Spirit Airline’s ballsy new $20-45 fee for carry-on bags has already caught the attention of the Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and now New York Senator Charles Schumer is rattling his sword. [More]
fees
JetBlue Charges You $105 For Extra Bags Unless You Produce Your Toddler For Inspection
By 4.8.10
This story has a happy ending, but its still somewhat baffling. Reader S. recently flew JetBlue with his wife and three small children. They had 4 tickets and 3 bags to check. JetBlue allows one checked bag per ticket. So, there should be no fees, right? Here’s where it gets complicated: S’s wife went through security with the children while he checked the bags. The agent said that despite the fact that he was traveling in a party of 4, the baggage agent had to personally see the family, toddler and all, or S. had to pay $105 in extra fees. [More]
UPS Charges You $11 To Fix Zip Code Mistake
By 3.31.10
Richard has a warning for the Consumerist community: he writes that if you mess up a zip code on an overnight UPS package, they will charge you an $11 “address adjustment” fee to fix it. Excessive? Richard thought so, and UPS was nice enough to waive it when he asked. [More]
Anonymous Protestor Leaves Pile Of Manure In Chase ATM Vestibule
By 3.23.10
Someone who was fed up at Chase made a special deposit on the floor of one of their ATM vestibules in NYC a couple of days ago. Fortunately for the clean-up crew, it looks like it was manure and not actual human poop. [More]
BoA Kills Overdraft Fees On Debit Purchases
By 3.10.10
Bank of America announced they will stop charging overdraft fees on debit card purchases. If you don’t have enough money to buy the item, the transaction will be declined. [More]
USPS Suggests Cutting Saturday Delivery And Increasing Rates
By 3.2.10
The United States Postal Service is continuing its long slide into suckage according to a new report delivered by Postmaster General John E. Potter this morning. People sent far less mail last year (“more than double any previous decline,” says the Washington Post) and labor costs continue to rise, which helped the USPS lose $3.8 billion in 2009. [More]
When Are You Too Sick To Fly?
By 2.22.10
Southwest Airlines will let you know if you’re too fat to fly, but what about too sick to fly? Well, it’s your call. As the recent H1N1 epidemic taught us — your sense of altruism better be awesome because you’re probably going to be paying a fee to stay home. [More]
California Town To Start Charging Up To $400 For 911 Calls
By 2.19.10
The town of Tracy, California has come up with a new plan to make money: you’ll have to pay between $48-400 to call 911. I wonder if Tracy is planning on giving the caller the bill over the phone–they might be able to chain 911 calls together by giving the first caller a heart attack, thereby prompting someone else to call, and so on. Money! [More]
Comcast Claims Your Cable Modem For The Nation Of Comcastlandia
By 2.19.10
Jim owns a cable modem. It got old, so he got a new one. Now Comcast has claimed the old one as their property, says it has not been returned, and wants money. Jim does not want to relinquish the money, or the modem, to Comcastlandia and their colonization attempts. [More]
Walmart Is Going Fee-Happy On My Money Orders
By 2.18.10
Dan and his wife Kat are geniuses because they guilt Kat’s parents into giving them money orders, but their plans are starting to be foiled because Walmart has suddenly started sticking them with check cashing fees. [More]
ING Slashes Mortgage Rate, Jacks Fees, Leaves Me Out Cold
By 2.15.10
As complaints about mortgage companies go, Chris’s gripe about ING Direct isn’t something that will bring tears to your eye, but it does work as a fair word of warning for those considering refinancing with the e-bank. He says the bank slashed its interest rates but more than tripled the closing costs. He writes: [More]
American Airlines To Charge $8 For Blanket And Pillow, If You're Lucky
By 2.9.10
Starting in May, American Airlines will sell blanket-and-inflatable-pillow packs for $8 each on domestic flights longer than 2 hours. If your flight is under 2 hours and you tend to get cold on a plane, relax: you can’t shiver to death in under 2 hours, and by then you’ll be at your destination. Or, okay, still on the runway at your departure spot, raiding your carry-on for snacks. You might want to bring a light jacket. [More]
Citibank Postpones New Checking Account Fees For Newer Customers
By 2.2.10
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo got Citibank to agree not to implement its new monthly fees on formerly free checking accounts, at least for some customers. If you signed up for one of Citibank’s EZ Checking or Access Checking accounts between January 1, 2009 and November 5, 2009, the new monthly service charge will be waived until this time next year. If you’re one of those customers, there’s nothing you have to do–you’ll get a notice in the mail from Citibank. [More]
Man Jailed For Threatening To Rob BofA After They Robbed Him
By 2.1.10
An unemployed 40-year old mechanic is in the clink after he threatened to rob Bank of America as revenge for an erroneous service fee. He’s in jail on $75,000 bond, which neither he or his 72-year old frequent surgery recipient mother can afford. The man he was arrested after he called a local news channel and told them to show up tomorrow as he was going to rob the bank. It was unclear how he planned on pulling off the heist. Maybe he was going to raise their APR without notice?
Man Infuriated By Overdraft Fee Jailed After Threatening To Rob Bank [Huffington Post]
Protect Yourself From Unexpected Fees At Medical Clinics
By 1.27.10
An anonymous reader wrote to us to ask what he should do about unexpected bills from a medical clinic. He chose the clinic precisely because he can’t afford hospital bills in the hundreds of dollars, and was led to believe that there’d be no out-of-pocket cost. It turns out there was. [More]
Chase Sets Early Payment Trap For Mortgage Customers, Too
By 1.27.10
Chase’s statement cycle trap isn’t just set for credit card customers. Mortgage and loan customers can be charged a fee for paying too early, too. Serves you right for trying to be proactive and plan ahead! Dana says that Chase punished her for setting up her automatic monthly payment to send on the 30th of the month instead of the 1st, and charged her $52.96 for two months’ transgressions. [More]
EBay Says It Will Remove Listing Fees For Low-Priced Items
By 1.26.10
EBay needs more people to buy and sell stuff on its site, so it will change its listing fees at the end of March, says Reuters. Once it goes into effect, auction items with a starting price of 99 cents can be listed for free, and eBay will take 9% of the final price or $50, whichever is less. [More]
This Mediacom Cable Box Comes With Invisible Roommate Who Keeps Ordering Porn
By 1.21.10
Lesley lives alone, and says that despite what any Mediacom CSRs may think, she hasn’t been consistently ordering adult movies for the past three months. [More]
