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30 Things Which Are In Fact Big Scams, Yet Most People Don’t Realize It, As Shared By Members Of This Online Group
Life, as you perhaps know, is an unfair thing, but not everyone really agrees with this. Many people believe that accepting individual problems and inconveniences, taking them for granted, is a kind of social contract, enshrined in years of human silence.
Indeed, there are a huge number of strange things in our life that we just get used to and take them for granted. However, if you look at the situation from a different angle, certain facts, traditions, things or services will turn out to be simply ridiculous or even absurd. Or, let's call a spade a spade - a total scam.
There is a thread on Reddit whose authors collect opinions about the biggest scam in life that no one wants to admit. To date, the thread has already gained more than 52.1K upvotes and gathered around 36.8K comments. Some of the comments look pretty ridiculous too, but many of them just have a kernel of truth.
Bored Panda created a special curated list of the most popular comments for you, so feel free to scroll to the very end. You will definitely agree with something, object clearly to something, and by the way, we will be glad to read comments of both kinds - after all, truth, as you know, is born in disputes.
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How the f**k does *HEALTH* insurance not cover dental and vision?what kind of shenanigans is that?
Tipping culture. It’s how businesses scammed the general public into paying additional costs so they could avoid paying their staff a living wage.
Religion
Not up to speed on other religions' history, but the way the Catholic church sold tickets to heaven in medieval days, just wow
The entire wedding industry.
To be clear, not marriage but weddings specifically.
I’m happily married to my wife and we were content to do something special just the two of us, maybe spend a couple of grand and treat ourselves a little bit to something amazing.
Cue the families getting involved and before you know it we’re spending closer to twenty grand on one day and feeding a bunch of people I’ve not heard of before or since the wedding.
This! Because you can decide to skip wedding, death on the other hand....
Load More Replies...Inviting people so they won't be offended at being left off the list so they can show up so you won't be offended they didn't show.
I flat out refused to do that. My mother-in-law tried to guilt trip my husband into inviting a ton of their relatives he'd never even MET just because they were "family." Nope. We couldn't afford a big enough hall for that nonsense.
Load More Replies...The last wedding I went to was in a public park (with beautiful scenery for wedding photos). The bride and groom wore nice clothes that they already owned and had spent a couple hundred dollars on wedding rings. The guests all brought food for a pitch-in lunch instead of bringing gifts. It was the most relaxed and fun wedding I ever attended. It was also the only wedding I ever attended that was good for children because they could play games and use the playground equipment.
That’s basically what mine was like. We only spent a few hundred dollars altogether.
Load More Replies...I hope you asked them to pay for it all! I would have definitely put my foot down about that!
you gotta luv Dax Shepard: he and his wife got married at the courthouse for an entire $135 including a very modest reception for family only...
Try this exercise: Search on YouTube for “Jim Gaffigan weddings” and watch the video.
There are sooo many people out there who believe your marriage isn't worth it if you don't spend a metric ton of money on the ceremony.
We got married in Florida when we where on holiday, the receptionist of the car hire company we used did the service and we where in the pool within about 10 minutes of getting wed. Simple,easy, no stress and cheap!
Yes! It’s insane. The average price is 28k which sounds insane to me. I would much rather spend 500$ and go down to the court house and then go on a nice vacation somewhere and still have at least 25k left over.
My ideal wedding, if it’s supposed to be a ceremony of love - would be myself and my partner alone on a camping trip or road trip or something :) not sure how that would work but that’s the most romantic thing to me. Just the two of us, exchange vows, make it about us and not anyone else :) and then have a party with everyone else when we get home!
Me and my husband were talking about eloping and just having a big party afterward. No formal dress and no gifts and also no traditional reception room but, I just couldn't do that to my grandparents or our parents. I know our fathers wouldn't have minded though. My dad joked (or so we thought) that he would give my sister a couple thousand to elope and go on a nice trip. I had to take into account my grandparents and our parents feelings.
Had a hipster DIY wedding that me and my wife pulled off alltogether (cost around thousand bucks, had to buy our flowers at 3am like all the florists, we made the arrangements, set the table and so on) had some nice food, small cathering, and 40 people tops. Asked for money as gift because we didn't care about actual gifts (we own like, four forks, first real furniture we bought I was 35). Instead of spending on a fancy honeymoon for a weekend we chose to live abroad with our dog in germany, no f given for 4 months in a roll, learned a 4th language and came back. No regrets. Shouldve invited a few more friends though.
