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‘What’s A Scam Most People Don’t Even Realize Is A Scam?’: 40 People Deliver Their Insights
Here’s a dirty little secret that a lot of us don’t want others to know: we like to think of ourselves as the smartest person in the room. Well, even if we might not be the smartest, we’re definitely (way) above average! And there’s no way that we’d ever fall for a cheap scam. Tricksters and fraudsters—beware! There’s no way that you’ll weasel cash out of here! (Hey, that rhymed.) However, reality shows us that many do fall prey to scams and that the scammers themselves are constantly adapting and finding new ways to bamboozle their marks.
Reddit users have been pooling all of their experience together and sharing all the common scams, small and large, that other people don’t always realize are scams or are potential scams. The thread got over 3.2k comments and has helped internet users gain a new perspective on a variety of things, from multilevel marketing and men’s and women’s products to diamonds and superfoods and more. There’s nothing like seeing something with a fresh pair of eyes.
Have a read about some of the most common scams, upvote the most informative posts, and let us know if any of these were new to you, dear Pandas. Oh! And if you know of any other swindles that people tend to fall for, be sure to let everyone know, too!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Paying money to a religion to guarantee your eternal salvation.
Gabriele Alfredo Pini 4 years ago
As a 37 years old Catholic I find strange all this talking of "paying" to a religion... I contribute to my church because a building need maitenance. I payed for the summer camps organized by my oratory. I gave to missionary to help them in their works. But if I want to go to mass and exit without paying anything nobody would tell me anything.
Luca Giordano 4 years ago
you mean the Catholic Church, one of the richest organizations on this planet... with its own bank, needs your donation to fix the roof of your local church building?
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Scagsy 4 years ago
If the 'meek shall inherit the earth' why are churches and cathedrals so fancy?
Sandhya Boyd 4 years ago
(1) Not all churches. Many are extremely plain. (2) Meekness is not about wealth. (3) There's Biblical precedent for investing in your worship space through artistry as an act of worship.
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LH25 4 years ago
Hum, I have never been told that if I don't donate to my church I was going to hell, or that if I did I would go to heaven. Maybe it varies by domination/area.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
Well, there's not really an inbetween, is there?
Load More Replies... Bobert Robertson 4 years ago
I disagree with this 100000%. I'm a Christian, and while we do contribute financially, it's a personal decision. As Gabriele said, it's what the church does with the money that counts. My offerings go to supporting refugee families locally, meals for those in need, missions work, youth programs, etc. Sit in at an annual meeting at a church and ask to see the books if you think the church is trying to profit off your offerings, if you know how to read financial statements, it's clear where the money goes. Retained earnings are next to none, and staff salaries are reasonable.
JessG 4 years ago
Financial fraud in churches is rampant. All types of churches. They are not obligated to pay taxes, and fraud incidences are not reported or directed to authorities, why? Because churches don't have to. Fraud within the churches is a major problem, and that is spread beyond all denominations. For example, recently 3 catholic priests in Connecticut were accused of embezzlement, and went to jail for it. "Ecclesiastical Crime,” which is projected to be $37 billion worldwide, or nearly 6% of the total $594 billion given to churches. Losses due to mismanagement of funds is also a line item totaling $8 billion. In contrast, the total spent on mission work to introduce Christianity to more people throughout the world is $32 billion.
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Selma Galev 4 years ago
Number 1 is WRONG! Nobody pays for salvation. It is given FREELY. We tithe not only to help pay for running the church but also for missionary work, charity work, food banks, blankets for the needy and church members in need. There is more to tithing than you think. But you would know that if you actually went to church.
Joe Baker 4 years ago (edited)
Salvation is by Grace alone not works, so that none can boast
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Terd Fergison 4 years ago
The catholic church used to torture and kill people for saying the sun is the center of our planetary system (because the bible gets it wrong and says that earth is center of our universe and all heavenly bodies rotate around the earth). The church participated in many heinous acts such as the crusades, the children's crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, etc. Without the torture and bloodshed of the catholic church, it is very likely that many of you wouldn't be christian or catholic today. Why does your god's plan require torture and bloodshed?
Piet Puk 4 years ago
I just wonder how people are still Catholic after knowing how many child abusers were, and still are being protected by that same church.
ivan bolitekurac 4 years ago
Of course you are lying,where exactly did you pay for your salvation??That's pure bs because bp is always anti Christian
RELATED:
#2
Insurance. You’re obligated to get it legally but when you actually need it, they’ll do everything in their power to not pay out…
Chris 4 years ago
This very much depends on the type of insurance, how well regulated it is, and the insurer.
Bama Belle 4 years ago
Well, I'm 45 years old and all of my experiences with insurance companies have been exactly that way.
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Angela Kelley 4 years ago
After Hurricane Florence hit my home in Surf City, NC, and having paid insurance for years (including flood insurance in the thousands of dollars), USAA broke me & my spirit. They did this just as much as losing everything I had, my home, my business, all of my belongings, gone. Everything was to be covered at full market value, not even close. Not to go without mentioning the adjuster was simply ugly on the inside. Since then I only see insurance companies as legal thieves that quite frankly, make me sick to my stomach.
Ashasaurus rex 4 years ago
I am done with usaa also. They are a horrible company.
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Ian Bartels 4 years ago
Check your insurance company. We paid our maximum out of pocket for my wife's surgery instead of the billed $50,000. Insurance kept us from losing our house.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
When someone hit my car in a parking lot, his insurance company was great. I had approval for repairs within 48 hours, and the work was done at the body shop that my dealership uses. At five miles an hour, he did just over $5000.00 damage.
John L 4 years ago (edited)
When I had an accident, my insurance company called me and told me that the repair shop needed to hold onto my car longer for repairs. They called to tell me that I would be responsible for the extended rental time. I told them to pound sand and they relented. You pay them for decades and when you have a claim, they try to squeeze every nickel out of you. As far as I am concerned, insurance should be at the very top of this list.
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ShareMusic 4 years ago
We have had only one bad experience with an insurer. After they dropped us, we found a gem of and insurance company through sheer luck and have never ever had a problem with them since.
Kantami Blossom 4 years ago
Whether they pay out or not they're still a scam. My father was in a car crash because some guy in a big hurry to get nowhere fast cut round the back end of a car and shot across a turn straight into my dad's car, after everything was sorted out the insurance company decided it was too expensive to fix the car and my father who is disabled and needs the car to get around was given just £500. He'd been with the company for years paying them thousands for insurance and gets a pittance when he actually has to claim, insurance is a scam plain and simple.
Donkey boi 4 years ago
In the UK the only legally obligated insurance is for your vehicle. Even then it's a minimum requirement to cover 3rd party damage & injury. I used to be an adjuster and I can promise you we paid 95% of the time (100% with one particular insurer who would not let us repudiate a claim).
Rosidah Yahya 4 years ago
Disagree bc it depends on the company n case, n maybe which country u r living
#3
The US healthcare system. Hell, just name any aspect of life in the US and there's probably a scam somewhere in there.
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
America commits crimes against humanity in the majority of instances I for those who aren’t wealthy. The political leaders are so reliant on the profit based system that they make anti-human choices and laws. It’s plain old deadly greed. And too many people pretend it’s normal. It’s not. Tens of thousands of people die needlessly every year because our govt thinks healthcare is a market like any other business. And people aren’t allowed to know up front what costs will be. We are a very rich country and could afford to have healthcare for everyone, including better preventive care, dental, eye care and mental health care but that would not make profits for the needless middlemen. People who aren’t doctors make life and death decisions about what health care. The rest of the globe should call us on this as a anti- humanitarian crime - if not a deliberate profit based genocide based on lack of wealth.
Rosidah Yahya 4 years ago
wow well said but very sad indeed, i feel the pain for those poor ppl in US n hope soon this greed will end n they have universal health care like other countries
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Weronika Kasperska 4 years ago
I don’t understand why you are just sitting at home and agree for all of that BS. There should be massive protests every day against your sh*tty healthcare system, expensive high education, lack of protection for your elders, no maternity leave (we have 1 year 100% paid), low minimum wage (or non in some areas)... like WHY?
Frankenfrog 4 years ago
Because people have been brainwashed into thinking it would be more expensive with socialised healthcare when it's really not
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Id row 4 years ago
You mean it's wrong that hospitals charge new moms $40 to hold their baby after giving birth?
Viviane 4 years ago (edited)
Wow. Pimping newborns to their own mothers. "Sure, you can hold the baby. But it'll cost you."
Load More Replies... Amina Hays 4 years ago
I have a lot of health problems, a couple are really serious eg. I had to have a kidney removed when I was 26 as it was rotting inside my body. If I lived in America, I'd definitely be dead. Purely because I couldn't afford to be alive. I wouldn't qualify for insurance because I was born with a couple of the conditions. How their health care system is legal is beyond me. Die hard 'muricans think it's the best place on the planet but to outsiders, especially people like me, that could not be further from the truth.
Tiffany R 1 year ago
It also depends… I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and to have my hip reconstructive surgery I had to pay $5000 on top of my insurance. I was able to run within 12 weeks… in Canada… her name was Jennyfer Hatch… she had EDS… she wanted to live… Canada only offered death, and used her as a poster child for the movement. Also, they (Canadian VA/healthcare) also pushed MAID as the first and main option for veterans suffering with depression and/or PTSD
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Cee Mor 4 years ago
Insurance in general is the biggest scam in America...heck, my house insurance just went up because of the price of lumber....come on, the price of lumber?!!!
Frankenfrog 4 years ago
But.. how?? Is your house made of wood? And even if it is, it's ALREADY been built and paid for so... why?
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Sean Harrison 4 years ago
Unfortunately the easiest type of business to start in the USA is one of being a "middle-man" company. You basically become a "tollbooth" between the customer and company, or between a company and manufacturer.
David Redman 4 years ago
Should add, we don't have universal health care..greed is why.
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Danieletc 4 years ago
And in Lithuania, too!! Riiight, Bored Panda? You poor kidz, so conditioned, every time you read the word "America" your knee-jerk thought is "BASH, BASH, BASH!!!"
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Yes, the socialized health care system in Lithuania is semi in shambles, crumbling old hospitals and if you want to go to the head of the line, you have to bribe someone. This is in Lithuanian newspapers, read up.
Load More Replies...Previously, I’d had a chat with one of the moderators at the r/Scams subreddit about internet scams, how they’re different from regular ones, and what we can do to protect ourselves from them. Though nobody’s ever truly foolproof, education, preparation, and even rudimentary research are all lifesavers.
"I think online shopping scams are different because you lose that layer of dealing with a real-life person. When you have a real person in front of you, a typical person will feel shame or guilt at the thought of taking advantage of a person,” one of the mods from r/Scams told me during an earlier interview.
“With the internet, you aren't dealing with a person, but a username and avatar. It is much easier to act maliciously when you don't have a real victim directly in front of you," they said.
#4
Diamonds. Diamonds are a fairly common gemstone but the world's supplier of them is a monopoly and they hoard the majority of their stock to jack the prices up. Emeralds, Rubies and Sapphires are actually rarer than diamonds but cost less because of this.
Cat on a bike 4 years ago
Diamond are not only used as gemstones but also in the industry for various cutting and polisihing effects. You can't use the other gemstones for this as they are not as hard. This is also a contributor.
Stille20 4 years ago
Agreed, I love my engagement ring but it was completely unnecessary. I would rather spend the money on a trip.
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Cameron Jacobs 4 years ago
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ - this article is the reason why I don't have an engagement ring. Diamonds are indeed a sham.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
I bought a 4 carat heart shaped white opal to put in a pair of earrings and I think I paid about $400.00 for it. It's a beautiful, fiery stone. Top quality.
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Monika Rhodes 4 years ago
No one would convince me to have a diamond. Amber or opals with colours on the other hand- anytime.
Karynne Williams 4 years ago
Thank you! I have always said Diamonds are the biggest scam there is. It's my birthstone, but I don't like them. whenever someone uses the word rare in regards to diamonds, I always ask them "then why are there thousands of them in every jewelry store you see?" Usually shuts them up
Bella, Your Kitty-Loving Queen 4 years ago
Yes! This! I bought a ring with a tiny emerald on it, and I mean pretty tiny, it was like 75 bucks. Then there was a diamond ring, same band, same size gemstone, and it was like 200 bucks!
#5
"Woman's" anything. 90% are just colored different. Razors are the biggest offenders IMOP.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
Men's razors are so much better in my opinion and not just because they are cheaper, but I get a closer shave with them.
Bill Evs 4 years ago
My wife never uses "women's" razors, she always buys men's (or more often than not steals mine) as she says they're better and cheaper
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Yara Balabanova 4 years ago
These types of razors also contribute a ton of plastic pollution, it's better to get a metal safety razor that can be used indefinitely imo
Chucky Cheezburger 4 years ago
Double edge blades in a holder, best ones there are.
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anarkzie 4 years ago
Men's razors are also a scam. The keep changing the design so the you have to buy a whole new set when they could keep the same design and just sell new razor heads. Extra blades, moisture strips etc make little real difference, it's all marketing.
Grady'sRaider 4 years ago
Yup. $5 for a single cartridge is userous. Check out disposables with the same features as your old handle used. Clip the cartridge free with nail clippers, and insert.😉
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Alice White 4 years ago
Having to pay for anything related to our periods IS the most bewildering thing... marketing for genders is one thing but having us have a budget throughout our lives to pay for something that benefits the whole world (cause u know... babies...) is completely crazy to me
arponet 4 years ago
Which one is your alternative: Workers in those factories do not receive wages. Just go over there, get someones and force them to work. Basically, what along history was called slavery We pay an extra tax, the government buys all these items that will be distributed in the post office, where women will have to go and proof they are using what they get in order to avoid unnecessary waste Do not use anything, and change the society to make the consequences "normal" What is your alternative, please?
Load More Replies... I I 4 years ago
yep , my wife buys the same razors as i do and she says they last at least 3x as long as female ones , they're just not pretty colours
ThatOneWriter 4 years ago
I gave up on "women's" anything. I wear a size 12 in women's which nobody carries. Sneakers? Size 10 men. Pants? With men's skinny jeans I get ACTUAL POCKETS and a consistent fit based on measurements, not random numbers. Men's deoderant smells better and the razors tend to not get gunked up. Marking stuff as "women's" is 100% a scam. When they are different they're more expensive and tend to be lower quality 😒
Mariele Scherzinger 4 years ago
Well, shaving cream for example will have different kinds of scented substances in it. For women, flowery fragrances, for men - I don't know, eucalypt or something like that? I usually buy the men's products because they are cheaper. The process of shaving your legs covers a lot of skin.
