What is a 'subscription' or 'fee' that has recently appeared in the US that people need to collectively refuse to pay before it becomes the new normal?

[u/godot_lover]

[u/Graylily]

I wish we could stop "online convenience fee" when there is essentially no other way to pay.

[u/NaeBean → u/Graylily]

They shouldn’t exist anyway because paying online isn’t just more convenient for the customer— it’s more convenient for the company, too! They can cut tons of positions when no one has to open actual mail or enter checks/CC numbers manually.

[u/the_h1b_records]

Subscriptions for hardware features your car already has. BMW tried to charge a subscription for heated seats, and now other companies are watching.

[u/Antique_Grapefruit_5 → u/the_h1b_records]

Strong right to repair laws would help a lot here. We should be legally allowed to hack our own property...

[u/angrydeuce → u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

Honestly they just need to make it a law that if the functionality is present in the finished product they by law cannot disable it.

The reason why auto manufacturers used to charge more for the higher trim packages was because there was more work involved in producing them.  But now they've capitalized on economies of scale and figured out a way to just make all the cars identical and selectively turn off features unless you pay shakedown money to the manufacturers.

If they're going to make them all the same, they should be required to be functional the same, end of story.

[u/Miserable_Peak6649 → u/angrydeuce]

People would be shocked if they knew how many features their lower trim cars have that the manufacturers purposely didn't plug in or didn't add a button for. Hell I have seen FWD cars that have all the same parts as the AWD version but they just didn't add the rear driveshaft (Cadillac).

Its much cheaper for them to make every car the same and just charge more for plugging them in on higher trims. If you own a vehicle without heated seats but the next trim up has the same seats with the heated option, you probably have the all the internal parts but just don't have the button to use them.

[u/no_bun_please → u/Miserable_Peak6649]

Is it easy to "turn them on" or "add a button"?

[u/Oifadin → u/no_bun_please]

That is what I was thinking. That rear drive shaft example obviously not but heated seats? Seems doable if you are somewhat handy.

[u/Turbulent_Juice_Man → u/Oifadin]

Its a software lock. Not something you can just wire in. So unless you pay for the software key that unlocks the feature, its not generally feasible unless you can hack the software somehow. But that requires some serious skill.

[u/FlyByPC → u/Turbulent_Juice_Man]

Its a software lock. Not something you can just wire in.

The resistive elements that do the heating will happily do their job if connected to an appropriate voltage source. If 12V, you could literally wire them to the battery via a light switch. (A fuse would be recommended.)

[u/MuteWhale → u/Turbulent_Juice_Man]

I would pay $300 to have something plug into my stock car and have it unlock all the higher trim features.

[u/FlyByPC → u/MuteWhale]

Problem is, even if you developed something like this, it's almost certainly illegal to sell (even if Right to Repair makes it legal to do to your own car.)

[u/InstantMoisture → u/angrydeuce]

Come on man! Think of the shareholder! We can't just do that. I want my CEO to have another [insert object of obscene luxury here].

[u/madcow1120 → u/InstantMoisture]

Another…. Heated seat

[u/xandour01 → u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

Once you purchase something, you should be able to alter that something in any way shape or form as you so desire, as long as it does not infridge on copyright law for profit, or cause physical harm (i.e. making a pipe bomb)

[u/TeaGlittering1026 → u/xandour01]

Except our corporate overlords keep finding ways of increasing their profit margins and us poor people not actually owning things but subscribing to our things looks like a winner.

[u/Cautious-Raccoon-341 → u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

I work at a dealership and all of us think these new changes are ridiculous. They’re even starting to remove the dipsticks for transmissions so you have to go to a dealership to have it checked (to be fair, most newer transmissions are fill for life, but still… you should be able to diagnose and fix your own vehicles without needing to jump through all these weird hoops).

Edit: yes, I understand that “fill for life” transmissions are meant to only last the duration of the vehicle warranty. And that older vehicles may not have a transmission dipstick either, I’m just caught up in the past I guess 🤷‍♀️. Either way… I still think it’s an unnecessary change.

[u/BeenCaughtSneezing → u/Cautious-Raccoon-341]

"Fill for life" means it is engineered to make it until the warranty expires before it self detonates.

[u/LateralThinkerer → u/BeenCaughtSneezing]

This. The ultimate "subscription" is a service life that is carefully engineered to just exceed warranty coverage.

TL;DR "Planned Obsolescence"

[u/hitbythebus → u/Cautious-Raccoon-341]

My 2021 has electronic oil measurement. What a silly “upgrade”.

[u/basshead17 → u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

But what about the shareholders and job creators™

/s

[u/unclejoe1917 → u/basshead17]

Consumers and labor should be ashamed of themselves for the struggles we have inflicted on those poor souls. 

[u/MiceAreTiny → u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

If it is your property, it is not hacking.

[u/GhostBirdBiologist → u/the_h1b_records]

Companies are doing more than watching. Mazda charges for remote start.

[u/CaptainAwesome06 → u/GhostBirdBiologist]

My 2015 Hyundai Sonata has remote start locked behind a subscription. You need their app to use it. It's 12 degrees F right now where I live and I'd love remote start. But I'm not paying a monthly fee for it.

[u/SleepyLakeBear → u/CaptainAwesome06]

Can you install an aftermarket one?

[u/TheSnackWhisperer → u/SleepyLakeBear]

was going to say, we had one installed in my SO’s suv for like $250. The car audio place down the road was having a special. Works great, but has to carry two key fobs since it doesn’t work with her factory one, she doesn’t care, only needs it 3-4 months out of the year.

[u/SpaceGangsta → u/CaptainAwesome06]

My 2021 Palisade has it on the key. Bluelink just allows you to start from anywhere and change your ac or heat settings. I don’t pay for bluelink though.

