Have you ever actually looked at your bills lately? Cell phone bills… credit card bills… or maybe your water bill? They add ridiculous charges on your bill and slap the tag “tax” on it. Other companies aren’t that smart and just claim the extra charge as a “charge”, probing the receiver of the bill to get on the phone and complain. So why, you may ask, are companies adding on to present charges? The answer is simple: Companies use hidden charges to generate more revenue. They want to make more money so that it can pay its employees royalties. Consumers obviously don’t want to pay more money for something they can get cheap. On a more personal note, I sure don’t want to pay more than I have to.
I have personally been a victim of these charges. I have to call up the company and find out why they are charging me. Most of the time they claim that it was a mistake. Mistakes do happen… I’m sure… but they cannot happen every month. It started out with my credit card bill. Then it progressively reached my cell phone and bank statements. The bank I use charges me when I write a check! Keep in mind… this checking account is supposedly free. My routine includes contacting the bank via telephone or walking into a branch, statement in hand. And, as I would expect, I walk out fifty-seven cents richer. There is no reason why they would debit my account mere pennies. Now, as the hand turns, if they have a good reason to take my money by all means, go for it. If I used a service: great reason. But if my money was your bank, YOU should be paying ME! And that’s what we call interest… I’ll leave that story out for another day.