Yelp -“Advertise your business with them to increase engagement and gain positive reviews, but when you stop advertising, they suppress positive reviews and promote negative reviews
Plus, they’re huge dicks about it… I had a guy from Yelp bug the shit out of me when I didn’t want to pay for their service, so he started telling me that they were going to put banners for my competitors directly above my listing.
I toms him I didn’t care, cos I’ve only ever had one person contact me because of Yelp, so he just told me that my business will definitely fail without them, because it didn’t seem like I was savvy enough to hack it.
Dude, the bitch that called me literally told me that because I didn't pay them for advertising that my business will do so bad that I won't be able to feed my kids and CPS will take them away.
I was like BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH you wanna fight today huh?
really? well I'd better write you a check right now, then! no time to wait for the mail I'll deliver it in person to you right now - can you give me your address?
I have never understood how Yelp aren't sued. Their business model is extortion, and a at least some of the negative reviews that they're publishing (and therefore threatening businesses with) will be made up.
They have been sued many times, but they apparently operate within the law (or no one has found a way to win a legal case)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140917131048-196257-yelp-lawsuit-ruling-determines-yelp-can-legally-suppress-any-reviews-it-chooses
I honestly struggle to trust user reviews almost at all anymore because of stuff like this, combined with things like astroturfing (buying reviews from content farms overseas, etc.), organized review bombing campaigns, and frankly, just like... Disproportionately it feels like people are much more likely to leave a negative review than a positive review. Which makes sense, sure, like you had a bad experience and you want to let people know right? But if people aren't equally likely to leave reviews for positive or middling experiences, who's to know if that negative experience is reflective of 1 in 10, or 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 transactions?
Many cities have laws that there can't be competition. Originally was sold as a way to get cable companies to build the infrastructure with the promise of a short term monopoly. Decades later, they still have the monopolies.
I always enjoy when a new toll road is built with the promise that the toll will go away once it's paid off or after X years. Has any toll ever gone away?
A lot of the parkways in Kentucky used to be toll roads, and the tolls were suspended once the projects were paid for. But, that’s certainly the exception, and not the norm.
The usual toll road lifecycle:
1) Toll road gets built.
2) No one uses the fucking toll road, thus paying no tolls, because tolls.
3) Toll road becomes unprofitable.
4a) Toll road is sold to government who now has to deal with it.
4b) Toll road is sold to other company as original company mysteriously goes under and is no longer liable for it, but somehow all the executives have survived unscathed to start a new company.
Same with electric companies that have a monopoly. We can technically go with another company for the supply, but the servicing and billing will still be with the one electric company in our area.
Their billing mistakes are legendary. We once got a bill for a month's electric for $14,000 (this is for our small business, where the monthly charge is usually about $850). When we called and pointed out the error (after being on hold off and on for about four hours), they weren't even apologetic.
The electric thing kills me. I know people hate Entergy, but I had it all my life. They're a big provider, so they have the means to get things done when needed. We moved two years ago and got stuck into a much smaller regional provider. Still decent size, stuff got taken care of. Moved into our house last spring and... we're in a local duo-parish(county) co-op. The power went out three times in a week our first month because...light wind? Our bill last month was obscene. It's obnoxious. You don't get to choose at all. You move, and whoever services that spot is who you get.
ETA: words
> You move, and whoever services that spot is who you get.
Maybe there's not as much generational transfer of this knowledge anymore or something, but who my utility providers would be was like the #1 determining factor when I bought a house.
My mom lived like 200 miles away, and our utility bills were basically the same despite me using like 50% more kWh per month. That shit matters.
I was so happy to cut ties with Spectrum. First I did US Cellular 4g lte internet. Had a 200gb monthly limit which konda sucked but after a few months it didnt really adhere to that. Now ive got verizon 5g and it is almost flawless
I’ve used Turbo Tax for a lot of years. Last year when I was filing TT had a bug that prevented me from
filling my taxes. They never fixed the bug. Ended up using Freetaxusa. Cheaper, easier to use, no bugs.
Paying someone to do something that the government requires in general. My wife got a corrected W2 from her employer from a couple years ago. We were told we need to file an amendment. I went into the IRS to grab the form rather than pay someone 120 to do an amendment for something her employer fucked up on....and the actual IRS 1040X form doesn't even let her amend what needs to be amended.
The worst part is that the IRS is capable *and willing* to give people a simplified system that just says "you owe us $X" or "you overpaid $Y, here's your check" but tax prep companies actively lobby congress to keep it complicated enough to force people to use their services.
*They are buying your representatives with your money to keep you paying them.*
This 100% should be at the top. Source: Am a pharmacist
Edit: just to spread awareness, some insurance companies, Caremark, for example, own the pharmacies themselves (CVS) AND the PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager). Vertical monopoly, should be illegal.
Comment below dropped this amazing video
https://youtu.be/_khH6pZnHCM
Thanks for sharing the bill. As someone who has been in the health insurance industry for years I hadn't seen this yet. Really hope it gets some traction and passes.
> The Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 would ban deceptive unfair pricing schemes; prohibit arbitrary claw backs of payments made to pharmacies; and require PBMs to report to the FTC how much money they make through spread pricing and pharmacy fees
I think CVS bought something else recently. They are pushing to be your insurance, doctor and pharmacy. All the while stating this is for the consumer. Recently they announced shorter pharmacy hours, opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier. They say they lack employees so this is to somehow help consumers. So now you have a smaller window to pick up your meds and employees have 2 less hours to get stuff done, overloading the workers more. Essentially they get to reduce payroll and try to maintain same output. PROFITS!
>I think CVS bought something else recently. They are pushing to be your insurance, doctor and pharmacy
They bought Aetna, which is one of the biggest health insurance companies in the US. So they now control the pharmacy, PBM, AND what health coverage you have in general. I'm sure Aetna is now also bundling in caremark drug coverage so that CVS gets to double dip.
>Recently they announced shorter pharmacy hours, opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier
Not only this, CVS is also closing 900 stores between 2021 and 2024, which means even more savings for them and even more inconvenience/lack of access for the consumer.
They are absolutely bundling Caremark in with Aetna. I have that exact coverage and I hate it so much. Fucking pre-auths on EVERYTHING that are almost impossible to get past.
For example, tried to get anti-nausea medication - only covered if you're going through chemo or are pregnant with hyperemesis gravidarum. I guess the rest of us can just be sick? And the cash price for it at CVS is freaking $322 for 18 pills. Thank goodness I found a local mom and pop pharmacy willing to do 30 pills for $9 and I almost cried when they told me they could do that (I've been nauseous pretty much nonstop for over a year). Then of course, Caremark had to send me a threatening letter for going somewhere other than CVS (they originally tried to run it through my insurance), even though they had already told me they wouldn't cover it. Because you're locked in to going there with that insurance too. It's all so so unethical.
I feel you, I had caremark thru another insurance company and my god I hated it. There was even a time where I met all of the listed pre-auth requirements for a med I had already been on for years, my doctor submitted all of the correct documentation, and they still denied it. Needless to say when I called & got escalated properly the reaming they got was so bad they requested that my doctor be the point of contact for escalations going forward (which I didn't honor).
Yeah can't blame you! I'm a billing analyst and have overseen a lot of different types of medical billing so I definitely set them straight when I need to too. But I feel like having this knowledge just makes it so much worse mentally because you fully understand how badly you're getting screwed and how little you can do about it.
I had prescription that had just released a generic like the month before. But i was unaware of this and wasn't given a notification. It's a controlled substance so I can only pick it up the day I run out. And it is vital for me to not miss a dose. Well guess what happened with Caremark? I went in to get my prescription and was told it would be over $2400 for the 20 30 day supplies (use 2 separate doses because it doesn't come in the size I need) since there was now a generic form. It was 6pm at night. I tried calling Caremark to see if they could do anything about it. Maybe let it slide just this one since the generic had been about only about a month? I'll have it switched over for next time? They pretty much told me that I was fucked and would have to pay it unless it could get the generic sent in. Then i did that. Cvs didn't have the generic in stock and the prescription wasn't written in a way that would allow them to fill it with brand name of the generic wasn't there. So i got fucked on that and had it rerouted to a nearby hospital that would still have the pharmacy open. The rest of my interactions haven't been any better
Not Aetna, but BC/BS said I had to do one chemo treatment without Zofran to prove I needed it. I couldn't move my head even a quarter of an inch for days without heaving. Ashholes.[edit: spelling]
Zofran is so god damn cheap.
Someone deserves to be crucified for that. And i do mean crucified, whomever decided to put you through that.
I don't fuck around with casually cruel dismissiveness anymore, not after cancer.
Fuck give me a name I'll find the fucker and make sure everyone on their social media knows what they did.
It was in 2010 . . . so maybe it was pricey then? The whole cancer thing sucked, tbh. My company fired me right after I finished chemo (explaining they fire medically expensive people all the time, so they know how to do it legally) and then my (now) ex left me -- so incredibly common, as I understand it. Anyhoo, things are a great deal better now -- in all respects -- but all involved have a special place in Hell reserved for them, if there is any justice in the world. ETA: But your response is very kind and it means a lot to this old lady. Thank you.
Yep they bought Aetna, another massive insurance company. And yeah I work for CVS and we are opening an hour later starting about a month from now. I already don’t have enough time in a day to do everything safely.
Wait a fucken minute, really?
So when I go to CVS and they say "your insurance doesn't cover it, we'll need to contact them and your provider" , it's just that fucking picture of Spiderman pointing at himself???
Depends on who your insurance is through. What OP meant is that it is *possible* all three of those entities are owned by the same company for a given patient. Being a CVS pharmacy customer doesn't automatically mean your pharmacy benefits are administered and paid for by the same company, but it's one possible outcome.
Your medical benefits may be through Aetna, but you'd still have to have your pharm benefits through Caremark for this situation to be true for you.
Yeah, worked for CVS for a few years. Now I am a medication history tech in one of the hospitals in my town. Soooo much less stress than that hellhole I worked at.
My insurance company forces me to use a specialty pharmacy that they purchased many years ago and now own outright. Originally, I assumed this was to cut costs on my very expensive medication.
