#junk-fees — Public Fediverse posts

Pluralistic: In praise of vultures (06 May 2026)

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/06/champerty-loves-company/

The Wall Street Journal Wonders Why There Are Suddenly So Many Sleazy Fees

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/16/the-wall-street-journal-wonders-why-there-are-suddenly-so-many-sleazy-fees/

Mayor of NYC: Cracks down on junk fees. ( https://youtu.be/GEi0y8bwXF0?si=basCEVDAgOWrrZPE )

Mayor of Ottawa: Cranks out junk fees for pre-authorizing your tax and water bill payments.

#Ottawa #OttCity #JunkFees

#Arbitrations for #JunkFees, #DripPricing and #HiddenCharges

American #Credit Acceptance
#Consumer Portfolio Services
Credit Acceptance Corporation
DriveTime #Automotive Group
G Fuel
GM #Financial
#MySchoolBucks
#Santander
#SeatGeek
StubHub (California)
#StubHub (New York)
#Ticketmaster
#Uber Eats
Westlake

https://www.classaction.org/illegal-hidden-junk-fees

#Arbitrations for #JunkFees, #DripPricing and #HiddenCharges

https://www.classaction.org/illegal-hidden-junk-fees

What happens to retail finance when AI agents refuse to pay junk fees?
New Fintech Industry Examiner feature on the collision between agentic AI and a $90B+ junk-fee economy — from card late fees to overdrafts and BNPL.
🔗 https://fintech.industryexaminer.com/agentic-ai-junk-fee-finance/
#Fintech #AI #AgenticAI #Banking #JunkFees #DigitalPayments #TechNews

Arbitrations for #JunkFees, #DripPricing and #HiddenCharges

https://www.classaction.org/illegal-hidden-junk-fees

#stubhub #ubereats #myschoolbucks #seatgeek

@maxleibman Amazon is way past its 'Prime'

"you’re paying the Amazon tax no matter where you shop – even the corner mom-and-pop hardware store."

Excerpted from the boook Enshittification
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/05/way-past-its-prime-how-did-amazon-get-so-rubbish

#Amazon #Prime #AmazonPrime #enshittification #enshitternet #enshittogenic #JunkFees

"you’re paying the Amazon tax no matter where you shop – even the corner mom-and-pop hardware store."

Excerpted from the boook Enshittification
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/05/way-past-its-prime-how-did-amazon-get-so-rubbish

Buy Cory's book here https://guardianbookshop.com/enshittification-9781836742227/

@pluralistic
#Amazon #Prime #AmazonPrime #enshittification #enshitternet #enshittogenic #JunkFees

Hello #Massachusetts peeps! FYI, an MA law prohibiting junk fees and other annoying and predatory practices goes into effect today in the commonwealth.
Merchants are now required to tell you all fees and the total cost up-front, before you provide any personal information.
There are also rules for transparency regarding online subscriptions.
See the article below or do a news search for "Massachusetts junk fees" for additional details.
#ConsumerProtection #JunkFees
Ref: https://archive.ph/k5rUb

#TaskRabbit #Lawsuit Claims #Freelance Service Platform Charges #Hidden ‘#JunkFees’ at #Checkout

https://www.classaction.org/blog/taskrabbit-lawsuit-claims-freelance-service-platform-charges-hidden-junk-fees-at-checkout

Weekly output: wireless-service satisfaction, ransomware survey, Dashlane report, Verizon fee increases, drone policy

I had one work event on my calendar this week that I don’t think rates as an appearance worth listing here, since I got roped into it at the last minute. I’d put the Internet Law & Policy Foundry’s tech-law trivia contest on my schedule Wednesday thinking it would be fun to watch, but then one of the contestants asked if I’d like to join their team–and we finished in third place. This was one of the first public trivia contests I’d joined since 1987, when I was a member of the high school team that won a New Jersey state championship, and it’s nice to see that I still have it or at least some of it.

