When fees aren’t the bee’s knees
Late fees, cancellation fees, registration fees … even the Sacramento Bee (couldn’t resist the bee reference) has a fee for each downloaded article.
We’re being nickled, dimed, and dollared to death by many fees. We deal with a lot of fees, and I’m sure you’ll agree that most of these fees are designed to line the pockets of the company or institution.
Some bank accounts have a monthly fee if you don’t maintain a minimum balance … some accounts just charge a monthly fee anyway regardless of the balance. If you’re earning a measly percentage with your savings account, when you factor in fees (and inflation), you’re actually losing money. One of my favorite advertising slogans is by ING Direct: “Money doesn’t grow on fees.” Another one of their recent advertising slogans is: “Fees take people’s lunch money.”
As illustrated by the cartoon above, airlines are notorious for charging various fees. Southwest Airlines made a few commercials based on this idea of airline fees. One of those videos is posted below.
Are your fees truly offering something of value? There’s a big difference between charging a legitimate and reasonable price for a good or service and lining one’s pockets with fee revenues.
