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40 Things In Our Daily Lives That Many People Don’t Realize Are Scams
Interview With Author
What seems to be very obviously nefarious to you might not be obvious to someone else. That’s exactly the question that internet users have been tackling on the r/AskReddit subreddit. User u/Aurallius asked people to open up about what they personally believe to be scams that “everyone else accepts otherwise,” and they were glad to deliver.
The thread quickly went viral, getting over 36.6k upvotes and a whopping 27.3k comments: everyone was fired up to share their opinions and discuss each other’s views. From shopping channels to credit repair companies and more, you’ll find all things that some people think are secretly scams below.
Some of the things mentioned in this list are likely real-life scams. Of course, you might not agree with all of these conclusions, dear Pandas, but that’s part of the point—the grey area in which these things exist. Let us know what you think about these redditors’ opinions in the comments and if you agree with them or not and why.
The author of the thread, redditor Aurallius, gave Bored Panda some insights about the inspiration behind their question and what people should do to avoid scams. Aurallius is a design student at the School of Visual Arts in New York. They're an illustrator "working to make a living from art." You'll find their comments below.
This post may include affiliate links.
All of insurance as it is currently sold.
Example: I have full coverage car insurance. I pay $X/month to have that coverage.
Then I use it. Then they charge more.
Which means that my rate before my accident wasn't really the price of coverage; the new, higher rate is. I was paying a subscription fee to have coverage at a higher rate once I needed it.
Same for health insurance. I have to pay a deductible, meaning, I am not covered until I've paid it. "You are covered, but actually not until you've paid out of pocket a certain amount. Also, we will only cover a certain percentage of costs." Which means I'm actually not covered entirely. It's not actually insurance.
Here's how insurance is supposed to work: I pay you $X/month and you pool that money with everyone else paying that to you. When I have a problem you have the pooled resources to cover it for me. I'm still paying more over time probably than the cost of that event, but you're there to take on that cost for me for the price of my premiums. That's not what's happening anymore.
“You broke your left leg? Sorry, we only cover right legs.” -Insurance companies
Thorfin, you always deliver 😹🤣😹 It's sorta true though... My dental "insurance" doesn't cover molars except for above-the-gums cavities or extractions. Asked my Dentist, answer: "It's usually the molars that need work & it's the most expensive. Cheaper to pull them out."
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You don't understand how insurance works. It's a bet, placed by the insurance company, that you won't need to use it. Prices are based on the odds of using the insurance. So once you have something that was your fault happen, the odds of you having that happen again go up. And therefore, so do your rates. I'd love to do without insurance too, but my exposure would be too great: I can't pay some dude$45k for hospital bills if I hit his car and hurt him. That would ruin me. Buying car insurance is expensive but doesn't ruin me. If we had a public health care system in America things would be far better, but since medical costs are insane, everyone has to get expensive insurance.
First of all, we shouldn't have health insurance -- we should have health care. But if we have health insurance, it should be thought of like homeowners or auto insurance, where you don't file claims for oil changes or normal maintenance. As for auto insurance rates going up, my company cuts my deductible each year I don't file a claim. Basically they've discovered that people who file claims are more likely to file more claims, and those who don't are less likely to file claims. It's all about statistics and odds. Insurance companies (auto and homeowners, not health) are basically bookies.
We need to do away with health insurance altogether and set it up like Canada or UK.
I disagree, you are ignoring complex issues. The main one is that insurance is NOT supposed to cover minor issues. It is supposed to cover very expensive things that you could not cover yourself. That is, Insurance is not there to pay to bang out that dent, but is there to pay for when you total the car. Because if you could pay it yourself, why would you get insurance? Just fix the minor issues. People forget this and make stupid mistakes, like having a low deductible. No. Get the highest deductible you can imagine paying off without having to go without food that month.
Other thing that can be tricky is if you don't tell them about the ding and they discover it when you total it. They might decline the whole thing because you lied about having no prior accidents. So I have a policy of informing them of 'dings' in writing and saying directly that I am not claiming, just doing due informing. If they try push the policy up - I threaten with moving companies. That usually makes them back down.
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Having worked in insurance for some time, there is a general condition that I agree with: maintenance (property and motor insurance, in particular). If you go ten years without getting your car serviced, or turn a blind eye to your home's crumbling foundations, you shouldn't expect your insurer to cough up.
It's a risk pool. The reason your car insurance goes up is because you like to crash your car. The reason there's a deductible is so there is disincentive to over-use your insurance. Some people would go to the doctor every day if they could. If they know they're at least out a co-pay or $600 before the insurance kicks in, they won't go in for nonsense. This keeps the rates lower. After starting working in the insurance industry, it starts to make way more sense. Most of the time when you get screwed it's because you actively chose the worst coverage because it was cheap.
The idea that you should "disincentivise" people to seek healthcare is barbaric. In the UK, you go to the doctor if you need to go to the doctor. So what if it turns out to be nothing serious, that's EXACTLY what the system is there to do- protect people's health.
