after payday loans for usury.

I know this is sarcastic and if you didn't post it first I would have. The inconsistencies some people have when complaining about regulation, California, and Democrats is just irritating

What does a consumer protection bill have to do with regulation?

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#75

Post by ec109685 »

While different, it irks me that there are a bunch of hidden fees with UberEats and DoorDash. Not only do delivery companies charge the consumer fees, but restaurants generally raise their prices by 50% if you are buying through an app. That delta is not shown anywhere.

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#77

Post by manquer »

zamadatix wrote: post #63
ensignavenger wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sales tax rates change too often in the US for this to work. I like the idea in concept, but I can understand why it doesn't work in practice in the US given the current tax regime.

How often is sales tax changing that it becomes infeasible to update the shelf price tags? The grocery stores seem to handle it just fine changing the "buy one get one" type tags every month!

A lot harder to do online without knowing the zip code . People are sometimes vary of sharing that just to see full price

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#78

Post by megaman821 »

themitigating wrote: post #37
Animats wrote: post #18

This over-regulation will interfere with the God-given right of companies to screw over the suckers. Next they'll be coming after payday loans for usury.

I know this is sarcastic and if you didn't post it first I would have. The inconsistencies some people have when complaining about regulation, California, and Democrats is just irritating

Regulation isn't a singular thing. People want more good regulations and less bad regulations. Even when good regulations exist, people want competent enforcement of the regulations.

California passes a lot regulations, so there is a lot of red meat for either side of the regulations good/bad arguments.

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#79

Post by wpietri »

zamadatix wrote: post #56
wpietri wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you on almost all of this, but I think the cleaning fee is different. It represents an actual cost for an actual activity. I think AirBnb should show initial totals with it included, so you're never surprised by it. But it shouldn't be rolled up into the nightly rate because it really is a one-off. As an example, right now I'm looking at doing an extended trip, on the order of 2-4 weeks. I just need one…

I definitely wouldn't mind it broken out in the details section but the main displayed price should always reflect all costs (including taxes!) IMO. If I'm going to need to do math on the pricing it should be for the corner cases like comparing the daily price of stays at different places for different lengths of time not for finding out how much something costs on its own.

Totally agreed. I lived for a time in Australia, where all the prices included tax. The price you saw was the price you paid. When I got back to the US, I wondered what the hell was wrong with me that I spent my life seeing our much more confusing system as reasonable.

Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees

#80

Post by ensignavenger »

zamadatix wrote: post #63
ensignavenger wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sales tax rates change too often in the US for this to work. I like the idea in concept, but I can understand why it doesn't work in practice in the US given the current tax regime.

How often is sales tax changing that it becomes infeasible to update the shelf price tags? The grocery stores seem to handle it just fine changing the "buy one get one" type tags every month!

They aren't changing every single tag in the store.
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