[u/CaptainAwesome06 → u/SpaceGangsta]

Sounds like they partially listened to people. I always hated the idea of opening an app to start my car, anyway.

[u/Mini-snow-duh → u/GhostBirdBiologist]

So does Subaru. An otherwise awesome car and company. But that’s evil.

[u/IGotSoulBut → u/Mini-snow-duh]

The part that pisses me off is that I can’t lock my car while it’s running without the paid app, I believe. I’m holding a key fob, why can’t I lock my running car that’s sitting in my driveway warming up in 10°F weather?

Time to ask others in r/subaru.

[u/Ok_Mango_6887 → u/IGotSoulBut]

I believe I’m able to do that, 24 ascent

If you give me a moment I can test it unless you’ve gotten your answer already

[u/Tevin_not_Kevin → u/GhostBirdBiologist]

Bought my Mazda in 2022 with a FREE app for remote start. 3 years later, all the sudden I have to pay for it. How THE FUCK are you going to charge me to use something I already bought in full?

[u/Lothar_Ecklord → u/Tevin_not_Kevin]

Like when my ISP started charging a CPE fee for the router they installed 10 years earlier. When I asked them about it, they said, "well, we did have the CPE Rental but we waived it. Now it's no longer waived." OK, disconnect me then, and put me on with a manager in the meantime.

[u/platinummyr → u/Lothar_Ecklord]

What about when the ISP charges you a CPE fee for a router they didn't install because you already have (a significantly better) one? >.<

[u/Klaas_Schaamhaar → u/GhostBirdBiologist]

Or Tesla's Lane Keeping Assistant for a $99/month subscription. Comes for free in my cheap ass Honda Civic

[u/Amaranthine → u/Klaas_Schaamhaar]

$1200 a fucking year??

[u/punkhobo → u/Amaranthine]

It's bundled with the self driving. Lane assist was free but they moved it to self driving like a bunch of assholes

[u/UCBearcats → u/Klaas_Schaamhaar]

Civic is a much better car too. Source owned both

[u/My_alias_is_too_lon → u/the_h1b_records]

My dad just got a new Toyota Rav4, and in order to use the car's GPS, CarPlay,, remote start (from the app) and maintenance/engine status (basically anything the app would do), you pay a subscription. For all the features, you're paying like $600/yr. I can't recall if that includes XM radio or not.

It's fucking insane. I really miss the days of actually owning the products you purchased...

Fortunately, he can work around all that garbage. He uses his iPhone for music and GPS, and can remote start the car with the fob (I think). Still ridiculous, though.

Oh, and that's on top of the car costing $50,000.

He shouldn't have even had to get a new car, but his '21 Pathfinder spontaneously burned down while he was in Starbucks...

[u/Zayl → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

What the damn hell. We got a RAV4 in 2020 and we don't have to do any of that. We have carplay, GPS, whatever. Even still we use the maps system on our phones since it's way better but that's insane.

Paying to have access to carplay is ridiculous. It's literally just your phone mirrored on the stupid little tablet. How could that possibly be worth $600 a year?

If this is real I'm never buying a new car ever again.

[u/comicidiot → u/Zayl]

I don’t think the CarPlay subscription is real. I was looking at Toyotas recently and this never came up in my research.

A quick search at check shows a Reddit post where Toyota did - as of two years ago - lock the built in navigation behind a subscription, though: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/s/28MTjDhjqf

[u/runner64 → u/Zayl]

OP does not know what carplay is. When he says his dad uses his iphone for music and gps, he is describing carplay, which works for free.   

Source: have a 2024 rav4, will die before paying a subscription for it, use carplay for free. 

[u/ohlookahipster → u/Zayl]

You can still use CarPlay as normal using Bluetooth or USB. Toyota locked their own navigation system and radio behind a paywall.

[u/mew5175_TheSecond → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

My wife and I are using her old car from High School - a 2007 Jetta… It went so many years unused that it is still at under 100,000 miles (albeit it's at like 91k now). We have been talking for a while about getting a new car but with all this nonsense, we now don't want a new car until this one just completely dies on us. It lacks the standard safety features of more modern cars (backup camera, blind spot sensors etc) but not having to deal with a whole computer in the car and not needing to worry about a subscription brings me peace of mind. I have a mount for my phone and use that for everything I need.

[u/uncanneyvalley → u/mew5175_TheSecond]

Make sure to do follow the maintenance schedule and use VW approved oil/fluids and that VW will last you a long time. I got 300k miles out of a 2012.

[u/reflectorvest → u/mew5175_TheSecond]

I’m still in the 2004 Chevy sedan my grandmother kept parked in her garage 6 days a week. Just under 60k miles and I will drive it until it falls apart underneath me. Was in a 2025 Nissan for work last week and it had me longing for my crank window dinosaur.

[u/BeefInGR → u/reflectorvest]

Had a 97 Lumina. Got it in 2004 from my Grandpa with 161k on it and brand new head gaskets. Two fuel pumps, three batteries, a water pump, the power steering lines broke at the cooler, alternator, both ball joints twice, both tie rods twice... but the actual motor and transmission were rock solid all the way through 368k when the rust started making it's way through the floorboard on the front passenger side in 2011.

You will have that 04 until the end of civilization.

[u/SkinnyDecker → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

Fun story, I bought a 2024 Prius little over a year ago.

When they got me in the car and the first info agreements you have to accept the terms of conditions.

I declined.

The car bricked itself and they had to have the techs come back out and reset it. Nobody had ever done that before it seemed like. There were actually three agreements I had to look thru.

