Consumer Alert: Hidden fees that can add up

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A service fee here, a delivery fee there —it can really add up. Americans collectively are spending about $65 billion on extra fees every year, according to the White House.

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Proposed legislation may help, but for now, paying attention to ‘hidden fees’ can give you a different look on your spending habits.

ALL IN A DAY

So just how many hidden fees do we come across, in just one day?

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It starts from the moment your alarm goes off in the morning. Even just reaching for the cell phone, comes at a cost. Action News Jax counted 6 fees on a cell phone bill, hidden in plain sight.

“Junk fees are everywhere, and we feel burned,” said Action News Jax Consumer Advisor Clark Howard.

Howard told us how hidden fees can find a way to sneak in and burden your monthly budget. “It can be on a cable bill, it can be on a restaurant bill, a hotel bill, a flight, you name it,” he said.

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When looking at a monthly statement for internet and cable we tracked a $10 monthly service charge. That charge gets slapped on if the customer doesn’t enroll in certain programs like automatic payments. Even then, the company says other extra charges could still change or be added on. Getting take out can also come with a hidden fee. Leaving the restaurant, we saw a small sign on the side door that reads, any orders with a credit card are charged a “small non-cash adjustment” listed on your receipt, after you pay. That fee added on 50 cents for the meal.

We found a similar hidden fee when getting a soda from the vending machine. It posts a small sign that states a purchase would cost an extra 10 cents, if you tap to pay, instead of using cash.

Certain payment apps also charge a same-day processing or direct deposit fee for transactions. “The craziest one I’ve seen recently is that you go to a hote,l and then if you want to go to the pool at that hotel, you have to pay a fee to go to the hotel pool. Try to imagine that!” said Howard.

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Hotels sometimes call them ‘resort fees’. The hotel could charge them even if you don’t use any of the ‘resort’ offerings. One hotel we found in Orlando charges a $40 resort fee plus an additional parking fee. That resort fee was written on the key card. Action News Jax checked short-term rental company Airbnb’s website too. Through our online search, we found a listing for $91 dollars for 3 nights, which also requires an additional $29 cleaning fee and a $43 service fee. Some airlines have the most fees. We found through our search that the listed price during your search, often times isn’t the full price you will actually pay once you’ve completed your purchase or your travel. “Many times you don’t know what the real price will be because that’s before the seat fee, the bag fee, the carry on fee, the it’s Tuesday fee or whatever it is,” said Howard. “What they should have to do is tell you there is a fee, and you choose before you purchase a service or a product that you know upfront.”

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All of the fees we discovered really rack up. And if you don’t know what the fee actually is, call the company. “If you wait till after you’ve received the bill and it’s on your credit card statement or it’s come out of your checking account, that’s passed too late. It’s before you pay the bill that you try to dispute an added-on fee that you’re being charged,” suggested Howard.