Life is no walk in a park, and it's even harder when you have to maneuver your way through many low- and high-key scams presented by our governments, retailers, and employers on top of your everyday problems. And when you truly think about it, it turns out that one of the biggest social problems is us is being scammed on a daily basis.
Have you ever bought a train ticket or paid extra to park at a hotel or wondered if the sale price is right, and thought to yourself 'hmm, it seems like they are ripping me off." Well, according to these Reddit users, you are right. One user under the name Eggaboy has asked people to name "the biggest everyday scam that people put up with," and some of the real stories are truly eye-opening. From lottery tickets to expensive water bottles, this list proves that all of us live in a world where everything is a scam accentuating our social issues. Scroll down to read some of the answers yourself, and don't forget to tell us your true stories on getting scammed every day in the comments!
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The price of feminine hygiene products.
Even from a dude's perspective, they are ludicrously priced for a necessary item.
Traffic.
Why the hell do I have to come into the office every day? Most of my job can be done remotely, sitting at home. I don't need to burn gas, waste my time, and get aggravated every day shuttling back and forth. I would much rather come in 2-3x a week.
Cut down on traffic. Make for more productive and happier employees.
Let us work from home on a regular basis.
Built-in obsolescence.
Consumers spend good money to buy products that are designed to fail or become obsolete in order to stimulate further sales.
Not only that, but replacement parts become unavailable or are so expensive to buy and install that consumers end up replacing the item completely, even though it should have much more useful life.
I recently bought an HP printer for $7, much less than buying new cartridges (and the new printer came with ink). I take my old ones to good will.
Oh you mean like Iphones! Once a new phone comes out, the phone on the bottom of the totem pole becomes "no longer supported" by apple entirely. So if you have anything below an SE at the moment, better hope nothing goes wrong. Because apple care won't do anything for you.
Washing machines - they used to last 30 years - now you feel good if they last 5 with no problems - occasioally they might manage 10
I used to work for Whirlpool. I'll never buy one after seeing how much hassle people went through after the machine was one year old and out of warranty. Especially when the part that failed the most was one of the two most expensive parts to replace on the appliance.
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planned obsolescence - started by Thomas Edison. It's why, up until recently, all light bulbs were designed to only last 1000 hours so Edison could make money. Long lasting bulbs actually cost a lot and are subsidized. GE had to sell their lighting division because there's no money in making a product that you cell for 3$ and lasts 20 years.
I have a feeling phone manufacturers do that with software updates. The phone works fine for 12- 18 months and then the updates start making it slower and slower.
it has as much to do with the functionality of the phone being expanded. doing more things requires more processing power, or doing it slower.
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I have previously used laser printer - leased to some company previously. I don't even know how old. I am on the same toner for 7 years now. I use it daily..
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I want this one to be higher. This is such a big problem on a huuuge scale.
TVs dont get fixed anymore, you get a warranty and send it back and can get a even better one free
it's more than a scam, it's an assault to the earth and its people and animals. the sheer volume of appliance waste on this planet, the impoverished communities that have to go through it all, the un-biodegradable parts (and their poisonous gases). that's not even including manufacturing waste and packaging
You can buy a new ink jet colour printer {which comes with cartridges} cheaper than you can replace the colour cartridges. Truly... check it out next time you're at Best Buy
hmm, I'm out of ink, let's get new ink for...WHAAAAAAT!? okay, I just get a new printer then it's cheaper
Dont buy a cheap printer.I bought a laser jet knowing i wouldnt use it but looked at what the catridges cost knowingi would buy more.
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I have a 17 year old washing machine, and the parts don't exist anymore.
Got a nice-looking vacuum cleaner at the Goodwill for $10. It had issues, so I took it to the local vacuum fix-it shop (yes, those are still a thing). After I got it fixed, I learned I could have bought a brand new version of the same exact thing for what I paid to get it fixed. Just isn't right.
"Don't discuss your pay with fellow employees."
Part of me understands that it's kind of tacky to do so, but I read that it was the companies way of not paying people what they deserve.
Superfoods.
They are all products of marketing and fads.
Spinach is better and cheaper than Kale.
Strawberries/Blueberries just as good and cheaper than Acai.
Etc etc.
Black Friday sales. The thing that made me realize how f**ked it all is was working in a furniture store. We were selling these small storage ottomans for Black Friday. Regular price: $39.99, Sale price: $19.99. You know how much we paid for them? A f**king dollar. I’m breaking my NDA by telling you all this (lol).
In Brazil we call it Black Friday when stores slowly increase the regular prices, starting early October, then sell "Everything with 50% off the double".
Direct to consumer prescription drug marketing. People shouldn’t go to the doctor and ask for a drug they saw on a commercial by name.
My favorite is the "FAT FREE FOOD" on a bag of Twizzlers. Thank god this high-calorie compressed sugar gel doesn't have any fat in it. My diet is secure!
