Discounting or pro-rating the early termination fees that cellphone companies love to tack on to their contracts is becoming more common, so we thought we’d make some graphs that show the strengths and weaknesses of the different policies. As you can see, T-Mobile 2-year ETF doesn’t make any discounts until fairly late in the contract period — and their ETF of $200 is higher than either of the other two companies that offer discounts. (Sprint does not pro-rate or discount its ETF.) T-Mobile’s ETF does, however, reach a point where their discounts are steeper than Verizon and AT&T’s pro-rating.
fees
Would You Like To "Opt-In" To Your Bank's Overdraft Fees? Tell The Federal Reserve!
By 6.26.08
The Federal Reserve has proposed some new regulations that would, among other things, require banks to let you opt-out of the “overdraft protection” services that often result in consumers being charged large fees for buying one too many (or 6 too many) packs of gum with their debit cards. The Center for Responsible Lending thinks the programs should be “opt-in”. Either way, without the overdraft program, your debit or atm transaction would be denied for non-sufficient funds and you would not be charged a overdraft fee.
This McDonald's Charges 25¢ To Use A Credit Or Debit Card, Violates Merchant Agreement
By 6.25.08
Reader Brandon sent us this picture of a McDonald’s violating its merchant agreement by charging a fee for using a credit or debit card. The text reads, “FEE ASSOCIATED WITH CREDIT/DEBIT CARD OF 25¢ WILL BE APPLIED TO CARD TOTAL.”
Bank Of America Treats Parking Meter Payments As Cash Advances, Charges $10 Fee
By 6.25.08
Reader Gary used his Bank of America credit card to pay $2 on a parking meter in Washington, DC. Bank of America treated it as a cash advance and slapped him with a $10 fee, as well as a higher APR. When Gary called to complain, he learned that it wasn’t an error: Bank of America has started treating payments to parking meters as cash advances and may even treat all payments to government entities as cash advances.
Overdraft Fees Are Trapping Consumers On Social Security In A Cycle Of Debt
By 6.24.08
The Center For Responsible Lending has put together a report that examines the disastrous effect of overdraft fees on Americans who depend on Social Security for all or part of their income. Despite the fact that they’ve had checking accounts all their lives (and presumably know what they’re doing), each year older Americans pay 4.5 billion dollars in overdraft fees– and on average they actually pay more in fees than they receive in credit when the overdraft is triggered by a debit card transaction.
Listen Time Warner, The 60-Year-Old English Teacher Didn't Order $1,400 Of Porn
By 6.21.08
Time Warner wants reader Nancy, a 60-year-old English teacher, to pay $1,400 for ordering porn—including 17 flicks supposedly viewed on a single day. Nancy didn’t order the porn, and has no clue how the charges were associated with her cable box, but one useless Time Warner representative suggested: “maybe your dog ordered them.”
By 6.20.08
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Bookmark this: Rick Seaney has created a chart of all the airline fees and promises to keep it updated as the fees change. [Rick Seaney]
Spirit Airlines Increases Fees For First Checked Bag
By 6.16.08
Spirit Air will raise its fees for checking one bag, according to an email from the airline. On June 20th, Spirit will increase the fee for checking one bag from $10 to $15 if the checked bag is declared online, and from $20 to $25 if it is declared at check in. And Spirit’s belief that any publicity is good publicity continues.
The New $199 iPhone Is $160 More Expensive Than The $399 iPhone It Replaced. What?
By 6.15.08
Apple’s new 3G iPhone might seem like a bargain at $199: more features, 3G speeds, and $200 cheaper than the original model. Great, except it’s not actually cheaper. The new $199 iPhone is actually $160 more than the $399 iPhone it replaces.
By 6.12.08
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Yep, you guessed it: US Airways is going to charge $15 for the first checked bag. [Yahoo!] (Thanks, James!)
United Airlines To Charge $15 For First Checked Bag
By 6.12.08
You knew it was coming and well, it’s here. United Airlines has announced that they will begin charging $15 for the first checked bag.
WaMu Banker Confessions, Part Two
By 6.11.08
Another Washington Mutual insider has stepped forward with a slew of tips to help save your ass from overdraft fees, check deposit holds, and talking to Filipino bankers. Details, inside…
Six Flags Requires You To Check All Bags Before Each Rollercoaster For $1 Per Ride
By 6.10.08
Reader Aaron says that his trip to Six Flags was ruined by their new policy of making riders check even very small bags before each ride — at the cost of $1 a ride.
Paying Your Verizon Bill With Cash? That'll Be $3.99 Extra
By 6.7.08
Employees at the Verizon store in Millington, Tennessee told reader Josh it would cost an extra $3.99 to pay his bill with cash. According to the employees, the charge was to offset the cost of “new money software.”
Northwest's Coach Choice Seats Are A Complete Waste Of Money
By 6.5.08
Reader Chris wrote in to warn us off Northwest’s “Coach Choice” seat upgrade. On a recent trip, he was offered the opportunity to upgrade to a “Coach Choice” seat for an extra $30 per seat. He eagerly forked over $60 for two upgrades, and was shocked and angry at what that Northwest gave him in return. See what a “Coach Choice” seat means to NWA, inside.
Don't Get Charged An Occupancy Tax For A Hotel Room You Never Occupied
By 6.4.08
Michael canceled his Hilton Hotel reservation with less than 24 hour notice and got charged the full-room rate of $189. This post is not about that. Michael knows and accepts that this is the policy. Rather, this is about $25. The $25 “occupancy tax” the Hilton tacked on. Michael wasn’t about to be charged an occupancy tax for a room he never occupied. After talking to three different people for two days, he finally got Hilton refund the charge. “I thought other readers may like to know about this story and to be on the look out for stupid taxes that aren’t valid when you cancel a hotel room,” Michael writes.
ATT Settles Class Action Over Fraudulent Ringtone Charges
By 6.4.08
Thanks to AT&T settling a recent class-action, the era of third-party scammers cramming consumers with fraudulent subscriptions to ringtone, hookup text and other stupid content services may soon be over. AT&T Customers can claim refunds for wrongful charges from up to 3 of their bills between 1/1/04 and 5/30/08. The lawyers will get $4.3 million. AT&T will now require subscriptions to 3rd party-services with recurring fees to be confirmed by responding to a text message. 3rd party services will also have to send a monthly reminder with unsubscribe info. The firm has filed similar suits against Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Claim forms and more info at thirdpartycontentrefund.com.
Accurately Compare Airline Fees With Handy Charts
By 6.4.08
Finding a competitively priced airline ticket is tricky enough without each airline having its own myriad of fees and individual policies. Fortunately, the Airfarewatchdog blog lists most of the fees for the major airlines in one place. Combine it with their checked bag fee chart, and now you know all the fees. This makes meaningful comparison much easier. Otherwise, you might have to go through the entire ticket purchase process before you could figure out your total including fees. They are also “the only site that lists low airfares on all airlines, including Southwest. And [they] include special fares that you can only buy on the airline’s own sites.”