Load More Replies... With health insurance, most of the Deductable issues were caused by Obamacare, most people didnt have it before then, and it was rare to have it above $500 for a person. Due to the changes in the regulatory system via Obamacare, most people have it and the average is $5,000. Remember 70% of all costs in American Health Care are caused by regulations unrelated to patient care, safety or privacy.
Yeah that's not true. I've always had a deductible.
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Whoever wrote this has no idea how insurance works and should not be allowed to publish on this topic. Hidden information and hidden action are difficult issues which things like bonus malus systems elegantly address.
You know shockingly little about property/casualty insurance. People have problems with health insurance and rightly so, but PC insurance is SO much more than pay a premium, get paid for your claim. Insurance is not just paying claims. I've worked in the industry for a decade.
Health insurance sin't insurance. It's a racket. However, we've never had issues with home/auto.
I used to work for an insurance company as a customer service representative. This particular insurance company was a 'non-profit' company which meant that they had to spend around 80% of their premiums on 'related' expenses. At the end of each fiscal year they would calculate how much they had spent on claims and if it didn't meet the required amount everyone working for the company got a bonus. So, that means that instead of paying claims to stay at that required percentage they gave employees bonuses. That is what it means when your insurance company boasts about being a non-profit organization, they aren't more likely to pay your claims.
Not always. I have great life/health insurance. This summer I got a bruise on my ribs and they paid me about 150$. For a bruise that disappeared within a week. The only thing I had to hand in was a doctor’s note (doctor’s visits are free where I live)…
yes! we need to quit susidizing this absurd industry & " socialize" health care in the USA like most other "Western" nations
I think this is another f****d up US only thing... at least in here it works as you say it should
And that’s not all. If you buy insurance of any kind, you are actually betting against yourself. You are betting that something WILL happen that would be more expensive to pay outright than the total sum of the premiums you paid. Multiply that by all the various insurances and warranties you have. I’d rather bet ON myself and save that money.
An agent friend told me some years ago that insurance is insurance, regardless of the provider. if you check all companies you should never see more than "maybe" a $100 year variance from low to high. Anything more is that companies way of saying "we don't want your business" As for health insurance, always a scam but then in the US, most of the healthcare system is owned by corporations and they're only in it for the money. My wife had good insurance, had a gall bladder removed. Hospital said we'd get a 50% discount if we paid within 7 days, so it cost us $1700 on top of the deductible. A friend with no insurance had the exact same surgery, cost her $500.
This is the US? In most countries, insurance is heavily regulated and cannot raise prices nilly-w***y. They are still profitable but not obscenely so. Data is used heavily to gauge fair pricing and risks do not get adjusted upwards and have no way of normalizing.
Welcome to capitalism as used in the USA. The "socialism" in Europe is actually the way real capitalism operates.
Ummmmmm...that's not how it works at all. I really don't have the energy to rip it all apart. I've worked in insurance for over a decade, have multiple professional designations and written policies for auto/personal lines/e&o/farm/MTC/any kind of commercial business imaginable.
Only in the US. My insurances dont get up when I need them. Also my healthcare stays the same and covers everything (except things like alternate medicine, but you can still have that covered with an additional healthcare insurance). I went to the hospital 3 weeks ago, because I had an accident. I was there for 3-4h, they gave me several medicines, made a CT and a x-ray. I wont have to pay anything for that. Same when I had an accident 10 years ago and had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks.
My insurances work the way you describe they should... The rate might go up if you repeatedly get in car accidents or such, but otherwise, they work just as you'd like them to. ...but then again - I don't live in the US. So let's not even get started on health insurance. 😉
Ah, welcome to Socialism. You and all your neighbors pay the Party, and the Party takes care of you no matter what. Unfortunately, if one of your neighbors requires more care, everyone has to cover that care. In the US we call that Federal Income Tax. Trust me though, I love our busses, trains, roads, schools, National Parks, National Forests, National Landmarks and Museums, our Universities (The United States has the highest number of Universities in the world). I love Major League sports subsidised by taxes, and millions of research programs covered by HHS.
"Unfortunately, if one of your neighbors requires more care, everyone has to cover that care." Yes. As it should be. Because we live in a thing we here in the civilised world like call "SOCIETY". Today my neighbour needs care, tomorrow it could be me. That's indeed socialism, and it's a good thing.
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The "deductible" scam is really pissing me off. Just charge me $100 more monthly- and pay I. Full when the accident Occurs. This is the worst when you are in pain or car is wrecked and you still need to cash out $3000 before they can cover. And it's usually something like $500 they will pay.
The deductible is usually tied to the level of risk (if I write a company with US revenue the deductible is doubled at the minimum because of the litigious legal environment). Insurance is designed to cover an unexpected large loss. It's not meant to be used as maintenance...which happens all too frequently. Insurance, in Canada at least, is highly regulated both provincially and federally. Auto insurance companies, for example, have to apply and get the province to approve rate increases.
