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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

#481

Post by [deleted] »

ensignavenger wrote: post #418
andreareina wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brick and mortar stores know exactly how much tax they have to pay, yet they don't show an all-inclusive price. It's clearly not a case of online retailers just not showing the tax because it's difficult. If they wanted to they could let you give your post code before checking out, and query the same database to show the post-tax price for everything.

Really, you expect them to go through every item in the store, multiple times per year, and update the price tags?

[deleted]

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

#482

Post by rascul »

ensignavenger wrote: post #246
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #42

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.

Japan has the exact same sales tax rate(s) across the entire country, and it rarely changes. In the US, we have thousands of different rates and they change multiple times per year. Also, while it is the norm in Japan to include the tax, there are some exceptions. (Japan has 2 rates, 8% for certain items like food, and 10% for everything else).

> In the US, we have thousands of different rates and they change multiple times per year.

Where in the US do the sales tax rates change so frequently? I've never seen this.

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

#483

Post by mFixman »

ensignavenger wrote: post #246
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #42

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.

Japan has the exact same sales tax rate(s) across the entire country, and it rarely changes. In the US, we have thousands of different rates and they change multiple times per year. Also, while it is the norm in Japan to include the tax, there are some exceptions. (Japan has 2 rates, 8% for certain items like food, and 10% for everything else).

That's a good reason to include the tax in the price in the US. How would consumers know how much they will pay otherwise?

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

#484

Post by [deleted] »

Alupis wrote: post #473
tzs wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Progressive income tax is also silly. Just because you earn more money than someone else doesn't mean you derive more benefits from the government Ok... > Federal taxes should be a flat percentage, no deductions, no credits, no so-called "loop holes"... nothing. Every citizen pays the same percentage (whatever it needs to be). Flat percentage ? A flat percentage means that if you earn N times what someone else earn…

A flat percentage means exactly that - everyone pays the same percentage. Everyone derives the same value from the government, ie. the same percentage of their income.

[deleted]

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

#485

Post by SparkyMcUnicorn »

alberth wrote: post #432

The hidden fees is what turned me off from AirBnb... Because it would display the nightly rate as $X. But then at checkout, it would add in "house cleaning fees" etc (which I don't dispute is a fair fee to include) but it at times can grossly misrepresent what your true nightly cost is when searching. Maybe this will be a step in the direction like Telco's have had to do with creating simplified & standardized "nutri…

On AirBnB just check the "Display total before taxes" box on the search results page.

Not including fees in the nightly rate makes sense as some are fixed rate, and having the option to see the cost for the total stay (including fees) solves the problem.

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

#487

Post by perfectstorm »

rascul wrote: post #480
perfectstorm wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a reverse IP lookup should give you a good estimate and you can always ask the user to enter their address for more accurate price.

> a reverse IP lookup should give you a good estimate Not really, no.

care to elaborate on that? also, it's not that hard to ask users to enter their shipping zip code to get more accurate prices. some websites do that already nowadays. my point is reverse ip lookup is a good enough starting point for the first estimation.

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

#488

Post by AnthonyMouse »

nyczomg wrote: post #294
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

You make the rule such that if you can sign up for a service on a website you can also cancel it said website. Now your hypothetical landscaping company is safe

Are they? A very basic website can easily have a form you can fill to sign up and all it does on the back end is send an email with the info to the proprietors. Even a generic mailto: or tel: link arguably makes it possible to sign up via the website, if tapping the link on your phone to send a message can directly result in a signup. To do the same thing for cancellations you'd have trouble avoiding the need for customer accounts to sign in and connect to a database to list what services they're currently subscribed to etc.

Otherwise people who signed up under the wife's name may try to cancel under the husband's name and you don't know who they are, neighbors who don't like the racket from the equipment see your website on the trucks and try to cancel the service even though they're not the customer because you have no authentication, people want to cancel because they've moved and give you their new address instead of the one they're subscribed under, people make ambiguous or incomplete requests and you don't know what they're asking to do. But if you have to contact them to clarify you're not satisfying the requirement that they can cancel via the website.

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

#489

Post by mikestew »

noprocrasted wrote: post #479
paulryanrogers wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what small claims court is for?

You don't even need small claims court. You just don't pay, and point them to (small claims?) court if they want to get paid for the service they don't provide. None of these shit companies will ever take you up on the offer though, because expecting to get paid for a service you don't provide (and can't provide in this case) won't fly in court.

You just don't pay, and point them to (small claims?) court if they want to get paid for the service they don't provide.

Have you actually tried this? Because having not tried it myself, I'd bet a paycheck that you get sent to collections, get a ding on your credit report, and you're still on the hook for taking it to court if you want it resolve to your favor. (Assuming U. S.) And as a cherry on top of that shit sundae, it's probably in the contract that you have to go through arbitration anyway.

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

#490

Post by rascul »

perfectstorm wrote: post #487
rascul wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a reverse IP lookup should give you a good estimate Not really, no.

care to elaborate on that? also, it's not that hard to ask users to enter their shipping zip code to get more accurate prices. some websites do that already nowadays. my point is reverse ip lookup is a good enough starting point for the first estimation.

IP addresses aren't related to locations. A third party database with voluntary contributions isn't exactly reliable and is frequently incorrect.

Zip codes also aren't great either. A single zip code can cover many different tax jurisdictions, even different states.

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