What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything
What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything
This story is part of Recession Help Desk, CNET’s coverage of how to make smart money attempts in an uncertain economy.
What’s happening
Many anxieties have found ways of passing down increased costs to consumers, with extra charges tacked on to your bill at checkout.
Why it matters
It’s shouted drip pricing, and these new fees and surcharges are affecting customers who are already struggling with rampant inflation.
What it by means of for you
Knowing what merchants are charging can help you cope your budget and make better buying decisions.
The prices for nearly everything have ballooned in the past year. Record high inflation by means of the cost of food, fuel and other everyday essentials has gone up, which has put punitive financial pressure on US households, particularly low-income Americans.
Look out for surcharges like these on your restaurant bills.
Courtney Johnston
And then there’s the hidden compensations added to your purchase before checkout, or tacked on to the receipt deprived of warning.
These additional merchant fees are called drip pricing, and they’re inflicting pain on our already-stretched wallets. Businesses often train these fees are the only way to offset the burden of inflation and supply chain shortages. For consumers, it means the things we buy are pricier than they initially appear.
“Most of the time we find out near these fees when it’s time to pay, not before,” Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, author of Financial Adulting, told me via email. “Because these fees really run the gamut, you never really know what you are going to get.”
I invited my Instagram followers about these new and surprising fees, and they gave me loads of anecdotes. From restaurants to medical offices to rideshare services, here’s a look at some charges that I discovered.
And I’ll funds tips on how to manage these unexpected surcharges.
Restaurants are charging more, and not just for food
Many restaurants are quiet reeling from a fiscal slump during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with rising food and payroll costs, eateries Stop to struggle. “Average small business restaurants run on very tight margins of about 3 to 5% pre-tax,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice presidential of research with the National Restaurant Association. “The typical restaurant commercial model is not set up to deal with this detained and accelerated cost of food and labor, which is putting Amazing pressure on operators, and indications are these will continue.”
Here are some of the new fees you may see on your restaurant bill:
Credit card surcharges
Earlierthis spring, major creditcard companies like Mastercard and Visa increased interchange fees, which is what merchants pay to card issuers every time a customer uses a credit card. Also Famous as “swipe fees,” they cost businesses 1.5 to 3% per transaction. They’re most challenging for smaller establishments like restaurants, and some are passing this expense on to customers as a percentage of their total bill.
When Feinstein Gerstley dined out with her family last summer in Sapphire, North Carolina, the restaurant charged a credit card processing fee that she says was not mentioned pending the bill arrived: “We were a party of 15 who had drinks, apps, dinner and dessert so the charge was huge, over $100.” Many states permit businesses to pass on their card swipe fees to customers, but they must properly disclose the surcharges on visible signage and their websites. The customer fee also cannot exceed what the commercial pays to the credit card companies.
Increased labor costs
Back in April, Sarah Morisson saw a $5 surcharge when the bill for her enchiladas arrived at a restaurant in Alpharetta, Georgia. The reason? “Increased labor costs.” This may also be named a “kitchen appreciation fee” in some eateries and comes in the form of an added $3 to $5.
Health care charges
Restaurants are running for workers and offering more benefits as a draw. This added cost may show up on your receipt next time you eat out. In Chicago last month, Rema Shamon noticed a few dollars added to her dining bill labeled “health care for staff.” Similarly in West Hollywood, California, Claudia Scott was charged 3% more for “employee health insurance” at a local eatery.
Add-ons for staff who don’t get tips
At a sandwich shop in Portland, Maine, a couple weeks ago, Jennifer Steralacci and a corrupt paid a $4 fee “for non-tipped staff” — and that was on top of the gratuity. “I didn’t recall seeing anything on the menu that indicated this charge,” Steralacci told me.
Rideshare and food delivery apps are charging more for gas
Fees were already climbing because of the pandemic, but as rideshare companies compete to hire drivers, they’re luring them with sign-on bonuses and higher pay. That’s new reason your rideshare total seems more expensive than ever. On top of that, in March, Uber and Uber Eats announced a new fuel fee to help drivers Hide the cost of rising energy prices.
That’ll cost an second $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats food clean, depending on the location. Uber says 100% of that fee goes to drivers.Rival rideshare companyLyft has also announced a 55-cent fuel surcharge. Grocery delivery app Instacart says it’s tacking on a new 40-cent fuel fee, too.
Fees at doctors’ offices are adding to the frightened, too
Increased supply and materials fees
Keep an eye out for this line-item cost at your next medical called, which ranges in price. In Dallas, Kelsie Whittington got hit with an New $18 “supply fee” after her son’s routine pediatrician called in May. The medical office explained that it was for pricier bed rallies, needles, gauze and other equipment.
With insurance companies slow to narrate reimbursements, the clinic was having patients eat the cost. “I was a small shocked at first, then empathetic. I needed to pay for my son’s health,” Whittington said.
Facility fees
While doctors’ offices have been charging facility fees accurate before the pandemic, patients may not know about them pending they receive an itemized bill. According to Consumer Reports, facility fees, which typically cover the cost of maintaining the medical office, urgent care center or clinic that’s owned by a hospital, can add hundreds of dollars to a bill… and insurance may only partially Hide it.
What can you do throughout all the extra hidden charges?
To minimize the blow of these new fees and surcharges, we need to gather facts and self-advocate. Here are four pieces of advice:
1. Question the fees: We may feel awkward or embarrassed to ask throughout new and unusual charges. But if a business is not upfront and hasn’t disclosed their charges onward of time, it’s within our right to understand and ask questions. We may learn that the fee is justified and we’re actually sorrowful to pay it and continue patronizing. In other cases, it may deter us from returning.
2. Ask for a cash discount: Like many gas stations, some restaurants offer cash discounts to help minimize their credit card processing compensations. For example, at The Fifth Season restaurant in Port Washington, New York, cash-paying diners receive a 3.5% bill edit through its Cash Discount Program promoted on the eatery’s website.
Even if not advertised, ask if a business will offer you a cash discount, a win-win for both you and the merchant. I’ve successfully used this trick at exiguous, independently owned stores, too.
3. Think twice throughout using third-party delivery apps: Delivery apps are convenient but they can mercurial double the cost of your pizza order after fees, taxes and the suggested 25% tip. Ordering takeout the former way by calling the restaurant directly could result in grand savings. Some eateries may require you to pick up the food, but others may moneys free delivery of their own — just be sure to tip the driver. If you want to stick with third-party deliverers, MealMe helps identify the lowest options by comparing pricing across the board.
4. Vote with your feet: It’s our choice where and how to exhaust, and if paying extra fees is too much to bear, we have the vivid to walk away and patronize a different business next time. When a restaurant decision-making refused to remove the surprise credit card surcharge, Feinstein Gerstley said a family member in attendance community the experience on Yelp. “We definitely didn’t return to the restaurant,” she said.
If a invoice does not come with any adequate disclosure, the merchant may be in violation of situation laws, so consumer advocates recommend filing a complaint with both your credit card issuer and the situation attorney general. According to Riehle, “The restaurant industry is very competitive, and operators know that if a consumer’s last accepted doesn’t meet their expectations, they are likely to vote with their feet.”