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If you wanted that kind of insurance then you could have paid for that kind of insurance
Insurance is a scam, but this explanation is really not accurate. Car insurance is actually one that really is a necessity. With many people.not having the smarts to save up for an accident. And the difference between liability is really hard to predict. Some people are really awful drivers. The insurance really is for when something big happens and it's unlikely that anyone would be able to pay for it directly. But really, the premiums aren't in comparison to what they make and how much your coverage is.
Well, my rates don't go up when I have to use insurance. Also, I don't live in the US
My son and I were in car accidents a few months apart and our insurance did not raise out rates.
My son and I were both in accidents the same year and our insurance did not go up.
It is also the reason that most insurance claims include as much 'added on' extraneous items and injuries (whether they existed or not) by the claimants in order to offset the consequential losses through excesses and increased premiums. If insurance companies behaved decently they might find a significant decrease in fraud. Of course, you can see just how unfair they are when you notice that they are many of the richest businesses and have the plushest offices!
False. Fraud is rampant and ranges everywhere from an individual inflating a claim to sophisticated fraud rings. "Behaving decently" will not deter people from trying to make a quick buck.
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If cost of living didn't exist, you'd have a point. Also, that definition of insurance has not existed for... maybe forever. Sounds like an idealized version of how we'd like to be. The cost of insurance rising has been a thing for at least as long as I've been alive and that's well over 50 years. My parents complained about it.
Also credit card insurance. I had it 25 years ago, and when I called them after I lost my job, they denied me saying that I should have known that I was losing my job years ago when I signed up.
It depends on the country I think. We've got a lot of short term insurers here competing for business so if one of them does this I just switch to the next one and tell them both why I did it and name both companies so they can hate each other. Haven't had them do it for a few years.
Insurance used to be a saving scheme whereby people with limited funds could put all their money together on a regular basis, to provide a kitty whereby anybody in that club could draw from the fund in the case of an emergency. Insurance was a community assurance scheme. Then capitalism came along, and now all insurance is a way of encouraging the most people possible to contribute while paying out the least possible number of claims.
This kind of savings policy still exists in our country, called a 'stokvel'. I can't quite translate that.
Load More Replies... To be completely honest with you: If this is what you want, then you better change who you vote for. Because no one currently running for office or in office wants this for you.
Even if you dont claim, the annual increase is 2-3 times the inflationary rate on a vehicle with decreasing value. If you dont check up and complain, they get away with it
Can you imagine what would happen if some new company came up with a novel new idea - being an actual insurance company, and sticking to the basic dictionary definition? Granted, it’d take a while for people to believe it. And yes, the rest of the “insurance” companies might be unhappy. Ultimately they’d be pressured into offering a similar service, since no one in their right mind would stay with them, given this alternative. How about it, Pandas? There must be someone here who knows how to run an insurance company the way it was originally meant to be run. Who’s with me? Prizes for the best company name :)
The other companies would not be upset, they'd watch your downfall and roll their eyes
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Going through this right now. Have a 12 year old car, never missed an insurance payment. Averaged about $100/month. That means I’ve paid them about $14,000. Two months ago I got involved in a hit and run, so clearly not my fault, have the police report to prove it. Never filed a claim on this car in the 12 years I had it. $1100 in damage. I had a $500 deductible, which means the insurance company paid $600. $600 out of the $14,000 I’ve given them. My rates just went up 12%. F**k Progressive.
Would you say the same if you were walking on the sidewalk and get smoked by a car? Without insurance you'd be praying that the driver of the other car was rich enough to cover your medical, missed work etc.
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Yep! Those insurance rat-f**ks are bleeding all of us dry, AND WE LET THEM DO IT!
Prior to the Reagan Administration insurance worked as it should, airline flight was less deadly, trains were a great form of travel reasonably priced etc etc etc
You're delusional. The Reagan Administration had nothing to do with flights being deadlier. What is wrong with you?
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Another sneaky thing car insurance companies do in the UK is automatic renewal. If you dont call them, they renew your car insurance at some inflated figure. Had this once even after I told the company not to automatically renew, they still tried to at over £500 for the year. A phone call later, I got a quote for about £350 which was cheaper than anywhere else. The deductibles in the USA are mental. How do you find $10k before they cover some bits. I do have private insurance in the UK but the deductible is £100 on my policy
I'm probably going to be blasted for it, but the wedding industry seems to be scamming people for love.
You don't need a $35,000 party to marry someone, just get a priest and some friends for like $3k and save that money for your relationship.
Weddings used to be paid by parents or grandparents of the couple, but times have changed and more people are paying out of their own pocket for a celebration that doesn't really need to be extravagant.