RoseTheMad 4 years ago
The Pink Tax is real huge problem, it isn't just razors or hygeine products, it's literally everything. Clothes, hairdressing, EVERY.THING.
Grady'sRaider 4 years ago
A friend worked retail. Fashionable clothes were 700-800% markup and the quality was poor (both stiching and fabric). My advice to men or women, buy well made classic clothing. Test materials with a crush test, if it doesn't come back after being squeezed, walk away. Look at the stitching, 6 stitches per inch is junk. You worked for money, spend it wisely.
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#6
Planned obsolescence. Appliances being designed to fail sooner in order to sooner create demand for a replacement. In the same vein, devices being designed to not be repairable, so that you need to invest in a shiny new specimen whenever fashion or the predesigned breakdown require it.
N G 4 years ago
I'm not sure "most people don't realise [this] is a scam" applies here. Most people know their appliances break before their parents version ever did, or know that it cannot be fixed the way their grandparents did. But a key feature of a scam is that you have a way to avoid it. You cannot avoid your microwave breaking due to planned obsolescence unless you build your own damn*d microwave, because EVERY microwave is built with planned obsolescence. This is more like "suspect and unethical practices we consumers encounter from companies"
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
The market of good, built to last appliances is almost gone too. I have had several people ask if i want to sell my vacuum over the years, have had other ones that died, and lo and behold i got the old one out again. (Its a Tellus, steel body. I have bought a new hose for it once, as the old one cracked with sheer age. It can take the fleas off your dog) But they are getting rare, and vcrs, crt tvs etc are essentially obsolete regardless of function :(
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Cip IESAN 4 years ago
I've heard that this will change in the EU, because of pollution - appliances will be designed to last 10 years and to be repaired, not replaced.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
That is really awesome. Repair can reduce waste, and any jobs lost from production of shoddy machines is replaced with manufacturing parts and repair service!
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Giles McArdell 4 years ago
Being able to (occasionally) fix things is a real boon. I got a broken lawn mower from Freegle, taking it apart I realised it was designed such that the drive belt would slip off as soon as it became even slightly worn. I fixed the design (added a plastic ring to stop the belt falling off) and it's still running fine 10 years later!
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
unfortunately most electronics is not made to be fixed. Nowaday they use glue or snapjoints so you have to break things in order to even open them.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
I think part of this is that people don't read manuals and do proper upkeep, maybe? I've gotten apppliances to way outlast the so-called "lifespan" by just doing the proper upkeep.... regardless of brand, nitiial cost, etc.
Requiem 4 years ago
No, theres no money in repairs because people pay a small amount for warranty and it dies right away and you get a replacement. They fix it and resell it. I was a mover /delivery of furniture and appliances since 97. It went from bringing a tv or appliance to the repair guy to just bringing it back to the store and giving them a new one
Hugo A-niro 4 years ago
I did not realize that things could last forever if companies wanted to make them thar way .amazing!
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
There's a light bulb burning that has been lit for over 100 years. And yet the ones we buy don't last for more than a few months in regular use. This is a very deliberate manufacturing decision, not an accident.
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esssea 0903 4 years ago
I think like if this is not done, then the company with thousands of people will go bank rupt right? Like mobiles, we gotta buy a new one every 2-3 years later, and WE DEFO use them for its storage to go brr.. and also for other appliances in my house we have them for like more than 5 years and we also need to improve with time.
“Online scams also use a lot of tricks to pressure buyers; low prices, pushes to buy now!, taking advantage of someone's kindness or naivete (re: advance check fraud, money mules, etc), or advertising one product and sending another (or nothing at all, by using a fake tracking number). Getting a person to make a decision via high-pressure tactics and preventing them from reflecting and making a sound decision is key," the mod listed some of the tactics that online fraudsters use to get their victims to part with their hard-earned cash.
"If a deal is too good to be true, it is. If you see a pair of brand new Apple AirPods advertised for $50, you are not getting an authentic product. There are many counterfeit items out there on the market, and you need to verify authenticity before hitting buy," the redditor reiterated that we should always trust our gut and stay skeptical of empty promises.
#7
Unpaid internships. What the actual f**k is wrong with America.
I want cake 4 years ago (edited)
Not exclusively an American thing. The reason I work in a completely different sector than my degree in art history is that I refused to do an unpaid or minimally paid internship, because I couldn't afford to. These art galleries would straight faced tell you they don't have money to pay you more than 195 euro a month for 40 hours of work, but spend triple that on an opening party for a new exhibition. Screw that. Edit: 40 hours of work a week. So 195 euro for 160 hours of work in a four-week month.
Patty O'Heater 4 years ago
The hugely profitable Vivienne Westwood fashion empire is run on unpaid interns. Profitable for Westwood anyway. For all her bleating about 'inclusivity', 'saving the planet', 'sustainability' and any bandwagon she can think of, all profits are pushed through an offshore company based in Luxembourg, so minimal tax is paid. She herself is worth well over $50 million so it would not hurt her to pay her staff properly.
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Flopsy 4 years ago
Europe here. After finishing a PhD and a second master's from a very prestigious university, had to do a 3 month unpaid internship, followed by a year of working where I was actually losing money (my salary wasn't fully covering my very basic living expenses) to then be able to apply to an entry level position in a large company. I am happy where I am now, but it's frustrating to think what I went through. And I am one of the lucky ones who made it!
Ozacoter 4 years ago
Same. My master in the netherlands required two unpaid internships of 9 and 6 months. Where the employers do not teach you anything at all, dont give you sick leave or paid holidays. All to end up looking for a job and been told that "internships dont count as experience ". Its a f*****g scam
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Casey McAlister 4 years ago
Despicable employers like this are everywhere, not only in America.
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
Internships are slavery in a business suit. I have heard time and again about interns who were offered a chance to "learn the ropes" but instead ended up serving coffee and distributing the mail.
Load More Replies... Requiem 4 years ago
Its like Canada doing practicums after paying thousands for school. At the end you go to actual work in the field your studying for and dont get paid while you learn to do the job. And than at the end you hope you can get a job with the tiny amount of experience you have and the degree or certificate you received
Id row 4 years ago
I did an unpaid internship after school and I learned a lot. It also got me hired at another place because they knew I already had the training. They're not a bad thing if they're done right.
I want cake 4 years ago
'if done right' being the operative clause here. Unfortunately, that's exceedingly rare.
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Andresa Silva 4 years ago
In Portugal, I was in college I had to paid to intern 300h in a hotel, because the internship was a class 🙃
#8
Scientology... And by most people, I mean those people in it.
May 4 years ago
Scientology is in a league of it own though - much more predatory than most religions
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David Redman 4 years ago
Ron Hubbard was a fiction science writer and Scientology is exactly that....fiction. It is NOT a religion, it is a mind-altering cult.
Lorrie Rothstein 4 years ago (edited)
Scientology will suck your bank account dry, shun you,make you live in a hovel,keep you for life
Sian Edwards 4 years ago
They know it's a scam, but once you're in, you're stuck and threatened with lawsuits and disappearance. So you don't say anything.
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Of course you would, having made a deep, comprehensive study of all of them.
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#9
The Humane Society of the United States
"HSUS doesn’t run a single pet shelter. HSUS is not affiliated with any pet shelters. And HSUS only gives 1% of donations to pet shelters." Most of the donated money goes into the higher up's pension plans.
Seriously don't donate money to them, instead donate to a local shelter near you, they're the ones doing real work & helping animals.
Any "charity" whose president is living high on the hog on donations is a scam.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
Most "charities" do this, sending money to the directors and doing very little of use. It's almost as bad as the millionaire celebs pestering us to give money to "their" charity. Look at the Oxfam scandals for a start!!
KatHat 4 years ago
No, "most" charities do not do this; what a foolish and damaging claim. SOME do. "Most" businesses are far worse, paying CEO's multi-millions and paying workers as little as possible while they work exhausting hours and need benefits to get by. Time to update your thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfAzi6D5FpM
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Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
PETA is just terrorists who hate animals. End of.
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JustABoredwing 4 years ago
My local humane society is actually good, as they do own a shelter and are rather popular in the region. Plus, they have good pets. (Speaking from experience)
Eucritta 4 years ago
Local humane societies and SPCAs are independent, at least in the US. They're not chapters of a larger organization, but separate entities.
Load More Replies... Michael Melvin 4 years ago
Does HSUS claim to fund shelters and rescues? Genuinely curious, a quick look at their web page seems to indicate they are mostly involved in creating laws to protect animals. They made $80 something million one year and spent $20 million on lobbying and litigation, $24 million on further fundraising and only paid the CEO $250k.
Eucritta 4 years ago
The original comment is, I think, a bit outdated. Both the HSUS and the ASPCA used to be notorious for misrepresenting their services, but they've both improved in the last dozen years.
Load More Replies... Stille20 4 years ago
All charities of size have CEOs making 6 figures. Usually they are making half of what they would make cooperate for the same amount of work. However, I can not defend the humane society.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Find a local no-kill shelter. They need the help. Our local "humane society" (actually ASPCA) director made a cool million before she was busted.
Rick McConnell 4 years ago
As with everything, check out the claims. I used Charity Navigator which gives HSUS a very unimpressive 2 out of 4 stars, with a lot of detail as to why. Much better choices out there if you want to do good.
"Not only to avoid contributing to the counterfeit market, but because these knockoff products do not always go through the same safety standards of the real item; they may not be UL certified, they may use chemicals or ingredients that are not FDA approved and are unsafe for use on or in the human body, or could cause major harm to human life or property."
What’s more, even seemingly safe activities like renting properties online can lead to disappointment and lost money. “It is very common for scammers to lift photos and descriptions of houses for sale, mark down the rent as ridiculously cheap, then insist on getting the deposit sent via Western Union or other untraceable means; when it comes time to pick up your keys, the money is gone and there was no rental for you to move into, to begin with."
#10
Contrary to popular belief, there a very few hot Russian singles in my area.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
I love the ones where someone in *my town* is making thousands per day, accompanied by an image of someone with a pile of foreign money. Oooh, so authentic 🤗
Donkey boi 4 years ago
My friends girlfriend is one of the girls in the pictures for those adds. They stole her photo from social media. She occasionally gets looks from people as though they recognise her but can't place where.
Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago
Hot singles in your area... wish you would turn up the air conditioning.
David Redman 4 years ago
If you want a hot Russian, I know exactly where you can go...to Russia.
#11
.99 cents at the end of pricing.
Steve 4 years ago
There's a REALLY good reason for this. Making it .99 forces the cashier to open the register and give change, so they can't just pocket the money.
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Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
The brain reacts to this well, 36.99 at a glance feels cheaper than 37. Like how shops use music to speed up or slow down consumers, have "exposed warehouse" interiors to make you feel like you are getting a bargain, deliberately putting bread and milk far apart to make you walk through the shop...it's endless shopping psychology
Death Metal Kitty 4 years ago
Have done research for this... it doesn't work that way. The psychology of .99 only works at the round numbers to drive the perception that you've not entered the next price bracket. In cases of "middle of nowhere numbers", it doesn't make you think that the product is cheaper.
Load More Replies... I want cake 4 years ago
My fiancé falls for these and it annoys me so much. He'll be like, 'I bought this thing for 20 euro' and it'll say 29,99 on the receipt. It's in part because he has acalculia I think but I hate that he fall for it because I'm the one who keeps having to either say nothing and let him be surprised that his money is going faster than he thought, or say something and put a damper on his joy that he just got a good deal.
Honu 4 years ago
I had a roommate like that. It was especially annoying when we'd go out to eat and split the check. She never shorted on a bill, but we'd have to explain every time why she owed what she owed. Even worse, we're in the US, so prices don't include tax and it's customary to tip. She'd order something for $10.99 and be shocked when her end of the bill was more like $13 or $14 and she thought it would be $10. She was the sort of person the .99 thing (as well as not showing prices with the tax included) was built for. She was surprised every time. I wouldn't be surprised if she also had acalculia.
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Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago (edited)
Like gas... $2.79 & 9/10 per gallon... because $2.80 is just too flipping expensive!
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
That would drive me mad. Gst (ie sales tax) in included in prices here, so what it says it costs is what you pay (unless you pay cash, the round it up/down to the nearest .10c value, our smallest denomination)
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 4 years ago (edited)
Pay them with cash and insist that they return the one cent to you. Let's see how long they are willing to go through that trouble everytime. In Denmark it is little more sneaky as many prices ends on .95, but as the smallest coin is 0.50 that cannot be paid in cash and you end up spending slightly more since it is rounded up.
Trish Greene 3 years ago
This was actually designed by Ben Franklin. He figured people would tend to round down and see the price as $36.00 instead of $37.00.
#12
Printer ink.
Chich 4 years ago
I bought one with tanks that I just pour ink into when they get low. No more tiny $50 cartridges.
ravina nimje 4 years ago
HP sells cartridges that can not be refilled once 100%empty and they check the number of prints and no the amount of ink used.
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Lola 4 years ago
The ink for my printer cost more than the printer. Is there a reason to this madness?
Earl Grey 4 years ago
It is called the “razor and razor blades” model. Give away the razor handle with a free blade, and charge a fortune for the replacement blades.
Load More Replies... K.Kobayashi 4 years ago
This is just consumers being their own worst enemy. People buy the cheapest printers then get angry that they require expensive cartridges. They could have just bought a more expensive printer that has a lower running cost, but people always go for the cheapest purchase cost.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
One day at work as the service guy for a “ major” company for our copy machine was trying to fix it, I happened to be checking out a patient that told me he used to work for them, it is all a scam. Parts and service are always needed at least 4-6 times a year for a brand new state of the art machine.
Giles McArdell 4 years ago
For ink jets certainly, toner for laser printers seems more reasonable.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Yeah my son wanted to buy a printer with his savings. I said well, let's check what ink it needs, and took him to the toner section. The ink cost almost 3x what the printer cost, and was a bad design (not refillable). I try to financially educate him if the opportunity presents itself (like when I was a wee girl and wanted to buy sky tv (cable) because id seen an ad on tv saying it was on special for $20. My sister explained about the whole ongoing subscription thing. Then I knew more, and hassled my parents for sky less often (slightly lol)
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
Cheap printers you know it will be costly ink cartridges.. I buy online from a generic ink business that works as well. No issues.
Angelus Jiménez 4 years ago
LASER PRINTER!!! Way cheaper, and 99% you only print black anyway.
