Argghhh – why all these “extra” charges???
My perennial favourite of course being the patently ridiculous “Automatic Payment Loading Fee” the bank charges me to do their job for them and set up a standing order – but just this week I have seen three almost as ridiculous examples of spurious rip offs.
First goes to Ticketec. Now they always add silly charges – mostly for posting your tickets to you. Extra if you live in the countryside of course. And they will charge you if you don’t want them to send it to you – you want to pick them up instead. But now they have gone one further and will charge you $5 if you want to print your ticket at home, on your own printer, using your own ink, and your own paper.
Second goes to Reading Cinema who again charges you $2 for the “privilege” of ordering your ticket over the internet and saving the staff 2 minutes work.
But taking the biscuit completely for a wacky and completely pointless charge goes to Aotea Pathology. I needed to go have a blood test on Saturday morning – which meant I had to get up at 7am (and on a Saturday dammit) and go into Welly because the local clinics don’t do tests on Saturday (sensible people).
So I go in, give my name, pay the bill and am asked to sit down and wait. It wasn’t until I came out of the labs that I happened to look at the bill. Alongside the two charges for the tests themselves is a third charge.
Encounter Fee – $12.57
WHAT?????
This it seems is the charge for the lady at reception to take my name and charge me the fee and ask me to sit down.
The mind boggles.
Bloody rip off merchants.
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Related posts:
- Avalon’s Money Thread: Banks and Bank Charges.
- It’s a bank holiday – that’ll be 15% extra please!
- Argghhh – Banks (again).
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