7 Fees We Hate to Pay

Fees are the cost of doing business. You complete a transaction, there's a fee and despite our best efforts, we can't seem to escape them. Some fees seem fair and some industries explain their distribution but most of them just irritate us. Here are some of the fees we really hate.

SLIDESHOW: THE FEES WE HATE TO PAY

Printing Fees

You've scored tickets to the biggest concert, theatre show or games of the season. Now do you pick up the tickets or print them off? If you print them off you get, as described by Patti Vickers, "The fee for the privilege of printing my own ticket to an event." That's right, you've paid an astronomical price for the show and now you have to pay to print out the tickets you paid for on your own printer with your own paper. Yes, we're looking at you, Ticketmaster.

Convenience Fees

Apart from paying a printing fee, you also have to pay a convenience or order-processing fee. Ticketmaster's FAQ explains the fee and mentions that part of the the fees they collect go towards their clients and the rest towards providing "the distribution and access network used by fans and clients." That's pretty convenient for you, Ticketmaster, but for the customer, not so much.

Banking Fees

It feels that every time you go to your bank, there's a notice that your bank fees will be increasing very soon. You pay fees on your credit card, you pay fees on each account and you pay fees on your overdraft. Why are there fees? According to the banks, it's the cost of doing business, ensuring smooth transaction of money and maintaining all the hardware like ATMS, buildings, etc. You can bypass paying fees by choosing a bank, usually online, that doesn't charge fees such as President's Choice or ING Direct.

Custom Fees

While shopping in Canada has gotten much better especially in the last five years, you can still get deals when you shop across the border. Unfortunately, this means paying custom fees. While the money does go to the Federal government, it's always difficult to pay the fees especially after you saved a bit of money by shopping abroad.

Shipping Fees

You've done a little retail damage and now you have something on your way to you. As part of that, you had to pay a shipping fee to ensure that it gets from the warehouse in Newark, New Jersey to your hot little hands in Toronto. Oftentimes, a handling fee is also part of the deal, and the added cost starts to feel like a cash grab.

Delivery Fees

When you order a pizza, you pay for the pie, add a tip and pay a delivery fee. The delivery fee is said to go partly to the driver and partly to the business' bottom line.

Baggage Fees

The airline industry is going through some hard times. One of their ways of making money is by charging their passengers from $15 and up for their carry-on luggage. Not only that, some airlines are charging their passengers a fee to watch movies, for waterbottles, and to enjoy pillows and blankets. Sheesh.

Hotel Fees

Hotels are expensive and it takes a lot of money to keep them running but who hasn't looked at their bill and wondered why an extra $10 dollars a night was tacked onto their bill? Some of those fees could include a fee for the safe, housekeeping (yes, even if you leave a tip) and energy surcharges. Hotels are sneaky that way.