Americans Waste $166 Billion a Year on Corporate Deception
Hold music. Robocalls. Junk fees tacked onto everything. Subscriptions you can sign up for in two clicks but need a PhD to cancel.
A new report calls this the "Annoyance Economy." Americans waste $166 billion every year dealing with it.
The Groundwork Collaborative released the study in February. The progressive think tank says companies intentionally make things difficult when it's against their financial interest. It is easy to give them money, but hard to get it back.
The $166 Billion Breakdown
Junk fees steal $90 billion a year. Think of banks, hotels, and tickets. The hidden charges that are everywhere. Other top culprits include:
Phone scams: $25.4 billion.
Health insurance phone calls: $21.6 billion. Like from failing to get reimbursed or figure out coverage.
Waiting for medical services: $19.4 billion.
Robocalls: $8 billion.
Government service wait times: $1.6 billion.
The Contact Lens Rebate Story
Chad Maisel co-authored the report. He recently spent half an hour trying to get a rebate on contact lenses.
He had to download an app. Print the receipt. Take a picture of it. Upload the picture to the app. Then mail in the actual receipt.
Why is it so complicated? The company didn't want to give him the rebate.
Companies Make It Easy to Pay, Hard to Cancel
Every newspaper lets you subscribe online. Fewer than half let you cancel without calling.
Even though this is 2026, some health insurance carriers still require fax or mail for certain reimbursement claims.
The time consumers spend on customer service calls has jumped 60% over the past two decades.
Consumer Protections Are Disappearing
The Trump administration is gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The federal watchdog has faced constant criticism from the financial industry and congressional Republicans.
Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said in January they're overhauling an "abusive" agency that was "weaponized against the American people."
Here's what got killed or rolled back:
CFPB capped credit card late fees at $8 in 2024. Litigation killed it. Agency abandoned the rule.
CFPB capped bank overdraft fees at $5. Republican lawmakers reversed it.
FTC made a click-to-cancel rule. Sign up online, cancel online. Court struck it down. Congress is trying to bring it back with a bipartisan bill.
The Biden administration enacted airline refund rules for canceled flights and fee transparency. Trump administration is killing those.
"Enforcement against bad actors has been significantly scaled back, to the point where it's virtually nonexistent," Maisel said.
It’s Getting Worse
The annoyance economy isn't new. But it's getting worse.
Credit card late fees are rising. Junk fees are increasing. Customer service wait times are up 60% in twenty years.
Companies design systems to frustrate consumers. They make canceling so annoying that people just keep paying. They bury rebates under layers of apps and uploads and mailed receipts. They route customer service calls through endless menus.
All of it wastes time. All of it costs money. $166 billion annually.
And the federal protections meant to stop this are getting dismantled. Late fee caps are gone. Overdraft fee caps are being reversed. Click-to-cancel has been killed. Airline refund rules are being scuttled.
Consumer Federation of America CEO Susan Weinstock said consumers shouldn't have to pay in wasted time and surprise charges just to access basic services. The report shows how junk fees and needless complexity make the affordability crisis worse.
The annoyance economy thrives when enforcement disappears. Right now, enforcement is virtually nonexistent.
The Bottom Line
The annoyance economy is getting worse and enforcement against bad actors has been scaled back to the point of being virtually nonexistent. Consumers are paying more in time and money for everyday hassles while protections designed to prevent those hassles are disappearing.
The hassles are intentional. Companies make it easy to give them money and hard to get it back. Sign up online in minutes. Cancel only by calling customer service and waiting on hold for 45 minutes while someone tries to talk you out of it.
This is where we are at in 2026.
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