# 10-10-987: Ignore the fine print at the bottom! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878 "2003-10-01T07:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/1 "2003-10-01T07:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > How do I know it’s really only .39 per call and .03 per minute? > [@](#): > > I GUARANTEE it’s only .39 per call and .03 per minute! Fine Print: “Rates do not include Federal Universal Service Fee.” Ok, assholes. I expect that your rates are going to have fees tacked on, that’s normal. However, when your spokesman plainly says that your GUARANTEE that your rates are as stated, it’s pretty fucking low to still be tacking on extra fees. I know you’re not outright saying that there are no added fees, but you are strongly implying it, and that’s just bullshit. That’s it. I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/2 "2003-10-01T10:17:33Z")
They are not tacking on any fees. Government is tacking on the fees. Their rates are as stated. Put blame where it belongs. They can’t help the fact that government forces the company to collect a tax from you on behalf of the politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/3 "2003-10-01T10:40:43Z")
What I love is that the .39c connection fee + .03c a minute is THE SAME deal as 10-10-220 in different clothing. (20 minute call for .99c) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/4 "2003-10-01T10:46:57Z")
Well, at least you only get charged $0.39 for getting someone’s answering machine… ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/5 "2003-10-01T12:24:56Z")
I used to do the 10-10- routine. Then I got an email from Primus. I checked it out, signed up, and watched my LD bills plummet. No connection fees - just a straight per-minute rate. I do know I had several .03 calls. I don’t work for them and I have nothing to gain by sharing this info. But if you’re clever and apt to google, you might save some change. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/6 "2003-10-01T12:35:15Z")
See, spam works. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/7 "2003-10-01T13:02:52Z")
The OP sounds like an English woman I ran into way out in WV this summer. We were at some touristy cave and she was buying some trinket for a kid. Clerk: “That’ll be 4.20” (or whatever) EW: “4.20! The sign says 4.00! What’s your game?!?” (No foolin’…that’s a quote.) Clerk: “It’s $4.20, ma’am.” At that point I interjected to explain to her that in the US prices as posted don’t include sales tax. Seems to have come as a revelation to her. The clerk was really relieved. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/8 "2003-10-01T13:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*They are not tacking on any fees. Government is tacking on the fees. Their rates are as stated. Put blame where it belongs. They can’t help the fact that government forces the company to collect a tax from you on behalf of the politicians. \*\* Maybe they can’t “help” it, but they can be upfront about what the actual rate is after taxes instead of burying the info in the small print. Why should the burden for getting this information be shifted from the phone company (for whom it’s readily available and easily published) to every single customer? Would you return to a gas station that advertised gas at $1.00 a gallon\* but actually charged you $1.99 because that’s the after-tax price? n And yes, I understand that there’s an exception for sales taxes. I realize you’re against government imposed tarriffs but the solution isn’t to hide it in the small print. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/9 "2003-10-01T13:19:32Z")
Ya know, **Jackmannii** , it might have been a snail mail solicitation now that I think of it. Regardless, at the time I got it, I was looking to do something about my long distance bills. So even if it was spam, the subject would have spoken to me. … unlike the one that I got last night saying my partner wanted me to have a bigger member. :eek: How could they have known that?!? \ ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/10 "2003-10-01T13:20:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*What I love is that the .39c connection fee + .03c a minute is THE SAME deal as 10-10-220 in different clothing. (20 minute call for .99c) \*\* Are you the same guy who makes the price signs at my local grocers? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/11 "2003-10-01T13:47:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spiff \* > \*\*Are you the same guy who makes the price signs at my local grocers? 🙂 \*\* Yeah – bet they NEVER give you anything for the fraction of a penny they’re advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/12 "2003-10-01T14:16:30Z")
Mojo > [@](#): > > Maybe they can’t “help” it, but they can be upfront about what the actual rate is after taxes instead of burying the info in the small print. The rate after taxes is the same as the rate before taxes. > [@](#): > > Why should the burden for getting this information be shifted from the phone company (for whom it’s readily available and easily published) to every single customer? Because it is the customer who is getting taxed. It is also the customer, in the end, who is paying for the phone company to _process_ the tax with all its associated red-tape and bureaucracy costs. Why should the burden for providing this information be shifted from the agency who imposed the tax on you to the agency whom the government forced to collect it? > [@](#): > > Would you return to a gas station that advertised gas at $1.00 a gallon\* but actually charged you $1.99 because that’s the after-tax price? n And yes, I understand that there’s an exception for sales taxes. There’s a lot more exceptions than that. Check your cable bill, for example. Also, check your local phone bill. Check your hotel bill. Gas stations do it the way they do because that’s how the law requires them to do it. > [@](#): > > I realize you’re against government imposed tarriffs but the solution isn’t to hide it in the small print. Agreed. The best solution is to repeal it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/13 "2003-10-01T16:11:28Z")
