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(#1) Beware Of 'Buy Here, Pay Here'
From Redditor /u/mostlymoister:
Buying a car from a 'buy here, pay here' dealership. You put $500 or $1,000 down they say you are approved and you drive the car home. Two days later, the dealership calls and says that they couldn't get you financed at that down payment and interest rate so we need an additional $2500 down and your interest rate doubles.
If you don't have the extra money they take the car and your original down payment.
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(#2) Contractors Tried To Get Paid Twice
From Redditor /u/mymusekilleditself:
When my grandmother was in the hospital, her landscaper and handyman both contacted me to tell me she hadn't paid them and they'd been trying to to reach her and on and on. I'd already paid both bills from her account and when I questioned them, they remembered real quick.
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(#3) Not Sending Your Credit Card Statement
From Redditor /u/quietman85:
I worked in the collections department of Discover Card for a while. One thing they did (maybe still do), to lure customers to them is offer 0% APR for the first year. People would jump on this and transfer all their debt onto their new Discover Card, and then the company would 'conveniently' not send the first month's bill. In the fine print of the agreement, it states that if you miss even one payment in that first year, your APR will jump to 29.95%.
Half of my calls were to these new customers who would then proceed to throw a fit, because they didn't ever get the bill, and I had to explain to them that it was their job to know when the bill was due, and sending one was just a courtesy extended by the company. I hated hated hated that job. It ate away at my soul.
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(#4) 'Accidentally' Adding Something To Your Order
From Redditor /u/Kingtycoon:
An older fellow I know had a bodega and he'd put a can of cream corn on the counter by the register. This was some time ago, so the can had a price tag of $.17. He sold that can of cream corn to everyone who bought anything there. If they realized they were paying too much he'd just say he thought that was their can of corn.
Most people didn't notice though, and he sold that same can of cream corn maybe twenty times a day.
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(#5) Used Car Trick
From Redditor /u/000011110000:
If you're buying a used car - or any car for that matter - the check engine light should temporarily come on when you start the vehicle. If it doesn't, the dash has been tampered with to mask a potential issue.
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(#6) Companies Track Deed Registrations To Trick New Owners
From Redditor /u/fathqua:
When I was in the process of moving into my current home, I transferred the title of my old home and land to my sister because she was buying it and moving in when I left. Within the next few weeks she started getting all the 'welcome to the neighborhood' coupons and flyers. She didn't even change her address, so I assume companies track title changes with the register of deeds.
The sketchiest was a pest control company claiming to have an existing account on the property and recommending she continue to use their services. They detailed dates and changes; referenced termites. It was all lies. All the dates shown were while I owned the property and I never even heard of this company before she received that letter.
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(#7) Threats From Debt Collectors
From Redditor /u/MattsWorldoWonders:
Debt collectors will have 'detectives' call you from a number that appears to be a legitimate law enforcement agency when you Google it. It's actually a spoofed caller ID using a legitimate agency's fax number. The 'detective' will threaten arrest and throw around names of local judges.
Then, the debt collector will claim to not know the 'detective' who left the message, but will be willing to take care of your debt.
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(#8) Fake Claims Of A Competing Offer
From Redditor /u/mngray16:
We were young, first time home buyers. We found a house that we loved and was in our price range, albeit the high end of our range, but in there, nonetheless. We entered into negotiations with the sellers agent. While my husband and I were thinking the counter-offer over, we received another call from our agent saying the sellers agent received an offer from someone with no contingencies. They could pay cash and sign that day.
We knew we couldn't complete with that, and our agent urged us to rush over to her office to sign their counter-offer and hope they would accept it since we made our offer first. Of course they accepted, because there was no other offer. After all this went down, we were sharing our story with family and friends and we came to realize the sellers agency plays this card frequently.
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(#9) A Cup's The Same As A Bowl
From Redditor /u/JoeyZasaa:
I waited tables in a restaurant and one time I decided to pour a cup of soup into an empty bowl (a bowl of soup costs a good bit more than a cup of soup at the restaurant). The cup filled up the bowl to the top.
