Re:Eliminate Component Based Pricing (Score 1)

Except, in the case of a contract for phone service, which is what the OP is talking about, you are legally bound to the contract by that point. I'm sure there's some weasel-words in AT&T's standard terms that says something along the lines of "I agree to pay the specified monthly rate, along with any associated levies and taxes".

He is essentially saying that he could not get AT&T to give him the price INCLUSIVE of ALL taxes and fees, on a fixed-rate monthly plan, before his bill turned up in the mail. At the point that the bill arrives, he will have already used the service, and likely be contractually bound to pay the fees for 18-24 months.

As an aside, I still think the checkout is too late of a stage for the inclusive prices to be shown to you -- if there's a huge queue of people behind you, you have essentially reached the point of no-return when the operator asks you for payment. Technically you could walk away, but in reality that would be socially unacceptable in many cases. And heaven forbid you say "actually I don't want these two items after all", given the ease of accessing a supervisor to deduct the items from the bill (at least in my experience, you can add 5 minutes to your checkout time for that alone). It's worth noting also that people from other states/cities may well not be able to predict the final price -- although the sales taxes are a matter of public record, it's impossible to know all the applicable taxes for everywhere, so it hurts tourists and migrant workers particularly.

The problem is, things get worse if there are differentials in the sales tax rates, say for luxury and essential items. Most consumers would not be able to look in their trolley and say which items are liable to a higher rate of taxes, which means they can't predict their checkout price, and certainly could not predict "if I remove this item, will I have enough money to buy the rest?" From personal experience, I have had to survive for periods when I've got £8 to last a week (for groceries and essentials), and therefore I have gone round the shop, totting up the prices of everything I need so I can work out whether I can afford it or not. I don't have to ask a checkout assistant to run up the total so I can find out the actual price to pay. Although if I lived in the US I probably would, just to spite the supermarkets.