Cable companies rake in billions in hidden fees annually, Consumer Reports says
The average cable customer pays $450 in hidden fees each year, and the unexpected charges add up to an estimated $28 billion for the cable industry annually, according to a new report from Consumer Reports.
The nonprofit consumer advocacy group released its annual “CR Cable Bill Report” Thursday. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 85 percent of Americans have encountered an unexpected or hidden fee for a service they used in the past two years. Telecommunications providers, including cable companies, are the worse offenders when it comes to charging unexpected fees.
“What a cable company advertises to a consumer as a monthly price for services, and what the consumer actually ends up paying, can be dramatically different,” the group said in the report.
Company-imposed surcharges for services like broadcast TV, regional sports and set-top box rental add 24 percent on top of the average cable bill, Consumer Reports said. The national average monthly cable bill in 2018 had a base package of $156.71, but fees brought the total average bill to $217.42.
Cable companies are required by law to itemize these fees on customers’ bills. But Consumer Reports said the average cable bill contains more than a dozen line-item charges, creating a situation the group said is “ripe for consumer confusion.”
These fees have also been increasing. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 64 percent of respondents said they’re paying more in surprise charges now than they did five years ago.
For example, one company’s broadcast TV surcharge increased by 50 percent in a year. Another increased its fees for regional sports and broadcast TV by more than 600 percent over four years.
It’s legal for cable companies to charge these fees as long as they disclose them. But Consumer Reports said the companies aren’t all consistent. They’re recommending that the government require cable companies to include all fees be included in the advertised price.
Consumer Reports is also calling for more state attorneys general to enforce existing laws to police hidden fees, and they suggested that “fee-exhausted consumers” can always cut the cord, though they found that some hidden fees are now showing up in internet-only service packages, too.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
“It is long past time for the practice of hidden fees to end when it comes to cable companies,” the group said in its report. “Congress and the FCC have the power and ability to rid company-imposed fees from the marketplace.”