"Get a priest and some friends for $3k"? That sounds like people trafficking, but sure, I'll buy a priest 😂
The funeral industry. Poor families get robbed of so much money just to put on a "respectful" funeral, and because they're grieving, it's seriously kicking them while they're down. You don't need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to have grandma embalmed, made-up with corpse makeup, put in a casket worth an arm and a leg, and lowered into a hole filled with roses, to be topped with an ornate expensive headstone. I wish natural burials were more mainstream, where the body is put in its favorite outfit, wrapped in a biodegradable sheet, and placed in a mound of dirt to be absorbed by the earth. Big funeral companies are benefiting off of people's grief and it's disgusting.
Aurallius, the author of the thread, told Bored Panda that they're often subjected to various ads. The "variety of products and services that are advertised on a regular basis" made the redditor come up with the question in the first place. However, that wasn't the only reason.
"I also wanted to make a popular post," they opened up to Bored Panda that they were aiming for some popularity online as well.
There are various ways how people react to being scammed. Some choose to waste the scammers' time. Others immediately call the authorities. While others choose to ignore the scammers entirely. Aurallius told Bored Panda that, in their opinion, it's best to "immediately report the scam" so as to help protect others in the future.
So-called "body cleanses", whether it be juice, herbal pills or something else.
I want to smack anyone who says they need to go on a cleanse. What the hell do you think your liver and kidneys are doing? you wanna cleanse? drink some water and let the giblets do their work, dingus!
There is an even weirder belief which says that the gut gets lined with dried up s**t over time and therefore needs to be rinsed out at intervals. I mean, strictly speaking the gut IS a sort of pipe, but a) it can't dry out inside, b) the walls are too soft and move too much to maintain a dry lining, c) the contents don't trickle, they are pushed through, rubbing against the walls so how is a stable layer of grime ever supposed to build up? d) the gut cells are constantly renewed with the old and dying gut cells being expelled into the gut interior. People have the weirdest beliefs about bodies.
Unpaid internships.
If you look at the actual laws, internships are supposed to be primarily focused on education. If the intern is doing work that is providing value to the company, they are supposed to be paid.
It's just never enforced.
This is the biggest scam, and really should be cracked down on - I hope this one makes it to number 1. Reminds me of the stingy influencers who want you to work for free for exposure/experience, except it involves the biggest, most profitable companies
Buying T-shirts with the company's logo on them.
You pay them a ridiculous price to advertise them.
Well that's the whole point of conspicuous consumption - you're also advertising yourself, as being able to afford it (even though it's probably a knock-off). Still ridiculous though, I'd rather advertise to the world something I genuinely enjoy, like a band or icecream 😁
I wanted to get Aurallius' opinion about what people can do to make sure that they don't fall for scams. In the redditor's opinion, education, patience, and awareness are key. "People should think critically and do extensive research on the stuff they use or consume," they pointed out that we should all be willing to put in the time to do some research to protect ourselves and our wallets.
The redditor also shared that credit repair companies are an example of a scam that they've had some experience with.
Scams, hustles, cons—whatever you call them, they’re as old as human history itself. Fighting against scams and con artists is a never-ending battle because a person’s biggest defenses are education and awareness.
I’m not a nutritionist but having comfort food be cheaper than fruits and vegetables is just plain wrong.
Totally agree. You are preach into the ground about eating healthy but when its time for meal prep and grocery shopping, you can feed a family for $20 with unhealthy foods or $60 for better choices. Many families have to take what is affordable for their situation. How can fresh fruit cost more than a loaf of bread that has a process to produce it for sale? Makes no sense at all.
Organized religion.
The mormon church asks their members to give them 10% of their money. F***ing 10% even if you're a little old lady living on a very fixed income or an 8 year old kid mowing lawns.
If you don't pay, you're not worthy enough to go to their temples. If that's not a scam, I don't know what is.
And filthy rich pastors. The religion, where your pastor is richie rich and greedy is a scam.
Tipping.
It's a scam restaurant owners use to keep wages low and profits in their pockets.
When you’re aware of the tactics scammers use, you’re prepared to shut down their attempts to weasel money or sensitive personal information out of you. However, that just makes the scammers find even more creative, evil ways to bamboozle you and the whole process continues to spiral.
There’s hardly a greater bunch of experts on scams than the r/Scams subreddit, a community dedicated to fighting back against hustlers and providing info and support to victims. One of the moderators previously gave an interview to Bored Panda about the difference between real-life and online scams, and what you can do to protect yourself.
"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 r/Scams mods explained to Bored Panda that interacting with a scammer face-to-face can give away some of their intentions. Things aren’t as clear-cut with the advent of the internet.
College in America, it's absolutely absurd that they can hold your transcripts hostage, charge 600 dollars a year for a 'parking pass' require that the first year be spent on campus, rotate out a 500 dollars text book every single semester (that was written by your professor), and basically can find any other way to outrageously over charge students while promoting predatory lending and saying they're "not for profit".
Cable TV. Either provide it for free, or remove the incessant advertisements. Not okay with the double charge.