Neill Powell 4 years ago
Actually, using an inkjet printer today is getting cheaper by the hour. Monopolies have ended since the move to digital and the competition is extreme. HP, Epson, etc have realised that the market is dying and that the money is dwindling rapidly.
The mod explained how doing some background research can help you avoid online rental scams. For starters, try Googling the address and seeing if it’s on a real estate listing for the property for sale. “You may find a real estate listing on MLS, Zillow, or other popular property rental/sale sites. I ran into this recently with a too-good-to-be-true rental, and I was able to report the listing and notify the listing agent that their listing was being used in a scam," they said.
An extra line of defense that you should consider is getting a credit card and using that instead of a debit card. “Credit card protections for most cards are much more forgiving than debit cards. You can generally get your money back faster if you were scammed or mislead by a business, versus initiating an investigation through your bank. It is always smarter to pay by credit card (and pay off your balance monthly!)."
#13
Expiration date on million years old himalayan salt.
Hannu Luhtasela 4 years ago
Expiration date is added on these things because packaking materials (plastic etc) releases chemicals over the years into the product.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
It has absolutely nothing to do with that. If products did not have expiration dates, their manufacturers would be on-the-hook for any liability essentially forever. The date is not an expiration of the product itself, but the end-date of when the manufacturer is liable for the quality of the product.
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Requiem 4 years ago
You should be more concerned on how pink salt is f*****g SALT! its SALT, not something special or mystical. Salt is salt, like sugar is sugar. Honey has glucose the exact same as cane sugar or from anywhere else. Your body isnt "oh this is Himalayan salt, its better for me"
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
My salt doesn't have an expiration date on it (just checked), although I'll raise you "best before" dates which companies have always let people believe meant "bin it", but have been forced to admit recently that many food items are good for quite a while longer.
Nicely 4 years ago
Expiration dates are the dates the manufacturer can say legally the product will last for. This means paying for testing. That testing gets very expensive after around 3 years - think about how much product your lab would be storing, 5 tins of beans per test, for different environments. So a lot of products' expiration dates are actually the date of the final test, even if the product could in theory last for millennia.
Niall Mac Iomera 4 years ago
I've never seen salt with an expiration date. They have a best by date though. The salt absorbs moisture from the air, or odours, making it not very nice to use.
Angelus Jiménez 4 years ago
They researched these "mineralized salts" and the most of the ingredients were dirt.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago (edited)
Hahahaaha! Right? Or on vinegar or anything pickled, etc. It's because of people like my husband who freak out if the salad dressing is past it's date. It's oil & vinegar, which I keep in the refrigerator.
#14
Having to pay $100+ bucks for Microsoft word.
Evil Swan 4 years ago
I think most users don't need microsoft office pack, but as someone with above average need, i have to admit it is a great software with great functionality
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Ppl have to pay just once tho right? I have the office suite (old one) on my xp desktop, I can do whatever then upload it to my phone and just save it in compatability mode? NB I got annoyed at word when they changed the toolbar to the 'dynamic ribbon', I prefer the version I have, for as long as I can make the ensuing files compatible :)
Load More Replies... Dave P 4 years ago
use open office. You want the premium product you pay for it. You want free, use Open Office
K.Kobayashi 4 years ago (edited)
Stupid to call this a scam. Software costs money to develop and support. Also it doesn't cost $100 to use Word, it's $100 a year to use all Office software plus their online versions and 1TB cloud storage.
fuggnuggins 4 years ago
Unless you only use Word. In that case it costs $100/yr to use Word.
Load More Replies... Giovanni 4 years ago
Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides do the same thing as Word, Excel and PowerPoint and they are all free.
Brendan 4 years ago
I use Google Docs because it is free. And, although it is a great piece of software, I don't think it's as good as Word.
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Nicholas Kraemer 4 years ago
Do you want people to be paid fair wages or do you want things cheap? Please decide.
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago (edited)
I agree. I think a lot of people are used to using MS products for free through work, school, or library and do not realize the company or institution pays a lot for the license to use the products, so they think they are, or should be, free. MS products are superior and I have never minded paying for them for my personal use. And as other people have pointed out, there are plenty of other options such as Open Office or Google Documents if you do not want to pay MS for Word or Excel.
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I want cake 4 years ago
A year! I refuse to pay 99euro a year for Word and a bunch of programmes I never use, so I paid 45 euro once for Scrivener, which I get to update to the newest version for free because I bought it less than four years ago.
Alan Green 4 years ago
You could have got Microsoft Office for less than that if you bought it from a legal CD key website.
Load More Replies... Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
That annoys me, for mine was lost when I needed a simple computer repair and they deleted it as happens. It did not like all other programs copy over.
#15
Trickle down economics.
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
That people ever bought into this, or worse - still push it - is another draconian greed grab.
I I 4 years ago
never worked never will , big companies and the wealthy just need to pay their fair share of taxes , solve most countries problems , but every time conservatives give them tax breaks , boils my blood ,
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s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Staunch Democrat Jeff B of Amazon fame pays barely a cent of taxes, due to "offshore" shenanigans, as do so, so many others of his hypocritical ilk.
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Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
BIGGEST SCAM EVER. You know what trickles down?.... hint: you usually flush it down a toilet
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
Trickle-down economics is the Republican "rainbows and unicorns."
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 4 years ago (edited)
It always confuses me why no one is trying to sell the"Trickly up effect". Give the money to those at the bottom who needs them most. When they spend them it will kickstart the economy and create jobs and increased business for the factory owners, who can now more easily sell their products. It may raise the living standard, and make people more productive, as their time is no longer spend on things that can be automated like washing clothes. Give the money to the rich who allready have more money than they know what to do with and they will either be spend abroad on unnessary luxerygoods, or it goes out of circulation and just becomes a slightly larger number in a computer somewhere. I think the sad truth is that money slowly looses their spending power over time, so they are the most fun when they are newly created and by the time they have trickled up through the system to the rich and powerfull they will no longer have the same value, which is why they fight so hard for the current system.
MrOwlAteMyMetalWorm. 4 years ago (edited)
I just don't understand how is it ok that some people can't even afford food ,rent and toiletries while others use dollar bills to wipe their ass ?I mean in what way does that seem like a civilisation?How is it that the government isn't reponsible for that?Why do we have organisation if not to protect us?Why isn't universal basic income a thing?Why are we still fighting like animals just to survive no money no food no shelter and at the same time we are sending spaceships to Mars ,planning life on Mars?I feel like Aliens would be ashamed to think we are the most intelligent life on planet Earth.Shame.
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
It is normally defended as "freedom" and "controlling your own luck" ...or whatever excuse can be used to make people blame themself instead of those rigging the system. The problems is that those who make the rules are also those who benefit from them, and hence they have no interest in having it any other way. Once you are in power it makes it much easier to stay in power by all kinds of sneaky means like gerrymandering, lobbying, fillibustering, votersuppressions, deciving etc. Politics in the US has become really forked up. It is time for the people to wake up, educate themself of how the sytem is runned and choose some better politicians.
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Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
Literally every conservative idea is something they just pulled out of their butt without any data. And they believe it too for the simple fact they wish it were true. Deregulation? See Texas power companies. Free market? Not when they're 'too big to fail' and need government bailouts.
#16
Recycling plastic. The “recycling symbol” with the number on it is not a recycling symbol. It’s a resin identification code. It was intentionally designed to look like the recycling symbol to fool consumers. Only around 10% of plastics are recycled and usually only once. The whole campaign about recycling plastics and consumer responsibility was set up by the bottling companies to avoid legislation banning plastics because of their harm to the environment.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
We should go back to glass bottles. Everything tastes better out of glass anyway, easier and cheaper to recycle, and a surcharge on the bottles (money back for empty bottles) means less litter.
Helen Haley 4 years ago
I agree, but we need to find a glass and plastic alternative. Glass is just so heavy. It increases shipping costs and gas usage.
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Scagsy 4 years ago
Just found out the other week that tonnes of our (UK) plastic 'recyclables' end up being burnt abroad. Literally just set on fire. Goodness knows how many toxic chemicals are going up into the atmosphere despite the fact that they tell us we're recycling. Then they come back to us and say 'Oh, by the way, our carbon footprint is too high. You need to use public transport.' It's a joke.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
Government: yo you shouldn't have a dog they pollute too much. Container ships, who switch to high-sulphur fuel as soon as they're out of national waters:
Load More Replies... s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
And just sidle up to the cow for your litre of milk when you need it!
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Vasana Phong 4 years ago
I read somewhere that it costs these companies more to recycle then making the brand new product
Martin Cichos 4 years ago
Most plastics can be recycled up to 5 times before it's so poor quality it can't be recycled anymore
#17
Ordering a full carafe of wine in a restaurant. Where I work, a full carafe can fill 4-5 glasses. Ordering 5 glasses of some of our types of wine is actually $1-2 cheaper than the full carafe. Check the prices and do the math before ordering! Same goes for pitchers of beer!
Scagsy 4 years ago
I don't really trust carafes. It could be literally anything in there. Wine that's been left open for a fortnight. Old stock. Damaged stock. Diluted. etc.
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
I am more shocked at what they serve and call a glass of wine now..it barely covers half the level in each standard glass.
Eric Lafleur 4 years ago
Or, just go to restaurants where you can bring your own wine. At least you won't be scamed paying a lot for cheap wine.
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Once we were served a cheap wine (on sale cost like 2 euro) and they just set the bottle on the table, not even a carafe, and that was it. Cost us over 8 euro for "Chateau Topolcianky" which is disgusting (no, the wine was not named, just labelled as "rosé"). If you ever visit Slovakia, avoid this wine like the plague.
Wouter 4 years ago
You may have noticed that you pay more for many products in a restaurant than in the shop. They're working for you, is not a charity.... Also, most wines don't have a 'name' other than the producer and type
Load More Replies... #18
When stores ask you to donate at checkout, they're using it as a tax write off.
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
This. I learned about this recently and it made me ill. I wonder what actually goes to the charity. Things like this should be transparent and easy to find out but most, if not all - are not. It’s devastating because I want to donate what I can to things and I don’t. : ( I donate to the KIND fund for desks and tuition for girls in Africa (school is not free and girls lose the most. They need personal products, too). I hope it is a meaningful way to give.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
Really?? Now I don’t feel guilty donating $2 to get a 5$ off coupon for my next visit 😳
M the Lemur 4 years ago
I no longer feel like a monster when I pick "Don't round up" at a store!
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W C 4 years ago
Same with the car dealerships that tell you they will make a donation from every sale to make the buyer feel good. No thanks. Give me that money in the form of reduction in sales price. That way, I can make sure it makes it to the charity (of my choosing!). Plus, then I can get the tax deduction if my charitable gifts are above a certain threshold.
Vickie Martin 4 years ago
I never thought of that. At the Goodwill they always ask you to round up to the next dollar to help support their mission, and I always feel guilty saying no so I always round up. I won't the next time.
Libstak 4 years ago
They are basically getting the tax write off you would receive if you donated directly to the charity.
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Janice Chapman 4 years ago
I get a receipt from my donation that I can use on my taxes so...maybe only if you donate in cash....if you want to donate, use your credit card.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago (edited)
The owner (and namesake) of the tableware company I used to work for in Seattle claimed the company donated 15% off all profits to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research during the month of October. I was the bookkeeper there for almost 5 years and never once cut a check to this foundation. I also provided our CPA all of her personal financials for tax prep. She never donated personally, either.
#19
The concept of "superfoods" and "organic" anything. I work at a smoothie bowl place, and people will come in and literally pile 1500 calories full of peanut butter and granola into a bowl and think it's healthy because they put some superfood organic something into a bowl. It's literally pumpkin granola cereal from the store down the street, it's not going to cure cancer.
I want cake 4 years ago (edited)
This one needs a bit of nuance on the organic part. Just because something is organic doesn't mean all the rules about nutrition fly out the window, but it isn't a scam in itself, it is a product that is better for the environment and the body as there are no (potentially) hazardous chemicals involved in the production process. However, the thing that gets me the most about organic produce is that the main reason it's so expensive (at least in my country) is that the certificates are so expensive and it drives the prices up way more than it needs. So what I do instead is find local producers who work organically but don't want to pay the certificates, and there are more of those than you'd think.
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
It is highly doubtful that most organic produce is good for the planet, and there is very little evidence that it is healthier. Organic farming is far less efficient than 'regular' farming, so it requires a lot more land to be farmed for the same output of food.
Load More Replies... Donkey boi 4 years ago
The worst thing about 'organic' is that people think that means 'no pesticides', it does not! They use 'organic pesticides', some of which are worse than man-made ones!
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Organic means produced with fewer toxins. NOT that it has fewer calories.
Johnnee 4 years ago
Organic food is a major scam. In theory it should be good for the planet but it doesn't work that way. Less produce with shorter life span. Depending on where you live it can also mean the organic choice is imported while the local non-organic food that costs less is disregarded by some food chains. I've seen that in my local stores.
Danny Ruiz 4 years ago
According to all food packaging, they're all now organic. I don't think it means the same anymore. An organic Tomato I bought at the crocer doesn't taste anywhere close to the Tomato I grow in my garden. You want true Organic, grow your own. It's cheaper than buying. You can certainly grow herbs in a window sill instead of spending $5 for a small container of 4 or less leaves.
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
Organic means free from chemicals ..superfoods is a selling ploy..isn't it? :+}
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
Reminds me of the total idiot woman at Whole Foods arguing with the guy at the butcher counter because she wanted "organic, grass fed chicken". The guy was trying to explain to her that chickens don't EAT grass.
#20
Psychics.
Lynn Donovan 4 years ago
I love my tarot cards. The cards in themselves are beautiful. My mom gave them to me when I was young to perpetuate the tradition. I do tarot reading to my friends (very occasionnally). Mind you, I don't believe they're magic in any way. I just think that there is so many interpretations possible, that the one you chose to believe is true tells a lot about your frame of mind. So I don't read the cards per se, I read my friends instead :)
Giles McArdell 4 years ago
Thanks Lynn. This is a wonderful way to keep this tradition, and those beautiful cards, alive without having to resort to magical thinking.
