While I am supposed to be writing about hedge funds and the fact that Operations for Alternatives is next week, I need to focus on something that is really bothering me: The so-called convenience fees and add-on fees that come with making purchases these days.They are just ridiculous.
I am sick and tired of the random fees charged for everything from snacks on an airplane to accessing your own money from the ATM. It is just sickening. These companies are nickel-and-diming their customers. It is truly maddening. Companies just don’t get it. They simply just don’t get it. They think that the American public is just a bunch of sheep lining up to be slaughtered.
Well, I say: NO MORE!
It is enough already. Are you really tired of paying $25 to check a bag or three bucks to access cash from a not-your-bank bank ATM? Their business models are screwed up. And frankly, I think that because of this, the days of many well-known and respected institutions are numbered. People work too hard for their money for companies to take advantage of them over and over again.
And it isn’t just banks and airlines, it is state and local governments, it is the cable company, the wireless company and everyone between. The additional fees for services that should be provided with the purchase of an airline ticket or a standard checking account drive me nuts.
I can’t stand it, and from my recent trip on United Airlines and in the line at Citibank, I am not the only one getting ticked off by the nuisance fees that these institutions are charging. They should simply raise the price if they really need to make money. The reality is that that companies don’t care about their customers; they just care about the fees they pay. This is simply wrong. I am sure there are people sitting in some office somewhere who justify the fees to management, but it doesn’t work for me and it shouldn’t work for you either.
OFA is next week. I am really excited. There should be some great discussions and good material coming out of the sessions. I will keep you posted. Thanks to everyone who has supported Operations for Alternatives this year — I truly appreciate it.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
Read above!