Nick Martell

Jack, a 3% credit card surcharge?

Well, you can blame Amex for that one.

34% of small businesses, they now got fees and surcharges like that.

How about the 5% employee wellness surcharge you see on your restaurant bill in San Francisco?

Don't blame our cafe, Jack.

Blame the healthcare industry, not us.

20% of restaurants now have some kind of surcharge mixed in there between the tip and the tax.

And it's the same with this week's fuel surcharges.

Blame the warning, Ron.

Don't blame our Delta CEO.

Companies know that you hate inflation with a fiery passion.

So they're strategically trying to shift the guilt of inflation.

And honestly, we kind of see this as false advertising, don't we, Jack?

Totally false advertising.

Unfortunately, though, marketers move faster than regulators.

And yet we all still pay this surcharge surge because of the lock-in effect.

By the time we see it at the end of the transaction, you're already emotionally committed to the purchase.

The deal is 99% done.

Nick, add it all up.

This explains why consumer sentiment hit an all-time low last March.