**Mojo** , i don’t know what state you’re in, but this system is hardly unique. In every US state that i’ve been to–every one that has state sales tax, anyway–the tax is always added at the counter, and is not displayed as part of the item’s price. So, here in Maryland, which has a 5% sales tax, when i pick a $50 shirt off the rack, i know that it’s going to cost me $52.50 when i pull out my credit card to pay for it at the counter. And that $20 book will actually relieve me of $21, while my 50c newspaper actually costs me 53c, a whopping 6% instead of 5 in tax. The fact that this tax is not incorprated in the price tag does not make the vendors dishonest. Personally, i don’t have as many objections to taxation as **Lib** does, but i think he makes a good argument with respect to the way these items are priced. Given that taxation is a loaded political issue, what’s wrong with adding the tax on at the end? Because, if the tax is simply incorporated in the price, then consumers might suffer under the illusion–as **Alereon** apparently did in the OP–that it is the company who is responsible for all the money being charged for the service. If we know how much of what we pay is sales tax, we can make informed decisions when the issue of taxation comes up. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/14 "2003-10-01T18:03:39Z")
Newspapers are taxed in Maryland? I thought newspapers weren’t allowed to be taxed for fear that a government might institute a high tax on a newspaper that was publishing something they disagreed with. Magazines, I could never figure out. I know Pennsylvania charges tax on them, but New York doesn’t. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/15 "2003-10-01T18:24:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*Newspapers are taxed in Maryland? I thought newspapers weren’t allowed to be taxed for fear that a government might institute a high tax on a newspaper that was publishing something they disagreed with. \*\* Well, i know that when i buy the Washington Post, which has a cover price of 50c in Baltimore, at the Amtrak newsstand, i pay 53c. Maryland Tax Law, as far as i can see, makes no special exemption from sales tax for newspapers, except if they’re free. From [here](http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/03/03.06.01.04.htm). > [@](#): > > The printing and sale of newspapers that are distributed by the publisher at no charge are not subject to the sales and use tax. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/16 "2003-10-01T22:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > **EW: "4.20! The sign says 4.00! What’s your game?!?"** Did she say “guv”? I really hope she said “guv.” ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/17 "2003-10-02T01:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gundy \* > \*\*Yeah – bet they NEVER give you anything for the fraction of a penny they’re advertising. \*\* Sure they do. But the fraction is 3000/3. ---
**Author:** ![Daisy\_Cutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Daisy\_Cutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daisy_Cutter)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/18 "2003-10-02T01:39:25Z")
Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I usually read the fine print, especially if I’m interested in something. I don’t have any affiliation with that company or anything, but I’ve used that number for a bunch of overseas calls in the last couple of months, and it halved my longdistance bill, compared to what I was previously paying. I’ve been with a few different companies. And you don’t have to join with that company or anything, you just dial the number when you need it. Even with that surcharge, which is something like 9.2% of your long distance bill, it’s way cheaper than what I had before. Before: to a particular european country I would call: 15 cents a minute Now: to that same country: 3 cents a minute (with the 9.2%, that’s like what ? $.33) So before a one hour call would cost me about : $9.00 Now, it costs me about : $2.00 Also, I had to pay a monthly fee for the other longdistance service. About 5 bucks per month. I haven’t looked into state to state calls too much, but for calls to europe, it certainly is the cheapest I have found. If anybody knows of any that are cheaper, let’s hear it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Daisy\_Cutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Daisy\_Cutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daisy_Cutter)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/19 "2003-10-02T02:09:30Z")
Correction: The .33 cents I mentioned, should be .033 cents. And I forgot to add the 00.39 per call in my example, so instead of 2 bucks, it would be around 2.39, which is still way cheaper than 9 bucks. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878/20 "2003-10-02T04:11:56Z")
Just for clarification, the thing that annoys me is that they’re clearly implying that the price they quote is the price you’ll pay, which is BS. I expect some measure of hidden costs, but when they go to the effort to say that there are no hidden fees, then have hidden fees, that’s beyond the pale. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-10-987-ignore-the-fine-print-at-the-bottom/204878.md?page=2)