Most of us like to think the world is a fair place. We rent-to-own appliances to repair the kitchen, pay to set up a router, and pack on ink cartridges for our printers that seem to have an insatiable appetite for these overpriced refills.
And there’s nothing wrong about it until you pause and think for a moment. Are we all just normalizing the ways companies make a profit off us without even realizing it?
When someone posted the question “What is clearly a scam but is so normalized people don’t notice?” on r/AskReddit it surely resonated with many. Amassing 85.7k upvotes and 47.1k comments, we have some of the most interesting and insightful responses that will make you go “wait a moment!”
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Most mega churches... I remember an interview with Kenneth Copeland talking about how he needed a private jet to spread religion
Minimum wages staying the same, while the price of virtually everything else rises
Funerals and everything to do with them. The funeral industry has insane pricing. Some of the funeral homes and vendors are even predatory, getting grieving families to pay upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, because “that’s what the deceased would have wanted”.
I personally don’t understand the big lavish funerals. Your dead so why do you care how your send of goes. I don’t care if I have a memorial, ceremony etc. I want to be disposed of as cheap as possible coz I don’t want my family to be in debt or pay thousands of dollars to legally dispose of me.
Planned obsolescence, where products are deliberatly designed to have a defect or worse performance shortly after the warranty has expired.
''The customer is always right"
Biggest scam of all- the customer is usually an idiot and looking to get free stuff.
The original saying made perfect sense: “The customer is always right, in matters of taste.” If a customer wanted wear something ugly or eat something gross, you helped them out with a smile. It’s their money and their business, and you’re just there to facilitate that purchase. But once it got shortened and lost that meaning, it became a huge pain in the ass for employees and businesses, and a license to act like an entitled douche to customers.
Unless it’s a personal decision. Like if you are in a clothes store or a hairdresser, leave the costumers alone to decide. I became so sick of hairdressers lecturing me about why I shouldn’t be wearing short hair as a woman that now I cut my hair at home. I won’t pay 30 euros for a lecture.
Part of the problem is the term has drifted from its original intent. Originally, it was more along the lines of "don't dispute a customer's opinion if not asked." If the customer says "I look best in lime green," the customer is always right--they look best in lime green. The Karens using it as a bully club in some dispute is not the intent.
Not in the UK. We say "You think you know how to do my job? Go ahead. Call us when you want us to fix the mess you made and be warned, you may make things so bad that it will cost a lot more to put right BEFORE we do the original job" I had a couple of bosses with that attitude and it worked. One guy ended up causing a £70 motorized satellite setup cost him nearly £800 to repair all the damages, replace broken parts and then fit the system
This is an American thing, I think. Although now I’m wondering whether they have that mindset and mantra in Canada. I wonder if any Canadians might comment and confirm this for me?
It's a world wide thing. Le client n'a jamais tort (customer is never wrong). In Spanish and Italian, it's 'the customer always has a reason'. Germany, der Kunde ist König (customer is king). And, clearly, you've forgotten Japan, where okyakusama wa kamisama desu - the customer is god.
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Well, lucky for you, they are dead. It can be traced back to three department store magnets (though no agreement on who said it 1st) - Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker and Marshall Field in the early 1900s. I suppose one could always dig up the bones but that seems like a lot of work.
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Meanwhile the Dutch: The customer is always right. Yeah, right. Last time i remember selling a pack of cigarettes(15 years ago): Guy walks up to the counter, throws a handfull of change in my face(literally, literally not the 'literally' that means figurativelty) and goes back to his phone. "Excuse me?" i say politely. "Marlboro!!" he replies, rolling his eyes. ..... i bend down to pick up the change that bounced off my face and chest (didn't bother to collect the ones that landed behind me), walk to the open door and throw it out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "Marlboro"
In Dutch it's "The customer is king", though.
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Not in my shift! I'm always nice at first. If you are nice too, I stay nice-if you act like an ashmole, I treat you like that. You are a GUEST-behave like that!!