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Maria Schneider 4 years ago
Yeah, tarot cards ARE beautiful. I own a lot of decks, and I see them as artwork (not as prophecy instruments)
KombatBunni 4 years ago
I have a couple of decks that were given as gifts. I treasure them more for where they came from than anything else
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Ralph MALPH 4 years ago
Yes and no. I had one who made 2 predictions that came true and there is no way that I could influence the outcome. One involved my "receiving a sum of money- not a huge amount, but substantial." I was told by my boss the next week that I would be getting a check for $1000 because their accounting office had been taking too much out for my taxes. The second was "I see you traveling over a body of water and working a job where you get in and out of cars a lot." 6 months later, I was offered a job as a field engineer in Germany. I had little contact with the company up until then and accepted the job on the spur of the moment. It was a fantastic decision- stayed there for 5 years until the company lost the contract.
fuggnuggins 4 years ago (edited)
Two very vague descriptions and two very trivial events. Perfect match! Now if I keep rolling this die for a lifetime, what do you reckon the ratio of sixes rolled will be?
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O 4 years ago
Some. Some work free and can blow your mind. Convincing nonbelievers and scaring them sh**less at the same time.
Terd Fergison 4 years ago
Don't be gullible. There was a James Randi educational foundation with a million dollar prize to anyone that could demonstrate the supernatural in controlled scientific settings. No psychic or anyone claimed that prize.
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Lynn Morello 4 years ago
Tarot cards are a tool, They assist your own intuition to read things for up coming events. I have been reading Tarot Cards for 47 years AND I give a Money Back Guarantee on my information.
Olga Wilczyńska 4 years ago
There is nothing new in considering psychics as scam. This is also an OPINION not pointing out an actual scam. Just because you don't like or take advantage from psychics doesn't mean you need to invalidate other people's needs, they are aware of what are they doing. There is a lot of methods of using Tarot it's not always belivieng in literal magic.
#21
In app mobile purchases. Especially for kids games.
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
I hate this. I don’t get apps that have “in app purchases.” It’s limiting, but I won’t do it. The growth of “subscription” products (apps and other things) is another example of limiting access to things for lower wage people - I might buy something for ten dollars flat, but I can’t afford $4.00 a month - with automatic renewal. Also, “free trials” are usually not, requiring your credit card info and only available if you agree to pay after the free trial.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
I don't do anything with automatic renewals because I have forgotten to cancel. However, all those I'm familiar with do not force you "to agree to pay after the free trial". You do get a free trial... you just have to cancel the automatic renewal before payment starts.
Load More Replies... Scagsy 4 years ago
You buy the game. You should get the game. ALL of the game. And pay-to-win is disgusting.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
A game that costs 70 bucks shouldn't have umpteen DLCs and microtransactions up the oiseaux.
Load More Replies... Donkey boi 4 years ago
I'm in two minds about this. If the app is free they they have 2 options, advertisements or in app purchases (or both). I get that they have to make their money so if I don't mind too much, but when it becomes 'pay to win', that really gripes me.
CosmicCaramel 4 years ago
There's a kids mobile game called Animal Jam, and it's one of the very few to have benefits for both non members (people who don't have membership) and members! It doesn't have any ads last time I checked so I think it's a pretty rare gem.
Soulstice 4 years ago
When I was younger, all of my items disappeared and after many weeks of emailing with AJ, they told me they don't know what happened and that they weren't going restore them, so I quit playing.
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fuggnuggins 4 years ago
This first hit gamers, now it hits everyone - and it's not just in games. Gamers have rejected it so vehemently that it only really affects the ultra-consumer market of games now. It's reduced a lot in the core-gamer market, compared to a few years ago. And the big culprits seem to be slowly getting the message. Where it does exist, it's a lot fairer than earlier on. That this is still a big thing in other markets tells a lot about the average person. Take a page out of the gamer's playbook, people. Tell them, loud and clear, "Go f**k yourself." Strike. Boycott. Just say no. Push them to the fringe and they'll straighten up. No need to shut them down. No need to silence them. If they depend on you, then they'll respond to your signal. If not, then they'll respond to the signal of whoever they do depend on. If they continue, then someone must want it. Not your problem. Move on.
Aleksandra Radenova 4 years ago
How about licenses for something that don't include any upgrades? I understand your company needs to make money, but I'm not going to buy a whole new license just because you tweaked a couple of things and slapped a price sticker on it.
𝓴𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓲_𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓻𝓮𝔂 4 years ago
I know it's strange, but I genuinely hate Robux. It's unfair that kids basically have to pay to not get cyber bullied over the way their avatar looks.
Natalia Shoemark 4 years ago
It's surprising how quick they learn to 'skip ads' and x off them!
#22
Insurance, at least in the US. If you have to fight for something YOU PAY FOR to pay THAT WHICH IT'S LITERALLY SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR and in return GET SCREWED with higher premiums, higher deductibles and higher copay amounts, then it's basically useless. We're paying into a scam cause we're idiots who don't understand, and don't WANT to understand how much better off our we'd be with Universal coverage, due to cost alone. But hey, what do I know?
James016 4 years ago
I had such a nightmare with travel insurance once, we had to cancel a holiday as my son got sick a couple of days before, they did everything to avoid paying out. Even said that not using blue ink when filling out the form was a reason to reject the claim. It went on and on until we threatened court action, then it was settled.
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
Um, universal coverage is still Insurance. Why not do away with all of it and just have pay as you go?
JD Lee 4 years ago
Hit ice while driving; $1,200 fix bill. I “luckily” had insurance. I have paid decades of insurance on time & never late. After filing the claim they upped my insurance just enough, & long enough that I then paid the insurance company an extra $2,500 that year. GOOD THING I HAD INSURANCE!
Tlee Brooks 4 years ago
However, without it I'd be millions of dollars in debt. So, it's a huge scam...but it also caters to the US class system. I wish more than anything we had better health care...
#23
"Hustle" culture. Capital doesn't even have to manage you anymore; you manage yourself by convincing yourself that lack of sleep is good and that you should be working around the clock.
Chris365 4 years ago (edited)
Individualism is a cancer - divide and conquer has worked for Boris the ballbag, Trump etc. And is an easy go to for conservatives. Pit anyone with any difference against each other and it’s an easy win for them. It’s all just a class war at the end of the day but they manage to chop society up and weaken their opponents. ‘Hustles’ shouldn’t have to exist but there is a political will to encourage them to weaken you. They want everyone to think it is every man for themselves, to fight each other for resources, because together we’d vote them out.
Lola 4 years ago
Luckily, the majority of people don’t fall for that kind of thinking.
Load More Replies... Eslamala 4 years ago
Clearly an american thing. I've lived in 8 different countries, and most people do not work like slaves, nor do they bend over whenever their bosses throws them some extra cash they've already earned, as a "bonus"
Leodavinci 4 years ago
But when political leaders say jump, they ask how high. Most other country's social programming is an very appealing gilded cage... but a gilded cage is still a cage. And the "security" they offer is an illusion because there is no such thing as "security". Security is a self deception.
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Death Metal Kitty 4 years ago
Look at those who subscribe to the "hustle" culture... 'penny-wise, pound-foolish' aptly describes them to a t. They're so focused on the minutiae of another dollar, they give up everything else that is meaningful. Surely there's more to being a person than your job and what you do out side of that job.
KC Lancaster 4 years ago
Sorry, but I have to ask - are you intentionally being a troll? I'm over 55, my husband is over 60, and we both work two jobs. We are lucky to have full-time employment, and both also have part-time work for our own businesses not because we are 'penny-wise, pound-foolish', but after being frugal all our lives, as we approach "retirement" (if there is such a thing for us) we're desperately trying to get some money in the bank for medical issues, car/home maintenance, unforeseen economic disasters, and inflation (like now). We are lucky that we don't currently have any loans besides the mortgage, and some money in the bank, but our future is really just one expensive crisis away from being back to living on the street or out of a car like so many unfortunates do right now. I would ask you respectfully to please look at your comment from another viewpoint, like those who try so hard to simply make ends meet, put a roof over their heads, and feed themselves.
Load More Replies... Grady'sRaider 4 years ago
Yup. Wage slaves. If you don't work, you don’t eat.
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Vicki Thill 4 years ago
I think the 'hustle' culture is fading out with our newest generation of employees.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
F**k that. A former client (I tried to get him to understand that he was, in fact, my client not my boss. I was self employed so therefore, I was my boss - but I digress) asked if I could be at the office at 5:00 the next day. I was like "in the morning?" And he said yes, to which I just laughed at him and said, "Um - no". He had an absolute fit. Tough tits for you buddy. Dude, it took me 3 buses, a trolley ride and almost 1.5 hours to get there. I ended up leaving because he was constantly making stupid demands like that.
#24
“Work 12 hours a day every day and I’m surrrre they’ll move me up. I’m very valuable to my company “
Katherine Morgan 4 years ago
If you show that you’re willing to do the dog job they’ll keep you in it!
Bama Belle 4 years ago
True, I flat out had a supervisor tell me that I did a great job in a position that no one else wanted, so our bosses would never promote me. He was right. They passed me over for a woman who'd been with the company a year less than I, had no more experience or education and was all about drama at work. I quit two weeks later. A year after that, they tried to get me to come back to the company...doing the same job! I said no, but only after inquiring as to whether the other lady worked out (she hadn't).
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Leodavinci 4 years ago
If anyone else can do your job, the only value you have to a company is that you're easily replaceable. A former employer phased in a concept called "cross training" which was designed to enable any employee to do any other employee's job. They claimed it made us more valuable to the company. Nonsense.
Kim Lionessa 4 years ago
Cross training is for companies who are understaffed and have a business model of high turnover. It's by design.
Load More Replies... Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago
Never be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
...but if you are irreplaceable you cannot be fired either, and that makes a threat of seeking better options so much more powerfull when negociating pay and terms. If I learned anything from Pirates of the Carabean it would be that it's a game of making yourself irreplaceable all the time, or someone may stab your back or sacrifice you for their own benefit.
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 4 years ago
Everybody is promoted until they reach the level where they just barely have the skills to do their job properly. As a result no one quite know what they are doing in a company.
K Witmer 4 years ago
Everyone is replaceable and it sucks when you work for a corporation that reminds you of this everyday like Amazon. Someone could die on the floor and within 10mins someone has their job. You're not even an afterthought
Jon Steensen 4 years ago (edited)
...you may be replaceable, but the cost of letting you go may in some cases be very high when what you have build up collapses in your absense. If you do very specialised work a lot of specific knowledge will leave a company with you if they let you go. It happens all the time as a lot of knowledge is only kept in the memory of the employees since documenting everything in detail would take waaay to long and vaste valuable time/resources.
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Grady'sRaider 4 years ago
Want to work 12 hrs a day, become a consultant. Prep at the client site an hour before, leave an hour after the regulars. Work for 2 hours back in your hotel room on questions and problems that came up during the day. Charge the client the big consultants rate for an 8 hour day plus expenses. Hire an agent, if you are doing specialty work, to find your next contract. All regular full time permanant jobs think they are secure; they have 2 weeks notice. BTW Get everything in writing.
#25
Our (US) health care system.
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
Human lives depending on a profit based “market” - every other developed country rejected this model, many for decades - because it’s inhumane and unthinkable.
Julie Hoecherl-Grobner 4 years ago
That profit based market ensure they do everything they can to keep you alive. Other countries have type 1 diabetics rationing their insulin. I get as much as I need here
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Let's not repeat this one too often. Just a thousand more times till someone gets it through their heads that medicine should be PATIENT-CENTERED, not profit-oriented. Off my soapbox now. (skulks away)
Alan Green 4 years ago
America has the most Billionaires out of any country in the world and some of the most expensive, basic drugs. Coincidence? You guys need to do something about that.
arponet 4 years ago
In 2 or 3 years there will be more billionaires in China than in the US. Your argument will appear as senseless as it is
Load More Replies... Lola 4 years ago
The doctors in the U.S come into the examination room with a prescription pad on hand even before they have examined you. The majority of people leave with something prescribed to them. What a lot of people don’t understand is that a lot of doctors make commission out of the medications they prescribe.
Aleksandra Radenova 4 years ago
What's a scam? Articles where half the entries are the same old whines about insurance and the health system. 🙄
Esther (she/her) 4 years ago
the us will try to take your money in any way possible, human or inhuman..
#26
Out of network ATM fees.
Libstak 4 years ago
Or non bank arms. 7 Eleven whereby am took away the bank arms from their premises and replaced them with 7 Eleven brand arms that cost all cardholders, regardless of which bank $2.50 per withdrawal. I hope this sends them bankrupt, cynical smarmy toads.
arponet 4 years ago
Yeah! Charging installing equipment, working to clean, preserve, paying the electricity bill, replacing the banknotes is clearly unacceptable. Nobody should be paid for working. Everybody must work, whether they wish or not, without being paid and just receive their daily bowl of rice and piece of bread.
John C 4 years ago
I upvoted you to get ya back to 0. I'd love to put these people in charge and ask them how they plan to pay for their ATMs. And while there's plenty of examples of the "poor tax" this isn't one. If you don't want to pay a fee, go to your own bank. Unlike Ticketmaster and most online ticket sales, the ATM fee is indeed a "convenience fee" as you are paying for the convenience of using that ATM instead of going to your bank.
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An Co 4 years ago
Good banks will waive all those fees. I switched to one and never looked back.
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
I had a problem with one of those out-of-system ATMs several years back. I fought the charges tooth and nail. I lost, but I feel good that I at least fought back and went down swinging.
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago (edited)
My bank always reverses those fees, but I very rarely use an ATM that is not my bank's.
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago (edited)
if you don't need a large sum of amount, just do a cash back at store, there's no charge for that. Most chain stores do cashback. If not go to your bank's ATM. Also try to change bank and do your research, compare few bank accounts before opening a new account.
David Redman 4 years ago
Banking is like gambling...banks want your money to invest. They reap the benefits and still charge you at ATMs.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
We don't pay fees - and if we do, our bank reimburses them. It's about keeping a reasonable balance in your account.
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
Yeah, whst a crappy goal for a company that has employees to pay and buildings to maintain!!
Load More Replies... #27
Bottled water.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
In some places bottled water is the only safe water to drink.
Radek Suski 4 years ago
yes but there where they're selling most of it you can safely drink tap water
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N G 4 years ago
Yes and no. They can be a lifesaver for tourists in certain countries. You know that advice about not drinking the water? In some places that's for a very, very good reason. Bottled water is the only way to be sure of not getting sick while you brush your teeth, for example. Or are you talking about the whole "bottled tap water" thing that Coke pulled a few years ago?
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
Except that most bottled water sold....anywhere in the world...is just the local tap water that's been through the equivalent of a Brita filter.
