[billybob]

Then again, if customers are annoyed enough by them, firms not using them will steal customers from firms that do. So the free market has a counterbalance.

In the real world, this back-and-forth is always happening. I think the average result is that most businesses are mostly honest and most customers are mostly satisfied.

Small example: I ordered flowers online for mother's day. The price shown on the front page was doubled by the service fees tacked on at the end. I understand that on a busy day, they need to charge more, but I thought it was slightly dishonest not to show the true cost up front. Slightly, but not an absolute ripoff, and not enough that I'll never buy again. So we have a truce.

If they had hidden a checkbox that said "please also subscribe me to this magazine for $X a month", that would be too dishonest and they'd lose my business to someone who didn't do that.