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(#10) Stealing Business Through Google
From Redditor /u/surfnsound:
If a Google business listing isn't claimed and controlled by a company, a competing company can weasel their way in and direct people to their business by, say, changing the phone number.
There was an article recently about how drug counselors in the Philadelphia area had it happen to them. Their listing phone number was changed to an 800 number, which directed callers to an inpatient rehab facility in Florida. It was discovered when one of these counselors started noticing his patients suddenly not showing up. He called one of them and found out he was at this facility in Florida.
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(#11) Raccoon Planting
From Redditor /u/icarusOW:
I know a guy who does pest control who specializes in raccoon removal. He takes the raccoons from one house in one neighborhood, then takes and releases it in another neighborhood then waits for the people there to reach out to him to remove the raccoon from their home.
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(#12) Shorting Severance Pay
From Redditor /u/Mode1961:
In Nova Scotia, Canada, severance pay is paid on the average of your last 30 days of pay. This means that some companies will actually reduce your hours for your last month with them (if they are going to lay you off). Happened to my wife. She worked for this company for 5 years, worked 35+ hours per week, suddenly she wasn't getting shifts. BOOM, lay-off notice. Happened to other folks too.
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(#13) Green-Washing
From Redditor /u/Too_Much_Prego:
Many companies claim to be environmentally friendly by putting made-up certifications on their products. Like a frog in a circle that says 'rainforest friendly'. There are very few legitimate environmental certifications. It's called 'green washing'.
Basically, companies will claim certain aspects of their product to be environmentally friendly but not have any type of certification to back them up.
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(#14) Dirty Mattress Practice
From Redditor /u/hkgolding:
Mattress stores that have the 'find it anywhere else for cheaper, you get your money back!' deal and a contract with the manufacturer to make the exact same model of bed, but with a model name specific to that store, so nobody can ever cash in on that deal.
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(#15) Three-Tiered Pricing Approach
From Redditor /u/hobbes_shot_first:
The three-tiered pricing approach, especially for things like roofing or basement waterproofing.
The contractor starts with a ridiculously high priced quote for way more stuff than you asked for, steps down to a more moderate quote of what you wanted with a few bells and whistles, then the third quote is for what you requested.
This gives you the illusion of choice and reduces sticker shock because although your requested 'absolute minimum' service is really expensive, it's only half the cost of their recommended repairs!
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(#16) Finding A Nursing Home
From Redditor /u/conurecrazy:
When finding a home for your elderly parents, set up an appointment but come in a few minutes early and say (don't ask) you will walk around for a quick look. The receptionist likely wont refuse you, and the sales person won't be ready for you. These places like to show you only the stuff they want you to see when being led around by a salesperson.
Chat with a resident or a staff member, they'll be the most honest with you.
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(#17) People Lie About Money
From Redditor /u/moderate_extremist:
People lie about salary, starting pay, raises, etc. all the time. Learn to play hardball. For a multi-million dollar company, another $10-20k is nothing.
My office had a lock-down on raises over 3% and going into an annual review I learned that my boss had lied and under paid me for the starting position (He claimed they had a $60k budget for the position and couldn't exceed it. I found out the last person in the job got paid $75k).
So, I got an offer from a competitor for over double my current pay, knew they couldn't afford to lose me with the amount of work coming in, and slid my offer letter over to my boss during the review. They matched the offer, gave me a $10,000 bonus up front, and even cut me into a percentage of a business line. The meeting was awkward as hell, and it was difficult to do, but it's business.
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About This Tool
The reality is that the public’s trust in more companies is continuing to decline. This is the result of decades of uninterrupted political and financial turmoil. As far as contemporary public opinion is concerned, there seems to be no absolute fairness in the business world. What the public is more seeking is greater transparency of enterprises, so as to ensure that the products and services they sell are safer and more effective.
Regrettably, some tricks that sound like conspiracy theories are real, and it is true that some unreasonable or even improper business practices are businesses that do not want consumers to blame. The random tool tells you 17 dirty tricks practiced by businesses that you never noticed before.
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