This coming week has me traveling for work for the first time since the middle of June and to an event that first landed on my travel calendar in 2018: I’m headed to Las Vegas for the Black Hat information-security conference. The trip doesn’t include the DEF CON infosec conference that follows Black Hat, and on Patreon I explained why I opted out of that and feel a little guilty about it.

7/31/2025: People Like Wireless Service Best When It Doesn’t Involve the Big 3 Carriers, PCMag

The gap betweeen J.D. Power’s customer-satisfaction stats for the big three wireless carriers and that firm’s metrics for companies reselling the networks of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon caught my eye.

8/1/2025: Ransomware Victims Are Still Paying Up, Some More Than Once, PCMag

This survey published by the security firm Semperis got an unfortunate news peg when the Trump administration rescinded the West Point department-chair appointment of one of the report’s expert contributors, former Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Administration head Jen Easterly.

8/1/2025: This Password Manager Caught Some of Its Own Employees Not Using Its Product, PCMag

Dashlane’s PR folks offered me this story ahead of time. Since I have always found the fallible-human element of information security to be fascinating, I accepted the offer, and then my editors concurred.

8/1/2025: Months After Freezing Wireless Rates But Not Fees, Verizon Slips in a Fee Increase, PCMag

One of my colleagues brought this to my attention, and I was happy to set aside some time Friday morning to cover it.

8/2/2025: The Drone Industry Can’t Wait for This One Federal Regulation to Take Off, PCMag

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Nationals Park to cover a drone-policy conference hosted there by the trade group AUVSI, but I didn’t get around to writing it until Thursday night.

#AUVSI #BlackHat #ConsumerCellular #Dashlane #droneDelivery #drones #finePrint #JDPower #junkFees #NationalsPark #NatsPark #passwordManager #ransomware #Semperis #verizon #Vz #wirelessServices

Here's your California Legislature voting...in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion...to allow car dealers to pick your pocket with more #JunkFees.

I'll save you the read and share the relevant part here:
"The California New Car Dealers Association has donated at least $2.9 million to lawmakers since 2015"

The article also has a handy table showing how reps voted, alongside the amount of money they've taken from the industry. Plenty of cowardly "No Vote Recorded" entries in there too...

https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/06/california-car-dealer-fees/

After years of lawsuits and outrage from musicians and fans alike, Ticketmaster has started showing at-face prices for events in compliance with new “junk fee” rules in the U.S. Read more from @CBSNews
https://flip.it/VTTL3q
#Ticketmaster #Concerts #JunkFees #Music #Shows #US

The Guardian: UK bans £2.2bn ‘sneaky’ fees and fake reviews for online products. “Sneaky fees that are estimated to cost consumers £2.2bn a year are to be banned from today under new consumer protection laws. Businesses, including travel websites, ticket agencies and food delivery apps, will be required to include any mandatory fees in the headline price. Research has found these fees […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/04/07/the-guardian-uk-bans-2-2bn-sneaky-fees-and-fake-reviews-for-online-products/

Massachusetts finalized new regulations for auto-renewing subscriptions and “junk fees”, going beyond the requirements of other state laws. View the highlights of the new obligations in our latest blog post: #AutoRenewal #JunkFees #Subscriptions

https://www.zwillgen.com/ftc-state-ag/massachusetts-finalizes-auto-renewal-junk-fees-regulations

live look at #a16z’s #MarcAndreessen after killing off the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (#CFPB), making sure americans will be paying extortionate junk fees and usurious interest rates on payday loans in addition to having zero protection from crypto scams:

#uspol #DOGE #elonmusk #finreg #banking #junkfees #paydaylending #paydaylender #corruption #broligarch #broligarchy #broligarchs #nerdreich #banksLivesMatter

"[Tom] Krause is a private equity looter. He's the guy who basically invented the playbook for PE takeovers of large #tech companies... converting their businesses from selling things to renting them out, loading them up with #JunkFees, slashing quality, jacking up prices over and over, and firing everyone who was good at their jobs. He is a master enshittifier, an enshittification ninja."
- @pluralistic

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/07/broccoli-hair-brownshirts/

#TomKrause #Enshittification #Musk #Coup #Treasury #Politics #US

CFPB sues Walmart & Branch Messenger

▪️illegally opened bank accounts for > 1M delivery drivers earning Walmart & Branch $10MM in junk fees

⭐ Reminder:
Trump will do all he can to limit CFPB's pro-consumer work. Please show them some ❤️ !