The customer is rarely right, and sometimes we accommodate - but only if they're nice about it.
The customer is usually upset at attitudes like yours and want some satisfaction or at least acknowledgement of the issue. The customer is always right is a friggin MYTH.
Even when the customer is right nothing is done to stop the sellers stealing from you.
Is that statement still valid when the customer is a gay couple, and the store is a Christian bakery? ...or does that statement only apply when it is a regular customer with a valid complaint but who is dealing with a d**k store owner?
Since covid though employees can now yell at customers freely . I asked a gal wearing a vest and nametag and placing customer orders in bins on a float in Wal-Mart where an item was located and she snapped at me " I am a shopper " . I kinda figured that would be the person that would know where stuff was .
This is a case of the original meaning getting lost. 'The customer is always right' means that if you are trying to sell a product that no one is buying, the product is at fault, not the customer. If you've ever heard someone trying to start a business and continually saying 'if only people understood XYZ they would buy it' or even slagging off the public for not being able to see what a delight their handmade whatever is, you'll know what this means.
The customer gets to be right because of money. If you do not make money (or prevent the loss of money) from that person, then that person is not a customer and does not get the privileges of a customer.
I dont see it as a scam, I see it as the [consequential] COST of the merchant not handling its (inventory/advertising/pricing) business properly 🤷🏽♀️
I've lost count of how many times a customer has told me something completely wrong like we sold x item, despite me having been there 9 years and we never sold it. Or it must be free because it's doesn't scan, not we just have dodgy scanners.
It's to keep conflict between the customer and the employees, so that upper management and shareholders remain unaffected.
I have fired customers. If they abuse my staff, they're out the door permanently. No one needs their crap.
Load More Replies... The phrase was meant to mean that customer complaints should be taken seriously so they don't feel deceived - popularised at a time where retailers misrepresenting and cheating customers was very common. The phrase has become something else now because of some people twisting its meaning, but it has not always been that way.
The US tax system. “We know how much money you owe, but it’s up to you to figure it out and if it’s not right, we’re going to penalize you for not understanding the convoluted code.”
The fact that so many products require you to create an account and register it just to use it. This is starting to become so widespread. Even CAMERAS are doing that [things] now. Pisses me off so much. I don't want to be tied to some stupid cloud BS I just want to use the damn thing.
Phones themselves are terrible for this too. I should not need an apple or google account to have a phone I should be able to use it as a standalone device with just the cell service and that's it. All this sort of BS is only so they can spy on you.
I agree 100%, also I hate that you have to give permission to use your data to access most apps, websites etc. You should be able to use them without them selling your info to other parties.
College textbook prices.
It's crazy how ridiculous expensive they are putting even more of a financial burden on students
Unpaid internships. F*ck anyone who gives unpaid internships! People get exploited like sh*t in that and for what? Most times they don't even count. For what purpose?
I get so irritated when someone posts "unpaid but you'll be given a certificate". Shut the f*ck up and do the work by yourself you lazy ass.
Mobile game ads that show gameplay of a Call of Duty or Skyrim style game but in reality are just a spin-off of Candy Crush
I have downloaded so many apps from what is advertised in another game and then find out it is nothing like the ad at all. So now I don’t even bother. It’s essentially click bait.
Printer ink.
Omg yes, it is super expensive. Our old printer was cheap but we didn’t research before hand to find out that the ink for black was $38 and colour was $45.
Bottled water, like Dasani. Especially in places like an amusement park that mark ups the price a shocking amount. Also the average markup of bottled water is 4000%, which is outrageous, bc water is literally free most places
The diamond industry, specifically as it relates to jewelry. Everything that the average person "knows" about it stems from propaganda and advertisements created by DeBeers. They aren't rare, they aren't worth what you pay for them, they don't appreciate in value and are a terrible investment. They aren't special.
Health Insurance in the US. Costs a small fortune, never covers sh*t, and you still end up bankrupt if you're not rich and get sick or hurt.