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Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
Sometimes it's the only water you can drink in some third world places like Flint, Michigan. Their corrupt third world government still don't give a s**t about people living in Flint, Michigan. A true humanitarian crisis.
Requiem 4 years ago
Anndd youu can recycle your bottles, which seems to be a strange concept to people
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
Plastics recycling is an even bigger scam than bottled water. Read into it and learn. Try not to weep with outrage when you realise how badly they have been lying to you.
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Ju Luu 4 years ago
The people in Flint were forced to pay for water that they couldn't use. The officials involved should have been horse whipped and then jailed.
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Bonnie Sinclair 4 years ago
I live in Louisiana. When hurricanes come through we might have to go weeks without water. We all know when a big storm is coming to go out and stock up on water along with our other supplies. Also in my neighborhood for some reason once or twice a year we get a boil water advisory. It's just safer to go get a case of water until they can get the lines flushed.
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
The biggest scam in countries who's water is better than many bottled.
#28
Funeral services. There is nothing wrong or dangerous about dead bodies. The idea that random people come into your home and take your loved one away, rip out their insides, fill them will chemicals and out them on display and you have to pay to put them to rest is ridiculous and quite frankly evil.
grotesqueer 4 years ago
I thought of her too! :D Though my thoughts were more like "I should recommend her YouTube channel and books."
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Karin Gibson 4 years ago
You don't have to do all that. In the uk you can have nature burials where nothing has been done to the body.
Mommyofboth 4 years ago
You can do that as well in the US but it has to be within a certain timeframe from death.
Load More Replies... ChinmayGhule 4 years ago
We just cremate the body as quickly as possible before it begins rotting. Now there's even the option of using diesel machines to quickly burn it instead of using wood.
Jan Feline 4 years ago
I'm Jewish. We don't embalm, we don't have viewings, and we bury in a simple pine box. Have to say, I greatly prefer it that way.
Jonathan 4 years ago (edited)
Me too. And no fancy caskets, just a cheap pine box as a coffin- the environment gains so much from us.
Load More Replies... Gogubaci 4 years ago
Not sure how it is in other places, but in Romania these things cost as much as a wedding. You have to pay for all sorts of cr*p, like bagels, towels, candels, priests, assistant priests, palbearers, diggers, need to feed everybody, give everybody some symbolic thing, throw a chicken across the grave (this is no joke). And considering people in Romania are generally poor, these things cost a small fortune. What's even more baffling is that nobody questions these things, are accepted as a given, see that famous monkey story, exactly the same thing. If you question any of that omg you're the antichrist and deserve excomunication and be made anathema lol.
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
What is the famous monkey story you speak of? Please do tell!
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ADHORTATOR 4 years ago
Well, a rotting corpse can be dangerous... and what would you do with the body, bury it in your backyard?
Margaret Martin 4 years ago
If THAT were actually TRUE... then every "Forensic Body Farm" & "Mass Grave" site would be a Bio-Hazard. Certain Religions & rural areas STILL have in Home WAKES & back yard burials.
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Diphylleia Grayi 4 years ago
What this makes me feel is sad, if you haven't paid funeral services if you die your family having or not having the money to pay they would must pay it even after 5 years after you got out of the grave. I have seen slot in these days. You die you must pay. People can't die in peace
Not A Panda 4 years ago
That's probably very country specific. Where I am, we don't embalm, we don't rip bits out and if you want to, you keep your loved one at home, funeral people will rent you (very affordable) cooler and stand and curtains if you want, and will come pick them up at the designated time. You don't _have_ to use funeral services if you don't want to where I am. You are fully entitled to do it yourself as long as you stick to the legal requirements (notifying authorities and transport of body within a certain time).
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
We even allow stillborns to go home with the parents. They are in a special chilled cots. This is to allow the parents to grieve.
Load More Replies... clive apps 4 years ago
The entire funeral business is based on taking advantage of people at the worst times. The upwelling of services doesn't make the dead person any happier or you,show more respect to them.
#29
When I was a kid my brother would tell me the lottery is 'a tax on stupid people.
Zenozenobee 4 years ago
My father used to say it was a tax on poor people (because you do not play if you're rich) and my grand father say it's a tax on dreams
Bama Belle 4 years ago (edited)
I'll cop to buying a Powerball every once in awhile. Somebody's gotta win it. And you gotta be in it to win it. I feel the same way about people who go after careers in the music or film industry. The odds of making it are pitiful, almost nil, but tell that to the likes of Tom Hanks or J Lo.
Matthew Fox 4 years ago
Playing the lottery is voluntary, taxes are not. No one is going to throw you in a cage if you refuse to buy lottery tickets,
Canadian potato 4 years ago
to quote my dad, "you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you get a ticket or not."
#30
I’m most intrigued by the vague life coaches, who use lots of big words and mention specific figures they have supposedly earned, but there is no clarity on what exactly they do.
Beeps 4 years ago
It’s just awful, especially given that life coaching isn’t a regulated discipline. Sure, there are several scam accreditation bodies, but most people just don’t understand that I could make up my own college of life coaching and accreditation right here and now, give it a fancy name, and it wouldn’t really mean anything. Yet so many people fall for it. Please, please, please, stick to licensed and regulated psychologists and mental health professional (and check what ‘licensed’ and ‘registered’ actually means for your country, as it’s different everywhere.)
Hugo A-niro 4 years ago
This is can enormous scam .many of these life couches were trained online by crooked scammers . so you see. Its a cycle
Ross Duncan 4 years ago
Oh they really piss me off.... Therapist with 36 years clinical practice. Friends recommend I watch a film of a rather famous life coaches rally.... what a crock of s**t! If he was licensed, he'd lose it.
Wim Cossement 4 years ago
There is an individual coaching thing a few streets away here and called 'The flock', not kidding...
Gossameringue 4 years ago
Basically people who can't think about what to do with their own lives and have the financial security to be able to bilk others out of their money.
#31
Those Facebook post that my grandparents always repost that go on about some s**t like Facebook doesn’t want you see this... trump bla bla bla ...... repost this if your brave .... let’s make this go viral etc
Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
Naw, if it has to do with trump...it's a scam
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Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
There's the weird 'Jesus and Satan betting on whether I will pray or scroll on" ones I've seen on meme posts on here: is that a new type of this or have I just not come across them 🤷♀️
M the Lemur 4 years ago
It goes something like this: Satan: I thought you said this was your child Jesus: They are my child. Satan: Fine then. My children will scroll, yours will like and follow, as well as donating 7 million *insert currency of your choice here* Every non-christian reading: (눈_눈)
Load More Replies... Ron Weber 4 years ago
The ones I hate are the ones that have a positive message but then totally ruin it by saying something like I know that 99% or most of you, whatever, won't post this or some other way of trying to guilt you. Even if I like the message if you try to guilt me into reposting I will never repost it.
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
I am intolerant of those who keep posting their own memories or pictures of their children from years ago ..again.. as if others are privileged to share them and expected to say nice things..again.
Noel Benavente 4 years ago
Type AMEN and watch a miracle happen: amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... amen... (facepalm)
Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
Nothing new - it's been going on since the 90s. Poor Timmy is dying of leukemia. Please donate a dollar. Forward to all your friends. Microsoft will give you $1000 for every person you forward this email to (they will "track" you). Blah blah
Nancy Munoz 4 years ago
I do like the ones God sends.... just imagine it checking who like, share, ignore the posts
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
I always have a huge laugh at the "Let's make this go viral" one. Seriously? And you're asking for MY help? I have fewer FB friends than anyone I know. Nothing is going viral because I make a post about it.
#32
"Shrinkflation." Where they give you less, and charge you more.
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
And don't forget the "Delivery" and "Service" fee upcharges you get with Door Dash and Grub Hub and the like. Somehow a pizza delivery that used to cost $25 with a $5 tip for the driver now costs $40 before the tip. I have not ordered pizza or takeout in general in ages because of the huge markups.
Joe Finley 4 years ago
Doordash and grubhub are scams that charge both the consumer and restaurant
Load More Replies... Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
The first I noticed it was with cheese. With very few exceptions the major producers went from 8 and 16 ounces to 6 and 12 ounces AND raised the prices so you got less and paid more. It is like that for everything now. I am constantly doing math in my head at the market to figure out what brand gives you the best price.
fuggnuggins 4 years ago
You could make it yourself. Alternatively, you could enable them and have a whinge about how your choice is their fault.
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Valisbourne Spiritforge 4 years ago
Large pizza used to be 16" standard. Now it's the same price (or more) and 14".
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
About 3-4 years ago a popular uk biscuit brand gave away a tin to store 1 regular sized pack. Now the tin is only 3/5ths full. Shrinkflation
fuggnuggins 4 years ago (edited)
Simple explanation: person buys the same product for a lifetime, they notice the price changing significantly - as would be expected - and are unhappy about it. So, while they shift the price a little but not enough because they won't be able to do that and not irritate their customers too much, they supplement the difference by reducing how much they give out. In some cases it might be them stiffing the customer, but I reckon most of the time it's not, so you can't really blame them. We're upright apes who have barely fallen from the trees. Getting irritated about things that don't matter and blaming people who aren't responsible because our frame of reference is limited by our monkey brains is what we do.
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Jeffrey Diehl 4 years ago
I remember being able to buy ice cream in 1/2 gallon containers (2 quarts). Now I see it sold in 1.5 or 1.75 quart containers. With higher prices.
V Martinez 4 years ago
Anyone remember In-n-Out years ago? (70's-90's years) The burgers were huge and the fries were almost a steak-fry size! And you could get it for a great deal! Now, they have shoe-string type fries and a little burger I can hold in one hand that's almost flat as a pancake. It's sad and I miss the old days
Colleen Stratton 4 years ago
Costco paper towels rolls were just reduced by 40 sheets on each roll and it is the same price. Not shocking but something I just noticed TODAY.
#33
Crystal healing, religion, and horoscopes. How are we still buying this bulls**t with the internet out there.
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Crystals can definitely keep bad people away. If you throw them correctly, that is.
ƒιѕн 4 years ago
Yes, especially the ones with pointy ends and sharp edges.
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Maria Schneider 4 years ago (edited)
Obviously you are Capricorn. They don't believe in anything. 😉
Hugo A-niro 4 years ago
This entire statement is ridiculous. Amazing how people think they have alll the answers .
Kori Peek 4 years ago
I'm a Christian (yes, religious) and as much as I don't push it on anyone I don't expect people to tell me I can't be religious. It goes both ways. I love God, I follow the Ten Commandments and I do my very best to be a kind and loving person to everyone. I believe Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. If someone ever wants to talk with me about God, I'm open to it. I don't force it. I love my church. My pastor is a wonderful human being and no, he doesn't live in a fancy house or drive a fancy car.(aka no Joel Osteen) He and his wife and kids keep every bit of money in the church except to pay their few bills so we can help the community, help people who come to the church in times of trouble. We help missionaries so they can go over to countries who need water filtration systems, schools, etc. I live by the saying "I'd rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't than to live like there isn't a God and die to find out there is."
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PattonPawter 4 years ago
Especially those people who are like “oh sorry I cut you off but I’m a Capricorn” (apology to anyone who is a Capricorn)
#34
Boomers getting free healthcare (Medicare) while voting against anyone else getting it.
Scagsy 4 years ago
'Oooo, let's blame older people for a problem that could easily be solved by politicians if they could stop starting wars for five minutes'. In other news, the wall is working in hampering Mexican border-crossing. Apparently they are finding it much harder to get out of the US than ever before.
Josh Tall 4 years ago
lest you forget that that 90% of the politicians are Boomers and the trumpublicans always vote against free healthcare because they have government funded healthcare!
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Martha Meyer 4 years ago
This "pitting age groups against each other" really needs to stop. The expansion of Medicare to children and eventually all other population groups in the US was stopped by POLITICIANS when boomers were not even of voting age yet.
Requiem 4 years ago
Only young millennials, they dont even know the age range of what makes someone a Boomer.
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Sage Gusano 4 years ago (edited)
1) It's not free if you've been taxed your whole life to support it and still have to pay premiums to use it. 2) The coverage sucks and the majority of those on medicare have to pay for supplemental insurance. 3) Blame the politicians
Tami 4 years ago (edited)
SAY WHAT? Boomers paid into the system their whole lives! My mom at 92 still pays $448.65/month for Medicare, drug plan, and supplemental premiums.
Cold Contagious 4 years ago
THIS ^ is exactly what I came to say. My mother pays for hers and if you try to get a secondary insurance with it, you will still have to pay the higher premium for Medicare but will lose benefits.
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#35
Tipping.
jimmy pop 4 years ago
This is a US thing. Here in Europe, waiters get paid their wage by the employer. We still most often tip but much less.
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Mishte Tine 4 years ago
Until things change, please tip as generously as you can for servers. I was a server for years and tips are crucial. Also, if you have a bad experience, think about why. If the food was bad or wrong - that’s not your servers fault. Even if cold -that’s likely not your servers fault. Poor service can mean someone is new at the job… please tip until we treat servers with the respect and compensation like other working humans have.
John Montgomery 4 years ago
It's a good point. I always do, but it does feel like a catch 22. You tip because the employer is too cheap to pay a living wage, but if you stop it's the employees who suffer because the employers won't stop being cheap.
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Doc Thissen 4 years ago
Or worse: people who don't. I agree this is a messed up system, but some of these people depend on their tips.
Bei Stenhaug 4 years ago (edited)
Yea and homeless people depend on the same kind of generosity. It's a f****d up system and I shouldn't have to pay you extra for doing the service I came here for. Sorry, don't shame costumers for low tip because you rely on it, that is charity. Shame your employer for not paying you fair wages. I'm not a c**t because when I treat myself to a meal out from my hard earned money, I have to give extra to you because you don't earn enough.. Do you tip your postman? Cashier? Nurse? Buss driver? Garbage man? List goes on.
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Zephyr Anthem 4 years ago
Where i live, tiping is pretty rare (except when the staff was super nice) because employees don't have to rely on it to make a livable wage. I think that for the US it made the patrons super bitchy and demanding, it make them think that they have a total right on employee wherever they go
Steve Goodman 4 years ago
Tipping itself isn't a scam, if someone goes above and beyond for you, throwing some extra cash their way is a great way to say thanks. But paying your staff like, $2 per hr and making them DEPEND of Tips is just an awful thing to submit someone to day after day.
Bama Belle 4 years ago
I recently read an article by an American expat in Australia. She said tipping wasn't necessary there, but wait staff had come to expect it from Americans. Some were cool if you didn't, some weren't. Two things I've always complained about here in the States, tipping and insurance deductibles. Who was the first person to have the gall to suggest these unfair practices, and actually make them happen?
