It may be selective memory, but I don’t remember having to pay any kind of fees in my younger days. Now it seems that no matter what you buy, there’s a fee attached. I will do anything possible to get out of paying fees – or at least minimize them.
I hate bank fees
My bank already has the use of all my money so I don’t see why I also have to pay them for this privilege. I used to go ballistic when my son (who I won’t name – but his alias begins with “E”) used to withdraw money almost daily from a non-bank machine (we used to call them white machines – because they were white). He’d say “Oh Mom. It’s only a couple of bucks. What’s the big deal?” Well, to me, it is a big deal.
I was recently browsing through a copy of Consumer Reports and noticed that TD Bank has branches in the United States and their basic chequing account has no fees and no minimum balance. Why are they charging Canadians for the same thing?
I hate credit card fees
Credit cards now offer an array of features – insurance, cash back, air miles, etc. – that have to be paid for. Don’t you think that 19% interest on your purchases is payment enough? And most people don’t take enough advantage of the features to make it worthwhile anyway.
Those that pay off their entire balance each month don’t get away scot-free. Retailers pay a percentage of your credit card purchase and increase the price of your goods to make up for it.
I hate service fees
My utility bill (electricity and water) is four pages long. Besides the basic charges, there are 9 separate fees listed and I don’t even know what they are! What is a service fee anyway? Aren’t I paying for a service in the first place?
I hate administration fees
When I put all my bills on epost I naively thought I might get a reduction in administration fees. After all, they no longer have to use paper, ink, an envelope and postage. Unfortunately for me I’m just increasing their profits by reducing their operating costs.
When we purchased our vehicle, one of the charges was for administration. When I asked what it was for, I was told it was for processing the paperwork. The paperwork is called an invoice and it’s a cost of doing business. No! No! No!
Some mortgage brokers, especially for second mortgage type loans, charge some of the worst administration fees. Brokerage fees, lender administration fees and applications fees can run into the thousands of dollars and are added on to your loan. Go to a bank instead.
I hate delivery fees
I always negotiate to get this fee waived. If I’ve spent a few thousand dollars on new furniture, the least they can do is bring it to me. Ikea has to be one of the worst, as they charge per size and weight. You know how heavy those slabs of MDF are. Your VOLMAR cabinet is going to end up costing twice as much. On the other hand, Staples delivered a filing cabinet to me free of charge.
I hate set-up fees
Stores have no business trying to sell me an entertainment system that I can’t figure out how to plug in. Likewise, back to Ikea, if you can’t put your cabinet together yourself, you have no business shopping there.
I say it’s time to put a stop to all of these fees.