Totally agree with this one. When I watched a mates sky TV For the first time I couldn't believe that they were adverts in the middle of something he was paying for. Whilst I'm on a rant - in England we used to get football on terrestrial channels which are, except for the BBC's licence fee, free. Then Sky took over and hoodwinked people into thinking that their coverage was sooooo much better. The majority of people fell for the idea and subscribed with the result that we now have to pay an arm and a leg to watch our national game. Same with boxing and cricket. All previously very cheap or free now we have to take out loans to watch it.
Engagement rings (specifically diamond ones). Ridiculously expensive pieces of crystallized carbon that are intrinsically worthless.
“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," the redditor pointed out that distance and anonymity don’t work in our favor, but are very useful for scammers.
"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.”
Any seminar entitled "Secrets to Building Your Wealth" or something in a similar vein. The only secret is that you attending is building some other person's wealth.
They’re usually pyramid schemes. However I’m not sure how often they’re accepted by everyone - I think most people realise (?).
Popcorn prices at the cinema
I buy popcorn at our discount cinemas. There's one that does second run films for $2 and another that does movies after the theater runs but before the DVD release for $5. That's less than half the cost of a standard movie ticket. I know the concessions are how they make their money, and I'm okay supporting them that way.
Inkjet printer cartridges.
My printer cost a bit less than the replacement cartidges and it came with ink when I bought it.
It would be more cost effective if I bought a new printer every time the ink runs out.
That's why it makes sense to check the price for cartridges *before* you decide for a printer, so you can buy the one that is the most cost-efficient *including* the future cost of replacement cartridges. The printer ink will still be overpriced, mind you, but a lot of companies try to entice you with a super cheap printer but then make up for the difference and more with every purchase of printer ink. THAT at least is something you can avoid.
One of the best ways to know whether something’s too good to be true is to rely on your gut, your instincts, that little voice in your head that’s saying there’s really something sus going on here. “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.”
Buying knockoff and counterfeit products is a horrible idea, not just because of the ethics alone but also because they pose potential risks to your health. In short, be careful what you buy. “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,” the r/Scams moderator warned.
When a company asks at the register, “Will you round up to the dollar for xyz charity?”
You think you’re being honorable but these companies are just taking your money and representing that THEY are the ones giving it for a tax break. It’s a total scam. If those companies want a tax break they can donate. Screw off. I donate on my own and in my own way.
Bridal showers. I'm already getting you a wedding gift, but i need to get you something else too, essentially in celebration of the same event? And people who expect gifts at Their engagement parties are really milking it.
Bridal showers came about in the 19th century to replace the dowry. The original intent was to provide the bride with items for her wedding night and money that would ensure the wedding would take place. That of course was in a day and age when most women did not work. This is yet another tradition that needs to dropped. I suggest unmarried people (men and women both) bring back the "hope chest" or "glory box" that they begin to fill with household items while still in their teens. The items move with them to their first home away from mom and dad.
Transaction/processing fees when you order a digital product online. Such as a concert ticket: you pay 16 bucks extra while you pay online, and then have to print the ticket yourself.
All fees are BS and are designed to either hide the price of the original product or are an excuse for a middleman to cash in.
Yes, from a customer’s point of view, this also used to really annoy me, until I started selling goods and services (including digital products) online. In order to do so, I need a business bank account (for which I have to pay a monthly fee, plus additional fees, if I have to pay in a lot of cheques), but most of all, I need another third party that processes the customers’ card payments. This also incurs a monthly fee and in addition to that, a card processing fee that varies in amount depending on which type card they use (debit or credit) each time someone buys something. Plus, each time you pay for something with your card online (ie where you’re not physically present) the processing fee is automatically higher than if you pay in a shop, as the card processing service provider claims that the risk of fraud is higher (and thus the risk that they might have to refund you.)
One thing that you should definitely consider for the sake of your financial safety 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 misled 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!)."
Apartments charging pet fees but not children fees.
Some people are allergic to (some) pet hair, thus more cleaning will be needed, I don't know of any people being allergic to baby hair. Don't think the fee has anything to do with potential mess and noise, because if so I agree that children likely is deserving a higher "fee" :)
Psychics.
How do these people live with themselves when they are taking advantage of people in their time of mourning/loss?
It's cheaper to go a therapist
I wouldn't say people accept this as normal. Most people know this is a scam.
Hotels charging for WiFi. Also flights.
You’re telling me I can get free WiFi from libraries, coffee shops, the dentist, and the bus. But I can’t get WiFi included with this $189/night room? If I spend more than $2 i want free WiFi
Those "For every share/like this post gets we'll donate £1 to a charity for the Amazon rainforest" posts on Instagram. No way in hell are any of these people donating millions of pounds just because they got a bunch of likes on a post. It's just a very shameful way of getting likes in my opinion and makes people feel very self righteous when they share or like them.
Any kind of over the counter pill, vitamin, cream or personal cleansing product that is usually unisex but claims that this particular one is for men or women only. It's the same razor model but in a different color, Gillette. I'm onto your s**t.