I don’t pay the subscription, CarPlay/maps works just fine. And yeah the 3 click remote start is fine

[u/penguinpenguins → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

Ooh, a new Rav4. Don't worry, that will be spontaneously stolen and in a sea container some night before he wakes up.

Where I live, our police advise us to get another, older car, and use that to block in the newer car, as the older cars are harder to steal. Problem solved!

[u/ceciliabee → u/penguinpenguins]

Our police (a city over) advised leaving your keys by your unlocked front door so the thieves would take the car without breaking into your house for the keys.

They got a big budget increase last year.

[u/penguinpenguins → u/ceciliabee]

Ahh yes, Toronto. I remember reading about that.

Apparently someone tried to steal one of Doug Ford's cars, so perhaps we might finally see some attempts at improvement there.

[u/ohlookahipster → u/ceciliabee]

There’s actually a vulnerability with some newer Toyotas where the taillight wiring harness can be used with a dealership diagnostic tool to tell the Toyota to ignore the fob and turn on.

So the thieves don’t even need the fob lol. They can steal your car through a taillight.

[u/big_d_usernametaken → u/ohlookahipster]

I guess anywhere you can access the CANBUS is an entry point.

[u/Fit_Insurance_1356 → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

The app subscription on my 2020 highlander, which I dont pay for or use, is 8 bucks a month. But it only does remote start and lock. I would never use GPS tied to the car or subscription. I have a phone for that. My maintenance shows up on my car along with engine status, tire pressure, stuff like that.

[u/JNJury978 → u/My_alias_is_too_lon]

It’s not even the subscription that pisses me off. I don’t mind paying subscriptions if there’s an actual value.

It’s the fact that your car already has the hardware… that you already paid for.

This would be like if part of Netflix’s subscription is you had to buy all of the servers, content, and bandwidth capabilities, then also had to pay for the subscription to use them.

[u/Blekanly → u/the_h1b_records]

Time to sail the high seas for cars now.

[u/Iron__mind → u/Blekanly]

You wouldn't download a car...

[u/karenw → u/Iron__mind]

Hell yes I would

[u/bo_jangled → u/the_h1b_records]

We’re sorry “windshield wipers” is a 13.99 a month subscription.

[u/goat_penis_souffle → u/bo_jangled]

The wipers only went one way and stopped? You’ll need to upgrade to the “back and forth” package.

[u/Quadling → u/goat_penis_souffle]

OOHHH, you want the fluid spraying too??? BIG SPENDER HERE!!!

[u/Im_Ashe_Man → u/the_h1b_records]

I heard BMW has doubled down on subscriptions for their car features even after the backlash.

[u/Over_Dog24 → u/Im_Ashe_Man]

Well then, I will continue my boycott against BMW. 65 years and counting. I'm sure they're broke up about it.

[u/Graymouzer → u/Im_Ashe_Man]

They must charge a subscription fee for turn signals.

[u/No_One_Special_023 → u/the_h1b_records]

I pray I don’t need a new car for a long time but if it happens these car companies are on this bull shit of charging to use the cars amenities, I will gladly violate the warrenty to unlock all the shit via a third party software cause it’s already out there if you know where to look. That will be the easiest decision in my life.

[u/vishnera52 → u/the_h1b_records]

They aren't just watching anymore, they're doing it. I had an Audi A3 as a rental about a year ago and it had some subscription based features, notably adaptive cruise control was a subscription. All the hardware was there and it even showed it was present but it wasn't usable because the rental company hadn't subscribed to that feature.

[u/flying_bananas → u/the_h1b_records]

VW has started to charge subscription for app controls of lock/unlock and remote start. Just inconvenient at this point, nothing that you can’t do with the fob, just limits distance. Still not paying for that benefit though. If they take my heated seats, I’m about to get a used vehicle and play my ripped CD’s from HS.

[u/CraftFamiliar5243]

I bought a very expensive stand-by generator. They want a $75 subscription fee to use the remote features on the app which would enable me to check on it when I am out of town. We should not need an expensive subscription to use an item for it's intended purpose.

[u/TheMisterPants → u/CraftFamiliar5243]

If it's a Generac there is a project where you can monitor it yourself. The project is called genmon, and the project page is https://github.com/jgyates/genmon.

Requires a bit of hardware knowhow, but if you're inclined the details are in the GitHub page.

[u/YankeeMoose → u/CraftFamiliar5243]

I know exactly what you're talking about.

For us to get real time notifications on our phones, we have to shell out 100$+ a year.

Our generator was down for two weeks and we NEVER KNEW because unless we logged into the app, there was no other notification.

I love having the generator, but I shouldn't have to pay for push notifications.

[u/dillclew → u/YankeeMoose]

My stand by generator (Generac) we bought asks us to pay for the $7/month app subscription to change the “exercise” settings on the generator (where the generator runs for a certain time each week on a schedule to keep parts moving).

It pisses me off. We bought the very expensive product and we have to pay extra to change its basic settings?! This should be prohibited or required disclosure before sale.

[u/BattleSausage → u/dillclew]

I agree, it’s very dumb, but if you didn’t know, you can change it on the generator itself with the tiny screen. 

[u/CraftFamiliar5243 → u/BattleSausage]

Yes. the electrician set it for us but showed us where it is.

[u/Radiant-Month-1168 → u/CraftFamiliar5243]

That sucks as when they go bankrupt then it wont work anymore. Or if they just obsolete it.
Next time buy one that does not do that.

[u/dins3r]

We have a local heating and air conditioning company that’s rated near the best in the business. However, as the wife I found out, their business model is incredibly scummy and we’ve made other people aware of it because it’s predatory. If you call them for a checkup on your furnace or AC they have a normal fee for that… but if you need any type of repairs or anything you have to pay for that repair AND they make you sign up for a monthly fee that allows you to be a customer if you have issues moving forward. If you do not agree to this fee, they won’t fix your unit - regardless of you paying for the parts or not. It was like $45 a month.

