Are Convenience Fees Draining Your Cash?
One of the most notorious fees paid by unsuspecting consumers today is the convenience fee. These fees are charged for a wide range of products and services and in many cases, the person does not even know that they are paying the fees because they are built into the total price of the item. There are many different ways for a company to charge for the convenience of not having to exert more effort to obtain a product and a person can save a great deal of money by avoiding these convenience fees.
Entertainment Tickets
Many people love live entertainment and purchase tickets for the events that they are interested in, but in numerous cases the person is paying well above the minimum amount they could be paying for the tickets because of the convenience fees added to the ticket price. This is most often apparent when the person chooses to purchase the tickets from a ticket broker that is available in their local grocery store or online instead of traveling to the venue that is holding the event to purchase the tickets. These ticket brokers typically charge an additional $5 to $20 per ticket over the venue price for the convenience of the person not having to go out of their way to purchase the tickets that they desire.
Bill Payments
Another insidious way that many companies are obtaining additional money in convenience fees from their customers is charging a fee for paying your bill in a certain manner. Many companies offer many different methods for a person to be able to pay their bill with the company in order to assure that the company will be paid on time, but some of these methods can trigger an additional fee that is added to the balance of the account automatically when a person makes a payment using this method. The most common payment methods that trigger additional fees are payments by phone and payments made using the company’s website.
Banking Fees
Banks are notorious for using convenience charges to boost their profits and have come up with more ways to trigger convenience charges than any other industry. Some of the most common actions that can trigger an automatic convenience charge to your bank account include using a live teller more times than your account allows, using the ATM of another bank, having a payment made when there is not enough money in the account, and transferring money between bank accounts. By avoiding these actions or choosing a banking institution that does not have these fees, you can save hundreds of dollars every year.
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