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
Not sure who but must be one of the reTHUGlicons.
Load More Replies... Wednesday 4 years ago
Until servers can make a decent wage, they literally live on the tips. So tip generously and vote to repeal the stupid f*****g republican law about tipped employees getting less than minimum wage. Republican law, you say? Yes, I worked at the Colorado Restaurant Association, the President was Republican, and he spearheaded the fear campaign which convinced a shitton of restaurant owners to vote against a fair wages law back in the '90's. So, f**k the law and f**k the GOP.
Neill Powell 4 years ago
In reality, Staff should be paid a living-wage. If you do well at a table or do things like sort the annoying kids out with crayons, get a meal just that extra bit better, note a spot on a glass, bring extra napkins, handle a large sitting with minimal issues, or anything literally that is beyond the role serving food and drink, or showing extra effort what they are otherwise simply paid to do, then that should be a tip. Bartenders have done this since forever. A waiter will KNOW if they've screwed up long before you, so if they botch the table, at least they know their bills get paid at the end of the month. ANYONE will pay 5-10% extra on their bill if they KNEW that staff were paid a sufficient basic wage every day, and their efforts beyond that are meant to be rewarded. Needs to be printed on the menu "Our staff are paid a weekly wage, however should you feel the service was above what you expected, feel free to tip, it goes 85% to the waiter and 15% to the back-house, directly"
#36
I don't know if they are still around but around 2010, people were buying these "ionic footbaths" that supposedly removed toxins in your body through your feet.
Chich 4 years ago
anything to "remove toxins" is a huge scam. Knew a woman who was selling detox foot baths for $1000 and people were buying them. Absolute nonsense.
Markus Holstein 4 years ago
There is one really cool trick to remove toxins from your body: Have a liver. That's it.
David Simoni 4 years ago
The dirty little secret with these foot baths is that the water will turn brown—which is supposed to be an indicator of the toxins being drawn from your body—even if your feet aren't in the water!
M O'Connell 4 years ago
They're basically an electrolysis cell, using electric current to rapidly oxidize metal electrodes. The metal salts they create can actually be very harmful to you. Stainless steel decomposes into chromium salts under such conditions.
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Aleksandra Radenova 4 years ago
I was going to mention the patches...I think I heard the brown stuff is actually sweat? LOL
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Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
There are so many 'natural health treatments advertises profusely online now..I avoid them all.. I believe in natural things as well as therapies too.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
It's right up there with "juice cleanses" to remove toxins from your body. Your body removes toxins all the time on its own (what the hell do you think poop is?)
clive apps 4 years ago
Liver cleansing herbal packages sand drinking lots of clean water work best, but not as much as avoid getting to cities before it happens.
#37
Supplements. Because they are considered a food they are not regulated. A recent study found that 25% don't contain any of the substance it is sold as. About as many others contain actual prescription medicines that are not listed. In the US about 23 000 people a year are hospitalized, have organ failure or need a transplant due to taking unregulated supplements.
N G 4 years ago
This might be a "unique to the US" thing. Food supplements aren't separately regulated in the UK, but are covered by multiple food regulations, which means they sort of are regulated (they can't contain something not listed on the packaging, for example, and cannot claim medical benefits they don't actually provide)
Kasia Gerkowicz 4 years ago (edited)
In medschool (Poland) we were told to recommend supplements that are also sold in Germany (the brand was very common also in Poland) as they had to be properly tested in Germany and treated like any other drug. It is not a case in Poland.
Load More Replies... Isak Nygren 4 years ago
This is not legal in the EU. A lot of things in the US are not legal in the EU especially about the low quality food that I found when I was in the US.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
If you're going to take supplements, they should be supplements recommended by your physician to counteract some specific deficiency you have. If you're going to buy supplements, they need to come from a reputable retailer and not a here-today, gone-tomorrow online shop. Products which bear the USP symbol are guaranteed by an independent agency to contain precisely what they claim to, and nothing else.
Beatrice Multhaupt 4 years ago
So how many people are ''hospitalized, have organ failure, or need a transplant'' as a result of prescription drugs??? People who recommend supplements in the US advise consumers to buy only those products that have been approved in Canada, as they actually do contain the the substances listed on the label and nothing else.
Anne 4 years ago
In the US you can get weird as heck stuff over the counter though, that's only by prescription in other countries.. so I believe a lot of damage happens from that
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Evelyn Petisce 4 years ago
Well, I suppose if you take supplements incorrectly or take something that isn't sold by a reputable company, you could very well get sick. Herbs and supplements are a more natural way of healing the body. Just look at how many people get sicker and sicker and sicker or die from continuously taking pharmaceuticals. Here, take this pill to eliminate your toe fungus, but you have to come in periodically (because you'll be on it for months) to have liver function tests because the medicine for your fungus will kill your liver. Over several months, I cured a toe fungus with oxygenated safflower oil. No blood tests, no liver problems, just a beautiful toenail.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
THIS. Also, beware the "this food!!!" thing (looking at you, Dr. Oz, for this and spuplements). Tony Robbins went on the "fish for my health" bandwagon and discovered he now has too much mercury in his body!
lara 4 years ago
If it is from China NEVER EVER buy it. They have found that supplements from China, as you note, contain OUT OF DATE drugs that were sent back. BTW, they often repackage out of date generic drugs and send them back. They did it with cancer drugs and a lot of patients died. In addition supplements made in the US, Israel and Europe are safe as long as they do not depend on Chinese suppliers.
Tarryn Louise 4 years ago
Sorry, they are regulated in Australia. I guess in America I can understand why they wouldn't be... hospitals sure do love your money over there.
Billy Maguire 4 years ago
Something similar happens from eating certain fungi , thinking them mushrooms.
#38
Most extended warranties on electronics. Usually you're paying extra for the warranty and extra on top of that as a "labor cost" of whoever is fixing the device.
Cheaper than a new device? Sure but can still be pricey.
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
In the past when I used to buy extended warranties, I learned that when I needed to use it, companies will make some excuse as why it's not covered under warranty. No matter what the issue with whatever item, there's always an excuse why it's not covered. Best Buy was the worst offender in my case. Now I learned and just take a gamble on item without extended warranties.
I I 4 years ago
my wife got it for a fridge freezer £800 it cost , 15 years later still going strong , so £48 a year for 15 years cost as much as the fridge freezer in the first place and never used it
Robert T 4 years ago
It wouldn't have stayed at £48/year - the premium increases with the age of the appliance - and usually the appliances get cheaper as well. My MIL was paying almost a third of the price of a new one each year, which is just sick.
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Neill Powell 4 years ago
Extended Warranty? Such a Scam! If your product is designed to last 5 years, then the warranty should be 6 years, unless you have no faith in your product that it was properly designed (wear and tear and damage by the consumer EXCLUDED), or even decently durable? I bought a fridge with a 10-year warranty because the manufacturer has confidence in their product. REAL PRODUCTS have warranties like "This product is designed to last a lifetime, provided proper care and maintenance is undertaken on a regular schedule in relation to usage, though a registered service provider"
Lyle Laylin 4 years ago
They wouldn't sell you a warranty if they thought they were going to have to pay out. Back in the 70s when this scam was just starting, RCA made more money selling warranties than TV sets. Products cost money to make. Warranties cost nothing, all profit.
#39
Willfully deciding that a week inside the casinos of Vegas sounds like a good vacation.
Eslamala 4 years ago
People have the right to go wherever the fck they want on vacation, don't they? I'd never go to Disney-anything because I hate it, but I don't give a shït if people want to go.
Jupittance 4 years ago
Nobody said it's illegal. Just a scam. The house always wins.
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Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Why is this on the list. This doesn't seem to belong with corporate tricks. Maybe it's meant to be a dig at gambling, but it comes across as judging other people's choices of what they do for fun/holiday
lara 4 years ago
Used to be Las Vegas was fun. I walk more in Las Vegas than anywhere else. Lots to see, great exhibits, great out door displays, great shopping [and cheap too, they have a great outlet mall on the south end of the strip], and they used to have great CHEAP buffets. Then the MBA's took over and decided that EVERYTHING at the casino should make a profit, so out with a lot of fun and cheap places and now everything is very expensive.
Shelby P 4 years ago
it's weird how this one struck such a nerve with so many folks in the comments.
H Edwards 4 years ago
I know, right? I work peripherally to the gambling industry and it's pretty dire.
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MelFunction 4 years ago
Each to their own. If that's a vacation that someone else enjoys, who are you to judge them?
Lisa Chambers 4 years ago
I like Vegas. I dont gamble at all, but there are shows, clubs, restaurants, and amazing spas and pools. Someone must have lost all their money.
Deborah Blair-Krosnicki 4 years ago
To each their own! I love visiting Las Vegas. There is more to do there than just casinos.....
#40
Premium cables. In order for one hdmi cable to have better quality over another, you'd need hundreds of yards between the source and display. Cat5 vs. Cat 6 makes a difference for high bandwidth companies, not for your cable internet ass. Really the only thing it matters in is phone charging durability. Yes, don't get the gas station cables if you help it, but if you do, your phone will still charge at the same rate.
N G 4 years ago
I'm conflicted by the phone charging. I have cables which are demonstrably better at charging my phone than others. Plus you also have cables with data transfer capabilities which are different to the charging only ones. There are far more nuances to this one.
John C 4 years ago
it's not the cable quality, but the usb standard that the cable was manufactured to support. It's invaluable to have an app that can measure what's coming into your phone - I use the android app "Ampere" but there are many.
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Mishte Tine 4 years ago
I hate cables. I swear they’re made to break easily. I think I read an article that Apple actually made more in charger/cable sales than they did on the main devices. A deliberate plan. This was before there were generic cables available everywhere - which also suck. Also the fact that the design of the connectors change so people are force to buy the new ones for new devices. Planned obsolescence is #1 in so many items we buy/need.
Cybele Spanjaard 4 years ago
I want a longer charger cord.. I was about to buy the appliances brand name one when I was shown another generic at 1/5 the price..same thing..
Tarryn Louise 4 years ago
The proof is in the punch with this. I had a cheap cable, it took FOREVER to charge... I got a good quality one and it charges super fast... idk, I am happy with my purchase
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
Separate cables for every electronic device I own that are not compatible with anything else. My Kindle cable won't charge my phone, which will not charge my tablet, etc. Complete bullshit.
clive apps 4 years ago
Premium cables are less susceptible to noise and last much longer than cheap stuff especially in portable system use.
#41
Weddings.
Marianne 4 years ago
Never fall for the "But it's the most beautiful day of your life, don't you want it to be perfect?" narrative. There is a life after your wedding, thankfully.
Libstak 4 years ago
A perfect wedding is a stress free and fun one. Modern weddings are the absolute opposite of that. Try a party hall and self service food catering instead of a formal reception folks, guaranteed party vibe all night and way cheaper.
Load More Replies... Mishte Tine 4 years ago
Weddings are a one day celebration/ritual. Marriage is a legal financial contract that is painful and expensive to get out of. I’d put any money spent on a wedding into a college fund for future or existing children - college debt another horrific American situation.
#42
Expensive HDMI cables. HDMI is digital. It either works or doesn't, basically.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
Just like digital TV or digital radio? Analogue was so much better, at least signal degradation or interference led to "snow" rather than pixelated, stuttering, unwatchable garbage.
arponet 4 years ago
You seem to be a rocket scientist. If it is digital it works or not. So a simple wire is enough. Is this your knowledge?
M O'Connell 4 years ago
The point they are trying to make is that digital signals are not susceptible to the same types of interference which can affect analog signals. Fancy connector materials and multi-layer shielding schemes actually helped with analog signal quality in noisy environments, but they are relatively pointless in a digital environment. A $3 HDMI cable and a $40 HDMI cable are going to have the same 4 shielded pairs and 7 single conductors, and exhibit the same performance in practice. Heavy jackets, gold braiding, and "low oxygen conductors" make no difference at all.
Load More Replies... #43
Private student loans in america
David Simoni 4 years ago
Check out the excellent Netflix series called: Money Explained. They have a whole episode on student loans! https://youtu.be/lJHu-KCY9Fc
#44
Lightbulbs, if made properly they last forever, but with specific imperfections they only last a few weeks. One of the first lightbulbs ever made still works in the Edison museum
Zephyr Anthem 4 years ago
There is/was one in a fire station in the us that has never been changed. The county and firefighter refuse to take it out for testing in cas it wouldn't work anymore or be broken by the tests
Eslamala 4 years ago
My country switched exclusively to led a few years ago, so the shïtty ones aren't sold here anymore. Leds last a long time while also consuming less energy
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
This is a bit of a con and a half-truth. LEDs run for a long time, but LED bulbs are much more complex than other types and have many more components and connections, any of which can fail over. In real-world testing LED bulbs don't last for anywhere near as long as the rating on the box, and they are ridiculously expensive. It is no longer financially viable for people on very low incomes to keep spare light bulbs for all their light fittings, which leaves them vulnerable.
Load More Replies... Neil Bidle 4 years ago
Leaving a light bulb on is great, especially at low power, but the one-off power surge degrades the bulb so it will eventually fail, this is not "designed in", it's basic physics and chemistry.
Roland Gosselin 4 years ago
Nope, it's programmed obsolescence, research it (check out Veritasium on YouTube).
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#45
HOA’s they tell you it’s for the property values.
Chris365 4 years ago
I find it insane that you can buy a house and be told what you can do with it…I think if anyone tried to arrange this in the UK the would rightly be told to jog on…
John L 4 years ago
You think that's insane? Try missing annual payments and the HOA can actually put a lein on your own house.
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Dan Buczynski 4 years ago
I had a friend that could only choose one of two front doors, one of two mailboxes, had to get any landscaping changes approved...I cannot figure out for the life of me why anyone wants to live like that. F the HOAs of the world. I painted my house foundation to look like buffalo plaid last year. COME AT ME.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
It's where Landlords go after they complete training in some slum flat in Cambridge.
Load More Replies... Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
Look, HOA, nobody, not even Duke Bartholemew E. McTeapot-Pumpernickel, who has an en-suite bathroom in his en-suite bathroom, would care if my house was dark magenta.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
Also meant to keep the neighborhood full of nice families, unfortunately there are a lot of them who are crazy and want everything exactly to THEIR tastes
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
The phrase "maintain a lifestyle" makes me wanna puke. It translates to "keep out the poors".