Apple's headphone jack removal.
Supposedly was to make the phone thinner, but everyone puts a case on anyways. Samsung galaxy S10 was 7.8 mm thick with a headphone jack. Apple removed the jack with iPhone 7, which was 7.1 mm thick. That's great, but every iphone since has been thicker.
And very convenient to remove that, wait till the annoyance died down, then release airpods.
The whole thing was clearly a scam to artificially make bluetooth a borderline necessity right before releasing Apple bluetooth earbuds.
And everyone ate it up.
And the removal of the chargers “for the environment”. If it was for the environment then you would reduce the cost of the charge from the phones and also give the option to buy them for a small price. Now they charge the same without it and then charge you like 40 euros for the charger.
Gerrymandering. In most representative democracies, voters choose their elected officials. In the US, elected officials choose their voters.
Cat food. Look at the cat food at a random store, and see how the design brags about all the healthy vegetables they've crammed into your obligate carnivore's diet. Then check out the ingredients and see how corn, rice, etc. are often the first ingredients. Pet foods market toward humans by trying to appeal to human sensibilities, not genuine desire to provide your cat with the best diet.
When you buy kibble look at the ingredients. Like this post said the first ingredients are the ones that have a bigger %. You want the first ingredients to be meat and it to not contain a lot of wheat, beets, corn, flour or ash. Most fancy commercial brands are really poor in composition.
Members of Senate, Congress, and Presidential candidates, collecting money from corporations, big donors, and hiding it in campaign accounts, Pac's and Super Pac's, and then doling it out as they like. They no longer act as a government of the people and for the people.
Giving credit card details for a "free trial" and auto renewal fine print.
Heck, stop it after my trial ends. If I really liked it, I'll pay for it.
Manufacturers refusing documentation to private repair enterprises and requiring you to get your products fixed by the dealer. Basically, the reason for the "Right-to-repair" movement
YES. And making products "seamless" so that you CAN'T open them up to repair them (I'm looking at you, Apple), at least not without a ton of effort and higher than average risk.of damaging the product doing it yourself. This refusing documentation and all is just yet another scheme for them to wring money out of consumers and away from small businesses
The school picture industry. $80 for an awkward picture of my baby? Nah, thanks
$80 is insane. I would never pay that. Thankfully the average cost I pay is $35 for a basic pack which includes a class photo and about 10 individual photos of various sizes.
Application fees for colleges, apartments, etc.
HOSPITALS OMG
Lol ask them for an itemized bill (like everything they gave you and how much it costs) and they'll cut the bill down by like 50%.
Weddings. My wife and I got married in a post office and could not have asked for a better ceremony. It cost us the price of notary services and that’s it.
The exhorbitant sums spent on weddings, specially second marriages or where couples have lived together for years and often already have children, has become rediculous.
Working 40 hours a week
Or the entire concept of having to work, in order to justify being alive... many years ago I came across a quote by some economist (can't remember the name, sadly) who argued that most job positions are totally superfluous, but are maintained because of the whole "everyone has to have a job" thing.
Fashion, but also just clothing in general. No pockets on female clothes? More purses get sold. Thinner layers for women? Have to buy more layers. It gets marketed as being fashionable, but the clothing industry could roll out a marketing campaign for baggy rugged clothing tomorrow and get it trending if they wanted to.
Also, the clothing industry is a cesspool of child labor, human trafficking, and it has some of the highest carbon emissions and water waste of any industry on the planet, way worse than flying. One cotton t-shirt takes thousands of gallons of water to produce. Almost any synthetic fabric is a type of plastic, and you release microplastics upon washing.
On top of all that, we have repressive cultural norms and laws regarding the necessity of wearing clothing that come from Puritans and Victorians who thought table legs had to be covered and ankles were sexy. The idea that you should be embarrassed to be naked in front of other people is a cultural phenomenon, not instinct, and you can look at pretty much any tropical tribe to verify this fact that humans are actually generally normal around other naked humans.
