Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Why would ensuring people know how much they are paying in taxes be a bad thing?
California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
81–90 of 396 posts
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#82Thus, there is a huge incentive for companies to lower the base price and then get it back with these types of fees. Even if they didn't add BS fees, this ease of price comparison has resulted in unbundling of services in a number of industries - e.g. airlines where the base price is akin to "we let you hang on to the wing", and everything else is an upcharge.
This is also a case where consumers say they want one thing, but their behavior is a different matter. For example, pretty much everyone says they prefer the full price to be shown up front in search result pages. But, as someone who is privy to a ton of A/B testing in this area, the opposite nearly always results in higher conversion, where there is a lower up-front price and fees are only tacked on during checkout.
To be clear, I'm 100% in favor of this regulation because I think it's the perfect example of where what is good for any individual company leads to a dysfunctional market, and so government can provide a level playing field. Heck, I think many businesses would support this change, because they no longer need to try to one-up their competitors by overcomplicating their pricing structure.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Why would ensuring people know how much they are paying in taxes be a bad thing?
Nobody is having the information hidden from them in any case. Even pre-filled from the IRS, it would be right in front of you.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Congrats. I have. Anecdote fight!
The point is, presumably, the websites of major hotel brands work the same for everyone. I would be interested in seeing an example of a “hidden” fee at a hotel. Same with airline prices. Google flight search has always shown me the total price, as have the airline websites themselves.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#86As a foreigner who lived in the USA for a few years, I always thought the US runs in hidden fees. From tipping, to taxes not in the sale price, to insurances not being able to give a price for a procedure, to hotel fees… I could never actually guess how much anything would cost. Either the wording of the law will have a ton of exclusions per industry.
This has gotten ridiculous past 2-3 year. Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. I hate those ipad type payment consoles.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#87Tons of industries affected by this, though hospitality comes to mind as being particularly egregious. "resort fees" you can't get out of where they tell you what you're "getting" for those fees, Airbnb service fees, cleaning fees, things that should all be spread across the nightly rate. The feds doing this for airfare was the best thing to happen for consumers shopping for flights. Ideally we would take it further…
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#88Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is, presumably, the websites of major hotel brands work the same for everyone. I would be interested in seeing an example of a “hidden” fee at a hotel. Same with airline prices. Google flight search has always shown me the total price, as have the airline websites themselves.
My experience is the same as yours. However I think these fees are still hidden in the sense that they're not part of the rate that's advertised everywhere, shown in the thumbnail on the hotel website, etc. It would be better if we could just trust that the advertised price would be the actual price.
Re: California AG and state senators introduce bill to ban hidden fees
#90As a foreigner who lived in the USA for a few years, I always thought the US runs in hidden fees. From tipping, to taxes not in the sale price, to insurances not being able to give a price for a procedure, to hotel fees… I could never actually guess how much anything would cost. Either the wording of the law will have a ton of exclusions per industry.
> to taxes not in the sale price This gets complicated and there's good reason. The taxes depend on where you take possession of the goods. If you purchase an item and walk up to the checkout counter, you pay the taxes there. On the other hand, if you are buying lumber in Kansas City, KS to be delivered in Kanas City, MO - you pay the MO taxes (4.225%) rather than the KS taxes (6.5%). So, putting the taxes on the lum…
It gets even better. In some places (e.g. Washington) you pay use tax[0][1] if the use tax would be higher than the sales tax you did pay. So if for example you buy something in Oregon and bring it home to Washington, you pay all of the use tax. If you bought something in a state with a sales tax that is lower than the Washington use tax, you pay the difference. (It isn't immediately clear if you can try to recoup the difference if you buy something in a higher sales tax location than your local use tax rate).
[0] It's the same as your sales tax rate.