LAST year we all got quite angry when Telstra imposed a fee upon its cus
tomers for simply choosing to pay a bill in person.
Rightly, the carrier withdrew the fee and refunded the additional monies it had received for doing absolutely nothing.
Last week, I was reminded of this rather unpleasant tactic when I purchased a ticket to a Melbourne Victory game for my son via the internet.
The ticket cost $15 for the clash against Sydney - not bad value I thought at the time, for such a high-standard contest in such a quality venue.
But as I negotiated my way through the online booking agency, I was shocked, and angry, when I made it to the checkout to find that a $7.50 handling fee had been added to the cost of my son’s ticket - that’s a 50 per cent tax! And for what?
The words “absolutely nothing” spring to mind. But there was no way to avoid it. It was unjustified, unfair and unpleasant. But I paid it, because I ultimately had no choice.
My son has probably forgotten about it - after all, a depleted Melbourne Victory won the game 2-1 to gain a valuable advantage over their arch rivals.
But it’s the little things like that handling fee (just how does that work online?) that can get under your skin sometimes.
A bit like ATM fees where you get charged a fee to access your own cash via a machine, thereby contributing to your financial institution’s next big profit along the way, although these days if you use another bank’s ATM, you are contributing to their next record profit as well.
It’s not that different to the popular one cent texts that are so incredibly popular with kids (and the rest of us!) these days.
Everyone loves the one cent texts but you have to wonder why there’s a time limit placed by at least some carriers upon using all text credits before they (the credits) expire and are forfeited.
It’s not like these virtual credits go off or fade in the sun.
They should be able to be stored on the user’s phone for use any time and over a period of time chosen by the customer, not the carrier.
In an age where we try to teach our kids to save and not rush to spend their money, the one cent text tactics warrant a review.
And next time you’re doing the grocery shopping, take a closer look at the way the major supermarkets are pushing us to buy in multiples, especially for products we may not need or use every day.
Once upon a time there was a discount applied per item, now it’s more often than not a case of buy six cans of cat food for the price of five and save, save, save.
Yes, I know it actually makes sense (pun intended) to shop this way, but it’s not always practical, and it can make it difficult to find that jar of vegemite in the pantry when there’s six cans of pasta sauce, a half dozen rice packs or six tins of tuna in the way.
And all this leads me to health insurance and the never-ending upward spiralling costs associated with trying to make sure one’s family is adequately covered.
Once again, most of us pay for private health insurance because we want the best for our families.
Reality is, if we don’t pay, we will be slugged in the hip pocket anyway, but the promise of another six per cent rise in fees in April is of serious concern.
It will also probably see thousands of people give up on a health insurance system so in need of its own check-up it would be funny were it not so expensive and so serious a problem.
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