Ending Junk Fees, the Most Annoying Thing in American Commerce

This is the best summary I could come up with:

On Tuesday, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, and the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, unveiled a series of proposed regulations to ban these fees by forcing disclosure of the total price of goods and services.

The Today Show, the New York Times, NPR, lots of local news, covered it, and even people who despise anti-monopoly regulators, like the anchors on CNBC, offered praise.

It’s obviously a heavy foreign policy week, but junk fees are so annoying and pervasive that President Biden took time to talk up how his regulators are attacking the problem.

For instance, there’s Richard Hunt, the former head of the Consumer Bankers Association and a current consultant for credit card firms, who regularly criticizes Chopra in bitter and personal terms.

Many lawyers made their careers fighting the CFPB on behalf of firms who want to cheat customers, so expect more pugilistic rhetoric in the corridors of the American Bar Association.

“Hotels in Las Vegas add required junk fees to their reservations which obfuscate the real prices and make nightly room rate comparisons impossible.” - Zachary Palmese

The original article contains 1,801 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 90%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

8 comments

Can we do this with hospitals too?
- Officially, we already have. It has yet to be enforced.
A few days ago I went out to a local wine bar and ordered a charcuterie.
On the bill, there was a $1.85 "Kitchen Appreciation Fee". Not a tip ... a fee. For ordering food from the menu.
WTF.
- Yeah, I would deduct that from the tip. That's a tip.
While junk fees are annoying, the most annoying thing in commerce is currently that doordash commercial with Matty Matheson shouting before you can mute it.
- What's this "commercial" that you speak of?
  
  Its a boomer thing.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
On Tuesday, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, and the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, unveiled a series of proposed regulations to ban these fees by forcing disclosure of the total price of goods and services.
The Today Show, the New York Times, NPR, lots of local news, covered it, and even people who despise anti-monopoly regulators, like the anchors on CNBC, offered praise.
It’s obviously a heavy foreign policy week, but junk fees are so annoying and pervasive that President Biden took time to talk up how his regulators are attacking the problem.
For instance, there’s Richard Hunt, the former head of the Consumer Bankers Association and a current consultant for credit card firms, who regularly criticizes Chopra in bitter and personal terms.
Many lawyers made their careers fighting the CFPB on behalf of firms who want to cheat customers, so expect more pugilistic rhetoric in the corridors of the American Bar Association.
“Hotels in Las Vegas add required junk fees to their reservations which obfuscate the real prices and make nightly room rate comparisons impossible.” - Zachary Palmese
The original article contains 1,801 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 90%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!