‘What’s the daftest thing people have to pay for?’ – 23 incredibly unfair ways people reckon they’re being fleeced

What with inflation, wars, the after-effects of the pandemic, and everything else, life feels incredibly expensive at the moment. And it’s even worse when we’re paying for things that surely should be free?

They’ve been discussing the things it feels unfair to have to shell out for on the AskUK subreddit after shakespearesreverse asked this…

And lots of people had thoughts on the ways they feel ripped off, like these…

1.

‘Booking fees for online transactions – things like tickets.’
–Breaking-Dad-

2.

‘Hospital staff having to park in their own work place.’
–SithoDude

3.

‘Airport drop off charges.’
–stm2657

4.

‘Mortgage arrangement fees, they seem to only exist to milk a bit more money from you. There is no way the admin costs for the lender are £1-2k.’
–missuseme

5.

‘Going to the toilet is a basic human right and should be free and available. Can’t believe in 2026 we still have places that want to charge for this.’
–ShareCrafty5822

6.

‘The fact that condoms are free in many places and sanitary products are is disgraceful. You CHOOSE to have sex, it’s a selfish want. Women can’t choose to just not have our periods.’
–PrestigiousZombie682

7.

‘Glasses. I’m extremely short sighted so it costs me about £200 a pair. I’ve had a hip replacement at no cost but have to pay to see.’
–KoalaUnlucky6513

8.

‘Paying extra for no ads when you already paid for the streaming service.’
–crazyabbit

9.

‘Rejecting cookies on a news website.’
–I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS

10.

‘Paying VAT on fuel duty itself (not just the fuel).’
–Scrumpyguzzler

11.

‘Having to pay a fortune to watch TV in hospital.’
–Agreeable_Guard_7229

12.

‘Service charges in restaurants, I’m already paying for the food, the cost of bringing it out should be factored into that.’
–SteveGoral