Mystery resort expenses, service charges on event tickets, airline family seating fees, early termination fees for phone or internet services, overdraft charges on bank accounts, these are all examples of aggravating "junk fees" that most of us have encountered at one time or another.
These hidden charges often aren't typically disclosed upfront, and only appear at the end of the purchase transaction.
A 2019 survey by Consumer Reports found that 85% of Americans had encountered a hidden fee in the past two years.
The proliferation of junk fees allows companies to increase revenue with impunity without providing any additional value.
Finally, government agencies, in the absence of federal legislation, have taken steps to crack down on this deceptive practice.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have taken action to discourage junk fees.
Specifically, the CFPB has recommended that states ban hidden fees, and has proposed model language for state statutes.
In Massachusetts, our attorney general has followed that lead by announcing new protections targeting those hidden fees that mask the true cost of a product or service, including recurring charges and hard-to-cancel trial offers.
New regulations to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act impose new rules on businesses and landlords to prohibit the surprise fees that often increase the total price of a product beyond the advertised price.
Businesses often only disclose these fees after consumers have already provided their billing information.
Some businesses also offer short, free trial offers -- betting that consumers will forget to terminate them and get charged -- and subscriptions with automatic and recurring charges that make it difficult to cancel or opt-out.
"We've all experienced junk fees in one way or another. Looking to book a hotel room, shopping online, buying concert tickets to see my favorite -- Beyoncé -- or Taylor Swift, or renting a car, or so many other transactions. They're pesky, hidden or surprise fees," Campbell said at a press conference Monday in her Boston office.
Among other rules, the new regulations require businesses to clearly disclose the price of a product, including any mandatory charges or fees, whenever presenting pricing information to a consumer -- before they have to provide their personal information.
The new requirements also demand that each of those charges be labeled with the purpose and amount of the fee.
These updated regulations don't go into effect until Sept. 2, which allows businesses time to work with the AG's office to make any needed updates, Campbell said.
Some "junk fees" are optional, Campbell said, "so in some cases junk fees turn out to be not only costly, but also completely unnecessary."
The regulations require businesses to clearly state whether a charge is optional or waivable, and instructions on how to do so.
When presenting a trial offer, after September, businesses will have to clearly disclose any charges a consumer may incur if they accept the trial. They will also have to provide instructions for consumers to reject or cancel a trial offer before being charged, and the calendar date they will have to cancel by in order to avoid being charged.
Other parts of the regulations require businesses to implement a simple process for consumers to cancel subscriptions and other recurring charges, "including ensuring that consumers are able to cancel subscriptions just as easily as they are able to enroll in them.
"For example, if a consumer enrolls in a subscription through a website, they must be able to cancel the subscription through that same website," according to a press release from the AG's office.
"And of course, it's not just phone apps. We're seeing subscriptions and automatic renewals used increasingly across the board. They're in gym memberships, home security services, meal kits, entertainment and more. They often create unwarranted charges that when added up, can be extremely costly for our residents and consumers," Campbell said.
Businesses will now be required to provide advance written notices of when their subscriptions will renew, how much a consumer will be charged and when, and how they may cancel.
The language specifies that it is not a violation of new restrictions for a food or grocery delivery platform -- which are known for adding fees onto their services -- to advertise the price of menu items set by a food store, restaurant or grocery store.
However, they must also clearly display the maximum mandatory charges that a consumer must pay to complete the transaction any time pricing information is shown.
The regulations also seek to rein in unnecessary fees in rental housing.
"Renters struggling to find safe and decent housing within their budget are some of the hardest hit by junk fees, a dizzying array of unavoidable fees to secure and maintain rental housing contributes to sky high rent prices and housing instability," said Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
The regulations will require the owner of a rental unit to disclose the full price of the entire period covered by the lease upfront.
These overdue regulations should go a long way to evening the marketplace playing field.
No longer will the admonition be just buyer beware. Now sellers of goods and services will also be put on notice that a lack of transparency will exact a price.
Like a lawsuit for triple damages from an aggrieved consumer.