Thread by @latimes

Southern California Pizza Hut customers are being hit with an extra charge to help recover “the increased cost of operations in the state of California.”

Columnist @Davidlaz explains how this is an example of "drip pricing": latimes.com/business/story…

A reader shared with @Davidlaz a screenshot of his recent online transaction with a Pizza Hut restaurant.

Attached to his $8.99 order for pasta and breadsticks was a 76-cent “service charge.” latimes.com/business/story…

This is separate from Pizza Hut’s delivery charge and separate from tax. It’s a fee explicitly passing along part of the restaurant’s cost of doing business in California.

All companies have every right to do that — but that’s not what’s happening here. latimes.com/business/story…

“This is sheer dishonesty. It’s a company — one of many — trying to pull a fast one on customers by imposing a stealth price hike in the form of an added fee, rather than charging a list price that reflects actual business costs,” @Davidlaz writes. latimes.com/business/story…

“It’s called ‘drip pricing,’” an Ohio State University marketing professor told @Davidlaz.

“Most consumers find this strategy unfair…They think they’re getting something at a price and then feel cheated. The brand basically broke its promise.” latimes.com/business/story…

Pizza Hut isn’t the only company using "drip pricing."

@Davidlaz wrote about the paint company Sherwin-Williams imposing a 4% “supply chain charge” to recoup higher pandemic-related shipping costs. latimes.com/business/story…

Columnist @Davidlaz also wrote about Frontier Communications making internet customers pay a $6.99 monthly “infrastructure” surcharge on top of a service price that can run $80 a month. latimes.com/business/story…

“Sneaky surcharges also deny consumers the opportunity to effectively comparison shop. You can’t compare prices when you’re being denied essential information such as, you know, the actual price.”

More from columnist @Davidlaz: latimes.com/business/story…