Money tips: Three fees you don't have to pay (CBC Marketplace)

hey Canada welcome to a special edition of marketplace I'm Erica Johnson and I'm Tom Harrington and this week it's all about the vault we're gonna let some secrets out of it so you can keep your money in it we're gonna hit record we're going undercover and you are - we've never done anything like this so we can't feel like a secret a junior revealing who's got their hand in your pocket all while I'm just sorry cat see it's just not right people are being hoodwinked from sneaky fees to upselling stuff lying to people so be seating them we'll show you how to fight back yes I did something good in my life thanks to mark applause yeah so you can stash your cash we're in Niagara Falls Ontario one of the top tourist destinations in the country among the regulars kim and rick de Mol it's a nice place to visit occasionally with a lot of good restaurants here only they're not just tourists this time Rick and Kim have come from nearby st. Catherine's to do a little investigating for us is your camera okay here is the power source you're gonna hit record so guys I see you're outfitted with the latest in modern hidden camera equipment yeah it's all the latest fashion yes what's your experience been whatever with these settings oh it's all new to us we've never done anything like this so we kind of feel like a secret agent here they want more people to know about a sneaky fee they've come across and don't like so have you ever heard of something called a destination marketing fee no no that sounds interesting I don't know if I like that sound do you know what a destination marketing fee is yeah depending on where you go in Niagara Falls or other tourist locales in Canada you may be charged a destination marketing fee or DMF a tourism infrastructure fee or TI f or a destination productivity fee at DP f bottom line businesses can add about three percent to your bill to help pay they say from marketing and tourism initiatives so what does our undercover couple hear when they hit the cities hotspots what's a tip it's a tourist infrastructure fee are some restaurants in this area participate in the funding goes to by way of displays context in apart what's a DPF it's a destination productivity it talks and never falls oh yeah yeah it's attacks yes in this tourist area yeah do they charge the tourists yes what what is that for it's for the tourist area like all the tourist places charged with it's not a legal attack Jenna swing has never liked these fees she's in Agra Falls city councilors you've been fighting this for a long time right yes why it's just not right people are being hoodwinked into paying something they don't have to pay wait it's just not right what they don't have to pay do they charge the horse the fee yes it's voluntary you don't have to pay it's up to the diner or the hotel guests to notice it to question it and to demand that it be removed let's check back with our undercover couple to see what they're told at Applebee's restaurant there's a big huge debate we actually can't take it off our bills that's what we do is it's under a different category of it's a discount at the IMAX theater this employee offers to take it off their bill after they asked what it's about oh yeah remove it a new light and at Outback Steakhouse same thing is it that's mandatory tax um it's not mandatory but again they have to ask before the fee is removed but if it's not mandatory than somebody throw out it would actually yeah it's just if you ask the fact that people have to ask about this fee that it's actually voluntary do you think businesses are misleading people oh definitely the way it's put on the bill as if presented as if it were another tax along side HSD is misleading most people don't question it a lot of tourists get their thrill on Clifton Hill in the heart of downtown but many tell us they're not thrilled with this cash grab what if I told you that it's a voluntary charge that you don't have to pay that's not right I think they should tell you oh wow I'm just barbara casting I can't believe that I just don't understand how they can even get away with that like it feels just not like the right thing to do right that's wrong that's all there is to it yeah tell Harrington Wayne Thompson says there is more to it he's chair of Niagara Falls tourism and former mayor if a family spends $1,000 in Agri Falls for the week they might end up paying maybe thirty eight dollars more or whatever maybe that's maybe an insignificant amount of money to you but to them it might be something and this is money they feel they don't have to pay because they've already laid out money in this community why are they paying more this is a destination all you got to do is look out the window see the beauty of the Falls all of the wonderful attractions that you have here this is a destination he says Niagara Falls tourism doesn't impose the fee but he's speaking on behalf of the businesses that do charge it if a tourist is coming to Niagara Falls to spend their money and go to stay in hotels eat in restaurants go to attractions wives and pay for that and then some people would argue pay higher prices and they might pay somewhere else well let me let me just enter I really have to take exception with that have you ever have you ever stayed here and compared the prices here within Toronto have you ever parked here and paid the prices that you park in Toronto and you're talking about 3% my god this is ridiculous not ridiculous to people who don't think it's fair and what about other Canadian cities that have this fee we do some digging in some other tourism hotspots in the country payment is mandatory but even where it's voluntary the money is tracked by a third party that insures it goes towards tourism so what about Niagara Falls how do you know where the money goes that these businesses are gathering we don't tell you have to take their word for it there's definite ways of paying for the lights and fireworks and open transparent budgets that are approved by public bodies but there is no paper trail whatsoever it gets paid and we don't know what happens to the money after that it's willy-nilly and there's no real rhyme or reason for how it's done it's just purely at the whim of the corporations not all businesses in the area charge the fee but for those that do there's no one independently tracking how that