Every now and then I come across a video where some pastor magically "heals/cures" a person in church by saying some lines and touching the person's head. In one of th videos, the pastor was suggesting to the person that if they bought his DVD, then they would heal faster. I find it rediculuos that people use religion and faith to instill fear and then scam innocent people.
I was taken to one of these churches as a child. There was an army of greeters at the door, kindly asking "how are you" and "how's the family" and what would sound like casual small talk, but people would talk about their ailments or family troubles. Then, during service, the pastor would act like he was getting a message from God that somebody had a certain affliction, and of course, that person who just talked about it to the greeters before Sunday school is shocked because the pastor "couldn't possibly have known" and would run up to get "healed" (smacked in the forehead and often knocked over entirely, there were assistants there to catch people) and even at a young age I just could not fathom how the people in this church did not see through this scam. I don't care how hard they call themselves Christian, they are not Christian.
Listing prices as $xx.99 to make them seem cheaper.
It's a psychology trick. It works. We see 199.99 and think "That is less than 200." But it's exploiting human security vulnerabilities.
And worst of all, we could have all these beautiful, round numbers. But instead we end up with a bunch of nines everywhere. Zeroes are more orderly than nines and deserve more respect.
then here in the great USA we have to add sales tax on top of that great $199.99 price
Textbooks, at least at US universities.
Depending on the subject they can cost anywhere from $100-$400 USD per book. New editions are released annually to ensure that the content remains up to date. (and the price remains high)
For an egregious example: I had a graduate level economics course that required a $300 textbook ($150 when rented for the semester) which actually had an "international version" available online that was the exact same book but instead cost $60 retail. The only thing is that the book was listed as being"not for distribution in the US".
I've read of professors who wrote books and had them made mandatory for their course. They never used it in their classes, they just made it mandatory to gain extra income.
Airline fees.
Fees to check a bag. Fees to carry-on a bag. Fees to get a seat assignment. Fees to get a seat assignment on the second leg of your flight.
Your "cheap" $300 ticket just turned into a $500 flight.
Infuriating.
You don't need a checked bag. A carry-on is always free - up to a certain size/weight. You can sit randomly. You only get the "honor" to be on the plane and get a seat for the minimum price. Just like a bus ticket, but then you don't get a seat necessarily. Just adjust your expectations. You will never get first class treatment if you pay as economy as possible.
College tuition in America.
Especially when your first 2 years, you have to take a ton of classes that do not even pertain to the major you are studying for. For instance, why as an engineering major do I have to take history? or any other electives?
Having to give your email address out to basically any company you buy something from so they can spam your inbox. Yes, I'm aware you can unsubscribe, but it's a pain in the a**. I've got a life to live and it doesn't involve meticulously curating my email inbox on a regular basis.
I have two email accounts specifically dedicated to c**p like this.
Why can't we live in a world where we don't have to expect that any call from a number not in our contacts is a scam or spam 99% of the time?
"Convenience fee". This isn't MY convenience, it's YOURS. The fact that you don't have to hire a human to accept my payment is YOUR convenience, not mine. So I'm paying you for what exactly?
Cellphone data. They sell it like it's a finite resource, like they'll run out if they give you too much. But yet if you don't use it all that month, none of it rolls over. In Canada we also pay the same amount of money for 2gb that other countries get 100gb or more for.
Ink prices. Doesn't even cost them a quarter to manufacture the ink, yet they're selling it $60+.
"If you tell the truth I won't get mad."
Police having to hit a quota. This means when there’s no crime going on police have to create false scenarios to ticket people, or pull citizens over for outdated mundane reasons. This creates resentment towards the people who are suppose to “protect” us. Biggest scam for a city to make money off of its citizens.
Death duty.
Paying the government money when a loved one has died. Half the time the older generation have paid way more tax during their lives and then the remnants are sifted through once gone.
A few weeks ago I was in London, enjoying many of the completely free museums they have to offer. I wondered why such world famous museums would be free when they could easily charge money. I saw a sign that said, "this Museum is made free due to lottery funds." And I thought it was really really cool how lottery taxation and profits in London go towards making something so amazing free. I don't know how much lottery money in the states really does go to helpful causes, but I hope it's a lot and isn't just a scam.
In most states, a majority of money taken in by a lottery goes to the administration of that lottery. In Arkansas, I believe that the most recent audit showed that more than 60% of the money that's "all for education" is paid to either the lottery administrators or the out-of-state company which produces the tickets and machines.
Healing crystals and other quackery like this. People paying top dollars to get a stone which does nothing else than just look good.
At least they look good. Can we throw Astrology in with, "other quackery?" If one more educated person tells me that my windshield cracked because "Mercury is in retrograde," or that I argued with my friend because of "my rising sign," I WILL cut a b***h (right out of my phonebook!) Grow up people!
Jewellery. A friend used to work for a well-known jewellery store, her employee benefits meant that she could buy rings, earrings, etc. for $7 - $15. But they would sell it to customers for $50 - $100.
The new and used car market in the United States. I don’t think there is a field more shady and potentially harmful to the consumer.
