Why the Charge???

A USA Today article (8/14) discussed the issue of hotels that charge rather costly rates to park your car in their lot while you are a guest at that hotel.

I immediately stiffened and thought, "Gee, why doesn't my nightly rate cover the cost of parking my car?"

Well I know that airports frequently charge for leaving your vehicle in their lot, but I also recognize that you are not present while your car is--you have flown off into the vast unknown. Thus, I don't get overly excited about that parking rate. But, a hotel?? After all, I am staying there; I am within a 3-minute walk of my vehicle; I can see my vehicle from the window of my room. Why, pray tell, must I pay to park my car there??

I guess it wouldn't have been so unnerving except it seems like parking rates are just out of control. One of the more expensive sites listed was The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco at $63.84 a day. Do a double take if you like, but that isn't a misprint. That's right, $63.84 to park your car overnight while you are a visitor at that hotel.

As surprised as I was by the hotel parking bill, I was just as shocked recently to learn that New York City is considering charging cars and trucks a fee to be on the streets of Manhattan. The fee is designed to fight congestion. Cars would be charged $8 while trucks would be charged $21.

For NYC, the goal is to get people to use public transportation and eliminate the massive number of vehicles that slow down traffic in the nation's financial capital. Still, it seems to me that as taxpayers, people have already paid for those highways and should be able to travel on those highways.

But, that's not all. Case In Point. At least one local automobile dealer was charging a "shop fee" if you had your vehicle in that garage for repair. The fee was 10% of your bill up to a $50 charge. Needless to say I was a bit volatile about that charge, and I no longer frequent that garage. I figured that if you were already paying a $55 per hour for labor (and you know and I know the mechanic doesn't get paid $55 per hour) there had to be enough money there to cover the use of the garage to complete the required work.

As I told the dealer, I didn't mind buying him a steak dinner, but I didn't feel like I should buy him the whole cow. I also inquired as to whether he charged the insurance companies that "shop fee" if the bill was submitted to them. He said "No." That infuriated me just a bit more since I was the middle class customer and insurance companies are notoriously some of the wealthiest enterprises in the USA.

I guess its just a good practice to keep track of where your money goes. How do you do that. That's easy--don't go to hotels, stay out of Manhattan, and don't let your vehicle break down.