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FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

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Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#51
post #3

An excellent change. It's unfortunate that stewardship of the committee will soon change hands as Khan has been a great advocate for fair contracts between companies and consumers during her tenure.

[flagged]

You're defending hidden fees?

Free markets depend on information. Facts. Not lies.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#54
post #14

Wonder if this going to be permanent or will be reverted as soon as the new FTC head is in office.

Come January 21st, expect junk fees to explode. But don’t worry, as long as you make at least $10,000,000 per year, you’ll get a huge tax cut.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#55

They should ban hidden taxes too. The sticker price should be the final price.

I remember shopping in Japan. The price on the tag, is exactly what you pay (same with services, like hotels). Since this is Japan, it's a high price, but no surprises. Also, the service is amazing , and they won't accept tips. If you leave money on the table, they will chase after you, to give it back.

> Also, the service is amazing, and they won't accept tips. If you leave money on the table, they will chase after you, to give it back.

I visited Japan some years back and loved this aspect of the culture as well. An Australian ski guide (this was a winter visit) explained it like so: "the Japanese attitude is to want to do a good job by default. Tipping implies that a good job is only done because of pay. The Japanese see quality service as intrinsically valuable in itself."

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#56
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, that'd be pretty swell. The only reason websites moved away from that was to "lower friction" - it's better for the consumers who end up buying the product if they know availability and pricing up front.

The only reason websites moved away from that was to "lower friction" It was never the norm that websites never asked for your shipping address or zipcode before allowing shopping. That's really silly.

My statement was overly general and that's a fair criticism - however I do remember e-commerce in the early days of the web. That early web experience for me was that generally users were required to make an account (mostly to verify age and ability to pay) before they could interact with items or create a shopping cart. In that era the interaction of sales taxes and the internet were much more complicated and shipping times and costs much more variable. I know that when my father was buying train books he'd often need to go to conventions in other states to pick up items in person because sellers were afraid of getting scammed out of their shipping fees.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#57
post #34
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time will tell - the change I'm really hoping will stick is the outlawing of non-competes without consideration.

I would not be hopeful. From AP news: > Four of the FTC’s five commissioners voted to approve the rule. Commissioner Andrew Ferguson, – who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to replace Khan, was the one dissenting vote. https://apnews.com/article/ftc-junk-fees-rule-hotels-tickets...

One republican commissioner voted with the rule, and Ferguson dissented based on lame duck rule making, not the merits, while agreeing that the FTC rule making was valid for businesses like tickets and short term lodging.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember shopping in Japan. The price on the tag, is exactly what you pay (same with services, like hotels). Since this is Japan, it's a high price, but no surprises. Also, the service is amazing , and they won't accept tips. If you leave money on the table, they will chase after you, to give it back.

> Also, the service is amazing, and they won't accept tips. If you leave money on the table, they will chase after you, to give it back. I visited Japan some years back and loved this aspect of the culture as well. An Australian ski guide (this was a winter visit) explained it like so: "the Japanese attitude is to want to do a good job by default. Tipping implies that a good job is only done because of pay. The Japan…

I believe that servers are also paid quite well.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#59
post #3

An excellent change. It's unfortunate that stewardship of the committee will soon change hands as Khan has been a great advocate for fair contracts between companies and consumers during her tenure.

[flagged]

Personally that's all I'm asking for. Transparent pricing. It amazes me how far business will go to to just hide how much they want to charge me.

Recently in California, restaurant have been great at making their prices as difficult as possible to try to figure out.

Re: FTC bans hidden junk fees in hotel, event ticket prices

#60
post #3

An excellent change. It's unfortunate that stewardship of the committee will soon change hands as Khan has been a great advocate for fair contracts between companies and consumers during her tenure.

As a free market fan, Khan seems to have been pretty terrible. But this looks genuinely good! It's basically banning fraud. ---[EDIT], since everyone is asking for reasons here are two libertarian/conservative critiques: • https://reason.com/2024/11/07/good-riddance-lina-khan/ • https://archive.ph/IjNmZ

Please name some of the terrible parts

EDIT: to make it easier here's a list of actions from perplexity:

Here are more explicit actions taken by the FTC under Lina Khan's leadership:

Lawsuit against Amazon (2023): The FTC filed a landmark antitrust case accusing Amazon of monopolistic practices in its online marketplace and Prime subscription service.

Meta (Facebook) lawsuit (2023): The FTC sued Meta to block its acquisition of virtual reality app maker Within Unlimited, citing concerns about monopolization in the VR market.

Microsoft-Activision merger challenge (2023): The FTC attempted to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, though it ultimately failed.

Kroger-Albertsons merger: A U.S. district court judge ruled in favor of the FTC to block the proposed $25 billion merger between these two major supermarket chains

Nvidia's acquisition of Arm: The FTC sued to block this merger, though it's not explicitly mentioned in the search results

Amazon's acquisition of iRobot: While not explicitly mentioned in the search results, this is another high-profile merger that the FTC has challenged under Khan's leadership.

Enforcement against data brokers (2022-2023): The FTC took action against several data brokers for selling precise geolocation data that could be used to track people's movements.

Zoom settlement (2021): The FTC finalized a settlement with Zoom over allegations of deceptive security practices.

Right to Repair initiative (2021): Khan's FTC unanimously voted to ramp up law enforcement against repair restrictions that prevent small businesses, workers, and consumers from fixing their own products.

Made in USA labeling rule (2021): The FTC finalized a new rule cracking down on marketers who make false, unqualified claims that their products are Made in the USA.

Penalties for fake reviews (2022): The FTC imposed multi-million dollar penalties on companies for using fake reviews and suppressing negative reviews.

Action against "dark patterns" (2021-2023): The FTC has taken action against companies using deceptive design practices known as "dark patterns" to trick consumers.

Increased use of Penalty Offense Authority: The FTC has revived its Penalty Offense Authority to seek civil penalties for violations of FTC administrative orders.

Ban on hidden junk fees: The FTC announced a rule requiring companies to show full prices for items like hotel rooms, concert tickets, and sporting events upfront, rather than hiding fees until the end of the checkout process

Changes to merger review process: The FTC has altered principles, practices, and policies of merger review that had been in place for decades

Expanded scope of enforcement: The FTC has taken a more holistic approach to identifying harms affecting workers, independent businesses, and consumers, with a focus on addressing power asymmetries and unlawful practices

Rulemaking changes: Chair Khan has orchestrated wholesale changes in FTC rulemaking practices and policies

Proposed ban on noncompete clauses: The FTC has proposed banning noncompete clauses in employer agreements

Increased focus on data privacy: The FTC has sued multiple companies for allegedly sharing customer data and warned about the "hidden impacts" of advertising tools like third-party tracking pixels

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