The main objective of doing a business is to make money. There are no doubts about it. Nobody wants to do a business which does not make money.
You can choose to make your money in a sincere and honest way by letting your customers know exactly what they are paying for. I take pride in having no hidden costs in my business. What I quote is what you pay. I believe in having a balanced amount of flexibility to achieve a win-win situation for myself and the customer.
It disgusts me to see other businesses (especially a certain genre) choosing to make money through hidden costs and clauses. Yes they can earn that few hundred dollars from the customers (who are forced to pay), but what they fail to see is that they are losing out on lots of potential customers whom the satisfied customer can refer. Never underestimate the power of recommendation through word of mouth.
The most disgusting thing is that these businesses continue to have hidden costs and there is nothing you can do about it. Yes you can post negative comments on social media and forums, but in the end these businesses will still have customers because they choose to believe in the salesperson’s sweet words and sincerity, which will be totally gone once the credit card has been swiped.