US president Joe Biden announces plans to tackle ‘junk’ fees including tickets for concerts

Junk fees include hotels, credit cards, airline bookings and concerts, all of which President Biden has issued a statement aiming to crack down on these fees.

Buying a ticket for a concert is not as easy as it was. A lot of spaces to fill and information to give. With this amount of input, it is easy to overlook some questionable fees, especially through sites such as Ticketmaster which include such things as booking fees and service charges. These kinds of fees – and cracking down on them – have become the aim of the current US president Joe Biden.

These junk fees apply to various places, including banks, airlines, cable companies and others.

As stated in CNBC:

‘He cited processing fees for concert tickets, “resort fees” at hotels, “excessive” credit card late fees, airline booking fees and termination charges to keep consumers from switching cable or internet plans as some of the fees the administration is tackling.’

At the White House Press Conference, Joe Biden was also joined by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra and FTC Chair Lina Khan. The administration of this problem is just getting started, as CFPB already worked on new guidance directed at banks and surprise overdraft fees.

I know hidden junk fees – like processing fees on concert tickets – are a pain.

They’re unfair, deceptive, and add up.

That’s why, last week, I called on my Administration to crack down on these fees and put that money back in your pocket.

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 3, 2022

It is up to question if this issue is something the US president should be concerned about, but it could help the music industry in the long run, with fees from ticket selling sites being a long standing issue.

 

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