Social media. From their happy beginnings they are now mostly a funnel used to ram as many advertisements into your mind as inhumanly possible. “Sponsored Posts” every third or fourth item - I see you, IG/FB/Red/etc. And that’s not even mentioning the extensive filtering network that “curates” the information you get to see when you are looking for something. “Curated information” is just a nice expression for you being conditioned to form certain opinions / buy more stuff. Social media groom minds
Reducing a price by 1 cent to trick our brains into thinking a product costs less than it actually is.
Starbucks. I pay $9.99 for 51 oz of Folgers Ground Coffee, roughly 380 8 oz cups. That comes out to about $0.02 per cup of coffee. At Starbucks, a Tall Dark Roast costs $1.85. I could have 92.5 cups of Folgers at home before I pay for 1 Starbucks. My tub of Folgers is worth $703.00 if I were to sell it at the same price as Starbucks. AND I’m using reusable cups every day.
Homeowner's insurance:
"Sorry, we're not selling new policies in Your Area right now because Thing just happened" where Thing = earthquake, wildfire, flood, and other things you might ... want to insure against?
"We don't cover That Sort of Problem." where That Sort of Problem = anything that actually happens to your house, due to weasel-wording loopholes
"You submitted a claim? We're going to triple your rates FOREVER after this."
Those registries that people pay money to “name a star”
The thing is no registry owns the stars so just because you name it, doesn’t mean it is actually named that or that you are the only person to name that specific star. You may call it Fred whilst someone has called that same star Wilma. You are literally paying for a piece of paper, nothing more.
Doing your own taxes, and paying to use a privately-owned software (or a service) when the government could totally do it for you, send you the details, and ask if it’s correct.
I would rather use an accountant, especially when our tax is a bit more complicated with all the deductions.
Annual college tuition increases. Why aren’t they held to a competitive pricing model as opposed to having to take out a mortgage to go to school? Everyone wants to talk about government paying for college education, but there is no conversation on why is it that expensive anyway? Especially when some unis have endowments in the billions that just the interest on those funds could literally pay the tuition for everyone that goes through the door.
Social media looks like free, harmless fun, but is more like selling your soul (and data), makes you addicted and sad. Most people notice, probably, but don't care enough.
Paying for cable tv. The whole idea of paying was to create a revenue stream separate from that of marketing. There are a few out there (HBO, I think) but generally we pay to access the content and still have to spend 20% of the time sitting through commericals.
Then streaming comes in and were free of advertisements again, for a bit. Now YouTube has tons of ads and other streaming services are talking about adding ads as well
I would never get Foxtel coz it is approx $60 a month when I can get Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime video, Stan etc plus all the catch up tv and YouTube for at least $20 less a month. They are an absolute rip off.
Most modern manufactured goods. Designed to not last, so you keep buying more.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the Internet that sells some sort of „millionaire education“ .
Every single one of them. They are all liars, most of them are not even rich to begin with! They fake it enough that some idiots buy it. You are customers to them. Nothing more.
A lot of self-help unfortunately is based on the falsehood that you can "accomplish it with this one trick." The One Trick will not get your weight healthy, get you that relationship with that person, put money in your pocket or make you happier. Real life requires nuance and complexity. And things that are hard and take time and effort. I wish there were One Trick but we need to deal with the situation we have, not the situation we wish it was.
Toothpaste commercial were actors filled their toothbrush with toothpaste too much which is unnecessary
You should only use about a pea size amount. In saying that though, I am just as bad as the actors and put on almost as much as what is pictured lol.
The fact that you have to pay to bury loved ones
I don't think the mere fact that you have to pay for burials is a scam, but the often high prices are equivalent to a scam.
Rent-to-own furniture and appliances.
I understand why it’s a thing coz some people can’t afford to pay for those big items upfront so rent to buy is one of their only options.
Lootboxes in videogames.
Note: this post originally had 75 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
So called influencers only exist because fools "follow" them.
