Bogus Fees You Shouldn’t Pay

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I often wonder who started the whole hidden/scam fees trend. I hope there is a special circle in hell for that person. Every single business jumped on that bandwagon. “Oh, you mean we can totally make something up and get paid for it? We’re in!” they all cheered. When will businesses learn that customers want transparency? If I see two beautiful water bottles sitting on my hotel room desk, I don’t want to pick one up and sip it, only to find a sign that was hiding under the bottle stating, “$5 charge per water bottle consumed.” When I buy a concert ticket, I don’t want to go through the entire hassle of finding the best price and scheduling with my friends, all to find that at the very, very end of filling out all of my information, I’m asked if I’d like to pay an extra $22 for “guaranteed seating.” What?!

Companies may grab a few extra bucks off of me when they pull that BS, but they lose me as a customer forever. I don’t forget that sort of thing. If you look closely, a lot of the fees tacked onto things should already be included in the overall cost. Like when you make an appointment for a massage at a salon, see one listed price, and then find a “service charge” on your bill. Uh…weren’t you always paying for the service?

You don’t have to be swindled by these fees. You can negotiate. You can refuse. You can just go to another vendor (or threaten to do so). Just don’t be so fast to hand over your credit card, because there may be ways around these expenditures. The business just wants you to think there aren’t. Here are bogus fees you shouldn’t pay.

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Resort fees

Is there anything more infuriating than finding an awesome hotel rate of, say $90 a night, only to find that when you check out there was a $75 per day resort fee? That nearly doubles the cost of your stay. But there are ways out of paying this. First of all, if any of the amenities didn’t work or were unavailable—gym equipment was being fixed, pool was closed for cleaning—you can ask the hotel to remove or reduce the fee. If you have a screenshot of your reservation that makes it clear this fee was not made clear in advance, you can ask them to remove it. And if you’re a loyal guest, you can ask them to remove it.

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Administrative fees

With anyone. A bank. A broker. A CPA’s office. Administrative fees are just…fees you pay so the company does its job. You’re paying for the business to run its business. Hmmm. Wasn’t that already built into the $770 you just paid your CPA to do your taxes? Isn’t that built into the annual fee you pay your bank to hold your money?

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Maintenance fees

This is another silly one you’ll see pop up on your statement—likely from your credit card company or your bank or your insurance company. Sometimes, you can ask them to wave these because, again, this is just a fancy word for, “You’re paying us to do our job” which…you already paid them to do the first time you handed over your money.

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Trip protection on a hotel

When you book a hotel, you should have some sort of trip protection, but there is a good chance that you already do. Many travel sites allow you to cancel your trip up to 48 hours in advance, free of charge, and with a full refund. If you’ll need to cancel your trip, in most cases, you will know 48 hours in advance. You probably don’t need to spend the extra $43 so you can cancel “at any time.”

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Better deductible fees

This varies greatly, depending on the situation, but you should consider what you’re paying out of pocket for insurance each month. Perhaps you want a super low deductible on your car insurance—say, $500. That could shoot your monthly payment up to $350 a month. And you never see that money again. Meanwhile, if you allow for a deductible of, say, $1,500, you may see a nice low monthly payment of $175. Should an accident occur, yes, you’ll be on the hook for an extra $1,000 but that’s only if something happens. Meanwhile, with a low deductible play, you hand over roughly an extra $1,000 (or more) a year in monthly costs that you never get back. Even if you have no accidents.

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CPA fees for simple taxes

Consider learning how to do your own taxes if they are simple. If you’re a salaried employee with just one job, no dependents, and no or just one other form of income from, say, an investment, you can probably do these on Turbo Tax or a similar site for free, or much less than what a CPA would charge you.

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Rental car coverage

Look over your regular car insurance plan and see if it covers a rental. In the event of an accident, if your car is in the shop, you need a way to get around, so you may have rentals covered in your insurance plan. However, don’t you have a friend who would happily give you a ride for the couple of days your car is in the shop? So swipe that rental coverage from your plan, and see your premium drop.

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Car disposition fees

This fee can range from anywhere from $350 to $600. When your car lease is up, you’ll turn in your vehicle, and think you’re all squared away, only to be faced with this disposition fee. Essentially, it’s what it “costs” the dealership to prepare your vehicle to be sold as a used car. But, the number is typically inflated, especially bearing in mind that many of the employees on site are salaried and prepping cars is just part of their job description.

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Overseas credit card fees

So you land in a foreign country, and immediately pay a pretty penny just to turn your American dollars into the foreign currency. Or, maybe you use one of your credit cards, and pay foreign transaction fees. Do some research in advance: one of your other credit cards may not charge these fees. Or, while you’re still in America, you may be able to exchange your cash for the foreign currency for no fee at your bank.

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Dealer prep fees

If you’re looking to buy a car, you may find a multi-hundred dollar fee when you check out called a “dealer prep fee.” This fee pays for the dealership to prepare the car for sale. Hold up: wasn’t it already prepared for sale? It sure appeared ready for sale when you test-drove it. Almost nothing happens between the moment you sign your deal to the moment they give you the keys, so, what are you paying for exactly?

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Luggage fees

If you have a travel credit card, you may find that one of the benefits is waved checked luggage fees, so make sure the airline is honoring that. If you don’t have such a card and this airline allows, say, one checked bag for free, look at your travel companion. If he isn’t checking a bag, and you need to, why don’t you just use his free bag card? At the very least, if these other options fail, consider if you really need to bring everything you’ve packed.

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Duplicate identity monitoring

Your car insurance, your Internet, your bank—all of these companies offer to add identity monitoring to your account for, say, $7 a month. And you’ve said yes each time because $7 seems pretty good for that perk. But, now you’re paying for identity protection three times over. You don’t need three companies monitoring your identity. That’s just wasteful spending.

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Fast delivery

Let’s say your insurance company sends you a letter stating that, if you’d like to add earthquake insurance to your policy, you have 30 days to do so. The thing is that you’ve been on vacation, you are just now seeing this, and that 30 days is up in…four days. Don’t be so quick to pay USPS an extra $15 to rush your signed note. Often, your insurance (or whomever is expecting a document) will take the postmark date on the envelope as the day you “turned it in.”

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Late fees

If you’re late just once on a credit card payment, but have otherwise paid on time, every time, for years, ask that credit card company to give you some slack due to your loyalty and typical responsible habits. Also, in order to avoid late payment, just put everything on auto-pay and forget about it.

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Some investment fees

If you invest money with a wealth management group, they will charge you fees in order to manage your portfolio. That is fine and normal. But, some companies charge a base fee for everyone—regardless of what your money is earning—and if that fee exceeds what you are earning, that’s sort of a rip-off. So, if your money is still small and just earning $300 a year but the company charges $400 a year to manage your funds, ask them to reduce that fee, at least until you’re earning more.