🌐 https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-sues-walmart-and-branch-messenger-for-illegally-opening-deposit-accounts-for-more-than-one-million-delivery-drivers/

#CFPB #consumer #protection #finance #law #fintech #junkfees @legaltech

Bring these up at holiday dinners to educate folks about the need for consumer protection:

▪️ hotel booking & event ticket fees banned by FTC

▪️overdraft & credit card late fees lowered by CFPB

▪️airline seating fees ban proposed by DOT

▪️internet service fee disclosure rules required by FCC

🌐 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/17/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-ftc-banning-hidden-junk-fees/

#consumer #corporations #greed #Biden #junkfees

"The Junk Fees Rule will ensure that pricing information is presented in a timely, transparent, and truthful way to consumers of live-event tickets and short-term lodging, two industries whose pricing practices the Commission has studied in particular. Consumers searching for hotels or vacation rentals or seats at a show or sporting event will no longer be surprised by a pile of “resort,” “convenience,” or “service” fees inflating the advertised price. By requiring up-front disclosure of total price including fees, the rule will make comparison shopping easier, resulting in savings for consumers and leveling the competitive playing field.

The Commission launched this rulemaking in 2022 by requesting public input on whether a rule could help eliminate unfair and deceptive pricing tactics. After receiving more than 12,000 comments on how hidden and misleading fees affected personal spending and competition, the FTC announced a proposed rule in October 2023 and invited a second round of comments. The Commission received more than 60,000 additional comments which it considered in developing the final rule announced today."

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/12/federal-trade-commission-announces-bipartisan-rule-banning-junk-ticket-hotel-fees

#USA #FTC #JunkFees #Hotels #Tourism #Tickets

The US FTC issues long-awaited rules requiring companies to display the full price of hotels, concert tickets, and more upfront, eliminating hidden "junk fees." 💸🏨🎟️ #FTC #ConsumerRights #JunkFees #PriceTransparency #TechNews #BusinessRegulation #Hotels #ConcertTickets #FairPricing #USRegulations

@rbreich
You asked for examples of #JunkFees: My apartment complex has become the master of them.

All in the past year (after 20+ years):
o $500 (once per-pet) non-refundable pet "deposit".
o $30/m "Pet Rent"
o $50 (once) for a "Pet Screening" (WHETHER YOU OWN A PET OR NOT.)
o $60/m for covered parking
WE must pay $15/m for THEIR insurance (NOT Renters Insurance, which I also pay voluntarily.)

My lease says my rent is $865/m, but I *pay* well over $1,000/m after all their "fees" are added in.

Wowsers... I barely use PayPal but I just wanted donate money to another open source project and this is the fee??!!??

Does that seem right?

Changing the currency conversion type makes no difference to the fee but I bet they are making a killing there too.

#junkfees #fees

#OnlineShopping Can’t Be Trusted

https://thewalrus.ca/online-shopping-cant-be-trusted/

#Counterfeits and #junkfees are #cheapening what you #buy—and draining your #wallet

THE NEW OWNERS OF MY APARTMENT COMPLEX keep finding new ways to nickle & dime us to squeeze extra money out of us.

I had to give up my covered parking b/c they now want $60/m (whether it's outside my door or two blocks away.)

My latest rent bill is $300 higher than last month ($45 from renewal.) They now charge everyone $10/m to pay for THEIR insurance, and this month, we got stuck paying Community Sewer & Water fees going back to last DECEMBER (for an additional $180!) 😱
#JunkFees @rbreich