Is there anything more frustrating than when you think you find a decent plane ticket or hotel room price and then you go to check out and then price has seemingly doubled with hidden fees, like service charges or resort fees?
With tight budgets and the high cost of living, junk or hidden fees on purchases can be a punch in the gut.
While progress has been made here in Connecticut for consumers, advocates say there’s still work that needs to be done on a state and federal level.
“I don’t need to remind anyone today that American families are living paycheck to paycheck that is not a soundbite, that is not rhetoric, it’s a fact of life,” Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro said.
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On Friday, she and other community leaders and advocates rallied for community support in New Haven, as DeLauro pushes for U.S. lawmakers to get behind the passing of a federal junk fee prevention bill.
She is asking community members to send her pictures, screenshots and stories of their junk fee shock through her website or Facebook page, so she can have more tales to tell to get U.S. lawmakers to back this legislation.
Starting Oct. 1, state law requires the disclosure of the full ticket price with fees, upfront when you buy a ticket for a concert in Connecticut.
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But Attorney General William Tong said more needs to be done on the federal level.
“The trouble is in a lot of these big industries, including the airlines, the airlines claim that they’re immune from state consumer protection laws and that federal law preempts the states from taking action from protecting you and all of us," Tong said.
