P.J.
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Drip pricing, grey charges, split pricing... These are different strategies that lead to the same problem: hidden charges. To lure customers, sellers advertise only the base price. Then, at the time of payment, a host of charges are tacked on as mandatory fees. The customer usually discovers this too late, as in the case of hotel bills. In other cases, since you don't want to spend the time and effort to start the search all over again, you just shrug, grumble, and pay up.
However, one fee at a time, this menace ends up claiming a sizeable share of your wallet—up to 50% in the case of travel, 25-40% in realty purchases, up to 133% for home deliveries, and so on. "The main issue in the service industry is hidden fees," says Geetanjali Dutta, a lawyer who specialises in consumer cases.
Sellers are also becoming increasingly creative when it comes to squeezing a few more bucks out of you on the sly. Say hello to online convenience charges, speak-to-a-human fee, mini-bar restocking fee...Our cover story this week looks at some of the biggest culprits that are eating into your spending budget.
TRAVEL
The travel and tourism industry is a minefield of hidden charges. "Price transparency is a key issue for the tourism industry," admits Vishal Suri, CEO, tour operating, Kuoni India. According to a recent report, the airline ancillary revenues worldwide crossed $27 billion in 2012, a year-on-year surge of 19.6%. "The Indian government opened the ancillary revenue floodgates by blessing the adoption of a la carte pricing for an industry serving more than 1.2 billion people," states the report.
What does this mean for domestic fliers? Think sundry charges, such as seat selection fees, food and beverage charges, additional charges for seats with more leg room, faster check-in fees, lounge fees, and the like. It's acceptable, since you pay for what you want, but what explains the draconian baggage fees, convenience fees for online bookings, and transaction fees for offline ones?
please Read more from here:Hidden fees: Biggest culprits that are eating into your spending budgets - The Economic Times
However, one fee at a time, this menace ends up claiming a sizeable share of your wallet—up to 50% in the case of travel, 25-40% in realty purchases, up to 133% for home deliveries, and so on. "The main issue in the service industry is hidden fees," says Geetanjali Dutta, a lawyer who specialises in consumer cases.
Sellers are also becoming increasingly creative when it comes to squeezing a few more bucks out of you on the sly. Say hello to online convenience charges, speak-to-a-human fee, mini-bar restocking fee...Our cover story this week looks at some of the biggest culprits that are eating into your spending budget.
TRAVEL
The travel and tourism industry is a minefield of hidden charges. "Price transparency is a key issue for the tourism industry," admits Vishal Suri, CEO, tour operating, Kuoni India. According to a recent report, the airline ancillary revenues worldwide crossed $27 billion in 2012, a year-on-year surge of 19.6%. "The Indian government opened the ancillary revenue floodgates by blessing the adoption of a la carte pricing for an industry serving more than 1.2 billion people," states the report.
What does this mean for domestic fliers? Think sundry charges, such as seat selection fees, food and beverage charges, additional charges for seats with more leg room, faster check-in fees, lounge fees, and the like. It's acceptable, since you pay for what you want, but what explains the draconian baggage fees, convenience fees for online bookings, and transaction fees for offline ones?
please Read more from here:Hidden fees: Biggest culprits that are eating into your spending budgets - The Economic Times