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I hate you look something up once, and then everywhere else you go there are ads for it. This just proves that Google is stealing your information.
Look up random stuff to throw them off. Once I looked up a Breyer Horse figurine I still had as a kid (to see if it was worth selling). I had Breyer Horses ads for 2 months. I’ve had that happen with other things too. It is always great to throw off your algorithm because then you are not tempted to buy anything
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The biggest scam ever was Moon Boots. They didn't make me weigh less, and float for a little bit, I just bounced a couple inches off the ground, and returned almost immediately. I'd rather have had a Pet Rock, even though that was also a scam.
Why don’t these article authors just cut through the BS and label their articles “More Anti-United States” propaganda
Most of those things apply outside the US too.
Load More Replies... If you're checking out flights, every time you go back to a page for a certain flight the price is more expensive... They cookie you and then try and convince you you must buy now otherwise the price is just going to continue to increase. Clear your cookies and voila, suddenly the flight cost is back to the original price. Which is why I always browse flights in incognito mode.
This is 100% true, but the easiest way around this is to reopen a new browser in the incognito mode. The price will go back down every time.
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Add up the price of the value meal. You often pay a few more cents. When I get the 2 cheeseburber meal at McDonald's I order separately, and they say "Oh, you want the combo." "No." It might just be 2 cents, but, it's the principle. You're supposed to save money with a value meal, not pay more. And that 2 cents sure adds up for McDonald's, eh, with all that they sell?
The MSC sustainable fishing label...total scam! Watch Seaspiracy on Netflix..a real eye opener !
I don't have the guts. I know enough that pretty much every fish I would come into contact with, would have caused irreparable harm to the ecosystem. Regardless of whether they are farmed or wild. So I just boycott all fish. On the upside, I've heard the new kelp farming techniques are pretty amazing, they are nutritious, great for healing an ecosystem, and if sunk to the bottom rather than pulled up to eat, they deposit carbon on the ocean floor. Oil industry in reverse :)
Load More Replies... All of these are basically due to vanity and the fear of not fitting in with everyone else. So: be your own worst enemy and you'll never be at a loss for allies.
Having to use a hospital or a washing machine is vain?
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The idea that you should change jobs after a certain number of years (over here it's roughly every seven years). No, if you like your job and you like your company, and they like you, just stay. You'll get better at it, and usually the benefits will increase too.
No just capitalism, where CEOs are trying to maximize their profit for that year with no f***s given for longevity. There is a quote: You can become a millionaire though hard work, but to become a billionaire you have to screw over your employees, vendors and customers.
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I couldn't find Robux in this list like dude u have to pay to get insane dammm ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ
I disagree with the diamond rings for marriage. A diamond is a choice. And my husband chose to not give me a diamond engagement ring. However we did choose to get diamond wedding rings cause they last very long. They cost a lot but theyre supposed to last you a lifetime. Its not a scamn they could guarantee me that it would last a lifetime and otherwise they would fix it for free. A scam is ending up witj something cheap or ending up with nothing. A diamond ring lasts and my husband and i chose them. If you dont want one, dont buy one
15#. I totally agree. Also, I went to a camp about science and we learned that adding a certain chemical to water will change the water color. The closer to red, the less fitting it is. Dansani was yellow.
I'm getting saddened by how many people don't respect the religion of others.
Do you mean scientology? Its founder, the now deceased, L. Ron Hubbard is on record saying it is a scam. Or megachurches? There are a ton of christian options where the pastor is not also a money sucking ghoul. The label "religion" is not a get out of honesty for free card.
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Seems to me all you people want is free s**t. Nobody should ever have to work have to earn money to pay for things, it should all be free. Yeah that is real doable.
And cereal boxes that contain 80% air. They should pay a tax on airspace inside their box. And please don't say "just look at the weight!", it's false advertising, plain and simple.
begin plans on a war that will stop all of this and kill anyone that does this again
So called influencers only exist because fools "follow" them.