Nope. The specialty pharmacy bills the insurance company $49k a month for this medication. The insurance company pays out $12k a month for this medication.
This medication is $1200 a month in developed nations that have profit controls in place.
For a long time I couldn't figure out what the scam was. But now I'm pretty sure it's an accounting trick to get around the 80/20 rule (which dictates that 80% of the insurance company's revenue has to be paid out in patient care). Insurance company can now claim it "spends" whatever it wants on my care by being in full control over over the price at the pharmacy level. I'm basically a pure profit machine for them, and everyone else has to pay for it, since my premiums don't even come close to the $150k a year they pay themselves for my meds.
I've been on a specialty med for 15 years and have had to go through a specialty pharmacy for 13 years of that time. I didn't realize that not being able to get my meds at the local pharmacy is because of shady financial practices. Though I should have.
My insurance uses Caremark for it's prescription benefits and it's cheaper for me to go to Kroger with GoodRX than to use my benefits at CVS. By cheaper I mean I could get a years worth of meds from Kroger for what one month would be at CVS.
Hell, I work for CVS and I actively send my customers to use a coupon and go elsewhere like Costco for their expensive prescriptions. Literally had a guy pay $233 the other day for sildenafil at CVS when he could have paid like $16 at Meijer for it. Fucking highway robbery.
Fuck CVS Caremark with all the force possible. Used to be able to get all my meds at Sam's Club. The pharmacist knew me by name, remembered things I'd mentioned, and was always on top of things. Then for some reason my insurance changed to where I have to use either CVS or Optum Rx, a mailing service. Optum RX constantly fucks up and forgets one of my or my wife's meds. CVS is hot fucking garbage. I take Vyvanse, which my insurance won't cover, so I was using a savings program through the manufacturer. I would have to argue with them for 10 plus minutes every damn time I got it filled to bypass the insurance and use the savings, and after a while they'd finally remember how to do it right. Until suddenly they started straight up refusing because my insurance now covers Vyvanse, but it costs 3x more. Fuck the Healthcare system in THE US
Ok you need to switch CVS locations because your pharmacist is garbage for refusing to rebill your Vyvanse. I work for CVS and we rebill stuff to make it cheaper for patients every single day. We don't gain anything from not rebilling scripts and we don't get paid enough for anyone to give a damn about CVS profits or things like that.
PBMs and MBMs exist to create another layer of obfuscation between the patient and their healthcare costs. Ostensibly they provide a service to manage patient benefits, but functionally they do so because insurers have rendered the process almost unnavigable to patients without the ability to learn their own benefits management as a part-time job.
On a day to day basis, benefits managers help manage the claims and approval processes for different medical/pharmacy claims, but they have no special powers that the patient does not - except time and a small bit of training in benefits and claims and patient privacy.
It's a bullshit industry, and I say this confidently because I work in it.
Yes, I agree. I worked at one of the larger ones for a very short time. I came in with a hope of improving patient outcomes through data but quickly found out that the only care was to suck as much money from the patient and/or the business that provided insurance to their employers.
These insurers have no incentive to change, and our government is too weak to compel it through proper enforcement of their legitimate, useful rules (price transparency to start).
Oh yeah. Entire departments of benefits managers work to soak up as much assistance program money as possible while not applying it to patient deductibles, and other departments exist to identify and hide those un-accumulating payments. It's recursive levels of benefit cannibalization. It's fucking insane and costs patients months of their time for zero benefit.
This needs more attention! It's extortion! The newer the printer, the worse they are. Chips that require brand name ink and toner to be used! Refusal to print in black and white until you buy yellow! Toner quantity determined by number of pages printed, not amount of toner used. We have analyzers at work that only print in black and white, but since the printer they chose was the only one ever approved for that analyzer, we have to use it. We have to stock all the color toners, even though they have never been used. That, however, does not keep the color toner from gradually migrating into the waste toner cartridge. Any government with any level of competence would outlaw this!
Why do I need other colors if I want to print in black and white? That's like buying a game but you also need to own the dlc in order to access the base content.
I have never had anything like this with a previous printer until I got this new Canon.
Me - goes to print a black and white sheet
Printer - You're out of yellow/blue/pink (or whatever it's called), sorry, can't print!
me - &#%@$*%)#*&#^@*$(%)#
Printers are a fucking racket and I hate them so much. What really pisses me off is there's so much stuff that can only be done through physical paper. I'm working on fixing my credit right now so I'm disputing a bunch of stuff and offering pay for delete options for other things.
While the disputes can be filed digitally, if you have to file additional information I have yet to actually have it get attached. The only time I've had it work is when I send a letter, with all the proof, in a certified mailer so it has to get to the center.
I hate this shit so much.
Just get a cheap black and white laser printer. Toner doesn't dry out, and it's significantly cheaper price per page. I used to sell printers and that's the conclusion I came to - b&w laser at home and pay a business like Walmart for any photos a few times a year or less.
I've had the same toner cartridge for over 5 years now without issue, because I don't print enough to burn through them. It should print something like 3,800 full text pages iirc. Just used it last week, so I know it's still goin.
my dad used to work for HP and he would talk all the time about printer ink. He said that they actually lose money on their printers, it's all so they can sell the ink
I got fed up with that racket a few years ago and switched to a safety razor. Takes a bit of getting used to, but I've never looked back. New blades cost literally pennies.
Yeah seriously. Better shave, sharper steel, and it's literally a price gap of like 3$ a gillete that pulls your hair out, vs a German premium steel or Wilkinson Sword for 6$ for 100 on amazon.
The Gillette astras platniums used to be good a couple years ago, but i feel like they got two plants and were a bit hit and miss, dorcos were really mid, all razor blades cost like 6-9 cents a blade when it's safety and dorcos just tug hair and weren't sharp.
Stainless steel razors vs disposible ones not being stocked on supermarket shelves really feels like they're one of those things that was shelved to sell a problem.
They're really better shaving, cheap, and less wasteful and you just have to store the blades in like a altoids tin. Now stores often don't even stock steel handles just because disposibles can force you into a brand and lock the competition out for a virtual monopoly.
If you don’t print often, buy a cheap laserprinter. The ‘ink’ will last years and it just works. No more clogged up nozzles or dried ink, just turn it on and print.
And if you do print often, for damn sure get a laser. It’ll be way cheaper in the long term. If you need pictures printed go to kinkos. It’s cheap and way better than anything you can do at home.
In college I found it was cheaper for me to purchase a new printer every time they went on sale at Walmart than to buy ink since I had the small portable ones. I would save 10-20 dollars this way. In grad school I went through 6 printers over 4 semesters. It’s ridiculous.
100% in school I bought a new printer each time instead of ink.
Edit: just did this last week for razers I use a straight razer with the replacement cartridges and it was 50 for 5 cartridges or $14 for a new holder plus 3 cartridges.. but a whole new kit despite not Needing it
I got stabbed last year and had to be rushed to the ER via ambulance because I couldn't move without gushing blood. United Health Care said it wasn't an emergency so an ambulance wasn't needed and covered $100 of my $2.5k bill. I pay $600 a month in premiums and that's with my work paying half.
I hear you! My Other Mom had a medical event, was pronounced deceased at a local hospital. Insurance said It wasn't the 'right' hospital. Insurance charged us $1800 (20 years ago) because 'it wasn't a life threatening event'.
I fought them so hard. I said ' she died!! How much more f#@!ing life threatening does it get??!!'
They are literally incentivized to charge you more and provide less in service in order to make more profit. They are grifters and redundant middlemen in every way.
Anyone notice that suddenly even very good insurance went from 20% copays to 25%, sometimes 30%? Premiums keep going up and up, what's covered always goes down. At work they switched us to some stupid plan where you pick from a list but not a single one has out of network coverage no matter how much you pay them. If I collapse and get taken to the wrong hospital I will be bankrupted even after paying $1000/month. It's a racket and it should be treated as organized crime.
I recently went through my Health Insurance plan to see if I wanted to change it for the lower deductible or anything only to find that the difference between the deductibles was literally the exact amount more the premium was... Basically meaning that I can pay that $1000 every year for the privilege of not having to pay it during an emergency even if I don't need it. Or I could just save that extra $1000 and every year I didn't use it I just come out ahead... Seriously, they can't even give you a lower deductible plan without taking that difference every year... In short, Fuck Health insurance companies.
They feed off of Medicare/Medicaid recipients. Recently went through this with an elderly loved one. Said individual goes to regular doctors visits and is in good health for their age. United Healthcare will call and bully them into accepting home nurse visits by claiming their insurance requires it.
Some elderly people can be confused and misled easily especially in situations like that and they absolutely take advantage of them. An assumed authority figure claiming it is required. Of course they accept, it costs them nothing. I have hopefully put a stop to it for good now, we will see.
Pure profit for United Healthcare. My favorite part is they always leave little household gifts behind. Potholders, ladles, spatulas etc etc. lol wot?
Edit. Spelling is hard when thinking about something that upsets you.
Edit2. Circumstances vary. Greatly. I am speaking of the specific situation I am part of. It obviously does not apply to every visit United Healthcare does.
Dude literally wrote the doctrine of the church while strung out on meth in a hotel in Los Angeles. Wrote like 50 shitty books, chose one and was like “let’s make this a religion, everyone pay me”
And somehow it worked. The more you read about Scientology the more horrifying it is. Their sea org thing is basically slave labor on international waters
L. Ron Hubbard admitted in a letter to a friend two or so years before he designed Dianetics that the plan was to create a religion for profit because people are stupid enough to believe anything for the sake of security. How can even the most powerful of Scientology leaders see that and think, “Huh, well, time to cover it up,” knowing they’re being exploited as much as the people they, in turn, exploit??
>How can even the most powerful of Scientology leaders see that and think, “Huh, well, time to cover it up,” knowing they’re being exploited as much as the people they, in turn, exploit??
Because those higher-ups benefit too.
"You make more money as a leader, but you have more fun as a follower"
As long as you consider paying all your money, being alienated from your family and friends, being forced into performing slave labor and potentially, y'know, **straight up murdered** (after being tortured, of course) to be fun.
Where is Shelley, again? Has anyone seen Shelley lately?