Double check though - some vitamins marketed at women do have a higher proportion of folic acid because that does have more benefit for women (particularly pre-pregnancy). If the two sets of contents are genuinely identical - don't spend more for just the pretty lady on the front.
Organic produce.
I grew up on an orchard, so I know that it’s actually pretty easy to follow organic standards. Contrary to popular belief, organic does not mean no sprays, it just means that the sprays you used were on a very long list of approved sprays. (In the US anyway. I can’t speak for other countries)
And then actually being able to use the term organic requires a very expensive certification process.
So all that organic means is that big companies can charge higher prices for their produce.
It always amazed me how organic carrots and non organic cost the same. Either you are scamming me or organic are not organic and the other way around. BTW, I have a local farmer's market where I live and these "organic" products from supermarkets look nothing like a real ones.
Priority boarding for airlines. Personally if I paid extra I would want to be the last person on the plane. I sit down, we go. I wouldnt pay extra to make my plane time longer by 30 mins just to have 100 people bump into me as they board.
Wish.com
Yeah you find something you like for a dollar, BUT it has 7 dollar shipping fee AND it's from China and will take a month to get to you.
Autism speaks. The organisation is actually terrible, and views autism as a curable illness and as a burden that must be fixed.
I have seen nothing good about this organisation. I have spoken to a number of autistic adults online after my son was diagnosed. They all hate it. They also have a major problem with this Spectrum10k thing where scientists want DNA from autistic people but have not been clear on why and who will have access. That has been likened to eugenics.
College. Most of he population does not need a degree to work the job they work, but we're told all thier lives that they will never become anything without it. Most of us get fooled into going and spending tens of thousands on a BS piece of paper that in reality contributes nothing to ones ability to do the job they end up doing.
I wish people didn't push so much for higher education for everyone remotely intelligent, and I wish trade jobs weren't marketed as something for the people "too stupid" for higher education. What's people's problem with having intelligent craftsmen? Do you really prefer stupid craftsmen doing work at your house? And on the other side of the coin, a lot of the jobs for which university education is expected don't in fact need to be done by the most intelligent people. Can't we finally accept that intelligent jobs aren't an opposite of manual jobs, but rather are the jobs where independent problem solving is required? It's not the difference between blue collar and white collar and it shouldn't be.
Payment plans for phones and just paying $1000 for a phone in general.
Any company that makes you go to their dealers for repairs, like Apple, just so you have to pay triple the amount. If you had gotten an android and watched a youtube video, you could have fixed the problem yourself in 20 minutes for about 10 bucks.
The shopping channel, they just get some common product, slap a few mouthy salesmen on it with an infomercial and sell it for 10x the price.
They're just screwing over pre internet senior citizens.
I'm a 'pre internet senior citizen' and do not watch these appalling channels at all
Workout/meal plan apps that you have to pay for. All of their workouts and meal recipes are google'able and extremely generic. There’s no face time between you and the app people so there’s no individuality in it. I don’t get how people fall for it at all
Some people (including me) will more likely stick to something if they have paid for it. Sounds stupid, is stupid, but if it works...
The cost of mobile Data plans.
I'm from Sweden and here I currently pay $15 for 8 GB. I lived in Canada for the winter and they wanted $50 for like 3GB.
I can't easily split out what I pay for data from mine, as it also includes the phone, but I am on unlimited data and unlimited calls. I can even take it roaming for a very small daily fee. The freedom of being able to watch streaming services on the move, or connect my laptop to the internet from practically anywhere without worry about data charges and limits is liberating - previously I had a limit and hardly dared use it for fear of overrunning it.
High School rings. I don’t know why people buy them. What do you use them for?
For those who don’t know what a class ring is, it’s a ring that you can buy when you’re going to graduate. Details vary from ring to ring, but it generally has the school’s logo on it, can be customized a bit, and costs anywhere from $100-$1000 depending on the materials, what school you go to, etc.
Went to high school in the US and remember them trying to get us to buy one... super expensive and SO ugly! The best part is, everyone was trying to convince me I'd regret not getting one... now I never see anyone wearing theirs. If it's something that makes you happy, go for it, but my school pushed these so hard and plenty of people wasted their money on something they never wear.
Fruit juice and most breakfast cereals. They're full of sugar and so obviously terrible for your health and teeth, but they also lead to an energy slump that makes late mornings at work unnecessarily irksome.
Subscriptions like xbox live gold, playstation plus, etcetera...
It feels odd to have to own a console + monitor/tv, buy a game, have an already paid internet subscription and then above that, before you can even play the game (not all of them, it's clearly stated which games you need a subscription for and which not) you need a paid subscription to your console's online service?
They aren't too expensive but it just feels a little odd.. (I do not own any consoles myself nor am I trying to speak bad about console players. It just feels odd to me personally)
Pancake mix. You literally only need flour and baking powder plus a bit of salt. That's it. That's all it is. The liquid ingredients (milk, eggs) are still the same. Don't spend your money on boxed pancake mix.