Load More Replies... #46
The Better Business Bureau. Unless you join and pay your fees you don’t get a rating so if somebody checks out a business with them that isn’t a member it doesn’t look good. That is basically a protection racket
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
"Which?" In the UK is similar, they make out they're there to help the consumer make informed decisions, but every single recommendation and award is accompanied by an invoice, and if you don't pay for it then you don't get it.
arponet 4 years ago
Yes. They should work for free. At most, they can receive a piece of dried bread every other day and live in the tube station. I wonder whether all the people here that complains because others are paid for their work, work for free. Where do they get the money to pay their bills?
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#47
Young Living Essential Oils. It’s a pyramid scheme and is very dangerous. The oils are marketed as edible but can seriously damage your liver. The owner even killed his baby trying to give birth in a jet tub. Don’t buy them.
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Wife was having a water birth, they left the baby there for an hour because "it was inside for 9 months in water" BS. Baby drowned. MLM huns deny everything, founder uses his name to pretend to be a DR. (Donald Gary Young - D.R. Young).
Load More Replies... David Simoni 4 years ago
The same goes for many other MLM "businesses!" There are a whole bunch of podcasts exposing the dirty little secrets of MLMs: https://mlmtruth.org/2020/03/05/anti-mlm-podcasts-you-simply-cant-miss/
#48
If someone's 'job' is based more around recruiting people for the 'company' than selling an actual product and they aren't literally a hiring manager for HR, there's a good chance they're part of a pyramid scheme
Chris365 4 years ago
Recruiters in general have become a complete scam. For specific skill and technical appointments fair enough…find a person, match them to a position- why would I pay recruiter fees for a normal developer - I’d rather pay them a 10 grand signing on bonus for them having looked up the job. Recruiters should be more or less redundant.
#49
Lottery tickets.
mulk 4 years ago
It depend on the country. In Switzerland, our lottery company (public, not a private one) invest huge amount of money in many public things like: sports for young people, charity, culture... son "okay", you have very very very little chance to win, but when you loose, you are helping people of your country.
arponet 4 years ago
In other countries, private lottery companies also do it
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Quentin Pujol 4 years ago
Lottery tickets in France were first used after the world war as a way to get money to pay medical bill of soldier highly hurt/disfigured during the war. Yes, most loose money, Yes not all money goes to the winner, but a great part goes to the one who needed it. Nowaday the problem is more "You can win a free plasma tv costing 5.000€ if you pay 2€" (10.000 people pay -> bam the creator of the contest win 15.000€ minus taxes)
Doc Thissen 4 years ago
In the US, lotteries are sold to the public as being beneficial to the state's school districts. Which then gives legislatures the chance to gut funding for schools, claiming : "The lottery will cover that!" John Oliver did an entire show about this - it's on youtube.
Maria Schneider 4 years ago
Did ya know that the sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 statistically is as possible as ANY other combination of six numbers?
#50
Time shares. Biggest real estate scam of the 90s. 2nd biggest was probably all those apt complexes turning into condominiums.
James016 4 years ago
I don't agree with this. My parents have had timeshare for over 25 years and make good use of it. They use it to go to the USA a lot and it saves a lot of money compared to booking into a hotel. I suppose it depends on the timeshare operator
arponet 4 years ago
James016. Everything that supposes to criticize firms and business is popular here. Do not try to justify, you will never change their minds
Load More Replies... lara 4 years ago
We did not buy a time share. We actually bought part of a unit in Hawaii. It was great, when they went Marriott, they couldn't do anything "about" us because we had legal title in the form of a deed, registered as part owner. But timeshares are beyond a scam, they are theft pure and simple.
#51
99% of skincare
troufaki13 4 years ago
I disagree. I have always had problematic skin, no matter how diligent I was taking care of it. But since I switched to a different routine a few months back, my skin has totally transformed. People keep commenting about how glowy and great it looks, I don't even need to wear makeup anymore! On the other hand, my cousin who is 2 years younger than me and doesn't use any products, her skin looks at least twice as old as mine.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
My skin is such a ninny. I do so much for it and it rewards me with nonsense! (NB I found a great improvement swapping away from benzoyl peroxide to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) in natural scrubs etc. But my skin is what it is [a meanie baked beanie lol])
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Nice cuppa tea 4 years ago
Sun protection and moisturizing are both skin carw, and they DO work.
lara 4 years ago
The ONLY moisturizer that exists is water. A plastic surgeon told me to use petroleum jelly and water. Wet your face, sopping wet, take a small amount of petroleum jelly, about the size of a dime, add water, place some of the jelly on your face and massage it in until it feels "tacky", add more water and the rest of the jelly. Massage in until it feels "tacky" again, add more water and keep doing this until it no longer feels tacky but soft. He said if you want to know what the skin on your face should look like at your age, look at your rear end, as long, of course, as you haven't been laying in the sun in a bikini. I use Hyaluronic Acid on my skin and it is magnificent. Do NOT put it on top of any other product, it must come in touch with your skin. I use it for everything: burns, cuts, etc. It was developed as a wound healer by Bayer.
#52
Tax Preparation. The industry lobbies the government to ensure that taxes are wildly complicated so they can continue to collect an annual fee from annoyed taxpayers.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
In the UK at least, taxes are just made to *look* complicated, accountants will *tell you* they're complicated, but in all reality they're not that difficult, people just get scared of doing them.
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
We just have the goverment present their best guess based on what the employer and charity organisation has reported, and the tax is drawn automatically. Once a year you get a repport and the chance to make corrections, and then the difference is settled. If you have paid too much you get money back or else you may have to pay. Doing taxes that way is much easier than you having to report everything at once and save up money to make a huge payment.
Julie C Rose 4 years ago
And the majority of Americans blame schools for not teaching it to them while I live in a country where the majority of workers don’t have to submit a form about their taxes at all. I as a nonstandard worker in New Zealand have an easier tax filing process than a standard worker in the US.
#53
Men’s premium brand razors, shampoo, wipes. Getting charged 2-3 times for similar products in 'manlier' packaging.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
My husband wouldn’t care, he will go to the register with the big bag of pink razors
#54
Religion.
David Simoni 4 years ago
Karl Marx had it about right when he called it "the opium of the masses."
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
Imagine if Karl Marx had seen television!
Load More Replies... ChinmayGhule 4 years ago
No they don't. Majority of the people in the world don't have access to the Internet. The paradoxical part is that, even those who have it refuse to accept that religion is fictional. That's how deep-rooted religion is. This is specially for older people. Once people cross their 20s, many of them don't want to learn, they only want to believe.
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#55
Voting for politicians who promise to give you money
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
Understand that nearly any politician one votes for is dedicated to the needs, wants and demands of high dollar donors, certain big industries and their lobbyists. Those in power quash those who care about the needs of the people who vote for them. It’s a sick, unsustainable system. Politicians/legislators should earn a certain salary and nothing else. I can’t believe we all seem to tolerate this corrupt scam.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
That "corrupt scam" would be every political system... ever.
Load More Replies... #56
Any type of insurance. Though I think most of us realize it. Those "we're here for you" commercials they all put out are deliberate. Case on point... If you actually USE your insurance more than a few times in the space of 7 years you get blacklisted. That blacklisting follows you to any other insurance company. Also if the claims were on your home owners insurance... It also follows the house. Good luck explaining that to perspective buyers. Total mob hit.
Julie C Rose 4 years ago
Insurance can be done better. My country’s main health insurance provider is a nonprofit and they’ve been good when I’ve used my insurance.
lara 4 years ago
You are required by some cities and states to buy insurance when you buy property in certain areas. We live in a "hundred year flood plain." We had to buy flood insurance, but we manage our property so that we do not have to worry about flood. On the coast you are required, in some areas to buy hurricane insurance, yeah, good luck with that.
#57
Medical school. So much money spent on MCAT, primary applications, secondary applications, interviews, insane tuition, study materials for boards because curriculum is next to useless for that, money spent on board exams, money spent on applying to residencies, NO guarantee that youll match to a residency... oh and then making crap money while working your ass off during residency. Biggest scam ever. They lure you in during the interviews and then keep taking your money and mental health.
Dave 4 years ago
In Germany, the semester of Dental School is 300 EURO. Sure, there are living expenses but Students get assistance there too from the government. The U.S. Higher Education is an incredible scam.
Markus Holstein 4 years ago
German med school is about the same. I probably couldn't afford a single semester of U.S. med school for the overall cost of my entire German medical education, books and everything
Load More Replies... Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
I am sure all those things are true, but I hope they did not prevent you from becoming a doctor. There is a huge societal need for doctors and it is the most respected profession you can aspire to.
Markus Holstein 4 years ago
Wait, in 'murica you have to pay money to *apply* for a residency? Is there an application fee or something?
#58
By the amount of Facebook and Instagram posts promoting them - MLMs.
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
MLMs are always a scam and some of them are illigal no matter how they are promoted
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
What?! Are you saying Boss Babes are running some sort of triangle shaped scheme and not actually noble entrepreneurs?
#59
Mortgage insurance. You're paying to insure the bank, not yourself.
N G 4 years ago
You are insuring that if you lose your income, you can still pay your mortgage. I... don't think I understand this one.
Annamagelic 4 years ago
That's not what this is referring to. PMI ( Private mortgage Insurance) is a fee banks tack on to your mortgage if you don't have at leat 20% equity. If you default on your mortgage the bank forecloses on your house, evicts you and collects the insurance payment.
Load More Replies... Ian Bartels 4 years ago
I agree and disagree. You can actually get out of mortgage insurance if you have a 20% down payment.
arponet 4 years ago
Or your children. Have you thought what will it happen if you die and your children have to face of losing the dwelling or paying a mortgage? May be you are too self-centered to think that normal people has others that depend on them
Annamagelic 4 years ago
Tge mortgage insurance this is referring to doesn't protect your family at all. If you default on your mortgage the bank forecloses on your house, evicts you and collects the insurance payment. Its standard for US banks to add this insurance fee if you have less than 20% for your downpayment. Its supposed to end when you reach 20% equity, but the banks don't necessarily cancel it without a fight.
Load More Replies... #60
The lottery. It’s not technically a scam but it is technically an investment. If you’re willing to pay £2 for a ticket, you can put £2 into something like an index fund
Jerry Mathers 4 years ago
Lol. You think the stock market isn't a lottery? It's a manipulated industry like every other financial tool. Yeah, you can make money in the long term, but I'm betting the crappy $2/ biweekly investment you make would make diddly for years. At least the lottery is honest about your chances.
#61
Perfume. The average bottle of even the most pricey thing you see advertised by a movie star costs pennies to make. Most of the money goes towards packaging and marketing. Another way of looking at it is, most of the money you spend on a perfume goes towards the efforts to sell it to you in the first place and not the product itself. There’s something pretty dystopian about that to me.
lara 4 years ago
Unless the product is made in China the majority of the price does NOT go to marketing and packaging. It goes to production, salaries, insurance, government fees, and transportation. The BIGGEST expense is salaries, unless you are only concerned about waiters and waitresses being paid a "living wage."
El muerto 4 years ago
that's not really true...the production cost are often kept low. an expensive perfume cost a fraction of the cost to produce, including salaries and taxes and all that goes in the product. the cost to produce a fine perfume is much the same that an cheap one. everything included. they might use a little more expensive ingredients, but still pretty cheap. the mark upp is huge in fine products, often 10 times the amount it cost to produce, and people will pay for the brand...same goes for clothes, cosmetics, technology and many others...companies making expensive thing are not better when it come to salaries, taxes and those things
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#62
Youtube MCNs (Multi Channel Networks). Don't get me wrong, the big ones that run the large channels are probably worth it as they act more as a production company. They provide funding, legal consul, making deals with advertisers, etc. However, if you're run a smaller YouTube channel that starts to get some success and are contacted by an MCN it's always a scam. They'll tell you they will provide you with ways to grow your channel, but it's usually just a webpage in the vein of "10 things that will help your channel grow," that you could get after 5 seconds of googling. They'll also make it sound like you get more of a cut from ad-revenue EX: "YouTube takes 30% of your revenue, while we only take 15%." Makes it sound like you get to take home 85% now right? Wrong, they take their cut after YouTube takes theirs, you get to take home 55% and they take 15% for doing literally nothing. The language in their contracts is so deceptive its disgusting. Even more official MCNs like Frederator would do this. I don't hear about MCNs much anymore, so hopefully their they're dying out, but finding out I was being scammed years ago sucked.
cybermerlin2000 4 years ago
If you are running a successful YouTube channel, then why would you pay someone to make it a successful YouTube channel?
#63
Fully digital consoles since alot of games can be much, much cheaper on a disc and with full digital consoles its like, "were going to sell you a console which is cheaper to make and will save you whopping 80£ or so then we'll sell games directly to you for 9 times out of 10 similar amount it cost on day one while you could have brought it cheaper on disc and got something tangible which would make up for the money you could have saved buying the disc version"
I want cake 4 years ago
That, and digital games can be removed from your library even if you've paid for them. So you don't actually own the game if you buy digital, you're just renting until the company that makes your console decides you can't have it anymore. On top of that, digital games should be cheaper than physical copies, sinc you're not paying for the entire physical production, transport and sales chain.
Neil Bidle 4 years ago
In the same vein, "special edition" consoles or games. Everyone thinks they look cool, then immediately forgets because they play exactly the same as the "normal" version that costs half as much
Bill Evs 4 years ago
Yep. The worse thing about this is (and I'm basing purely on gut instinct) I believe it's only a matter of time before some manufacturer releases a new console that is digital only, no option for a disc version. And they'll market it as if it's something revolutionary and the consumer will fall for it. Other manufacturers will follow suit, it will become the norm and disc games will go the way of VHS tapes. No more trade ins, no more swaps, no more pre-owned games, no more shopping around for a better price. And when I say a matter of time I'm talking in the next 10 years not decades away.
#64
If you want to buy someone a gift card through Visa or some other company, you're paying $5.00+ as a fee before spending more money to put on the card. 'Here's your $50 gift card that cost me $57!
James Munday 4 years ago
So just give cash. It's a better gift anyway. Who wouldn't be happy with $50?
Wandaluzt 4 years ago
People give gift cards to make sure the money is spent on something the person is likely to enjoy. Giving cash means that it could end up being spent on every day expenses, or 'borrowed' by someone rather than the giftee treating themselves.
Load More Replies... #65
Bitcoin
lara 4 years ago
Bitcoin is being destroyed by China as of yesterday. Best thing that they have done since the invention of noodles.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
And gunpowder. Gunpowder kinda made the industrial revolution go WOOOOOOOOO.