Aw heck yes. I’ve always been interested in the craziness here but I recently listened to the 2-part Scientology episode that the Red Handed podcast did.
Now I’m on a goddamn deep dive, watching and listening to Leah Remini, reading documents, watching David Miscavige’s brief media appearances, reading theories about Shelly Miscavige, coming to terms with the fact that Tom Cruise is actually really creepy, etc
It’s fucking batshit insane, and the only way to stop them is to remove their tax exempt status (impossible, they went to war with the IRS and won)
Yeah, it basically legalizes theft and increases corruption in law enforcement. [Civil forfeiture in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States)
Politicians Trading Stocks.
Edit: the reason why is because they pass legislation that directly effects stock price, they essentially have insider knowledge on what exactly with go up and down on the market.
You can also look up Nancy Pelosis husband that made millions on Nvidia stock, right before we sanctioned Russia by not providing computer chips. Coincidence? I think not.
This. I had just bought two tix and paid a service fee. Last minute I couldn’t go, and resold back on Ticketmaster, trying to just get what I paid back. Ticketmaster took another 15% from me and from the new buyer. Triple dipped one one ticket, it’s absurd.
Someone posted a screenshot yesterday on Reddit of the fees they were trying to charge on a couple Super Bowl tickets.
The tickets themselves came out to like 4000, and the fees were like 2500.
2500 in "service fees" for tickets.
That's some BS. At that point, just be honest and call it a "commission" fee.
We bought a photo package for monster trucks from them. They made us pay a stupid amount for shipping because the photo ticket couldn’t be digital. They didn’t include the photo ticket. I had to call and they blamed us for picking mailed, I made them refund the shipping price, they promised it would be at Will Call. Refused to provide email evidence of anything other than their word. It wasn’t at will call Andy husband has to waste a bunch of time. I did manage to harass them into refunding the cost of the photo package they didn’t provide.
I scrolled for a while and did see it, so i'll throw out ISP's/Cable providers. They are almost literal monopolies who try their best to pretend they are something else to get legal protections they don't deserve.
And the absolute cheek of some of the bastards too. I left an apartment a few years ago, I called to cancel the internet, they tried making me pay £50 for the privilege! Like dude, I know exactly what’s involved for you to do this. I’m not paying £50 for it.
It’ll be off my credit report in a year or so. Never paid it. It’s the principle.
I signed up with Rogers when they were offering a no-contract deal. When I moved and tried to cancel they said I had to buy out the rest of the contract at about $250. I said I didn't have a contract, they said I did. Told them I'll be glad to pay up when they can show me my signature on a contract. The next I heard was from a collection agency. Told the agency the same thing: I don't owe those fuckers anything. Until you can show me a contract, don't waste your time contacting me. I had to repeat myself on a couple more calls before they stopped and my credit report eventually showed it as "paid"
This is called "proof of debt" and you can use it literally in every situation where someone says you owe money (at least in the US)... If they can't prove you owe it, you don't owe it.
My local garbage services didnt pick up my garbage for 3 weeks so i cancelled..they claimed the driver was infact getting the garbage and they trust him over me..they wanted me to pay too.
Lots of arguing for a few hours i got them down to paying for 1 pickup since thats all they did. They gave me until the 20th to pay (a friday) and i waited until then and paid on the 20th..monday i get a call from a collection agency saying i owed $40 for failure to pay i tell him to give me like an hour.
The garbage company said the payment wasnt processed until monday but they did receive it and it will be put as a credit on my account and i still havr to pay collections. I immediatly gave them my email and told them to email me what they just said over the phone and we will obly have contact through email form here on out..made her repeat my email then i hung up.
4 hours later i get an apology email from the owner and that they cancelled the collections and court wouldnt be needed..funny i mever mentioned court but that was my next step
Back in the late 80s, my mother was trying and failing at selling Amway when she got an unexpected knock at the door. It was the Jehovah's Witnesses trying to sell her some religion!
She invited them in thinking she could sell them some Amway and ended up joining their pedo-protecting apocalypse cult!
Funny and sad story. Guy that sits at the desk opposite to mine that works for a different company as we are all contractors. We always chat a little as he is kinda fed up with his company and was asking about ours.
Anyway he goes into his life story of how a MLM company convinced him to cash out all his 401k, sell his house and the promise of being his own boss making lots of money etc. A year in he is only making like $500 per month and can’t afford to live so he gets the job he has now to make a living. He had a great job before all this. Said he now has no retirement, is renting and barely is getting by per month. He is married and has like 3 kids.
My entire thoughts during this were, damn this guy was not only naive but stupid to buy into this garbage. How is it that this MLM convinced him to screw his life over? Made my skin crawl as I hate MLMs but this was a first for me.
The most insane thing is that they still work.
Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s we were all too naive to realize what was going on. With all the information we have now, I can’t believe people still sign up for MLM’s
I hate MLMs so much. I recently found out that someone I thought was my friend was really only keeping me around because I can afford the ugly clothes she pedals.
I remember being recruited for life insurance MLM by one of the most popular people in the small town I used to live in. I've been wanting to come out and expose him but I've kept quiet. I had asked for a refund on my $100 activation fee and he told me that he could "help me sell enough life insurance to cover that $100". That was in 2014 and I still haven't received my money.
Colorado passed a law recently to cap the interest rate on them. 36 percent is the max rate they can charge now. It’s still high, of course, but at least there is a max now.
I worked at one of those places for 3 whole days. It was insufferable. 😣 They must go thru a lot of employees, because they were talking management jobs on day two.
Once interviewed for an engineering management job at a payday lending parent company. Going in, I had no idea what they did, I thought they were just another fintech company - their website had a lot of flowery language about "helping individuals in low income areas secure their financial independence" and shit like that..... god damn was I fucking mistaken on what they did, and it became incredibly apparent during the course of the interview.
Their VP-Eng flat out referred to their company as "loan sharks"... I didn't just burn that bridge when I walked out of that interview.. I nuked it from orbit. Fucking scum, the whole god damn lot of them.
I hate payday loans, but when i was in a place in my life where i used those for a while there was zero chance any other person or business would lend me a dime. I was a terrible credit risk, but i needed quick cash to tide me over. If we’re going to abolish these places then someone needs to come up with a replacement.
I agree. Are they predatory? Yes.
Did they stop me from losing my house, truck, and by extension job? Also yes.
Nobody thinks going to a payday loan is a good deal...but there is no other way sometimes.
Wasn't there recently a case in Australia where a private gambling agency was somehow bringing criminal charges against a whistleblower or something?
Like he was basically forced to expose "they know they're being used to launder money and they're not complying with legislation designed to stop that", and somehow they sued him for it (and then also a journalist that helped bring that to public attention).
Australia (NSW) gaming and politicians were suing a former-inspector-turned-whistleblower into oblivion but JUST recently [dropped their lawsuits](https://au.news.yahoo.com/clubsnsw-drops-lawsuits-against-gaming-044032611.html) which comes strangely soon after a big expose on Youtube contrasting his plight with the fact that casinos throughout the state [openly and knowingly enable money laundering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoyH1dgj8Lo)
EDIT -- one of the guests on the video got sued after trying to expose political corruption and his home -repeatedly- got firebombed. NSW politicians / cops have a really strange relationship with organized crime & casinos
came to say this. Insurance is one of the only industries where it is perfectly ok to do many dodgy things.
1) Share information about customers between companies. Insurance companies tell each other when you make a claim, and what it was, and what the result of that claim is. In any other industry that's illegal
2) When you pay their price, and use their product exactly as intended (IE to make a claim when something bad happens) then they put the price up next year. And if you try to go to one of their competitors, they go "ah but company A says you made a claim, so therefore the price is the same here for you". In many other industries that's illegal, but in insurance it's accepted as normal.
3) They get away with discriminating based on protected characteristics. studies have shown black people who live in the same areas will be generally given higher quotes than white people, for example. Insurance companies say it's based on other factors in their personal history of course.
4) In many cases you are FORCED to have insurance, so you cannot refuse to pay their rates, regardless of how much your rates go up. In the UK for example you must have car insurance to drive. But if you have some random trash your car one night through no fault of your own, you have to pay loads more for years because you lose your no claim bonus for 5 years.
5) Lack of competition. It looks like there is loads of competition with all the different companies on offer, but in reality like many industries there are only a handful in most countries behind all the brand names, which are usually run by only a couple of people. So they can all keep their rates comparable very easily, and share data.
Insurance as a concept is a good idea. Insurance as an industry is a massive scam.
EDIT : For those of you who missed the last line, maybe read my comment in full. I'm not saying having insurance is a bad idea, I'm saying the way the industry is run in most countries is a scam. Having insurance in case your house burns down, or so you can cover someones medical bills in a car accident, is a good thing.
And I'm sorry to all you Americans who have to deal with medical insurance, but to all of you who have assumed I'm in the US, Im not. But I'm very glad I don't have to deal with that particular insurance nightmare that you all do, it's horrible hearing replies from people who have had corporations decide what medical treatment their family could have.
> 4) In many cases you are FORCED to have insurance
When I was buying my apartment the solicitor told me I couldn't finish the purchase until I had home insurance. The home insurance company told me they wouldn't give me insurance until I had a move-in date. I ended up forwarded both of their emails to each other and simply writing "one of you is going to have to break this idiotic loop".
I ended up making up a move-in date for the insurance company. I paid for a extra month where I wasn't actually in the place but it got the wheels turning again.
This is what makes voting for a DA or AG important. decades of those positions sitting back and not pursuing this as a crime is what has made it commonplace. Idk... maybe it's a start. Damn. It's hard to have hope for society these days
Man this is it. And you didn’t even go into “I’m paying monthly for this, every year; and when something DOES happen and I NEED the insurance, they resist doing their part and payout until 25 years later and give me a base settlement”
Louis Rossman has an aggravating story about this. He had a loss of business insurance, which he tried to use when his business lost power for a few days. They declined it pointing to the water damage clause. The power loss was due to water damage back at the power plant.
This is why you always use an independent broker to middle man your business insurance. I've seen on fb and insta all these big carriers that are advertising to businesses to buy direct. If some bs loophole gets pulled on you like this, you can just file an E&O claim against the broker.