money is spent more food for thought as we catch up with Kym and Rick our undercover couple sits down for breakfast at the International House of Pancakes when they ask about the fee this time the server is upfront they don't have to pay it they don't want to pay it we just say I just take the tip off now it's time for Rick and Kim to check out of the Four Points by Sheraton what's a tip it's a fee that any tourist ok he has to pay that mandatory it's a fee yeah we've heard a lot of inconsistent information about this fee but Wayne Thompson disagrees with people who call it sneaky this is something that has been vetted through Revenue Canada they've been in all the properties here these people pay taxes on this there's nothing illegal about it there's nothing underhanded about it but tourists are telling us it feels underhanded they want businesses to be clear that there is a choice not to pay the people who are charging it or not accounting for it publicly right and the staff that these various businesses are giving misinformation about what this fee is for calling it a tax and that's you know isn't that a system that's broken and needs to be fixed I would say it could improve there's a constant effort to make sure that the staff are informed and unfortunately the turnover people are not informed and therefore it's it becomes a problem since our interview they're trying to solve that problem Niagara Falls businesses that charge the fee are being told to give this card to anyone who asked about it though that card neglects to mention you don't have to pay city councilor Janice wing says the whole program shouldn't be such a mystery what should these businesses be telling their customers about these fees they should be upfront about the fee and point out what is a tax and mandatory and what is voluntary but I think if they did that people would refuse to pay it after 24 hours in the honeymoon capital of the world the honeymoon is over for our undercover couple okay so how was your experience with the destination marketing fee or whatever they called it yeah just resting yeah it was very interesting in it it's all over the place different names different initials for it yeah I always had to ask what it was you were here for 24 hours at the hotel it's a meals and some attractions the total you two paid was twelve dollars and five cents now people might say doesn't sound like much what do you think of that it adds up that's only just one day for two of us you don't need to pay extra for nothing so after this experience the next time you come to Niagara Falls what are you gonna do well obviously check our bill and not pay tell them we're not paying the fee back on clifton hill one visitor we talked to earlier takes our advice on how to stash your cash she comes back from her hotel with some news about the tourist fee they said yes moment are you laughter hey sorry I don't want to fight it they said so thank you up I'm happy to help that was fun and we've got more ways to help you stash your cash coming up including warranties that don't pay off and how you can avoid bank fees and we all hate them why didn't anyone tell me and according to scotia bank they don't have to tell you how do you save money give us your two cents worth on Facebook and Twitter welcome back to marketplace the companies might make you think extended warranties are as good as gold but that's chilling out extra money for them really buy you security we're in downtown Toronto talking to you about your electronic gadgets and what happens when things go wrong many stores sell extended warranties to protect a new purchase what do you think an extended warranty plan means that when it breaks the fixture I know they go for two maybe three years I honestly don't know too much about it if there's a problem extended warranties seem to guarantee you're busted device will be fixed or replaced but is it worth paying the extra dough or should you stash your cash I thought it will be a good way to put that my investment that's what university student Thomas Baca believed when he bought a tablet just over two years ago he got it at Future Shop for about five hundred bucks and that's when the trouble started it kept crashing it kept not it was not responding well so after a while I decided to take it back Thomas believed it wouldn't be a problem because he also bought their service plan for an extra hundred dollars what was your understanding of what this no-hassle plan meant for your tablet in case there was a problem should I have any problems with the product any performance problems that I can just bring it back and they would place it for me when Thomas took his tablet back it became a two month ordeal took lot of effort a lot of time so it was anything but no hassle he got the runaround he says because of what's in the fine print the chain gets three chances to fix the tablet before they replace it this is some of the fine print that Future Shop explains when they're describing their plan look it's like maybe five pages yeah you read all that didn't you yes sure no no I didn't know I did not do you think they misrepresented what this plan was I think they use deception I think they try to upsell the product we wanted to see just what future shop sales people are telling customers about their warranty plan Hey so last spring we sent a marketplace producer with hidden cameras into six Future Shop stores in the Toronto area thank you at every location salespeople push the value of their service plan clear we covered the batteries if anything Hardware just don't front drops as notice the water okay the else is covered future shops sales staff are on commission so I lose if you get that please convincing you to buy the plan means more money in their pockets so no hassle except is it gonna drop it in Vickers not tomorrow of the six stores we visit only to give us the full story on future shops plan months later Future Shop brings in Geek Squad to handle their extended warranty program but it seems the plan itself doesn't change turns out many of you are complaining about future shops warranties the Better Business Bureau has heard plenty and gives the chain and F rating it's a cash cow for them marketing professor Steve Tizen bomb once ran the extended warranty program for a major computer maker who benefits most then from selling these extended warranty plans the retailer benefits because