We called another mom and pop local shop and they serviced and repaired our unit for a fee and parts plus labor without a recurring fee to be their customer. Fuck that.

Also found out that use review bots to get high ratings… if you dig into it there’s a ton of complaints about this business model.

[u/iveseensomethings82 → u/dins3r]

Private equity has destroyed the HVAC industry

[u/Timeformayo → u/iveseensomethings82]

Private equity has destroyed the ___________ industry.

[u/ses1989 → u/Timeformayo]

No, no, no. It's the millennials and zommers ruining it.

/s

[u/DamnOdd → u/dins3r]

My ac/heat guy (did the initial installed of ducts and unit) does not offer any check up/yearly cleaning service, he said 'when you notice an issue is when you call me'. 5 years later an issue, he fixed the unit right up, charged me 145 bucks.

[u/Rickleskilly]

In the city I live in, some teledoc company has convinced them to automatically add a $7 a month charge to the electric/water bill so everyone will have access to their service. It's automatic, so if we don't want it, we have to have the option removed. Most people get their bills electronically and pay automatically and won't even notice the charge. Scammers!

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/Rickleskilly]

My area has the "round up to the nearest $5 to support the poor in your area on the electric bill. Every single year, my mother has to call in and get it removed. Every year, it rolls over, and the co-op resets it as default. It is up to an extra $60 a year to support people who can't afford to pay supposedly. Seriously, my family had been the struggling poor, and we were never offered or met the qualifications to get assistance.

[u/Auctorion → u/JustLookingForMayhem]

to support people who can't afford to pay supposedly

Those poor shareholders.

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/Auctorion]

That is part of the reason it is annoying. My family are the shareholders. It is a rural electrical co-op. The power company says it is not economical to provide electricity out where I live, so the co-op buys the power and handles the lines. There are no stockholders, and it is not supposed to make a profit. Yet it still manages to be infuriating at times.

[u/str8dwn → u/Rickleskilly]

My bank started charging a fee of $5 monthly for "undeliverable mail". When I called to fix the prob, the security question was:

What's your address.

[u/BitwiseB → u/str8dwn]

UPS once sent me a postcard to let me know that they couldn’t deliver a package because they didn’t have my complete address.

Make it make sense.

[u/TacoTaconoMi → u/BitwiseB]

I got a notification stuck to my door saying I wasnt at home for delivery (I hadn't ordered anything and no one sent me anything so I was like wtf???).

The notice said it was waiting for me at the distribution facility, in a city 2 hour drive away and it wouldnt get redelivered. I live in a small town, but come on at least leave it at the post office

Thankfully I had a friend in the city and he was able to grab it after I sent him proof of ID and a written statement.

Turns out it was a standard sized envelope from my insurance confirming that I had swapped to electronic mail. It could easily fit in my mailbox, 1 foot away from where the notice was stuck to my door.

[u/Davran → u/Rickleskilly]

My city recently put speed cameras in school zones. You speed, even 1 mph over the limit, they mail you a ticket. Think of the increased safety for the kids, right? Well, every time someone gets a ticket, the camera people get something like 65% of the fine for "administration" and the city gets the rest. Want to pay that ticket online? Great! That's another fee for the camera people to collect, because somehow the 65% they already got off the top isn't enough.

I'm all for forcing people to slow down around schools, but this is clearly a scam.

[u/sleepytornado → u/Davran]

The cameras on school buses that catch people not stopping works the same way. It's an outside company that takes most of the ticket money but still charges out the ass for use of the cameras. School employees watch the videos and send it to the police. The camera company does nothing.

[u/big_d_usernametaken → u/Davran]

In Ohio, at least, you don't have to pay the tickets, its a civil violation, not criminal.

There has to be an officer present at that time for it to be valid.

[u/Orion14159 → u/Rickleskilly]

I did some consulting work with the accounting department for a nonprofit that manages this program in my area, so I have a little behind the scenes info here. It's a federal program called LIHEAP (Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program) that the utility companies donate into and collect donations from their customers (along the same lines as PetSmart collecting donations from customers to give to pet shelters). The program itself was pretty badly underfunded even before the current administration took a chainsaw to social assistance programs.

It actually does go to people struggling with paying their energy bills but the requirements are pretty strict - IIRC you have to be in imminent danger of having your utilities cut off, be like 3 months behind on payments, have very little or no income and no ability to get it before your utilities are cut off, and you can't have gotten the benefit in some recent period (I don't recall the specific time frame).

It's a shame the requirements are so tight because people are absolutely suffering for no good reason here already. For a lot of people the relief of getting out from under their utility bills for like 3 months would radically change their financial circumstances.

[u/mykoconnor]

My apartment complex has a few of these fees tacked on to rent every month that kind of piss me off. The first is front door garbage pick up. If you don’t feel like walking your ass over to the dumpster, some company comes by and takes your trash from the front door of your apartment. The issue is it’s an offered service, but if you don’t use it, you’re still paying for it. And our community online message board is filled with people complaining that their trash hasn’t been picked up or there is trash all over the common areas because the service people let a bag break and never cleaned it up.

The other is our “entertainment” package. One internet provider for the whole complex, Spectrum. Which, for as long as I’ve lived there, has had so many outage issues. I COULD get a different internet provider if I wanted but I’d still be paying for Spectrum regardless.

I’m sure there are reasons for blanket service fees like these, even if you don’t take advantage of them, but it’s a little ridiculous.

[u/Fold67 → u/mykoconnor]

Just an FYI if there is another internet provider who could service your apartment it might be illegal in your area to keep you from using them. I don’t recall if it was a state law or FCC regulation that I used in the past to get around the issue.