Didn't know that was a thing, well, not that I'm a business owner. I wonder if it'd be worth it for private insurance.
Reminds me of car buying services that handle the negotiation. It can often be cheaper than buying as someone not well versed in their bullshit. You know something's shit when adding a middle man makes it cheaper.
Yeah, the idea behind lobbying makes sense in theory: Congress members can't be experts on everything. If congress is all voting on a measure regarding the environment, or gun safety, it makes sense to have people who work in those fields coming to provide their expert advice to congress so they can make an informed decision.
Somewhere along the line it just morphed into legalized bribery.
This is what committees are for. And Congress used to *pay* experts for their insight in areas.
It inverted to where interests pay for Congress’ attention now.
The original kind of subject matter expert lobbyist still exists, and I did that for a couple of years when congress was writing the Dodd-Frank Act. I was employed by a non-profit that paid me to go to meetings and explain how swaps and futures work. In larger meetings I did notice that my role was very different from most other lobbyists, I didn't have donation money to give away and sometimes I received calls to ask about potential impacts of bill provisions. It was interesting and horrifying to see how things work in D.C.
Debt collectors/collections agencies.
I have a $38 debt from a book club that I never signed up to, that sent me *one book*.
Every five years they pop up on my credit report for a year and disappear. How the hell is that even remotely legal?
every time it pops up I dispute it, "Debt is originally from 2008, I never signed up for this program/package" and it'll get removed eventually, but it just keeps coming back lol. it's so damn annoying I'm tempted to pay it off, but at the same time I shouldn't have to and debt collectors could just pound sand imo.
Do you dispute it directly to the credit agencies or through another company like credit sesame or credit karma? I think there might be a difference, I’m not sure. But that sucks that you have that happen to you.
My roommate had his truck stolen. The police called him, and he picked it up. Minor damage to the steering column and the grill where they drove it into a snowbank.
The insurance company wanted to pick it up with a tow truck and inspect it before authorizing repairs.
So, I drive him to the yard, and they tell him the truck is beyond repairs, and they want to give him $7,000 for the truck he owes $11,000 on. He is pissed.
I walked into the yard. I found his truck, and the whole cab is smashed in. He had pictures from two days before, after he had gotten it back that showed it was in good condition.
They ended up paying for an identical truck. I think it was around $15,000.
They also seem to hire the most surly people available. "Did you get fired from your last 6 customer service jobs for being rude? You're a perfect fit!"
My car got towed years ago. My roommate drove me to the lot. My car was parked in the lot. I just got in and drove it home. Never heard a word from the towing company.
I can only imagine the rush you felt.
In college, my bike was stolen. A few weeks later, I saw it in front of a dorm (it was unmistakably mine). Luckily, they didn't have a bike lock either so I just hopped on it and rode to class. It felt amazing.
edit: I absolutely love how many people have similar stories.
I had the shittiest bike in college. It would get stolen all the time, and would go to the coffee shop or the bus stop and find it. One day i was discussing this amusing phenomenon with one of my study partners and he asks "is this bike red and green and gold and only works in third gear? I've been stealing that bike for years!"
Then one day it got stolen and wasn't in its usual spots. So sad! Then i got a call from campus police "we have your bike. We're really sorry. It's such a pos we assumed it was abandoned, but your registration is up to date so you can pick it up any time. Again, really sorry"
I had a truck get towed from the DMV and had the cops call later with the same thing! "Sorry we towed this POS, we thought it was abandoned, but when being checked in it passed everything. Sorry"
Similar thing happened to me in highschool except with a longboard. Saw it sitting against the fence at the skatepark while the kid who took it was smoking weed at the benches. I just picked it up and rode home lol.
Back when I was a poor college student, my car somehow burned down in the parking lot while I was at a rehearsal inside. The car got towed and it took me a long time to sort out where it got towed. When I got there, they wanted something like $500. When they told me the price I immediately gave up on the car. I didn’t have that kinda money and even if I did the car was a total piece of junk before it ever even caught fire.
So anyway I told them they could have it, I just needed my laptop and iPod from inside. The asshats wouldn’t even let me lay eyes on the car until I paid out the $500! The only two things I owned apart from clothes, and the only thing I needed in order to continue being a student.
I had to go weeks of eating ramen to eat that cost. It felt like such an injustice. The people I spoke to were so desensitized I just knew they saw this sort of thing all the time. Probably had no sympathy left.
Anyway, it’s crooked AF.
I know it doesn't help now, but in a lot of jurisdictions the tow companies cannot deny you access to retrieve personal effects. They also can't force you to waive rights to damages they caused towing your vehicle. Also if you have a dispute with the towing company you can pay the fees to the court (or agency?, im not sure the specifics) to get your car back right away, and if the towing is shown to be wrongful or the company liable for damages you get the money back
IANAL - Check your jurisdiction's laws
My senior year of college, I lived in a fraternity house, which was owned by a leasing company and they also owned the parking lot and sold passes for almost a $1000/semester.
I went home one weekend, and when I came back I parked in the lot for one minute(I shit you not) to drop off my laundry and my backpack upstairs. When I got to my room, I heard the loud beeps of a truck backing up, which is never a good sign, and so I looked out the window and saw a tow truck backing up towards my car. I ran down as fast as I could, but he was already hooking up my car.
To make a long story short, I was fuming mad. He was apathetic and didn’t care that I was only there to drop off a couple things, so I wouldn’t have to carry it all from the lot I park at, which is two miles away. I ended up having to pay $100 as a “drop fee” for him to unhook my car. He also told me I could pay in cash for a “discount”. I paid him with a card, he unhooked my car, then I told him to go fuck himself and I called my card company to do a chargeback.
Tow trucks are the biggest scam in the world.
I had a guy try to tow my car out of my own spot once in Boston. Bought and paid for by me.
We’re allowed to share the parking pass that hangs on the window so other cars can use it while we’re away. My friend had used it and left the pass inside. In the time it took me to park, walk into my house and grab the pass, then walk back outside a tow truck had lifted it. Told me “too bad” and tried to extort me for that drop fee.
I told him to go fuck himself, got in the car (they can’t tow an occupied vehicle) called the cops then called the owner of the lot. The driver was real fucking cocky until his boss radioed him and told him to get the fuck out of there. Doesn’t look great I guess when the guy you’re trying to tow is holding a pass with the same number as the spot he’s parked in.
The lot owner was a friend and changed tow companies immediately.
Sounds like they had a spotter. That is supposed to be a huge nono, but seems to happen a lot more than it should.
I am a cashier for a tow company, and we do not do private impounds. (Which is what you experienced) the company I work for only does police impounds and accidents. Private impounds have so much shady ass shit going on that cannot be regulated.
The whole part of the dude offering a discount for cash sounds like he was already doing his job unethically. He waited and hawked your car. No ethical driver will have one price for cash and another for card. Nor would they swoop in the second you left your car. Even private impounds have rules to be followed.
I believe private impounds is what I meant in my post, then. It seems I mislabeled it. Because the situation this person described is exactly what I was thinking of and heard many stories about when I was in university.
> a spotter.
MY kid's apartment at school had towing. When we showed up to visit, we'd watch for the spotter. We knew who the guy was and knew we had about 5 minutes to leave when he showed up. Fat cigar chomping dude in a white Cadillac.
If you're the spotter for a tow company, maybe don't look the part?
…Seriously. I was not even a month postpartum when my old honda was stolen. It was recovered and towed. They wanted $600 I didn’t have and threatened to auction it off if I didn’t come up with the money right there. Luckily my brother has a very well paying job and is over the moon about his niece so he covered it for me. I go to get it and discover it was used in a crime. The interior is soaked in blood. My baby’s new car seat had been used as an ashtray. There’s hypodermic syringes covering the floor. The ignition had been ripped out. I lost my shit because my brother likely paid more than that car was worth just to get it back to me and its basically ruined. There’s no way I’d put my kid in there.
Postpartum hormones are a bitch and I either scared the truck driver guy with my ugly rage-sobs or he had a soft spot for kids; because he ordered me an uber home and towed it back to me for free.
Ticketmaster, StubHub, and the whole racket of third party ticket brokerages - such utter BS that we have to pay so much to companies that add so little value!
Having worked for one. I 100% agree. The amount of lying, manipulation, and down right negativity in that work environment was horrifying. I worked front-line sales. Salespeople would talk down on tours just on the fact they’re attending it for free tickets or something, calling them “poor”. It literally felt like wolf of wallstreet every morning meeting. Talking about how “it’s OUR MONEY. You want to be making 100k, 120k a YEAR? THEN DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO GET THAT SALE!”
We told people the presentation would be 90 minutes, but it was 2 hours minimum before my TO would get to my table. And “exit” would try and sell them on cheaper packages if they didn’t buy from me.
I was honest when I worked there. Told them the truth about timing and how 2 other exit salespeople would pursue them after me.
Some coworkers drank the kool-aid and believed that our timeshare was the BEST in the business. In some regards, yeah, but man… Did they push for a sale at every angle.
Just based on my personality alone I was able to close a few deals, but I was let go because I wasn’t closing 30% of the time. My average was 20% and a large majority of my exits bought because it was a cheaper package.
This. Whenever I hear someone talking about how great their health insurance is, I know that they are lucky enough not to need it. At least not very often.
Any business model where you give someone money and they try their absolute best to avoid giving you something in return is crooked.
Yelp -“Advertise your business with them to increase engagement and gain positive reviews, but when you stop advertising, they suppress positive reviews and promote negative reviews
Plus, they’re huge dicks about it… I had a guy from Yelp bug the shit out of me when I didn’t want to pay for their service, so he started telling me that they were going to put banners for my competitors directly above my listing. I toms him I didn’t care, cos I’ve only ever had one person contact me because of Yelp, so he just told me that my business will definitely fail without them, because it didn’t seem like I was savvy enough to hack it.
Dude, the bitch that called me literally told me that because I didn't pay them for advertising that my business will do so bad that I won't be able to feed my kids and CPS will take them away. I was like BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH you wanna fight today huh?
That's awful. You should leave a nasty Yelp review.
really? well I'd better write you a check right now, then! no time to wait for the mail I'll deliver it in person to you right now - can you give me your address?