A box of pancake mix is $1. How are you saving money by buying all of the ingredients separately, especially if you don't bake and don't keep baking ingredients on hand?
Credit repair companies.
I used to sell this stuff.
You pay $100 a month to send letters to credit companies to fight the debt. If they don't respond in X days, it goes off your credit. You can also dispute it if a name is barely spelt wrong or an address.
You can do this 100% on your own and there are templates online you can print out.
Note: this post originally had 56 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I feel like most of these things are american things, hadn't heard of half of them.
Planned obsolescence. Crap for the consumer, terrible for the environment and no real reason it should happen.
And heavily disputed by Apple and the likes, because "Innovation would stop if devices could be used for more than 3 years." It's the same argument that Apple used to oppose "Right to repair" legislation or in their effort to block the "One charging connection for mobile devices." law. If "Innovation" means "Making more profit" they are not lying.
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Let's add "the subscription model." Adobe is a prime example. You no longer purchase Photoshop; you purchase a subscription to Photoshop. This means that, if you can no longer afford it, you no longer have the software to use. At all. Adobe shuts off your access to it. (Use Gimp instead. It's free and does nearly everything Photoshop does. The things it doesn't do are only crucial to a graphic designer.)
Yes!! Add to that Microsoft Office 365. I refuse to pay for that.
Load More Replies... I don't fully agree with #28- I agree that university degree doesn't automatically mean someone is intelligent and someone in trade without a degree isn't, but tertiary education is so important in developing critical thinking abilities and just gaining more perspective in so many different topics that you wouldn't get in high school. Just the amount of anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists that fail to even recognise credible sources of information alone proves that the general level of critical thinking skill of the human race is dangerously on the decline..
US Jails are a con. People who do wrong should pay for their crimes but to receive inadequate food, live in dirty rodent infested housing is wrong. Families have to pay a large fee to deposit money in their loved one's commissary accounts which are then used to buy adequate undergarments so they don't freeze, overpriced ramen noodles so they don't starve, soap that is actually soap, toothpaste that doesn't taste like ajax, and pay for phone calls over crappy phone lines. There is nothing rehabilitating about jail. Prisons aren't quite as bad but are still not doing what they are supposed to do. And, prisoners have to pay for their medical care - not a lot but when all you have in our account is $20, having $15 taken for an infirmary call means you don't eat that week.
Price markups are wrong- especially on food items. I can understand the jail needing to break even but don’t make a profit on bare necessities.
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Homeopathic and alternative 'medicine'. There is no alternative medicine: there is only medicine that works. Anything else is a scam and should be illegal.
I happen to agree that homeopathy is a scam, but to say all alternative medicines or treatments are a scam is false. Alternative means not prescribed by a GP and regulated by the pharmaceutical industry. Ginger biscuits are an "alternative" treatment for travel sickness.(ginger has been proven in trials to help with nausea, but that doesn't qualify it as a medicine). St John's Wort is considered alternative because it is herbal (never quite understood why the distinction is there, but whatever) but it must be mentioned to a GP because it can interfere with "conventional" medicine. It shouldn't be illegal, because it had proven results. What I think you mean is powdered rhino horn and tiger blood. Those already are in many places illegal because of the poaching of endangered animals involved. A blanket ban on anything "alternative" to stop stuff that is already illegal is pointless.
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'Business accreditation organisations'. Supposedly to maintain standards and protect consumers against cowboy traders, but all that is needed is a fat fee to get a certificate and a few stickers/logos to fool the gullible.
Medical bills - go to our local hospital - yearly brand new furniture in all waiting rooms and offices, New flat screen TV's. We then get notified that our doctor has a financial stake in the clinic/ hospital aka he/she gets a share of the PROFIT the hospital makes. At the same time I am being sent to collections because they do not like that I can only afford to pay them 20/month. STOP making a profit on my health!
There are some places that should be run barely above breaking even. I consider hospitals and churches to fit into that category. You want to buy a new CT Scan Machine? Great! Do it! But do all the rooms really need furniture and tv upgrades?
Load More Replies... Phone provider: "For just £25 per month, you get unlimited data and 100 free minutes". Me: "I don't need unlimited data; I'll just have the 100 minutes for free please." Them: "No, you only get the free minutes if you pay the £25 a month". Me: "Huh, how are they free then?" Amazing how many customers are taken in by this BS and still talk about having "free" minutes which they have paid For!!
Ugh, America is awful. Can Europe take me please? (Not that I'm saying this is just America, but it is mostly America)
I'd like to add any business, charity, product, or service with the name of the Biggest Loser (the Tangerine Toddler) on it.