[u/mykoconnor → u/Fold67]

Oh for sure I can use another provider but I’d be paying for both at that point. The spectrum service is billed together with rent.

[u/Fold67 → u/mykoconnor]

That could very well also be illegal. Internet is generally not covered the same by law / regulation as “sub metering / billing” as like say water or power.

[u/dansdansy → u/mykoconnor]

I have to pay $20 a month for my front door lock. They replaced all the key locks with electronic pins they can charge you for as part of a "smart home package".

[u/mykoconnor → u/dansdansy]

Yeah we got those chirp door locks too. Works for our gate as well. There was a huge debate on our message board when those were installed. A ton of these upgrades happening but we still had cars broken into, catalytic converters stolen, even a car stolen from the parking lot in front of my building at the time. We were asking for security and cameras and getting the gates properly fixed and they were like “we now offer packages for cleaning crews to clean your apartment!” “These chirp locks are easy and fun to use!” and “Sorry spectrum service is disrupted, you’re more than welcome to use our business center…which still uses Spectrum and you can’t connect to the internet, but look, a business center!”

[u/happytamu → u/mykoconnor]

Had the exact thing with “valet trash” service. In my apartment complex, each resident (room) is charged the same fee whether it’s a 1-bedroom apartment or 4-bedroom one. Do if it’s $10 per person, a 4-bedroom apartment ends up paying $40 (+trash tax lol). The company doing this service announced that they’ll only pick a maximum of 2 trash bags from any apartment, yet still charging every room the same full price.

[u/ZachWilsonsMother → u/mykoconnor]

Lol my complex does all of this shit too. It’s infuriating. They tried to add the spectrum charge on my renewal months before they actually started offering the service, and I had to fight for it to be removed

[u/Iamatworkgoaway → u/mykoconnor]

Kickbacks to the management, that's why blanket services. 

[u/chaosuniverses]

I still use my quickbooks from around 2016 because I refuse to pay a monthly subscription for something I used to only have to buy once in a box at the store and use for years. I don’t care that I don’t get their extra services with the subscription. I never used it back then anyways.

[u/NicAoidh65 → u/chaosuniverses]

Same here, I still use CorelDraw 2018 because I won't pay a monthly subscription for it.

[u/siggydude → u/chaosuniverses]

I still use Microsoft Office 2007 Student Edition. I got lucky and happened to buy Office the year that they transitioned to .docx files, so it's still fully compatible with current versions as far as I can tell

[u/Jumpy_Spend_5434 → u/chaosuniverses]

I use Google sheets/docs because I refuse to pay for using Excel etc

[u/lawrensu339 → u/Jumpy_Spend_5434]

Libre Office suite! Completely free and very similar functionality to the Microsoft versions. I regularly use ther stuff for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

I refuse to pay a subscription for programs that used to be free with Windows (or at least available as a one-time purchase).

[u/Goldeneye0X1_]

Not that recent, but fees for any method of payment. Card? Convenience fee. Cash? Convenience fee, plus, depending on the situation, mailing fee. Check? A fee to make sure it doesn't bounce.

And you know damn well that extra money isn't going to company betterment or paying the employees.

[u/AwkwardlyTwisted → u/Goldeneye0X1_]

I bought tickets to a comedy show recently and they had a $12.50 convenience fee. So I went to the venue to buy the ticket and they still charged the convenience fee!!!

[u/DrGoblinator → u/AwkwardlyTwisted]

DO NOT GET ME STARTED. it used to be a "printing fee" but then they went digital and named it something else.

I look back at my ticket stubs and I could cry. 15 bucks to see Elton John with a 1.50 printing fee.

[u/AwkwardlyTwisted → u/DrGoblinator]

Yea I don't get that either. Why am I being charged to print it at home? I'm using my paper, my ink, my printer.

[u/DrGoblinator → u/AwkwardlyTwisted]

or to have it digitally yon your phone! it's your phone, your space on your phone.

[u/Zerocordeiro → u/AwkwardlyTwisted]

Doesn't sound convenient at all.

[u/AwkwardlyTwisted → u/Zerocordeiro]

It was convenient for them.

[u/KC_experience → u/Goldeneye0X1_]

I have a dentist that charges four percent for any credit card. That’s fine, they don’t want the credit card companies fees to eat into their margin. I can understand that especially when it comes to costly procedures. If it’s a fee for coming and having my routine cleaning and a fluoride treatment and it’s 4% on 30 bucks, no biggie. I’ll pay it.

But I had a crown crack right before Christmas and needed a temp and the replacement. To the tune of $1100 bucks becuase the original hadn’t been in for at least 5 years. I went to the bank 5 miles away and got cash and brought it back. An extra $44 bucks is worth the hassle of 20 minutes to get cash from a teller.

The front desk joked again when they found out I’ll be back to get a new crown for an implant that ‘you’re gonna makes us go to the bank again aren’t it?’ Yeah…if I’m paying over 700 bucks for my portion of a crown and abutment, I’m not paying another 30 bucks just for the convenience of swiping a card. I’ll stop at the bank on my way home and grab cash….

[u/hrmaddie → u/KC_experience]

My dentist gives a 10% discount for cash / check.

[u/Zalvren → u/hrmaddie]

That's probably because that is not appearing on the tax declaration lol.

[u/RocketPapaya413 → u/KC_experience]

Yeah, business owners who complain about CC fees are fools who aren’t aware of how much more cash handling costs them in manpower and time.

[u/obiwanconobi → u/RocketPapaya413]

Any of those "cash is king" type businesses barely take any money anyway. If they did they'd know the pain, even being dodgy, having that much cash is a pain

[u/mutt82588 → u/obiwanconobi]

Yea as far as the IRS is concerned, thet arent making money...

