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Welcome to Pricing Hell - The Atlantic

theatlantic.com · 4,046 words · saved by 1 readers

The ubiquitous rise of add-on fees and personalized pricing has turned buying stuff into a game you can’t win. Listen to more stories on the Noa app. This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. On february 15, Ron Ruggless was sitting in his home office in Dallas, listening to a Wendy’s earnings call—something he does every quarter as an editor and reporter for Nation’s Restaurant News. When the new CEO of Wendy’s mentioned that the company might introduce “dynamic pricing” in 2025, Ruggless wasn’t surprised; many restaurants have started adjusting prices depending on the time of day or week. It seemed like minor news, so he wrote up a brief report. He didn’t even bother to post it on social media. About 10 days later, Ruggless saw that Wendy’s was going viral. The Daily Mail and the New York Post had picked up the story, framing the new policy as “surge pricing.” On X, Senator Elizabeth Warren called the plan “price gouging plain and simpl

Listen − 1.0 x + Seek 0:00 26:54 This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here . On February 15, Ron Ruggless was sitting in his home office in Dallas, listening to a Wendy’s earnings call—something he does every quarter as an editor and reporter for Nation’s Restaurant News . When the new CEO of Wendy’s mentioned that the company might introduce “dynamic pricing” in 2025, Ruggless wasn’t surprised; many restaurants have started adjusting prices depending on the time of day or week. It seemed like minor news, so he wrote up a brief report. He didn’t e

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