It Pays to Complain

Part I

In this series, Kiplinger's Personal Finance shows you how to avoid the most annoying fees and save thousands of dollars a year.

Think you have never been charged a sneaky fee by your bank, broker, credit card issuer or cellphone provider? Then you haven't looked at your bills very closely. The Internet has made it easy to comparison-shop, so companies find it tougher to raise prices. As a result, they've taken to boosting revenue by adding fees on the back end.

In 2007, Americans paid almost $30 billion in fees to credit card issuers, said R.K. Hammer, a bank card advisory firm. "Companies figure they'll throw in as many fees as they can and a large percentage of people won't complain," said Bob Sullivan, author of "Gotcha Capitalism."

Don't be one of them. If your bank, for example, suddenly slaps a $5 monthly fee on your checking account, you're not necessarily bound to pay it. In fact, you can save thousands of dollars a year if you pick your battles and fight smart. Sullivan has his own tactics:

Call during business hours. Few managers are available on weekends, and you won't get the cream of the crop among lower-level representatives. At GetHuman.com, you can find codes that let you circumvent company phone trees.

Do your research and flex your muscle. Tabulate how much money you have spent with the company, which can boost your bargaining power. If you think you have been treated unfairly, don't hesitate to say you're considering a letter to the state attorney general.

Don't waste your time. A $2 fee may get your goat, but you can't afford to fight every charge. Your chances of winning are directly correlated to how much leverage you have. Consider this: A survey for Sullivan's book found that customers who complain to credit card companies get results 65 percent of the time.