Load More Replies... I hate you look something up once, and then everywhere else you go there are ads for it. This just proves that Google is stealing your information.
Look up random stuff to throw them off. Once I looked up a Breyer Horse figurine I still had as a kid (to see if it was worth selling). I had Breyer Horses ads for 2 months. I’ve had that happen with other things too. It is always great to throw off your algorithm because then you are not tempted to buy anything
Load More Replies... The biggest scam ever was Moon Boots. They didn't make me weigh less, and float for a little bit, I just bounced a couple inches off the ground, and returned almost immediately. I'd rather have had a Pet Rock, even though that was also a scam.
Why don’t these article authors just cut through the BS and label their articles “More Anti-United States” propaganda
Most of those things apply outside the US too.
Load More Replies... If you're checking out flights, every time you go back to a page for a certain flight the price is more expensive... They cookie you and then try and convince you you must buy now otherwise the price is just going to continue to increase. Clear your cookies and voila, suddenly the flight cost is back to the original price. Which is why I always browse flights in incognito mode.
This is 100% true, but the easiest way around this is to reopen a new browser in the incognito mode. The price will go back down every time.
Load More Replies... Add up the price of the value meal. You often pay a few more cents. When I get the 2 cheeseburber meal at McDonald's I order separately, and they say "Oh, you want the combo." "No." It might just be 2 cents, but, it's the principle. You're supposed to save money with a value meal, not pay more. And that 2 cents sure adds up for McDonald's, eh, with all that they sell?
The MSC sustainable fishing label...total scam! Watch Seaspiracy on Netflix..a real eye opener !
I don't have the guts. I know enough that pretty much every fish I would come into contact with, would have caused irreparable harm to the ecosystem. Regardless of whether they are farmed or wild. So I just boycott all fish. On the upside, I've heard the new kelp farming techniques are pretty amazing, they are nutritious, great for healing an ecosystem, and if sunk to the bottom rather than pulled up to eat, they deposit carbon on the ocean floor. Oil industry in reverse :)
Load More Replies... All of these are basically due to vanity and the fear of not fitting in with everyone else. So: be your own worst enemy and you'll never be at a loss for allies.
Having to use a hospital or a washing machine is vain?
Load More Replies... The idea that you should change jobs after a certain number of years (over here it's roughly every seven years). No, if you like your job and you like your company, and they like you, just stay. You'll get better at it, and usually the benefits will increase too.
No just capitalism, where CEOs are trying to maximize their profit for that year with no f***s given for longevity. There is a quote: You can become a millionaire though hard work, but to become a billionaire you have to screw over your employees, vendors and customers.
Load More Replies... I couldn't find Robux in this list like dude u have to pay to get insane dammm ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ
I disagree with the diamond rings for marriage. A diamond is a choice. And my husband chose to not give me a diamond engagement ring. However we did choose to get diamond wedding rings cause they last very long. They cost a lot but theyre supposed to last you a lifetime. Its not a scamn they could guarantee me that it would last a lifetime and otherwise they would fix it for free. A scam is ending up witj something cheap or ending up with nothing. A diamond ring lasts and my husband and i chose them. If you dont want one, dont buy one
15#. I totally agree. Also, I went to a camp about science and we learned that adding a certain chemical to water will change the water color. The closer to red, the less fitting it is. Dansani was yellow.
I'm getting saddened by how many people don't respect the religion of others.
Do you mean scientology? Its founder, the now deceased, L. Ron Hubbard is on record saying it is a scam. Or megachurches? There are a ton of christian options where the pastor is not also a money sucking ghoul. The label "religion" is not a get out of honesty for free card.
Load More Replies... Seems to me all you people want is free s**t. Nobody should ever have to work have to earn money to pay for things, it should all be free. Yeah that is real doable.
And cereal boxes that contain 80% air. They should pay a tax on airspace inside their box. And please don't say "just look at the weight!", it's false advertising, plain and simple.
begin plans on a war that will stop all of this and kill anyone that does this again