What a friggin' waste of money! I had a DIY wedding and it still cost me $5,000. I wish I had skipped it.
My husband and I went to a village in Scotland, had 2 cousins as witnesses then a meal. Evening with some more cousins, just a couple of drinks, maybe not enough for most people but it served us.
We got married at the courthouse. Less expensive, no stress of who to and not to invite, less stress about flowers, dresses, meals, etc. It was still lovely and we got a piece of paper saying we were married.
The wedding industry wouldn't exist if brides didn't want their very own center of the universe fairy princess ego fests.
When my wife and I married last year (second one for both of us) we insisted on a simple ceremony with few people. It was amazing. Rented a 2 floor suite, a handful of people came, catering trays we made, and my friend was the officiant. Had our honeymoon there too. Total cost...$1500
I don't understand this one, how is a wedding a "scam" I think what you're trying to say is it's not worth spending money on a wedding. There's a difference in something being a scam and it being simply not worth it.
Hi Calvin, I think it deserves to be called a scam due to “a party cake - £100” but if you order “a wedding cake “ it’s a £1000. Same with venues , flowers , invitations etc. once the W word is mentioned, the price goes astronomical- and it is a scam really for traditional families. I personally agree with you as it’s all not worth the price but I’m in the comfortable situation of not needing to follow tradition . Hope it makes sense xx
Load More Replies...Well marriage as well. It only has any significance if you’re religious. But then see previous point on religion.
In America there are only two reasons to get married 1) for the tax break 2) so you won't have to testify against your spouse in court. - I don't like that I have to point out that this is a joke but this is the internet so it's bound to offend someone.
We work the majority of our lives, during our fittest years of health, for the promise of a golden retirement, when we will probably too old and ill to enjoy it properly.
Exactly and our government wants to increase the retirement age to 70. I don't know anyone at the age of 70+ that is fit and healthy enough to work. Especially in the building industry. We get a few years fun until we start school and then we spend most of our lives as government drones.
Mega Churches on TV and elsewhere.
Always ends with the masses supporting the leaders extravagant lifestyles while they dodge taxes and commit crimes.
The easy-to-join, difficult-to-cancel subscription model.
A lot of us have been convinced that we are selling our labour to companies at the correct price, in reality we're selling it too cheaply.
That climate change is up to each individual to go green. It was a campaign by BP that pushed the solution as each individual going green instead of the dozen massive corporations that account for the lions share of greenhouse gases.
Going green is good, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to oil companies, industrial farming, and cargo ships.
Edit: lots of "yet you participate in society, curious" type comments from the usual contrarians. Your hot air is adding to the problem.
That getting older gives wisdom. I'm older and I'm just a cranky old f**k.
Insurance!!!! My great grandfather was a doctor, and there were stories of him treating people, often for free. He and his wife helped an entire family with scarlet fever in exchange for a jar of blackberry jam
Life.
Like, why is it so damn expensive? I didn’t even ask to be here!
It's only getting worse. I was gonna buy a lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes yesterday but was gonna cost me approx $12. Which is insane.
That the Fashion Industry is anything other than planned obsolescence, designed simply to get people to spend money for no reason.
Online convenience fees
Ticketmaster
I watched John Oliver (gem) talk about this. It's really crazy. Like I've said before everywhere you look it's f*ck people, give me more and more money.
Needing a college degree for most high-level jobs when there is rarely any relevant knowledge gained from the degree relevant to the job.
The lobby around requiring **[MOST]** Americans to file their taxes with the IRS; while the IRS already has all the relevant information.
Edit: Yes we know there's benefits for you tiny percentage of self-employed individuals and business owners.
The prices of anything baby related. Toys, food, clothes, etc. Was in a store on Saturday to get a cot mattress and cover. I cried.
We bought a lot second hand, and resold after they've grown out of stuff. At the moment were part of a "hand me down chain" 🤣 It saves money and a lot of waste
Normal television, paying to watch ads!
Advertising in general always seems to sneak its way into ad-free formats. Cable TV was like network TV except no ads....until they added ads. Youtube was finally like TV except no ads...until they added ads. Then you can always block the ads and just watch the video...until their paid promotional segments.
Recycling
In remote communities recyclables collected go to the dump with the rest of the garbage, because it’s not feasible to transport it thousands of km where it could potentially get used.
Also for instance here where I live in Florida the recycling center used to accept glass and then quit. I spoke with an attendant and they said the state quit taking it because there wasn't enough profit. That's not the point!
