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FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

ftc.gov

51–60 of 134 posts

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#52

I'm assuming that "short-term rental" means your standard "night or two" hotel rooms (not just extended say). It sounds like it, from the report. I remember staying in hotels in Japan, and they would say 1,600 Yen per night, and ... I get the bill for two nights, and it's 3,200 Yen. Not so, US hotels.

Airbnb is really bad about this. Advertising lodging for $100 and then suddenly when you go to book there's an additional $100/night of fees.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#53

Why limit this to live-event and lodging industries? Why not all the fees tacked on by cell carriers? For example, AT&T charges a fee to "recover certain aggregate expenses AT&T incurs, including, but not limited to, charges AT&T or its agents pay to interconnect with other carriers to deliver calls from AT&T customers to their customers and charges associated with cell site rents and maintenance" [1] [1] https://www…

Lobbying and regulatory capture

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#54

Why limit this to live-event and lodging industries? Why not all the fees tacked on by cell carriers? For example, AT&T charges a fee to "recover certain aggregate expenses AT&T incurs, including, but not limited to, charges AT&T or its agents pay to interconnect with other carriers to deliver calls from AT&T customers to their customers and charges associated with cell site rents and maintenance" [1] [1] https://www…

Regulations like this are written in consultation with the industries being regulated. There is a ton of wrangling and nailing down details. It's usually hundreds of pages long and specific to the industry.

So they can't just write a single thing that rights all wrongs. And their staffing is extremely limited.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#55

Why limit this to live-event and lodging industries? Why not all the fees tacked on by cell carriers? For example, AT&T charges a fee to "recover certain aggregate expenses AT&T incurs, including, but not limited to, charges AT&T or its agents pay to interconnect with other carriers to deliver calls from AT&T customers to their customers and charges associated with cell site rents and maintenance" [1] [1] https://www…

Are those fees not included in the advertised price? The issue is not fees themselves but fees that are added on at the checkout screen.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#56
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This works until Theater A signs an exclusivity deal with the publisher of that pre-recorded performance, such that going to Theater B to see the same show is not possible because Theater B is not legally permitted to show it. Granted, such exclusivity deals are rare (because generally publishers want to maximize their revenue rather than artificially constrain it), but not unheard of (for example: films made specifi…

> Granted, such exclusivity deals are rare (because generally publishers want to maximize their revenue rather than artificially constrain it), Well, also there was US v. Paramount Pictures [1], which prohibited film production companies from showing their films exclusively at their owned theaters. And follow-on rulings like Bigelow vs RKO Radio Pictures [2], that more or less established that distributing films pref…

The consent decree from US v Paramount actually expired a couple of years ago. Not sure how that affects the other rulings.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#57

[flagged]

While I can't guess your exact implication, this Biden-era regulatory move (just now being finalized) was reiterated in an executive order by Trump, and the process wasn't stopped, so it seems pretty safe to assume that the regulation will stay. Whether the FTC enforces it is, I guess, up to whoever is running it at whatever time.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#58
post #54

Why limit this to live-event and lodging industries? Why not all the fees tacked on by cell carriers? For example, AT&T charges a fee to "recover certain aggregate expenses AT&T incurs, including, but not limited to, charges AT&T or its agents pay to interconnect with other carriers to deliver calls from AT&T customers to their customers and charges associated with cell site rents and maintenance" [1] [1] https://www…

Regulations like this are written in consultation with the industries being regulated. There is a ton of wrangling and nailing down details. It's usually hundreds of pages long and specific to the industry. So they can't just write a single thing that rights all wrongs. And their staffing is extremely limited.

[deleted]

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#59

I'm assuming that "short-term rental" means your standard "night or two" hotel rooms (not just extended say). It sounds like it, from the report. I remember staying in hotels in Japan, and they would say 1,600 Yen per night, and ... I get the bill for two nights, and it's 3,200 Yen. Not so, US hotels.

Airbnb is really bad about this. Advertising lodging for $100 and then suddenly when you go to book there's an additional $100/night of fees.

Hotels can be even worse. They will add a "resort fee" when you show up. You can refuse to pay, and then have nowhere to stay.

Re: FTC rule on unfair or deceptive fees to take effect on May 12

#60
post #36

Why not ban hidden fees altogether?

I wish they would ban the random surcharges that get added to prices of many business-to-business goods, like fuel, energy, environmental, hazmat, etc. They're unpredictable and generally unrelated to anything, just a way of hiding the final price, and they make it hard to do the unit accounting.
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