that's cash flow to them right away the only person who is left wondering what's going to happen is the consumer what will happen when they need the service Thomas Bach I learned that the hard way he ends up making seven trips to Future Shop after complaining to head office he receives another tablet but says it's a used one and guess what that's still allowed in the fine print if you could speak to the managers of Future Shop but would the message be stop lying to people stop deceiving them just tell them honestly for the hoodie are selling aftermarket play starts asking questions Thomas finally gets a brand new tablet we ask Future Shop why their warranties seem to promise more than they deliver they say we believe customers should have the option to insure the consumer electronics products they buy from us are protected when they leave the store we are pleased to continue offering our plans to customers across Canada but our expert says when it comes to extended warranties I don't recommend they not you should stash your cash now that's one happy marketplace viewer and stay tuned we've got lots more money-saving moves lots of you could be putting cash back in your pockets with bank fees you don't have to pay I want that money back I want it back it's mine which bank fees bug you vote for the worst at cbc.ca slash marketplace welcome back to market place you've heard the expression money in the bank it's all about reliability something you can count on like this vault it was built back in 1913 an ironclad way of telling people their money would be safe but this next story shows there may not be good reason to trust the banks when it comes to giving you a break on certain bank fees we're scouting out these hockey players seeing if they qualify not for the All Stars or NHL but for something that could help them stash their cash you too and how do we know if they make the cut it's as easy as being 60 or older 78 61 sixty-five seventy seven we're talking about perks for seniors offered at all the big five banks things like no monthly fees free transactions and discounted plans that can help seniors really save but when we first catch up with these players we ask them to split up those getting seniors discounts on the right those not on the left and surprisingly about 40% aren't getting a break are you in that seniors account I know when I turned 60 they didn't say anything sixty one sixty two three four nothing at all for two years you were paying service charges that you could have avoided if someone had told you at the bank yeah oh yeah for these guys that's a cheap shot on the part of the bank they certainly have our Aegis everyone has the information they need maybe they figure they could get a few more bucks out of them Adele Lynne first contacted marketplace after realizing she'd been missing out to no one at her bank mentioned the senior discount until she was 67 he said to me Oh a Dell you'll not Scotia plus well what's kosher plus I said said well from the age of 59 you don't have to pay bank charges what did you think when you learn that well I absolutely went nuts why didn't anyone tell me and according to Scotia Bank they don't have to tell you how to Dell known we figure she could have saved about fourteen hundred dollars how can I ask about it if I don't know about it they are disgusting after 30 years to treat me like the way they have and I want that money back I want it back it's mine they would say it's just business you know they have these different programs they can't tell everybody about everything they offer they manage to tell you about how to get loans and and everything else that they want you to have they managed to do that Adele complained to Scotia who gave her back one year's worth of fees other banks told us they made information available so seniors could ask for Adele that's not good enough she thinks discounts should be automatic what they could be doing is putting on their computer this person is now 60 years old and it automatically should be that there are no bank charges now she's helping us check whether the big banks have changed their ways visiting each one to ask about their policies at fimo and RVC she hears rebates automatically kick in when you turn 60 so their basic account it's free I think it's good because then I wouldn't have to worry about it but at CIBC and TD Canada Trust they say it's still up to seniors to ask they know it's an issue but they just don't care so I can't do any more than I then I've done and what about Scotia a Dells bank that waited years before telling her she could save what will they say today yes I did something good in my life they are automatically telling seniors now about bank charges yep senior savings now kick in as soon as you turn 60 as for the hockey team since we told them about the discounts they were missing out on 100% are now netting savings of their own you've made us more aware of what's going on what's available to us so I think that's really fantastic thanks to market boys yeah so if your banks drop the puck make sure you're getting the discounts you deserve then like Adele you'll have reason to smile too thank you you're great great it's always great to see how our stories can help you score and put money back in your pocket thanks for joining us here's what's coming up next week next week on marketplace the hidden cost of a life-saving trip worrying about the bills when you're worried about your child dying those two things should not be at the same picture ambulance is desperately needed in an emergency can't afford I can't pay it if almost half the people in your province are saying they might delay calling an ambulance doesn't that tell you there's something wrong with the system we investigate why there's no free ride

Channel: CBC News

Views: 1,101,288

Rating: 4.8450661 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News CBCNews CBC broadcasting media public broadcasting news Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, CBC News.ca, Money (Quotation Subject), personal finance, savings

Id: NjhIEIntPzM

Length: 22min 30sec (1350 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 30 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/FoamyJr]

What is a tourist fee?

[u/ftssiirtw]

Woah woah woah, back it up a few minutes and learn that anyone 60 and older doesn't have to pay bank fees at the 5 biggest banks in Canada.