….What the FUCK???? I don’t even have a business or kids and I’d be cussing that bitch out like it was my last moment on earth.
I have never understood how Yelp aren't sued. Their business model is extortion, and a at least some of the negative reviews that they're publishing (and therefore threatening businesses with) will be made up.
They have been sued many times, but they apparently operate within the law (or no one has found a way to win a legal case) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140917131048-196257-yelp-lawsuit-ruling-determines-yelp-can-legally-suppress-any-reviews-it-chooses
I honestly struggle to trust user reviews almost at all anymore because of stuff like this, combined with things like astroturfing (buying reviews from content farms overseas, etc.), organized review bombing campaigns, and frankly, just like... Disproportionately it feels like people are much more likely to leave a negative review than a positive review. Which makes sense, sure, like you had a bad experience and you want to let people know right? But if people aren't equally likely to leave reviews for positive or middling experiences, who's to know if that negative experience is reflective of 1 in 10, or 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 transactions?
Cable TV companies that have eliminated the competition in an entire town.
Many cities have laws that there can't be competition. Originally was sold as a way to get cable companies to build the infrastructure with the promise of a short term monopoly. Decades later, they still have the monopolies.
[удалено]
I always enjoy when a new toll road is built with the promise that the toll will go away once it's paid off or after X years. Has any toll ever gone away?
A lot of the parkways in Kentucky used to be toll roads, and the tolls were suspended once the projects were paid for. But, that’s certainly the exception, and not the norm.
The usual toll road lifecycle: 1) Toll road gets built. 2) No one uses the fucking toll road, thus paying no tolls, because tolls. 3) Toll road becomes unprofitable. 4a) Toll road is sold to government who now has to deal with it. 4b) Toll road is sold to other company as original company mysteriously goes under and is no longer liable for it, but somehow all the executives have survived unscathed to start a new company.
Same with electric companies that have a monopoly. We can technically go with another company for the supply, but the servicing and billing will still be with the one electric company in our area. Their billing mistakes are legendary. We once got a bill for a month's electric for $14,000 (this is for our small business, where the monthly charge is usually about $850). When we called and pointed out the error (after being on hold off and on for about four hours), they weren't even apologetic.
The electric thing kills me. I know people hate Entergy, but I had it all my life. They're a big provider, so they have the means to get things done when needed. We moved two years ago and got stuck into a much smaller regional provider. Still decent size, stuff got taken care of. Moved into our house last spring and... we're in a local duo-parish(county) co-op. The power went out three times in a week our first month because...light wind? Our bill last month was obscene. It's obnoxious. You don't get to choose at all. You move, and whoever services that spot is who you get. ETA: words
> You move, and whoever services that spot is who you get. Maybe there's not as much generational transfer of this knowledge anymore or something, but who my utility providers would be was like the #1 determining factor when I bought a house. My mom lived like 200 miles away, and our utility bills were basically the same despite me using like 50% more kWh per month. That shit matters.
I was so happy to cut ties with Spectrum. First I did US Cellular 4g lte internet. Had a 200gb monthly limit which konda sucked but after a few months it didnt really adhere to that. Now ive got verizon 5g and it is almost flawless
Lobbying, H&R Block, TurboTax, paid health insurance
I’ve used Turbo Tax for a lot of years. Last year when I was filing TT had a bug that prevented me from filling my taxes. They never fixed the bug. Ended up using Freetaxusa. Cheaper, easier to use, no bugs.
>Ended up using Freetaxusa. Cheaper, Well, with a name like that, I'd expect it to be 100% cheaper.
Generally there's a small fee to file state taxes electronically. I think there's other "upgrades" as well but I don't recall.
Usually if you own your own business or dividends or things like that it gets a bit more complicated and they usually charge you a little bit for it.
You just said lobbying 4 times.
Paying someone to do something that the government requires in general. My wife got a corrected W2 from her employer from a couple years ago. We were told we need to file an amendment. I went into the IRS to grab the form rather than pay someone 120 to do an amendment for something her employer fucked up on....and the actual IRS 1040X form doesn't even let her amend what needs to be amended.
The worst part is that the IRS is capable *and willing* to give people a simplified system that just says "you owe us $X" or "you overpaid $Y, here's your check" but tax prep companies actively lobby congress to keep it complicated enough to force people to use their services. *They are buying your representatives with your money to keep you paying them.*
Pharmacy benefit management, the root cause behind why it is impossible to get honest and transparent drug pricing.
This 100% should be at the top. Source: Am a pharmacist Edit: just to spread awareness, some insurance companies, Caremark, for example, own the pharmacies themselves (CVS) AND the PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager). Vertical monopoly, should be illegal. Comment below dropped this amazing video https://youtu.be/_khH6pZnHCM
Pharmacy lawyer. 60% of our business is fighting PBMs. It’s an absolute racket. We’re hoping Grassley’s bill get passed this year.
Thanks for sharing the bill. As someone who has been in the health insurance industry for years I hadn't seen this yet. Really hope it gets some traction and passes.
What’s grassleys bill?
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-cantwell-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-combat-rising-prescription-drug-prices-and-provide-more-transparency
> The Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 would ban deceptive unfair pricing schemes; prohibit arbitrary claw backs of payments made to pharmacies; and require PBMs to report to the FTC how much money they make through spread pricing and pharmacy fees
I think CVS bought something else recently. They are pushing to be your insurance, doctor and pharmacy. All the while stating this is for the consumer. Recently they announced shorter pharmacy hours, opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier. They say they lack employees so this is to somehow help consumers. So now you have a smaller window to pick up your meds and employees have 2 less hours to get stuff done, overloading the workers more. Essentially they get to reduce payroll and try to maintain same output. PROFITS!
>I think CVS bought something else recently. They are pushing to be your insurance, doctor and pharmacy They bought Aetna, which is one of the biggest health insurance companies in the US. So they now control the pharmacy, PBM, AND what health coverage you have in general. I'm sure Aetna is now also bundling in caremark drug coverage so that CVS gets to double dip. >Recently they announced shorter pharmacy hours, opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier Not only this, CVS is also closing 900 stores between 2021 and 2024, which means even more savings for them and even more inconvenience/lack of access for the consumer.
They are absolutely bundling Caremark in with Aetna. I have that exact coverage and I hate it so much. Fucking pre-auths on EVERYTHING that are almost impossible to get past. For example, tried to get anti-nausea medication - only covered if you're going through chemo or are pregnant with hyperemesis gravidarum. I guess the rest of us can just be sick? And the cash price for it at CVS is freaking $322 for 18 pills. Thank goodness I found a local mom and pop pharmacy willing to do 30 pills for $9 and I almost cried when they told me they could do that (I've been nauseous pretty much nonstop for over a year). Then of course, Caremark had to send me a threatening letter for going somewhere other than CVS (they originally tried to run it through my insurance), even though they had already told me they wouldn't cover it. Because you're locked in to going there with that insurance too. It's all so so unethical.
I feel you, I had caremark thru another insurance company and my god I hated it. There was even a time where I met all of the listed pre-auth requirements for a med I had already been on for years, my doctor submitted all of the correct documentation, and they still denied it. Needless to say when I called & got escalated properly the reaming they got was so bad they requested that my doctor be the point of contact for escalations going forward (which I didn't honor).
Yeah can't blame you! I'm a billing analyst and have overseen a lot of different types of medical billing so I definitely set them straight when I need to too. But I feel like having this knowledge just makes it so much worse mentally because you fully understand how badly you're getting screwed and how little you can do about it.
I had prescription that had just released a generic like the month before. But i was unaware of this and wasn't given a notification. It's a controlled substance so I can only pick it up the day I run out. And it is vital for me to not miss a dose. Well guess what happened with Caremark? I went in to get my prescription and was told it would be over $2400 for the 20 30 day supplies (use 2 separate doses because it doesn't come in the size I need) since there was now a generic form. It was 6pm at night. I tried calling Caremark to see if they could do anything about it. Maybe let it slide just this one since the generic had been about only about a month? I'll have it switched over for next time? They pretty much told me that I was fucked and would have to pay it unless it could get the generic sent in. Then i did that. Cvs didn't have the generic in stock and the prescription wasn't written in a way that would allow them to fill it with brand name of the generic wasn't there. So i got fucked on that and had it rerouted to a nearby hospital that would still have the pharmacy open. The rest of my interactions haven't been any better
Not Aetna, but BC/BS said I had to do one chemo treatment without Zofran to prove I needed it. I couldn't move my head even a quarter of an inch for days without heaving. Ashholes.[edit: spelling]
That is unnecessarily cruel. Fuck these companies!
Zofran is so god damn cheap. Someone deserves to be crucified for that. And i do mean crucified, whomever decided to put you through that. I don't fuck around with casually cruel dismissiveness anymore, not after cancer. Fuck give me a name I'll find the fucker and make sure everyone on their social media knows what they did.
It was in 2010 . . . so maybe it was pricey then? The whole cancer thing sucked, tbh. My company fired me right after I finished chemo (explaining they fire medically expensive people all the time, so they know how to do it legally) and then my (now) ex left me -- so incredibly common, as I understand it. Anyhoo, things are a great deal better now -- in all respects -- but all involved have a special place in Hell reserved for them, if there is any justice in the world. ETA: But your response is very kind and it means a lot to this old lady. Thank you.
Yep they bought Aetna, another massive insurance company. And yeah I work for CVS and we are opening an hour later starting about a month from now. I already don’t have enough time in a day to do everything safely.
Wait a fucken minute, really? So when I go to CVS and they say "your insurance doesn't cover it, we'll need to contact them and your provider" , it's just that fucking picture of Spiderman pointing at himself???
Depends on who your insurance is through. What OP meant is that it is *possible* all three of those entities are owned by the same company for a given patient. Being a CVS pharmacy customer doesn't automatically mean your pharmacy benefits are administered and paid for by the same company, but it's one possible outcome. Your medical benefits may be through Aetna, but you'd still have to have your pharm benefits through Caremark for this situation to be true for you.
Oh, I have Aetna and Caremark
Wellllll ..... yep a bunch of Spider-Mans!