Not only in the USA. A favourite trick of used car salesmen is to fix the mileage of the car. Usually they put it around 80- 90 000 miles when the cars have normally done 150k+. Another danger is stolen and repainted cars. Always check the VIN and engine numbers and the original colour of the car.
Booking fees when buying tickets to things online. They’re a rip-off, but we pay them because we want to see our favorite artists/sports teams/theatre productions.
Standing in line for 20 minutes to spend $4-6 on mediocre coffee, looking at you Starbucks.
I think you mean mediocre coffee flavored water, or for you Frappuccino fans out there. 80%ice and 20% coffee.
Looking at how much money the average American is in debt, the entire country is a scam.
Like George Carlin said. We buy s**t we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like.
That extra 9/10 of a cent that every gas station charges.
Not exactly a scam, but nobody realized it’s even there. Even though it’s right there on their sign.
But they all use the same "scam" so it's still easy to compare prices. Because of that, I don't really understand how the "trick" works.
Multi-level marketing schemes. Similar schemes bankrupted entire countries before but they somehow churn along just fine in the form of AmWay.
Apple, Orange, lemonade drinks (contains 0% juice).
what but I always think getting lemonade is the healthy option full to the brim with real lemons ahahahaha
Convenience fees for paying online.
Oh so your employee doesnt need to waste time dealing with as much? And you probably have to pay less employees and possibly rent less space because I'm paying online? Ooooh online convenience fee
I get that the company making the software needs to get paid, but I just dont like companies offloading that onto the customer especially when they're probably making more from the convenience fee than it costs them. On top of that, and I'm sure I'm not alone here, but the ability to pay a fee online would be a major factor in me deciding which company to use, hence a company adding the option for online payment will also bring in new customers which in a lot of cases could well be enough profit for the company to pay for the software without even having to charge the customer extra for it.
On a similar note: Having to pay a "restocking fee" if you return an item. Your poor employee is getting paid the same whether they put my item back on the shelf, clean your toilets, or sweep your floor. Unless that poor employee is getting a bonus for restocking my return (which I highly doubt), that fee is super ridiculous.
Weight loss products.
Seriously. There is only one secret to losing weight, it's calories. Count your damn calories. There is absolutely nothing else to it. Stop spending money on this crap.
Saffie: All you've got to do is eat less and take a bit of exercise. *** Eddie: Sweetie, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. *** Saffie: All right then. *** ---Absolutely Fabulous
50% SALE on every f**king shop window!
even worse: 50% or even 80% sale with tiny tiny "up to" in front of it. That usually means, nothing in store is on that discount, some are maybe 10% but the sign is true it's "up to 50%".
Razor blade prices.
This why men should relearn how to use straight razors. Buy 1 and it will last the rest of your life.
Train prices in the UK.
Not only in the UK. Often it's a lot cheaper to rent a car than to travel by train.
Renting costs. Don’t even pay them currently and I’m already afraid.
Be very afraid. Most mortgages where I live are less than the rental fees for the same townhomes in the same community. Renting is a treadmill, you'll never get ahead of the game.
I feel like the cafeteria food in schools doesn’t have value at all (both nutritional and monetary).
Susan G. Komen foundation. People love this s**t, for some reason.
Jilly Juice - The women gets destroyed on Doctor Phil about her Pseudoscience yet shes still making a killing.
Lottery tickets.
I'm sorry, if you hadn't figured out before now that lottery tickets are a scam, then I question your intelligence.
A lot of these "scams" aren't scams but just gullible customers believing fairy tales.
Airport prices for coffee, cakes, sandwiches etc. Everything is 10 times more expensive. Why? Because you can't get out and you can't bring your own food. classy.
My personal pet peeve is the price of toilet paper. Everybody needs it, yet we're subjected to Charmin commercials telling us how soft/absorbent their TP is. I don't care, I just want it cheap and not 1 ply. I don't need a bear to tell me which to buy.
"Organic" ANYTHING. Kids, check your dictionary. Unless it's from outer space or the spirit realm... EVERYTHING IS ORGANIC! Even plastic and plutonium. Just tell us the truth; overly priced items that feed off your narcissism and fear
Dude, organic is a term. Organic food is, you know what I’m just done
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A lot of these "scams" aren't scams but just gullible customers believing fairy tales.
Airport prices for coffee, cakes, sandwiches etc. Everything is 10 times more expensive. Why? Because you can't get out and you can't bring your own food. classy.
My personal pet peeve is the price of toilet paper. Everybody needs it, yet we're subjected to Charmin commercials telling us how soft/absorbent their TP is. I don't care, I just want it cheap and not 1 ply. I don't need a bear to tell me which to buy.
"Organic" ANYTHING. Kids, check your dictionary. Unless it's from outer space or the spirit realm... EVERYTHING IS ORGANIC! Even plastic and plutonium. Just tell us the truth; overly priced items that feed off your narcissism and fear
Dude, organic is a term. Organic food is, you know what I’m just done
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