SAN DIEGO — It will be illegal for businesses to charge customers hidden fees in California starting July 1. Companies often add on these extra fees when booking a hotel room or purchasing a concert ticket.
Under Senate Bill 478, businesses such as concert venues, restaurants and hotels will need to be more transparent about the total cost of a purchase and what any attached fees are for. But restaurant unions rallied and proposed an exemption to this bill. Saturday evening, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1524 into effect. This law, instead of outlawing hidden fees entirely, requires charges to be clearly displayed on menus or advertisements.
CBS 8 asked fans outside of the Blink 182 concert at Petco Park about the new laws. The concert goers were all too familiar with extra fees, especially when it comes to concert tickets.
"In general it's really bad. Another show I saw here was like an extra tickets worth of money for fees. It can be pretty bad and hurts a lot of people," said Dylan Sandelin, a San Diego resident attending the show.
Concert goer Cindy Abarca from El Centro sees it as a win.
"It's great say a ticket is $80 then with extra fees like a $100 or more. That's amazing if you save and can use it for parking or something," Abarca said.
CBS 8 spoke with legal analyst Wendy Patrick about what consumers can expect with the new laws going into effect.
"This new law is going to require restaurants to showcase the additional fees somewhere that is conspicuous," she said. "In other words, no fine print."
Customers must be given the prices of menu items and any surcharges before they are charged for the meal.
"I think it's great but only the first step. They should not have the fees period they used to not and it has just ballooned up. It's a first step but not enough," Sandelin said.
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