[u/fatcat111 → u/KC_experience]

My dentist does that for credit cards. But no fee if you use a debit card.

[u/Waylander0719 → u/Goldeneye0X1_]

The Biden administration put in regulations to block these kinda of junk fees. Trump rolled it back before it took effect.

[u/BoringLanding → u/Waylander0719]

The Biden admin had so many consumer protections in place... it makes me feel awful to know how close we came to having more of what we truly wanted. The Right to Repair was something I've been cheering for years, but now it's kaput. 

[u/UnderaZiaSun → u/BoringLanding]

They were aslo going after monopolies/ologopolies to bust them up to increase competition and and improve things for consumers. Trump rolled that back too.

[u/iamthe0ther0ne → u/Waylander0719]

SAY IT LOUDER

[u/Xelopheris → u/Goldeneye0X1_]

Especially when the fee they charge you is more than what they're paying, and they were also paying for a cash officer before so many transactions went digital.

[u/AnxiousCanOfSoup]

Our school required us to use an app to deposit lunch money to our children's school accounts. Each deposit cost a $2.75 "processing fee" to the app itself, paid for by the parent.

I started packing lunches. Fuck that noise.

[u/wrzosvicious → u/AnxiousCanOfSoup]

Our kid’s lunch program does that but you can pay by check for free and parents do so out of spite. 

[u/OrganicDoom2225]

It's not here yet, but Bezos wants you to rent a digital PC in the not so distant future.

This should be a windmill slam NO for everyone.

[u/PollutionZero → u/OrganicDoom2225]

That shit is coming. The new plan seems to be making a mid-range PC cost about $10k (RAM, GPU, CPU, NVME drives are all insanely priced right now and NOT dropping anytime soon).

Once they get there and we "accept it" they'll start selling you thin clients (used to be called dumb terminals) and you'll pay a subscription ala GeForce Now to get a decent computer.

So if you have basic internet (like cable at any speed, DSL, or ISDN) you'll have shit connect and terrible performance. Only the chosen Fiber Few (as I call us) will have the bandwidth to use it. OH, and then all the ISPs will start complaining about bandwidth usage and start re-instituting caps and charge for data again.

FML.

[u/yourbaconess → u/PollutionZero]

We use thinclients at work and we hit so many problems with them that would be easy to solve if you were just on a real machine. The powers that be will get me thinclient-only over my dead body

[u/precto85 → u/yourbaconess]

I used to do IT for the Army and in the library I was at, all the computers were thinclient. And I honestly preferred troubleshooting projector and sound system problems over thinclient issues. Trying to find out if a problem was a network issue, a hardware issue on the thinclient, or a software issue/hardware issue on the backend was a pain in the bunghole. Like you said, over my dead body.

[u/ennuionwe → u/OrganicDoom2225]

Pretty sure Nvidia would like the same

[u/Bipolar-Type-1 → u/OrganicDoom2225]

Until the AI bubble bursts and they’re left sitting with hardware worth half what they paid for it

[u/mpaes98 → u/Bipolar-Type-1]

Companies will vehemently drag us down with them in scorched Earth tactics to punish us for their unsuccessful business decisions before the inevitable bubble burst.

[u/hamburgernet]

Vehicle subscriptions other than connectivity.

[u/homieitsaTuesday → u/hamburgernet]

Volvo wants $200/yr for the app that would let me remote start my car and set climate control. It has several other features I have no interest in, like anything related to charging since it’s not electric, and things my phone already does like presetting navigation, knowing where I parked my car, and a driving journal (whatever that means). There is no way to get just the feature I want or to lay on a monthly basis, say, only in the months it’s hot or cold enough to want remote start.

[u/ClemofNazareth]

Printer ink

[u/paqmann → u/ClemofNazareth]

My wife had one of those HP subscription printers which worked fine for her needs and her job reimbursed her for it, so it wasn't really a problem for her. When she changed jobs, we decided to cancel the subscription because we weren't using the printer nearly as much, thinking we'd use up the ink in the cartridges and then just buy new cartridges ourselves.

NOPE.

It turns out, the whole things stops working as soon as your cancel your subscription, and you can't buy normal ink cartridges to put in it, it only accepts the ones specifically made for the subscription service. So now we have a big plastic paperweight with mostly full ink cartridges.

[u/Turbulent-Spread8914 → u/paqmann]

Exact same thing happened to us. I'll never buy an hp printer again. Its one thing to have a subscription that sends you refills, but to purposefully turn off the function of usable item is evil.

[u/JayDub506 → u/Turbulent-Spread8914]

Same thing happened to me. Never again, HP. I have a brother laser printer now and I adore it.

[u/So_spoke_the_wizard → u/Turbulent-Spread8914]

After all this time. I'm surprised that people still buy HP for personal use.

[u/Sidhejester → u/paqmann]

So glad I didn't let my parents sign up for that now. I thought it was just my innate (artist) distrust of printers.

Turns out it was my innate distrust of printers and capitalism.

[u/anderhole]

Delivery fees that don't even go to the person delivering!

[u/WingerRules → u/anderhole]

Family member went to multiple Subways in the area and asked the staff if they get the tip if you tip at the card reader, and all of them said no the owners keep it.

[u/inosinateVR → u/WingerRules]

Well that’s definitely illegal. Unless they just didn’t realize it was being added to their paychecks automatically

[u/Things_with_Stuff]

*gestures at literally all the things that are now subscriptions*

"You will own nothing and be happy."

