FREE: GOTCHA CAPATALISM | How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day & What You Can Do About It 

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Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day & What You Can Do About It 
by Bob Sullivan of MSNBC
Ballantine Books | 345 pages | 2007

Sullivan has compiled an important guide to protect consumers from industries bent on ripping them off. His book is a valuable investment that will pay for itself and more for the discerning reader.

'Gotcha Capitalism' helps expose hidden fees.
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

By the time you put down his eminently readable book on wanton consumer fraud, you'll be spitting mad but well armed to protect your pocketbook from being mercilessly nickel-and-dimed. It is an indispensable guide to save consumers hundreds of dollars in fees. Hidden fees gouge adult Americans, on average, about $1,000 a year, reports Sullivan, who covers Internet scams and consumer fraud. Altogether, such fees drain more than $100 billion from consumers, and add up to $216 billion a year for Corporate America. The book offers how consumers can secure a refund by complaining and pointing out fees not disclosed at the store. Hidden fees have largely flourished, Sullivan explains, because laws governing false advertising are rarely enforced. Most have faded since 1980, when a wave of deregulation during the Reagan administration gutted federal agencies. The Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Product Safety Administration have fewer than half the employees they had in 1970, he explains, while international trade has flourished and the nation's population has surged 40%.

Sullivan, writes in a breezy, no-nonsense style, offers invaluable tips on how to fight the system to recoup losses. One particularly helpful tip is the sample phone script for getting a refund, getting a manager on the phone or negotiating a lower interest rate. Sample complaint letters for dealing with dreaded additional fees for cable, cellphones and banks or challenging erroneous credit scores from credit bureaus.