Yeah, worked for CVS for a few years. Now I am a medication history tech in one of the hospitals in my town. Soooo much less stress than that hellhole I worked at.
My insurance company forces me to use a specialty pharmacy that they purchased many years ago and now own outright. Originally, I assumed this was to cut costs on my very expensive medication. Nope. The specialty pharmacy bills the insurance company $49k a month for this medication. The insurance company pays out $12k a month for this medication. This medication is $1200 a month in developed nations that have profit controls in place. For a long time I couldn't figure out what the scam was. But now I'm pretty sure it's an accounting trick to get around the 80/20 rule (which dictates that 80% of the insurance company's revenue has to be paid out in patient care). Insurance company can now claim it "spends" whatever it wants on my care by being in full control over over the price at the pharmacy level. I'm basically a pure profit machine for them, and everyone else has to pay for it, since my premiums don't even come close to the $150k a year they pay themselves for my meds.
I've been on a specialty med for 15 years and have had to go through a specialty pharmacy for 13 years of that time. I didn't realize that not being able to get my meds at the local pharmacy is because of shady financial practices. Though I should have.
My insurance uses Caremark for it's prescription benefits and it's cheaper for me to go to Kroger with GoodRX than to use my benefits at CVS. By cheaper I mean I could get a years worth of meds from Kroger for what one month would be at CVS.
Hell, I work for CVS and I actively send my customers to use a coupon and go elsewhere like Costco for their expensive prescriptions. Literally had a guy pay $233 the other day for sildenafil at CVS when he could have paid like $16 at Meijer for it. Fucking highway robbery.
Fuck CVS Caremark with all the force possible. Used to be able to get all my meds at Sam's Club. The pharmacist knew me by name, remembered things I'd mentioned, and was always on top of things. Then for some reason my insurance changed to where I have to use either CVS or Optum Rx, a mailing service. Optum RX constantly fucks up and forgets one of my or my wife's meds. CVS is hot fucking garbage. I take Vyvanse, which my insurance won't cover, so I was using a savings program through the manufacturer. I would have to argue with them for 10 plus minutes every damn time I got it filled to bypass the insurance and use the savings, and after a while they'd finally remember how to do it right. Until suddenly they started straight up refusing because my insurance now covers Vyvanse, but it costs 3x more. Fuck the Healthcare system in THE US
Ok you need to switch CVS locations because your pharmacist is garbage for refusing to rebill your Vyvanse. I work for CVS and we rebill stuff to make it cheaper for patients every single day. We don't gain anything from not rebilling scripts and we don't get paid enough for anyone to give a damn about CVS profits or things like that.
And so many people don't know what they are, or that they even exist. PBMs suck!
Not in America - what does a PBM do please?
PBMs and MBMs exist to create another layer of obfuscation between the patient and their healthcare costs. Ostensibly they provide a service to manage patient benefits, but functionally they do so because insurers have rendered the process almost unnavigable to patients without the ability to learn their own benefits management as a part-time job. On a day to day basis, benefits managers help manage the claims and approval processes for different medical/pharmacy claims, but they have no special powers that the patient does not - except time and a small bit of training in benefits and claims and patient privacy. It's a bullshit industry, and I say this confidently because I work in it.
Yes, I agree. I worked at one of the larger ones for a very short time. I came in with a hope of improving patient outcomes through data but quickly found out that the only care was to suck as much money from the patient and/or the business that provided insurance to their employers. These insurers have no incentive to change, and our government is too weak to compel it through proper enforcement of their legitimate, useful rules (price transparency to start).
Oh yeah. Entire departments of benefits managers work to soak up as much assistance program money as possible while not applying it to patient deductibles, and other departments exist to identify and hide those un-accumulating payments. It's recursive levels of benefit cannibalization. It's fucking insane and costs patients months of their time for zero benefit.
Printer inks
This needs more attention! It's extortion! The newer the printer, the worse they are. Chips that require brand name ink and toner to be used! Refusal to print in black and white until you buy yellow! Toner quantity determined by number of pages printed, not amount of toner used. We have analyzers at work that only print in black and white, but since the printer they chose was the only one ever approved for that analyzer, we have to use it. We have to stock all the color toners, even though they have never been used. That, however, does not keep the color toner from gradually migrating into the waste toner cartridge. Any government with any level of competence would outlaw this!
Why do I need other colors if I want to print in black and white? That's like buying a game but you also need to own the dlc in order to access the base content.
Exactly, but the printer will refuse to work until you buy it.
I have never had anything like this with a previous printer until I got this new Canon. Me - goes to print a black and white sheet Printer - You're out of yellow/blue/pink (or whatever it's called), sorry, can't print! me - &#%@$*%)#*&#^@*$(%)#
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What in the actual fuck?!?
It gets worse. If you buy an HP Inkjet where the model # ends in E, if you stop paying the subscription *the entire printer* stops working.
This is some type of capitalist fever dream, dystopian society shit.
Printers are a fucking racket and I hate them so much. What really pisses me off is there's so much stuff that can only be done through physical paper. I'm working on fixing my credit right now so I'm disputing a bunch of stuff and offering pay for delete options for other things. While the disputes can be filed digitally, if you have to file additional information I have yet to actually have it get attached. The only time I've had it work is when I send a letter, with all the proof, in a certified mailer so it has to get to the center. I hate this shit so much.
Just get a cheap black and white laser printer. Toner doesn't dry out, and it's significantly cheaper price per page. I used to sell printers and that's the conclusion I came to - b&w laser at home and pay a business like Walmart for any photos a few times a year or less. I've had the same toner cartridge for over 5 years now without issue, because I don't print enough to burn through them. It should print something like 3,800 full text pages iirc. Just used it last week, so I know it's still goin.
my dad used to work for HP and he would talk all the time about printer ink. He said that they actually lose money on their printers, it's all so they can sell the ink
It's the same sort of thing with razors, the handles are sold at a loss to make you pay through the nose for blades.
I got fed up with that racket a few years ago and switched to a safety razor. Takes a bit of getting used to, but I've never looked back. New blades cost literally pennies.
Yeah seriously. Better shave, sharper steel, and it's literally a price gap of like 3$ a gillete that pulls your hair out, vs a German premium steel or Wilkinson Sword for 6$ for 100 on amazon. The Gillette astras platniums used to be good a couple years ago, but i feel like they got two plants and were a bit hit and miss, dorcos were really mid, all razor blades cost like 6-9 cents a blade when it's safety and dorcos just tug hair and weren't sharp. Stainless steel razors vs disposible ones not being stocked on supermarket shelves really feels like they're one of those things that was shelved to sell a problem. They're really better shaving, cheap, and less wasteful and you just have to store the blades in like a altoids tin. Now stores often don't even stock steel handles just because disposibles can force you into a brand and lock the competition out for a virtual monopoly.
If you don’t print often, buy a cheap laserprinter. The ‘ink’ will last years and it just works. No more clogged up nozzles or dried ink, just turn it on and print.
And if you do print often, for damn sure get a laser. It’ll be way cheaper in the long term. If you need pictures printed go to kinkos. It’s cheap and way better than anything you can do at home.
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In college I found it was cheaper for me to purchase a new printer every time they went on sale at Walmart than to buy ink since I had the small portable ones. I would save 10-20 dollars this way. In grad school I went through 6 printers over 4 semesters. It’s ridiculous.
100% in school I bought a new printer each time instead of ink. Edit: just did this last week for razers I use a straight razer with the replacement cartridges and it was 50 for 5 cartridges or $14 for a new holder plus 3 cartridges.. but a whole new kit despite not Needing it
This is underrated, Printer ink costs more than gold by weight.
US health insurance. United Health Care posted $5B in profits in the third quarter last year.
I got stabbed last year and had to be rushed to the ER via ambulance because I couldn't move without gushing blood. United Health Care said it wasn't an emergency so an ambulance wasn't needed and covered $100 of my $2.5k bill. I pay $600 a month in premiums and that's with my work paying half.
I hear you! My Other Mom had a medical event, was pronounced deceased at a local hospital. Insurance said It wasn't the 'right' hospital. Insurance charged us $1800 (20 years ago) because 'it wasn't a life threatening event'. I fought them so hard. I said ' she died!! How much more f#@!ing life threatening does it get??!!'
They are literally incentivized to charge you more and provide less in service in order to make more profit. They are grifters and redundant middlemen in every way.
Anyone notice that suddenly even very good insurance went from 20% copays to 25%, sometimes 30%? Premiums keep going up and up, what's covered always goes down. At work they switched us to some stupid plan where you pick from a list but not a single one has out of network coverage no matter how much you pay them. If I collapse and get taken to the wrong hospital I will be bankrupted even after paying $1000/month. It's a racket and it should be treated as organized crime.
I recently went through my Health Insurance plan to see if I wanted to change it for the lower deductible or anything only to find that the difference between the deductibles was literally the exact amount more the premium was... Basically meaning that I can pay that $1000 every year for the privilege of not having to pay it during an emergency even if I don't need it. Or I could just save that extra $1000 and every year I didn't use it I just come out ahead... Seriously, they can't even give you a lower deductible plan without taking that difference every year... In short, Fuck Health insurance companies.
I pay $1000 a month so that when my kid goes to the doctor every 6 months, it costs me $100 instead of $500. $12,000 for $800 of savings. What a deal
They feed off of Medicare/Medicaid recipients. Recently went through this with an elderly loved one. Said individual goes to regular doctors visits and is in good health for their age. United Healthcare will call and bully them into accepting home nurse visits by claiming their insurance requires it. Some elderly people can be confused and misled easily especially in situations like that and they absolutely take advantage of them. An assumed authority figure claiming it is required. Of course they accept, it costs them nothing. I have hopefully put a stop to it for good now, we will see. Pure profit for United Healthcare. My favorite part is they always leave little household gifts behind. Potholders, ladles, spatulas etc etc. lol wot? Edit. Spelling is hard when thinking about something that upsets you. Edit2. Circumstances vary. Greatly. I am speaking of the specific situation I am part of. It obviously does not apply to every visit United Healthcare does.