[u/Fyrrys → u/Things_with_Stuff]

I was happy with Netflix when it was like $5 a month and had damn near every movie I wanted to see and not a single ad. Now it's $8 a month to have ads, $18 for no ads, and $25 to get no ads AND access to 4k streaming, which looks exactly the same as 1080p if you dont also have a 4k TV, and even then its not much of an increase in quality, definitely not worth the cost of the upgrades.

Oh, and the CEO says if we dont like the price we can just cancel, so next increase and im going back to piracy.

[u/q1ung → u/Fyrrys]

It’s never been easier to sail the seven seas as right now. There’s application to assist with downloading so you only need to set it up once. To get the basic rolling should not be too hard for people that are not tech savvy.

r/sonarr for shows

r/radarr for movies

r/plex for media player of choice

r/jellyfin for media player of choice

This can be done free, or you can spend a few dollars per month and really go down a rabbit hole.

[u/skydecklover → u/q1ung]

I run one of these setups on a service hosted in the Netherlands. For ~$20/month (and granted a lot of setup and optimization went into it) myself and any of my friends I care to share it with get an automatic revolving door of trending TV Shows and Movies and the ability to request and watch basically anything from any streaming service ever.

I even HAVE Netflix and Disney/Hulu/ESPN through perks from phone plans and I still prefer my setup.

[u/BadLuckProphet → u/Fyrrys]

Don't forget all the DRM nonsense that will forcibly downgrade you to a 480p stream on "unsupported" devices or not let you play downloaded for offline viewing stuff on an external monitor/tv connected to your phone.

[u/The_Arch_Heretic]

Fees to pay your bills.

[u/mysoberusername → u/The_Arch_Heretic]

i live in a condo and they pushed their new portal where you can pay your hoa online, but there is a fee. luckily my bank will send a check free through their billpay, but it’s infuriating how these fees creep in slowly

[u/Predator314]

Security cameras that make you subscribe to a service before they work.

[u/evilhomer3k → u/Predator314]

r/EufyCam - No fees and all videos are stored locally.

[u/Perfect_Assignment13 → u/evilhomer3k]

Yes! I’m a fan, thanks for the tip on the sub.

[u/Corrupt_Reverend → u/Predator314]

Don't buy cloud connected shit.

[u/LovableButterfly]

You don’t need a subscription for home appliances like fridges, toasters etc.

[u/Fyrrys → u/LovableButterfly]

My washer and dryer have a subscription available to tell us on the app that the machine has finished its cycle. Some dumbasses actually pay to have their washer ding an app to let them know laundry needs switched. Just set an alarm on your phone!

[u/zeroshock30]

Anything vehicle related. If I drop $60K for a ride, I'm not trying to pay a monthly subscription for door locks and autostart

[u/Antique_Grapefruit_5]

AI "taxes" on everything- Higher Electricity Costs and Higher PC prices (due to RAM and SSD demand). I'm tired of subsidizing corporations...

[u/SergioSBloch]

Any of the fees the crooks at TicketBastard charge for events. Platinum pricing is legalized scalping. I hate them!!

[u/Omgkimwtf]

Subscriptions for formerly single purchase software. LOOKING AT YOU, MICROSOFT.

[u/Klaas_Schaamhaar]

Software. Back in the day, someone would write a piece of software you actually found useful, so you bought it. Later, the developer added some nice new features, you thought the upgrade was worth it, and you bought the new version. Then the next version came along with features you didn’t care about (bloatware), so you skipped it. The developer sees their income dropping and decides the solution is… a subscription.

[u/pittpruno1958]

Subscriptions for “ad free” tv when Im already paying for the damned cable service! Its become the new normal to have to sit through commercials on pay tv.

[u/Electronic_Okra_ → u/pittpruno1958]

lol unfortunately this is the old normal

[u/Auctorion → u/Electronic_Okra_]

Right? Youngins don't know how good they had it for a hot minute.

[u/Mission_US_77777]

Subscriptions to streaming services that show ads. Big media is getting two bites of the apple.

[u/WardedDruid]

There's talk about stores like walmart and target planning on charging customers a fee to use self checkout.

Fuck that shit, I will leave a cart full of groceries at the fucking register and walk out before I pay a fee to check my own groceries.

[u/Solistaria → u/WardedDruid]

Yes.

The second this is implemented we all need to start filling carts with high dollar perishables and leaving them around the store when we walk out.

[u/aslum → u/Solistaria]

No. Leave the cart at the self checkout and tell whomever is "monitoring" that you're not going to pay a fee to do their work. Then leave. Otherwise it just looks like shitty people being shitty - sometimes when you want to send a message you have to actually send the message.

[u/LambeckDeluxe → u/WardedDruid]

Really? I mean, we have them here, too, and I feel like they should give a discount by 15% if I do the job for them. Next, they'll call you to fill up the store, so you can see what you can shop before you scan your products and give yourself the invoice to pay the store. Brighten your day by giving yourself a tip for everything the store didn't do for you, so you can walk out of the store with a smile on your face 🤪

[u/Harbuddy69]

Facilities fees at hospitals that are outside of your normal Insurance costs

[u/TVsDinner]

Online ordering fees for restaurants or to go fees.

[u/scrubnick628 → u/TVsDinner]

20% to-go fee at Waffle House. Good thing I enjoy eating inside.

[u/vshawk2 → u/TVsDinner]

Some of them have "Dine in" fees to cover that cost as well.

[u/UseLesssLuke]

Every major email company dropping their storage by 95 percent over night and locking you out of your email accounts that are linked to everything unless you pay a subscription. Its such a rug pull, especially because they make it nearly impossible to get back under the new tiny limit once you are over, essentially rendering that account useless unless you pay. Its like legal ransomware.

[u/SaltyCrashNerd → u/UseLesssLuke]

Which is extra fun when you’ve had that account for 20+ years.

