"Nickel and diming" is a term almost invented for the car-hire industry. It means adding small charges here and there to inflate a bill. Ann Crotty complains in her column that she was invoiced R364 for a hire car that supposedly cost R177. The rest was "Ryanair territory", where a £9 flight ends up costing £65. The most offensive add-on was the R73 "contract fee". This happens all too often. If you live in the suburbs of Joburg you pay R462 for a "network fee" before using a cent of electricity. You also pay a service fee of R115. And Vat on that. This is like going to a supermarket, and being stopped at the door and asked for R100 to shop there, plus R10 for using the trolley. The municipality shouldn’t charge for the service and being able to deliver it. It’s a rip-off. Reg RumneyGreenside
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