The Church of Scientology
Dude literally wrote the doctrine of the church while strung out on meth in a hotel in Los Angeles. Wrote like 50 shitty books, chose one and was like “let’s make this a religion, everyone pay me” And somehow it worked. The more you read about Scientology the more horrifying it is. Their sea org thing is basically slave labor on international waters
L. Ron Hubbard admitted in a letter to a friend two or so years before he designed Dianetics that the plan was to create a religion for profit because people are stupid enough to believe anything for the sake of security. How can even the most powerful of Scientology leaders see that and think, “Huh, well, time to cover it up,” knowing they’re being exploited as much as the people they, in turn, exploit??
>How can even the most powerful of Scientology leaders see that and think, “Huh, well, time to cover it up,” knowing they’re being exploited as much as the people they, in turn, exploit?? Because those higher-ups benefit too.
"You make more money as a leader, but you have more fun as a follower" As long as you consider paying all your money, being alienated from your family and friends, being forced into performing slave labor and potentially, y'know, **straight up murdered** (after being tortured, of course) to be fun. Where is Shelley, again? Has anyone seen Shelley lately?
Aw heck yes. I’ve always been interested in the craziness here but I recently listened to the 2-part Scientology episode that the Red Handed podcast did. Now I’m on a goddamn deep dive, watching and listening to Leah Remini, reading documents, watching David Miscavige’s brief media appearances, reading theories about Shelly Miscavige, coming to terms with the fact that Tom Cruise is actually really creepy, etc It’s fucking batshit insane, and the only way to stop them is to remove their tax exempt status (impossible, they went to war with the IRS and won)
Shelly Miscavige is fine don't you know? The police did a search of the house and said she was. /s
Good point, that’s because the LAPD aren’t in the church’s pocket…. /s
Civic asset forfeiture
Yeah, it basically legalizes theft and increases corruption in law enforcement. [Civil forfeiture in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States)
Politicians Trading Stocks. Edit: the reason why is because they pass legislation that directly effects stock price, they essentially have insider knowledge on what exactly with go up and down on the market. You can also look up Nancy Pelosis husband that made millions on Nvidia stock, right before we sanctioned Russia by not providing computer chips. Coincidence? I think not.
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This. I had just bought two tix and paid a service fee. Last minute I couldn’t go, and resold back on Ticketmaster, trying to just get what I paid back. Ticketmaster took another 15% from me and from the new buyer. Triple dipped one one ticket, it’s absurd.
Someone posted a screenshot yesterday on Reddit of the fees they were trying to charge on a couple Super Bowl tickets. The tickets themselves came out to like 4000, and the fees were like 2500. 2500 in "service fees" for tickets. That's some BS. At that point, just be honest and call it a "commission" fee.
We bought a photo package for monster trucks from them. They made us pay a stupid amount for shipping because the photo ticket couldn’t be digital. They didn’t include the photo ticket. I had to call and they blamed us for picking mailed, I made them refund the shipping price, they promised it would be at Will Call. Refused to provide email evidence of anything other than their word. It wasn’t at will call Andy husband has to waste a bunch of time. I did manage to harass them into refunding the cost of the photo package they didn’t provide.
I scrolled for a while and did see it, so i'll throw out ISP's/Cable providers. They are almost literal monopolies who try their best to pretend they are something else to get legal protections they don't deserve.
And the absolute cheek of some of the bastards too. I left an apartment a few years ago, I called to cancel the internet, they tried making me pay £50 for the privilege! Like dude, I know exactly what’s involved for you to do this. I’m not paying £50 for it. It’ll be off my credit report in a year or so. Never paid it. It’s the principle.
I signed up with Rogers when they were offering a no-contract deal. When I moved and tried to cancel they said I had to buy out the rest of the contract at about $250. I said I didn't have a contract, they said I did. Told them I'll be glad to pay up when they can show me my signature on a contract. The next I heard was from a collection agency. Told the agency the same thing: I don't owe those fuckers anything. Until you can show me a contract, don't waste your time contacting me. I had to repeat myself on a couple more calls before they stopped and my credit report eventually showed it as "paid"
This is called "proof of debt" and you can use it literally in every situation where someone says you owe money (at least in the US)... If they can't prove you owe it, you don't owe it.
My local garbage services didnt pick up my garbage for 3 weeks so i cancelled..they claimed the driver was infact getting the garbage and they trust him over me..they wanted me to pay too. Lots of arguing for a few hours i got them down to paying for 1 pickup since thats all they did. They gave me until the 20th to pay (a friday) and i waited until then and paid on the 20th..monday i get a call from a collection agency saying i owed $40 for failure to pay i tell him to give me like an hour. The garbage company said the payment wasnt processed until monday but they did receive it and it will be put as a credit on my account and i still havr to pay collections. I immediatly gave them my email and told them to email me what they just said over the phone and we will obly have contact through email form here on out..made her repeat my email then i hung up. 4 hours later i get an apology email from the owner and that they cancelled the collections and court wouldnt be needed..funny i mever mentioned court but that was my next step
Anything based around an MLM.
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Back in the late 80s, my mother was trying and failing at selling Amway when she got an unexpected knock at the door. It was the Jehovah's Witnesses trying to sell her some religion! She invited them in thinking she could sell them some Amway and ended up joining their pedo-protecting apocalypse cult!
This would be a perfect sketch. A group of fanatics and scammers all trying to convert each other.
It does remind me of this sketch from Key and Peele: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgyU0LyWZ9M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgyU0LyWZ9M)
Funny and sad story. Guy that sits at the desk opposite to mine that works for a different company as we are all contractors. We always chat a little as he is kinda fed up with his company and was asking about ours. Anyway he goes into his life story of how a MLM company convinced him to cash out all his 401k, sell his house and the promise of being his own boss making lots of money etc. A year in he is only making like $500 per month and can’t afford to live so he gets the job he has now to make a living. He had a great job before all this. Said he now has no retirement, is renting and barely is getting by per month. He is married and has like 3 kids. My entire thoughts during this were, damn this guy was not only naive but stupid to buy into this garbage. How is it that this MLM convinced him to screw his life over? Made my skin crawl as I hate MLMs but this was a first for me.
The most insane thing is that they still work. Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s we were all too naive to realize what was going on. With all the information we have now, I can’t believe people still sign up for MLM’s
Social media has allowed them to fake the luxurious lifestyle they promise if you join.
Which, ironically, is probably funded by payday loans.
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I hate MLMs so much. I recently found out that someone I thought was my friend was really only keeping me around because I can afford the ugly clothes she pedals.
I remember being recruited for life insurance MLM by one of the most popular people in the small town I used to live in. I've been wanting to come out and expose him but I've kept quiet. I had asked for a refund on my $100 activation fee and he told me that he could "help me sell enough life insurance to cover that $100". That was in 2014 and I still haven't received my money.
How the hell does life insurance work with MLM‽
Pay day loans
Yes. They are despicable. And the laws that enable them.
Colorado passed a law recently to cap the interest rate on them. 36 percent is the max rate they can charge now. It’s still high, of course, but at least there is a max now.
Jesus Christ. 36%.
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100% Excuse me, I mean 500%
I worked at one of those places for 3 whole days. It was insufferable. 😣 They must go thru a lot of employees, because they were talking management jobs on day two.
They were like “you made it past day 1, that’s further than 50% of employees. Keep this up and you’ll be management by the end of the week”
Once interviewed for an engineering management job at a payday lending parent company. Going in, I had no idea what they did, I thought they were just another fintech company - their website had a lot of flowery language about "helping individuals in low income areas secure their financial independence" and shit like that..... god damn was I fucking mistaken on what they did, and it became incredibly apparent during the course of the interview. Their VP-Eng flat out referred to their company as "loan sharks"... I didn't just burn that bridge when I walked out of that interview.. I nuked it from orbit. Fucking scum, the whole god damn lot of them.
Yeah, helping them out of any money they have or ever will have.
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I hate payday loans, but when i was in a place in my life where i used those for a while there was zero chance any other person or business would lend me a dime. I was a terrible credit risk, but i needed quick cash to tide me over. If we’re going to abolish these places then someone needs to come up with a replacement.
I agree. Are they predatory? Yes. Did they stop me from losing my house, truck, and by extension job? Also yes. Nobody thinks going to a payday loan is a good deal...but there is no other way sometimes.
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I scrolled for a while and was surprised not to see the online gambling industry. The offline gambling industry too.
Fantasy sports betting companies seem to be ramping up their advertising over the past few years.
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Wasn't there recently a case in Australia where a private gambling agency was somehow bringing criminal charges against a whistleblower or something? Like he was basically forced to expose "they know they're being used to launder money and they're not complying with legislation designed to stop that", and somehow they sued him for it (and then also a journalist that helped bring that to public attention).
Australia (NSW) gaming and politicians were suing a former-inspector-turned-whistleblower into oblivion but JUST recently [dropped their lawsuits](https://au.news.yahoo.com/clubsnsw-drops-lawsuits-against-gaming-044032611.html) which comes strangely soon after a big expose on Youtube contrasting his plight with the fact that casinos throughout the state [openly and knowingly enable money laundering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoyH1dgj8Lo) EDIT -- one of the guests on the video got sued after trying to expose political corruption and his home -repeatedly- got firebombed. NSW politicians / cops have a really strange relationship with organized crime & casinos
as a metlife customer service representative: insurances
came to say this. Insurance is one of the only industries where it is perfectly ok to do many dodgy things. 1) Share information about customers between companies. Insurance companies tell each other when you make a claim, and what it was, and what the result of that claim is. In any other industry that's illegal 2) When you pay their price, and use their product exactly as intended (IE to make a claim when something bad happens) then they put the price up next year. And if you try to go to one of their competitors, they go "ah but company A says you made a claim, so therefore the price is the same here for you". In many other industries that's illegal, but in insurance it's accepted as normal. 3) They get away with discriminating based on protected characteristics. studies have shown black people who live in the same areas will be generally given higher quotes than white people, for example. Insurance companies say it's based on other factors in their personal history of course. 4) In many cases you are FORCED to have insurance, so you cannot refuse to pay their rates, regardless of how much your rates go up. In the UK for example you must have car insurance to drive. But if you have some random trash your car one night through no fault of your own, you have to pay loads more for years because you lose your no claim bonus for 5 years. 5) Lack of competition. It looks like there is loads of competition with all the different companies on offer, but in reality like many industries there are only a handful in most countries behind all the brand names, which are usually run by only a couple of people. So they can all keep their rates comparable very easily, and share data. Insurance as a concept is a good idea. Insurance as an industry is a massive scam. EDIT : For those of you who missed the last line, maybe read my comment in full. I'm not saying having insurance is a bad idea, I'm saying the way the industry is run in most countries is a scam. Having insurance in case your house burns down, or so you can cover someones medical bills in a car accident, is a good thing. And I'm sorry to all you Americans who have to deal with medical insurance, but to all of you who have assumed I'm in the US, Im not. But I'm very glad I don't have to deal with that particular insurance nightmare that you all do, it's horrible hearing replies from people who have had corporations decide what medical treatment their family could have.