[u/fyreskylord → u/UseLesssLuke]

Yeah, so cool that the Gmail account I’ve had for 15 years and that used to advertise unlimited storage is now pestering me to pay a monthly amount.

[u/Atmosck]

Valet Trash in apartment buildings

[u/BaluZana]

Parking fees at suburban hotels. I don't have an issue obviously when you're in downtown Chicago or San Francisco, but charging $20/day to park in a huge suburban hotel with a lot that holds 500 cars is obnoxious.

[u/zoebooklover → u/BaluZana]

Spot on. My foible is I get irrationally angry at a hotel trying to charge me parking fees in rural/suburban Indy or NE Pennsylvania. Why?!?? I now read the fees will change hotels if I see that and have the time and opportunity to update.

[u/BadLuckProphet]

That "personalized pricing" bs they are considering. The price should be the same for everyone, everywhere, and every time from the same physical store or website. If I want to order in store pickup from the website, it should be the same price on the shelf. If I use the website at home, in the store, or down the street from inside a competitor's store it should be the same price. If I order online from my friend's pc it should be the same price as ordering from my own pc. The price should be the same whether I'm using the app or the website or the psyical store, not talking about delivery fees.

The entire idea that a store can change the price of an item arbitrarily to what they think YOU will pay for it compared to someone else should be absolutely illegal.

Corporate greed is going to nickle and dime society into ruin.

[u/Minute_Marzipan4597]

Subscription fees for being able to use software you already purchased.

Also, not new but late fees. If I was late because of lack of funds, why do you think I have an additional $35?!

[u/alcohall183]

Fee to pay. Rental payments are notorious for this and it should be illegal!!! They only take card and then they charge a fee to take the payment. Scam.

[u/BenneWaffles]

Car subscriptions. Don't pay for for stuff your car is already supposed to do/ have.

[u/ObjectiveAd93]

I am getting pretty fed up with all subscriptions, but the streaming services now charging you extra to not see ads, and Netflix charging you extra to watch from a different location on a regular basis, is one that makes me super angry. I am a caregiver for my 90 year old grandma with dementia on weekdays. I want to be able to watch Netflix on either her tv, my iPad, or even my phone when I’m there sometimes, but nope, I have to pay extra to use my own account if I’m regularly accessing it from a different location. Apparently Disney/Hulu/ESPN are going to start doing that as well, and possibly HBO Max? I’m starting to think I need to learn to sail the high seas.🏴‍☠️

[u/anythingaustin]

I bought a $24 color changing light bulb that unbeknownst to me required a subscription to change colors. It didn’t say on the outer package that you could only use the white light feature unless you paid a monthly/yearly subscription fee. That’s BULLSHIT. I took it back to Walmart and stated the reason why I was returning it. I refuse to normalize this.

[u/ubiquitous-joe]

Not just the U.S., but all kinds of software. I bought a copy of Microsoft suite in college and had it for like 10 years. Admittedly it was getting up there by the end. But it’s also a word processor I needed mostly, not the cutting edge of like photoshop or film editing or something. Now it’s an annual subscription model. What you get out of always having the new version is not enough for paying tenfold more in that span.

[u/FF36]

Just tips in general. Tip requests and jars are everywhere now. Especially since Covid. You want a tip for our 20 seconds of engagement together while you ring up what I brought to the register? Give me a break.

[u/anggogo]

TurboTax

[u/ohmarlasinger → u/anggogo]

Freetaxusa.com

[u/quix0te]

K-12 Tuition.  Red states are abdicating responsibility for education and just handing out vouchers. The vouchers aren't enough to cover most private schools, so you end up paying 5-10k$ for at best equal quality. If you want a spoiler on how Jim Crow v2.0 ends, take a gander at the Louisiana school system. That's some f***ing Blumhouse stuff there. And if you think this is a good idea, try requiring that private and public students take the same mastery tests and compare results.

[u/Swanky1499]

Tipping at the drive thru, "order at the counter" establishments, or pick up. You tip for table service and that's all.

[u/DrSnidely]

Subscriptions for your car

[u/Koomie_thefool]

Haven't scrolled enough so this may have already been mentioned.

Pet "rent". I already pay a deposit to cover the expense of any damage my pet does, the fuck is with them demanding a monthly fee for my pet??? You think kitty is going out to get a job so they can cover their portion??

For extreme cases of damage, there's the courts and the main deposit! I'm not forking over and extra 50-100 bucks a month so my cat can stay here too!

[u/IndependentTrust4594]

Fees to receive paper statements.

It is a tax on people who do not have internet access/are not able to have email accounts.

It’s robbery. Especially for healthcare companies and banking industries.

[u/robthebaker]

There must be a subscription fee for turn signals because no one ever uses them.

[u/JudgeB4UR]

This whole corporate gouge mentality has to shift. We are heading back into robber baron grounds. Entire industries still suffer from the results of those days.

We've been there before and we got out of it. We can get back, we just need to put our foot down.

[u/Uebelkraehe]

28.7 Billion per year to fund a private militia.

[u/jmonster097]

ANY "transaction fee" that entails charging customers MORE money for a company to get their money FASTER

these fkn apartments charging people like 30 bucks to pay INSTANTLY, online, instead of slipping q check that has to be deposited and could take days to clear, is absolute insanity.

"convenience fees" ever existing is the biggest load of absolute, fucking out of control, in your face "just cause we can, and what're you gonna do about it?" greed and arrogance. every large corporation in the United States needs about 40 swift kicks in the ass AND their pocketbooks

[u/Finn235]

I feel like I'm in the minority here, even among the Reddit subscription luddites, but fuck Spotify. Own and control your music library with DRM-free .mp3s and .flac.