These might be UK specific but..........when supermarkets ask you to donate to X charity I believe they can use the amount as a kickback to pay less tax. Also the same sort of thing if you're at an airport buying stuff and the shop asks to see your ticket. Unless you're buying something out of duty free which requires you to be on an international flight or something like that, you're under no obligation to show your ticket. Again, its a way of companies paying less tax
Nope Lee, it happens at many American stores too, not just the supermarkets.
Load More Replies...
I feel like most of these things are american things, hadn't heard of half of them.
Planned obsolescence. Crap for the consumer, terrible for the environment and no real reason it should happen.
And heavily disputed by Apple and the likes, because "Innovation would stop if devices could be used for more than 3 years." It's the same argument that Apple used to oppose "Right to repair" legislation or in their effort to block the "One charging connection for mobile devices." law. If "Innovation" means "Making more profit" they are not lying.
Load More Replies... Let's add "the subscription model." Adobe is a prime example. You no longer purchase Photoshop; you purchase a subscription to Photoshop. This means that, if you can no longer afford it, you no longer have the software to use. At all. Adobe shuts off your access to it. (Use Gimp instead. It's free and does nearly everything Photoshop does. The things it doesn't do are only crucial to a graphic designer.)
Yes!! Add to that Microsoft Office 365. I refuse to pay for that.
Load More Replies... I don't fully agree with #28- I agree that university degree doesn't automatically mean someone is intelligent and someone in trade without a degree isn't, but tertiary education is so important in developing critical thinking abilities and just gaining more perspective in so many different topics that you wouldn't get in high school. Just the amount of anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists that fail to even recognise credible sources of information alone proves that the general level of critical thinking skill of the human race is dangerously on the decline..
US Jails are a con. People who do wrong should pay for their crimes but to receive inadequate food, live in dirty rodent infested housing is wrong. Families have to pay a large fee to deposit money in their loved one's commissary accounts which are then used to buy adequate undergarments so they don't freeze, overpriced ramen noodles so they don't starve, soap that is actually soap, toothpaste that doesn't taste like ajax, and pay for phone calls over crappy phone lines. There is nothing rehabilitating about jail. Prisons aren't quite as bad but are still not doing what they are supposed to do. And, prisoners have to pay for their medical care - not a lot but when all you have in our account is $20, having $15 taken for an infirmary call means you don't eat that week.
Price markups are wrong- especially on food items. I can understand the jail needing to break even but don’t make a profit on bare necessities.
Load More Replies... Homeopathic and alternative 'medicine'. There is no alternative medicine: there is only medicine that works. Anything else is a scam and should be illegal.
I happen to agree that homeopathy is a scam, but to say all alternative medicines or treatments are a scam is false. Alternative means not prescribed by a GP and regulated by the pharmaceutical industry. Ginger biscuits are an "alternative" treatment for travel sickness.(ginger has been proven in trials to help with nausea, but that doesn't qualify it as a medicine). St John's Wort is considered alternative because it is herbal (never quite understood why the distinction is there, but whatever) but it must be mentioned to a GP because it can interfere with "conventional" medicine. It shouldn't be illegal, because it had proven results. What I think you mean is powdered rhino horn and tiger blood. Those already are in many places illegal because of the poaching of endangered animals involved. A blanket ban on anything "alternative" to stop stuff that is already illegal is pointless.
Load More Replies... 'Business accreditation organisations'. Supposedly to maintain standards and protect consumers against cowboy traders, but all that is needed is a fat fee to get a certificate and a few stickers/logos to fool the gullible.
Medical bills - go to our local hospital - yearly brand new furniture in all waiting rooms and offices, New flat screen TV's. We then get notified that our doctor has a financial stake in the clinic/ hospital aka he/she gets a share of the PROFIT the hospital makes. At the same time I am being sent to collections because they do not like that I can only afford to pay them 20/month. STOP making a profit on my health!
There are some places that should be run barely above breaking even. I consider hospitals and churches to fit into that category. You want to buy a new CT Scan Machine? Great! Do it! But do all the rooms really need furniture and tv upgrades?
Load More Replies... Phone provider: "For just £25 per month, you get unlimited data and 100 free minutes". Me: "I don't need unlimited data; I'll just have the 100 minutes for free please." Them: "No, you only get the free minutes if you pay the £25 a month". Me: "Huh, how are they free then?" Amazing how many customers are taken in by this BS and still talk about having "free" minutes which they have paid For!!
Ugh, America is awful. Can Europe take me please? (Not that I'm saying this is just America, but it is mostly America)
I'd like to add any business, charity, product, or service with the name of the Biggest Loser (the Tangerine Toddler) on it.
These might be UK specific but..........when supermarkets ask you to donate to X charity I believe they can use the amount as a kickback to pay less tax. Also the same sort of thing if you're at an airport buying stuff and the shop asks to see your ticket. Unless you're buying something out of duty free which requires you to be on an international flight or something like that, you're under no obligation to show your ticket. Again, its a way of companies paying less tax
Nope Lee, it happens at many American stores too, not just the supermarkets.
Load More Replies... 