Load More Replies... #66
Rehab in america at least. You pay way too much money for them to perform psuedoscience on you with some therapy sprinkled in. The places I went also claimed to be secular but pushed spirituality and religion heavily. I understand some people can benefit from it, but for me it just took away 4 months of my life and my life savings while brainwashing me into spirituality I didn't really believe in.
#67
Gambling.
Jerry Mathers 4 years ago
Anyone that thinks legal gambling is a scam, doesn't know what they're doing. It's a risk based endeavor where you are mostly playing with the odds against you. Some knowledge and discipline and can help reduce those odds. But if you go into know what the odds are, have a money management plan and stick to it, it can be both fun and rewarding. You go on. A Disney vacation 4 times, you are out money 4 times. Go on a gambling trip 4 times, you can come back with cash, sometimes more than you started with, maybe once out the 4. Nothing else let's you that. So pick your poison, but I'd take a Vegas trip over a Disney trip most of the time. Disclaimer: Vegas is not for kids. But smart.
#68
Every single antivirus-app for Android is a SCAM! People feel safe for E10,-/year but have you ever heard someone say their phone whas saved due to their awesome antivirus suite? I haven't..
El muerto 4 years ago
antivirus anything...is like paying for an extended garanti, that you'll never use
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
Except for like, Malwarebytes or something. That actually works. Norton is a bunch of tosh, however.
Load More Replies... #70
Dasani water at like carnivals It has salt in it which makes you even more thirsty then u were before so u spend more money on water
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
Same idea is behind peanuts on a bar or on a table when you are out for a drink.
staygoldponyboy 4 years ago
Have you ever looked at the sodium content of energy drinks? Any time a drink has electrolytes, it has salt.
Load More Replies... #71
"It's like getting paid to shop!"
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Reddit Context: "In their ads, Kohls states that shoppers will receive a $10 off coupon to be used at a later date for every $40 spent. "It's like getting paid to shop!", the ecstatic announcer declares. Their merch is maybe a notch above Sears. Many consumers have limited financial literacy. So tricky."
Jon Steensen 4 years ago
Not really necessary. No shop is stupid enough to make deals that will make them loose money, so everytime they make a statement like that, you can be sure that they will gain and you will loose. It is just another and better looking way to disguise the real cost, e.g. by marking up the prices beforehand to justifying given some of it back to the customer.
Load More Replies... #72
Political Parties.
arponet 4 years ago
Here many people believe that a socialist society is their ideal. It is a pity that a website made in a country that suffered it, is used to enhance it
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chi-wei shen 4 years ago
Quote by Franz Kafka (1883-1924): "One idiot is one idiot. Two idiots are two idiots. Ten thousand idiots are a political party."
lara 4 years ago
Oh, you mean like those countries that only have ONE political party? Oh, yeah, that worked well in China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nazi Germany, right?
M O'Connell 4 years ago
No, countries which have a wide array of political possibilities. Not that South Africa is a marvelous example, it's just the first one to come to mind. They have far more than two relevant political parties.
Load More Replies... ChinmayGhule 4 years ago
After reading this thread until this point, I feel like the system in China, (except for a few obviously opposable things) is quite better. Of course, I'm just an average guy. Enlighten me.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago (edited)
Technically that's a political party, except there's just one and you must vote for it or you're insane.
Load More Replies... Mishte Tine 4 years ago
Add to that - big media (cable, etc.) freedom of the press was based on the premise that the press would challenge the powerful, expose the wrong-doings of government and politicians, inform the average American… they’re in bed with government because profit and access is all that matters. The media plays a significant part in steering people to beliefs or sides that politicians and leaders want them to, manufacturing, pushing or ignoring things deliberately - giving false interpretations. That’s not what they’re supposed to be doing. I see main stream media as another branch of government. That’s what they are. I follow several very credible, legitimate independent media outlets and they provide far more factual, detailed information than the big corporate guys do. I double check/verify frequently to make sure as far better 1st Amendment resources. Main stream media is a manipulative propagandist sham working for the government unofficially. Their ads are big pharma, big oil…
#73
Any price that ends in a 7. It is literally a technique used by scam artists to make the price seem psychologically enticing.
#74
Big brand freezer tape and painters tape are the same exact tape for different prices. Source: I work at a factory that packages them.
Albino 4 years ago
No idea what freezer tape is, but the glue on painters tape does vary vastly. Too bad I never remember which is the good one when I'm in the store.
over it already 4 years ago
It's the ones that say "paint barrier" on the packaging (like frog tape) - the edges have a different adhesive similar to what they use to stick credit cards to the paper when they send them in mailings (the clear dot that you can ball up and pull off the paper.)
Load More Replies... Neil Bidle 4 years ago
SOME are, just like some foods are, or the cheaper brands are from the "bad end" of the batch, or products that would otherwise be binned by quality control. You can't say yellow, green, and white painters tape are all identical!
#75
Pretty much all of this first world bulls**t. The idea of money, wealth, work, the entire structure of our society, I mean, take your bloody pick.
M M 4 years ago
I disagree. All the above results in in a longer lifespan, rich food, comfort of living and the possibility of self-realization, which was inaccessible to previous generations. Now is the best time ever! Is it perfect? No! It's a chance to make it even better or find excuses why it can't be done.
John L 4 years ago
Not to mention, even poor people live better than royalty did in centuries past.
Load More Replies... Fred Van Der Zee 4 years ago
I think this is all about balance, how governments spent money, laws and regulations. etcetera. The situation in the USA compared to e.g. the EU is very different in these regards.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
I'd rather have money than have to scrape together cabbages to give to the church so the king doesn't lop my head off and spike it on a pole.
mulk 4 years ago
USA is not the "first country" anymore... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLdivb10mZ8
#76
Literally the entire world's economic system. Wage labour is fundamentally exploitative.
#77
Anything organic and priced higher, and most gender based products.
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
Organic produce has a lower yield than treated products. This price does make sense. Yes they use less products but they have also to put in more care.
Tobin Kern 4 years ago
False Karin. My family grows potatoes in SW Colorado and to be certified "organic" there must be a 30 day continuous window in which no "manufactured" pesticides are used. Naturally occurring pesticides are totally fine... so we just stop using the "manufactured" pesticides 30 days prior to harvest and then we get to charge 3x the price.
Load More Replies... #78
The Sharper Image. Except for a few items (e.g. massage chairs) all their products are made cheaply and they can afford to offer interest free payment plans on their items because the first payment, the one to secure the order, covers the cost of the item. Ex. They used to sell $499(?) air purifiers for, I think, $70 down and 6 equal payments of $70 a month. The cost of the item to the company was roughly equal to, but less than the down payment. They used to package in a mini $70 air purifier as an incentive to buy. Actual cost to the company? About $10.
#79
TurboTax
Ian Bartels 4 years ago
It's better than H&R Block. We paid $500 to have somebody put in our information when we could have paid $100 or less with turbo tax.
Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
How is TurboTax a "scam"? It's a terrific product. Unless you prefer to pay an accountant 3x the money to do what you can easily do online yourself?
#80
Hair shampoos and conditioners. They tend to be addictive. For shampoo, it's simple - the more often you shampoo, the more often you'll need to. because scalp is supposed to have some oil, and if you keep removing it, then it'll appear faster to keep up with the need. On the other hand, with conditioners, it's a different story. They are meant to make your hair look better after one use, but not necessarily healthier in the long run. So you end up liking this one brand because your hair looked so well after one use, but you don't realise that it's exactly what caused your hair to look like s**t after 2 years.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
I have been told by a few hairdressers that most people should only wash their hair once or twice a week. Washing too often strip's your natural oils that help make your hair healthy. I only wash my hair once a week. Never heard about the conditioner part though.
Load More Replies... GirlFriday 4 years ago
As someone with horrible hair and skin issues, I disagree with this completely. Without daily washing with a shampoo with specific ingredients, my hair is greasy, frizzy, and unmanageable - not to mention that I have very sensitive skin and am allergic to most soaps and shampoos. For most people, washing every other day or less may be enough, but I come from an entire sector of the population that MUST wash daily or there is physical discomfort and medical issues.
lara 4 years ago
You should NOT shampoo your hair every day. You should NOT shampoo it until it is "squeaky" clean. You do not "need" conditioners. Pick a shampoo that cleans your hair, use no products, just dry it. I use my hair dryer on the cold setting. It is not the heat that dries your hair it is the movement of the air. Hair needs a healthy diet to be healthy, but you cannot "add" health through conditioners or shampoo. I use Prell. I shampoo once, rinse and dry. I do not use conditioners. I do have to have my hair colored. My hair dresser says "you have the most beautiful hair, it is shiny and I use NO products on it. All my other clients would kill to have your hair." I am 74.
Rai Grant 4 years ago
If you don't wash your hair with anything other than water for 8 weeks, it'll revert to shiny, healthy, clean hair, but you do have to go through the 8 weeks of it looking and feeling like poo. I used to just rinse through my daughter's hair and it was beautiful. Then she went to nursery class and picked up nits... had to wash it then obviously (nit lotion), and it was never as healthy since....
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
It seems that people are just so wedded to the idea of shampoo that they're not prepared to hear otherwise. A good wash with clean water and a dab of conditioner on the ends is all that healthy hair requires.
Load More Replies... #81
The buy 3 for $12 at a lot of grocery stores. In reality you can just buy 1 for $4
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
I always check. In the uk they have shelf labels that give you the costs broken down into per kilo or per 100g so you can see immediately the cheapest route.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
I always do the math on these and the buy one get on free( on food items selling by the pound)
Amy Dodds 4 years ago
And you've gotta check the price per 100g to see if buying the bigger version is actually better value
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 4 years ago
What annoys me the most is when things are only sold in pakages. As a single, I only need three or four carrots when I cook and not a bag of 2kg, where the majority spoils before it is eaten. It seems like such a vasteful way to spend the world's limited resources in order for a supermarket to make a maginally larger profit by selling me something I don't need. I prefer the supermakets that sell tomatoes individually and carrots and potatoes by weight, as it seems like the smart way to do it... but that is not always an option you are given.
Beck(formerly Becca/Gizmo sq) 4 years ago
Nit always. Vendors like Mt dew do not do that. If say publix has a sale on vended items like that u have to get the 3. 1 willbbe full price.
Arthur Waite 4 years ago
The trick, I'm seeing in more stores, is one is 2.99, but if you buy three, they will work out to 2.49, so they are pushing you to get three, with an honest discount. Okay if you want to fill your cupboards at home, but a nuisance if you only need one.
#82
Gacha Games
#83
Tanning salon You can get in a healthy way outside
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
That is just completely incorrect. Tanning outside is NOT healthy, it still causes damage to your skin cells and increases your risk of skin cancer. Once you start to tan the UV radiation has already penetrated your skin and started messing with your DNA. The only tan you can get in Australian tanning salons is spray/lotion type tans, tanning beds are illegal.
GirlFriday 4 years ago
I think the OP is referring to tanning beds rather than tanning salons in general. In the US, there are still tanning salons that have unregulated tanning beds.
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Karin Gibson 4 years ago
You don't live in the UK .Plus any radiation is in excess is bad for you.
#84
in Mexico where I am from, many people sell cheap discs that supposedly has movies or cartoons and my family has bought so many of them knowing they are just recorded poor quality videos and they just lay there soon to be tossed away but not all of them are bad some are kinda worth buying "kinda"
Hugo A-niro 4 years ago
Hey in the 90s a lot of people bought these boot leg discs somewhere great others were terrible but we could bring those back to vender dude.
#85
The federal reserve.
João Vidal 4 years ago
https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-292-century-of-enslavement-the-history-of-the-federal-reserve/
#86
Grocery store layouts and cleaning supplies.
Karin Gibson 4 years ago
When they move stock around. You have to look for the stuff you want. By looking you will see something that you want ( not need) and the store will make a bigger profit.
Beck(formerly Becca/Gizmo sq) 4 years ago
They put the staples like milk and bread in the back so u gave to walk by all the stuff you did not want(but now do) so u grab it.
Load More Replies... lara 4 years ago
I HATE, HATE, HATE when they move stuff around. I can't walk as much as I used to, especially with idiots just standing around with their carts in the middle of the freaking aisle. MOVE and then I get there and they have MOVED what I wanted AND NO ONE KNOWS WHERE IT IS ANYMORE. AND THE DECISION TO MOVE SOMETHING IS MADE BY SOME BASTARD AT NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AND I WANT THE SOB DEAD.
What do you think ?
Chris365 4 years ago
House buying/ selling & estate agents are a scam….in the uk they have no qualifications, pluck numbers out of the sky and skew the market, to scam themselves better commission. Not passing on offers if they think it is too low and they can get more commission…not whether the seller wants to take the price
OhForSmegSake 4 years ago
Pandora jewellery. It might be pretty but it's cheaply made shite that causes so many allergies and breaks very quickly
Dinar Surtikarani 4 years ago
Communication degree here. I abandoned my thesis (graduate school) when the realization struck me.
Load More Replies... Bella, Your Kitty-Loving Queen 4 years ago
I don’t think this was mentioned, but something else that is a scam is optimum cablevision for your TV. They just keep raising the prices and it’s so annoying. Seriously, just use YouTube TV, it’s so much cheaper.
Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
Don't forget Dave Ramsey. He fails to really help those who are in low income situations. Worse he always suggests that people just skip out on lenders rather than pursuing bankruptcy when they can unload and perhaps even have hope for a future.
Chris365 4 years ago
House buying/ selling & estate agents are a scam….in the uk they have no qualifications, pluck numbers out of the sky and skew the market, to scam themselves better commission. Not passing on offers if they think it is too low and they can get more commission…not whether the seller wants to take the price
OhForSmegSake 4 years ago
Pandora jewellery. It might be pretty but it's cheaply made shite that causes so many allergies and breaks very quickly
Dinar Surtikarani 4 years ago
Communication degree here. I abandoned my thesis (graduate school) when the realization struck me.
Load More Replies... Bella, Your Kitty-Loving Queen 4 years ago
I don’t think this was mentioned, but something else that is a scam is optimum cablevision for your TV. They just keep raising the prices and it’s so annoying. Seriously, just use YouTube TV, it’s so much cheaper.
Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
Don't forget Dave Ramsey. He fails to really help those who are in low income situations. Worse he always suggests that people just skip out on lenders rather than pursuing bankruptcy when they can unload and perhaps even have hope for a future.
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