How the 'Annoyance Economy' Is Costing Americans Billions in Hidden Fees and Wasted Time

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You call your insurance company about a nixed claim, get routed through a phone tree, wait 40 minutes, explain your problem to a chatbot that can't help, then start over with a human agent who asks for the same information. By the time you hang up, you've burned an hour on what should've been a two-minute fix—and you might have to call again.

Now multiply that frustration across most U.S. households every year and you get what Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Groundwork Collaborative policy fellow Chad Maisel call the "Annoyance Economy."

In a report out earlier this year, they put a price on all the costly aggravations Americans face daily.

"The Annoyance Economy costs American families at least $165 billion a year in wasted time and money—more than the GDP of 14 states—and that's really just the tip of the iceberg," Mahoney said.

The $165 billion includes junk fees on concert tickets, hotel rooms, and food delivery apps, which account for about $90 billion a year, according to an analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. That's about $650 per household annually.

Health insurance paperwork eats another $21.6 billion in wasted worker time each year. Phone scams drain $25 billion. Robocalls cost Americans $8 billion in lost time. And these figures are only a start.

"Our analysis does not cover the downstream consequences of the Annoyance Economy—from the health costs of delaying or skipping treatment due to insurance hoops and hurdles, to the mental and emotional toll of fighting with recalcitrant customer service, to the stress and anxiety of being caught up in a scam," Mahoney said.

When companies profit from wasting your time, the problem won't fix itself. Knowing what the annoyance economy costs you—and who's supposed to stop it—puts you in a stronger position to push back.

Consumer frustration is measurable—and getting worse. Forrester's 2025 CX Index found that customer satisfaction has hit a new all-time low for four years in a row—each year worse than the last.

The December 2025 National Customer Rage Survey conducted by Arizona State University's School of Business found that 77% of customers reported a product or service problem in the previous year, and the average problem cost a full day of time and $1,008 out of pocket. No wonder, then, that about two-thirds (64%) of those who experienced an issue said they felt "rage" about it.

Americans are so buried in the hassles of the annoyance economy that "admin parties"—gatherings where friends tackle their overdue paperwork together—went viral on TikTok this year. "We're sinking into a quicksand of tiny, dumb administrative tasks," wrote The Wall Street Journal's Chris Colin, who is credited with the idea.

The emergence of the Annoyance Economy is no accident, Maisel and Mahoney argue. Companies make it effortless to sign up and agonizing to leave because it increases their profits.

A National Bureau of Economic Research study co-authored by Mahoney found that when subscriptions auto-renew without an active decision, companies collect additional revenue of between 14% and 200% than they would if subscribers were paying attention, depending on the service.

So when SiriusXM forces you through five retention offers before you can quit—a practice a New York judge ruled illegal in November 2024—that's not a glitch.

Industries have fought hard to protect these advantages. Airlines spent millions opposing a rule that would have guaranteed cash refunds for delayed flights; the Trump administration scrapped it in September 2025. Telecom groups sued to block the FTC's "click-to-cancel" rule.

Meanwhile, federal enforcement has declined, the Groundwork Collaborative report argues.

"From the decision not to pursue click-to-cancel regulation to the dismantling of the consumer finance watchdog agency, the current administration has stalled or reversed course on many important consumer protection initiatives," Mahoney said.

When faced with a problem in the annoyance economy, here's where to start:

Track and dispute junk fees: When a charge doesn't match an advertised price, contest it. The FTC's all-in pricing rule for live-event tickets and short-term lodging took effect in May 2025. If you see drip pricing in those categories—that means selling you on a lower upfront fee that's just the beginning of charges—you can file a complaint with the FTC.

Use your state's consumer protection office: Seven states, including Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia, have passed broad junk fee laws in the past two years, and more legislation is pending. Still, Mahoney cautioned that their powers are limited: "State action is better than nothing but is an imperfect substitute for federal protection, leaving consumers in some states unprotected while creating unnecessary complications for businesses relative to uniform federal rules," he said.

Know your cancellation rights: Several states now require businesses to make canceling as easy as signing up. Document every step of a difficult cancellation: screenshots, call logs, chat transcripts. If a company resists, a paper trail can help your complaint succeed.

Block and report spam: Register your number at DoNotCall.gov. Use your carrier's built-in call-filtering tools (AT&T ActiveArmor, T-Mobile Scam Shield, Verizon Call Filter). Report scam calls to the FTC and Federal Communications Commission. These reports can help enforcement agencies trace bad actors.

Those agencies have their work cut out for them: Americans collectively receive almost 4 billion scam and illegal marketing calls a month, about 125 million a day. Nearly half of the respondents in one survey said they'd pay money just to make them stop.

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