When You Are Charged Hidden Costs ...
You may have gone through a lengthy process of ordering a car or a furnace or another big-ticket item. You agreed on a price. Then — the price changes. There are hidden costs. Or that product is not available to you for some reason, but another product — at a higher cost — is available. It does not seem fair — and it isn't.
ClassAction.com: Fighting Hidden Fees
Car dealers, appliance retailers and others seem to find ways to get customers into their stores, sell them on a product and a price, and then change the rules or changed the product. If it has happened to you, it has probably happened to other customers like you.
- Hidden costs: After you agreed to a price for a car, the dealer produced a contract. The amount due is far higher than what you had expected. There may be a charge, for example, to register the car with the DMV, and you know the cost is not that high. The dealer is counting on you to have made the decision to buy and to not change your mind.
- Bait and switch: You went into the appliance shop to see the advertised product, but that product was not available. The retailer tried to talk you into another, higher-priced product. In many cases, it turns out that the advertised product was never available.
- Change in terms: You came in to buy a car at a certain price, but the dealer checked your credit and said the car was not available to you at that price; you would have to pay more — sometimes thousands more. Or you may be told that you do not qualify to buy the car, but you can lease the car.
The retailer got you into the establishment by advertising a price or product the retailer never intended to honor. When one person is charged an inflated car administration fee, that is a profit for the dealer. When the dealer charges hundreds of buyers the inflated fee, that's a very big profit — and perhaps grounds for a class action lawsuit.
Contact ClassAction.com and tell us about an experience you have had with hidden costs or bait and switch tactics.
