Fees, Fines, Costs etc

[Cryozombie]

You know, somthing I got to thinking about is Fees and Fines.

Paying a utility bill online costs me a "Convienience Fee" of about 3 dollars.

I also just found out the Gas company charges a fee to replace old, worn out metering eqipment on my property.

A lot of companies we either choose, or in the cases of our utilites often have no choice of, doing buisness with hit us with silly fees and fines which we are just expected to be ok with, or not do buisness with them... why doesn't this work the other way? Why can we not charge fees and fines on the companies that service us in the same way, or have them suffer from not having us as customers?

I pay for my paper checks... So why can I not charge the utility company that charges me to pay online a "check usage fee" for using MY paper check? Why can't I charge that Gas company an "Equipment storage fee" for keeping THIER meter on MY property? Or how about when I canceled my cable service, the cable company took over 2 weeks to come collect their boxes: They charged ME for box usage, why cant I charge them for Box Storage?

Am I just rambling and crazy, or do we as consumers seem to have no rights in this area, beyond choosing not to do buisness (if we even have a choice) with someone because they charge bizzare fees?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I've given doctors bills for my time when they've kept me waiting.
Haven't collected any yet, but the looks on their faces was priceless.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Well we have choices in most cases not to do business with them. Except for utilities, etc.

I find little hidden fees just unacceptable and annoying. When you quote a price that should be it. Take my recent cell phone purchases and activation. The company had a cell phone activation fee that they made me aware of after I was 3/4 of the way through the process. That really burned me. Just state the over all cost and let me know exactly how much I will be paying.

 

[terryl965]

I hate all the fee's they charge but guess what we as American will pay because it is what is expected at the time and we do nothing about it.

 

[Nolerama]

I hate all the fee's they charge but guess what we as American will pay because it is what is expected at the time and we do nothing about it.

I think American consumerism will soon experience a complete overhaul. Insincere practices, increasing consumer costs, and tougher foreign competition will help spur the American consumer base to demand better service and quality.

Hopefully that will include the removal of all those silly fees; especially the utility companies. It would be nice to see how much money they collect from those silly fees, and know exactly where all that money goes.

 

[Cryozombie]

It would be nice to see how much money they collect from those silly fees, and know exactly where all that money goes.

Indeed. I often wonder about many of them. Especially the "Security Deposit" you pay for new service that you never seem to get back...