RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Everyone is familiar with those pesky fees when you go to buy concert tickets, rent a car or even stay in a hotel room. You think you’ve scored a great deal, until you check out and find a bunch of extra fees tacked on.
That’s why State Senator Stella Pekarsky (D-Fairfax) is leading an effort to amend Virginia’s Consumer Protection Act to make it illegal for businesses to offer any goods and services without, “prominently displaying the total price, which shall include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes imposed.”
“If you are going to sell a good or a service, you need to present the consumer the total price of all mandatory fees right up front,” Pekarsky told 8News. “Give it to the consumer right up front so they can budget, they can plan, there’s transparency for them and so they don’t have to spend their time going through an entire transaction just to find out maybe at the end, they can’t afford the price of a good or service.”
Petarsky’s bill comes after federal regulators proposed similar measures to crack down on fees that often aren’t disclosed at the beginning of a transaction. Pekarsky, a former small business owner, says it’s about improving transparency between businesses and consumers.
“If they trust what you told them, you are upfront, they know what they are getting for the price that you have said it costs, they are going to come back, again and again,” said Pekarsky.
Pekarsky’s bill has already been approved by a Senate committee, it now heads to the floor for a vote.