The fact that airlines have X amount of seats per flight, but almost always sell X+10 seats and then refund you about 80% of your ticket cost. Do that to the 10 people and suddenly you have about 2 tickets worth of profits seemingly out of nowhere, and everyone still has a flight. Just an unbelievably immoral way to gain a few bucks, but everyone just goes with it since the airplanes aren't exactly a train that comes every 10 minutes.
About a month after I bought plane tickets I got a message that they had to change my flights. My new return flight was a day later. I asked if they could change it back to the day prior as planned - these tickets were a good 9 months in advance so I know they had seats. They told me yea, they could change back - and the difference in ticket price is $750 please. I argued for a day and finally heard back sorry that was a mistake, it’s only $375 more. I said no - and they finally agreed to change my flight back to the original day free of (additional) charge.
Hustle culture
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More of these need details. I click on this expecting to be informed on how these dubious plots work and then it's just "Unsubscribe button." No elaboration on wether or not they work, or if there's another hidden functionality in there to screw people over.
They're so vague it's driving me crazy, what's the point of this list? Disappointing.
Load More Replies...As one of my old friends once said, "Everything is a scam to some extent"
scam noun: A fraudulent or deceptive act or operation. scam verb: 1 : to deceive and defraud (someone). 2 : to obtain (something, such as money) by a scam. Whoever wrote this list didn't spend much time on it, there are so many false statements here it's not even funny.
Another Big Scam Would Be Internet, Paying To Get A Select Speed But Getting Ripped Of. Also Harassing Mail Wanting You To Pay For Things You Have Already Paid For.
I have a scammer debt collector trying to make me pay for an ATT bill from 2021. Our service ended in 2019! They say we owe them a certain amount of money... except we do not. Unbeknownst to them, i have. ALL the documentation and proof that our account was closed and we owed no money to ATT. Even the email account info that stated there is no monies owed!! Lol. Then after I ignored them for a month they wanted me to pay a percentage of the bill.. then a fi al notice of a little more off the bill and it will be done. Hahahahahahaha! When they say ok we will take you to court, and i say sure, but you will need to pay all court costs even mine. Because I have all, and I do mean all the documentation I need to discredit your suit and what not. They are well k own for their scam emails and stuff. I really wonder if they have even contacted ATT for any client information. And if ATT is part of it, well then I already know the FBI would love to be in on this!!! I know! Brat I am!
I had to pay to get it off my credit. It sucks but I think it's worth it for that
Load More Replies...Yes, i love scam talking the scammers! scammers do not like questions. And when you get personal they really hate it! But it is so fun! Always mention their mammas.
US democracy/government, US college tuition, US civil rights, [fill in the blanks]
More of these need details. I click on this expecting to be informed on how these dubious plots work and then it's just "Unsubscribe button." No elaboration on wether or not they work, or if there's another hidden functionality in there to screw people over.
They're so vague it's driving me crazy, what's the point of this list? Disappointing.
Load More Replies...As one of my old friends once said, "Everything is a scam to some extent"
scam noun: A fraudulent or deceptive act or operation. scam verb: 1 : to deceive and defraud (someone). 2 : to obtain (something, such as money) by a scam. Whoever wrote this list didn't spend much time on it, there are so many false statements here it's not even funny.
Another Big Scam Would Be Internet, Paying To Get A Select Speed But Getting Ripped Of. Also Harassing Mail Wanting You To Pay For Things You Have Already Paid For.
I have a scammer debt collector trying to make me pay for an ATT bill from 2021. Our service ended in 2019! They say we owe them a certain amount of money... except we do not. Unbeknownst to them, i have. ALL the documentation and proof that our account was closed and we owed no money to ATT. Even the email account info that stated there is no monies owed!! Lol. Then after I ignored them for a month they wanted me to pay a percentage of the bill.. then a fi al notice of a little more off the bill and it will be done. Hahahahahahaha! When they say ok we will take you to court, and i say sure, but you will need to pay all court costs even mine. Because I have all, and I do mean all the documentation I need to discredit your suit and what not. They are well k own for their scam emails and stuff. I really wonder if they have even contacted ATT for any client information. And if ATT is part of it, well then I already know the FBI would love to be in on this!!! I know! Brat I am!
I had to pay to get it off my credit. It sucks but I think it's worth it for that
Load More Replies...Yes, i love scam talking the scammers! scammers do not like questions. And when you get personal they really hate it! But it is so fun! Always mention their mammas.
US democracy/government, US college tuition, US civil rights, [fill in the blanks]