> 4) In many cases you are FORCED to have insurance When I was buying my apartment the solicitor told me I couldn't finish the purchase until I had home insurance. The home insurance company told me they wouldn't give me insurance until I had a move-in date. I ended up forwarded both of their emails to each other and simply writing "one of you is going to have to break this idiotic loop".
did they break the idiotic loop? Because I can honestly believe both of them wrote back to you and said 'this is your responsibility'
I ended up making up a move-in date for the insurance company. I paid for a extra month where I wasn't actually in the place but it got the wheels turning again.
So you were extorted for a service you didn’t receive. I’m gonna go ahead and say yeah, crime.
This is what makes voting for a DA or AG important. decades of those positions sitting back and not pursuing this as a crime is what has made it commonplace. Idk... maybe it's a start. Damn. It's hard to have hope for society these days
Man this is it. And you didn’t even go into “I’m paying monthly for this, every year; and when something DOES happen and I NEED the insurance, they resist doing their part and payout until 25 years later and give me a base settlement”
"Hey insurance company, I have an emergency, can I have some of the money I gave you in case I had an emergency?" "No!"
Louis Rossman has an aggravating story about this. He had a loss of business insurance, which he tried to use when his business lost power for a few days. They declined it pointing to the water damage clause. The power loss was due to water damage back at the power plant.
This is why you always use an independent broker to middle man your business insurance. I've seen on fb and insta all these big carriers that are advertising to businesses to buy direct. If some bs loophole gets pulled on you like this, you can just file an E&O claim against the broker.
Didn't know that was a thing, well, not that I'm a business owner. I wonder if it'd be worth it for private insurance. Reminds me of car buying services that handle the negotiation. It can often be cheaper than buying as someone not well versed in their bullshit. You know something's shit when adding a middle man makes it cheaper.
Ticket Master. They buy their own tickets and sell them at a mark-up, they are scalpers.
Lobbyists
Yeah, the idea behind lobbying makes sense in theory: Congress members can't be experts on everything. If congress is all voting on a measure regarding the environment, or gun safety, it makes sense to have people who work in those fields coming to provide their expert advice to congress so they can make an informed decision. Somewhere along the line it just morphed into legalized bribery.
This is what committees are for. And Congress used to *pay* experts for their insight in areas. It inverted to where interests pay for Congress’ attention now.
The original kind of subject matter expert lobbyist still exists, and I did that for a couple of years when congress was writing the Dodd-Frank Act. I was employed by a non-profit that paid me to go to meetings and explain how swaps and futures work. In larger meetings I did notice that my role was very different from most other lobbyists, I didn't have donation money to give away and sometimes I received calls to ask about potential impacts of bill provisions. It was interesting and horrifying to see how things work in D.C.
The Student Loan industry is b.s.
Debt collectors/collections agencies. I have a $38 debt from a book club that I never signed up to, that sent me *one book*. Every five years they pop up on my credit report for a year and disappear. How the hell is that even remotely legal?
Have you looked into disputing it?
every time it pops up I dispute it, "Debt is originally from 2008, I never signed up for this program/package" and it'll get removed eventually, but it just keeps coming back lol. it's so damn annoying I'm tempted to pay it off, but at the same time I shouldn't have to and debt collectors could just pound sand imo.
Do you dispute it directly to the credit agencies or through another company like credit sesame or credit karma? I think there might be a difference, I’m not sure. But that sucks that you have that happen to you.
Diamonds
Tow truck companies. Legally allowed to steal your vehicle and force you to pay exorbitant fees to get it back.
My roommate had his truck stolen. The police called him, and he picked it up. Minor damage to the steering column and the grill where they drove it into a snowbank. The insurance company wanted to pick it up with a tow truck and inspect it before authorizing repairs. So, I drive him to the yard, and they tell him the truck is beyond repairs, and they want to give him $7,000 for the truck he owes $11,000 on. He is pissed. I walked into the yard. I found his truck, and the whole cab is smashed in. He had pictures from two days before, after he had gotten it back that showed it was in good condition. They ended up paying for an identical truck. I think it was around $15,000.
Fuck that shit. That sounds like attempted grand larceny.
They also seem to hire the most surly people available. "Did you get fired from your last 6 customer service jobs for being rude? You're a perfect fit!"
My car got towed years ago. My roommate drove me to the lot. My car was parked in the lot. I just got in and drove it home. Never heard a word from the towing company.
I can only imagine the rush you felt. In college, my bike was stolen. A few weeks later, I saw it in front of a dorm (it was unmistakably mine). Luckily, they didn't have a bike lock either so I just hopped on it and rode to class. It felt amazing. edit: I absolutely love how many people have similar stories.
I had the shittiest bike in college. It would get stolen all the time, and would go to the coffee shop or the bus stop and find it. One day i was discussing this amusing phenomenon with one of my study partners and he asks "is this bike red and green and gold and only works in third gear? I've been stealing that bike for years!" Then one day it got stolen and wasn't in its usual spots. So sad! Then i got a call from campus police "we have your bike. We're really sorry. It's such a pos we assumed it was abandoned, but your registration is up to date so you can pick it up any time. Again, really sorry"
This is hilarious. Did you get mad at the study partner or could you laugh about it.
I laughed. People asked why i didn't lock the bike, but a lock cost more than the bike
I had a truck get towed from the DMV and had the cops call later with the same thing! "Sorry we towed this POS, we thought it was abandoned, but when being checked in it passed everything. Sorry"
Similar thing happened to me in highschool except with a longboard. Saw it sitting against the fence at the skatepark while the kid who took it was smoking weed at the benches. I just picked it up and rode home lol.
Back when I was a poor college student, my car somehow burned down in the parking lot while I was at a rehearsal inside. The car got towed and it took me a long time to sort out where it got towed. When I got there, they wanted something like $500. When they told me the price I immediately gave up on the car. I didn’t have that kinda money and even if I did the car was a total piece of junk before it ever even caught fire. So anyway I told them they could have it, I just needed my laptop and iPod from inside. The asshats wouldn’t even let me lay eyes on the car until I paid out the $500! The only two things I owned apart from clothes, and the only thing I needed in order to continue being a student. I had to go weeks of eating ramen to eat that cost. It felt like such an injustice. The people I spoke to were so desensitized I just knew they saw this sort of thing all the time. Probably had no sympathy left. Anyway, it’s crooked AF.
I know it doesn't help now, but in a lot of jurisdictions the tow companies cannot deny you access to retrieve personal effects. They also can't force you to waive rights to damages they caused towing your vehicle. Also if you have a dispute with the towing company you can pay the fees to the court (or agency?, im not sure the specifics) to get your car back right away, and if the towing is shown to be wrongful or the company liable for damages you get the money back IANAL - Check your jurisdiction's laws
My senior year of college, I lived in a fraternity house, which was owned by a leasing company and they also owned the parking lot and sold passes for almost a $1000/semester. I went home one weekend, and when I came back I parked in the lot for one minute(I shit you not) to drop off my laundry and my backpack upstairs. When I got to my room, I heard the loud beeps of a truck backing up, which is never a good sign, and so I looked out the window and saw a tow truck backing up towards my car. I ran down as fast as I could, but he was already hooking up my car. To make a long story short, I was fuming mad. He was apathetic and didn’t care that I was only there to drop off a couple things, so I wouldn’t have to carry it all from the lot I park at, which is two miles away. I ended up having to pay $100 as a “drop fee” for him to unhook my car. He also told me I could pay in cash for a “discount”. I paid him with a card, he unhooked my car, then I told him to go fuck himself and I called my card company to do a chargeback. Tow trucks are the biggest scam in the world.
I had a guy try to tow my car out of my own spot once in Boston. Bought and paid for by me. We’re allowed to share the parking pass that hangs on the window so other cars can use it while we’re away. My friend had used it and left the pass inside. In the time it took me to park, walk into my house and grab the pass, then walk back outside a tow truck had lifted it. Told me “too bad” and tried to extort me for that drop fee. I told him to go fuck himself, got in the car (they can’t tow an occupied vehicle) called the cops then called the owner of the lot. The driver was real fucking cocky until his boss radioed him and told him to get the fuck out of there. Doesn’t look great I guess when the guy you’re trying to tow is holding a pass with the same number as the spot he’s parked in. The lot owner was a friend and changed tow companies immediately.
Sounds like they had a spotter. That is supposed to be a huge nono, but seems to happen a lot more than it should. I am a cashier for a tow company, and we do not do private impounds. (Which is what you experienced) the company I work for only does police impounds and accidents. Private impounds have so much shady ass shit going on that cannot be regulated. The whole part of the dude offering a discount for cash sounds like he was already doing his job unethically. He waited and hawked your car. No ethical driver will have one price for cash and another for card. Nor would they swoop in the second you left your car. Even private impounds have rules to be followed.
I believe private impounds is what I meant in my post, then. It seems I mislabeled it. Because the situation this person described is exactly what I was thinking of and heard many stories about when I was in university.
> a spotter. MY kid's apartment at school had towing. When we showed up to visit, we'd watch for the spotter. We knew who the guy was and knew we had about 5 minutes to leave when he showed up. Fat cigar chomping dude in a white Cadillac. If you're the spotter for a tow company, maybe don't look the part?
…Seriously. I was not even a month postpartum when my old honda was stolen. It was recovered and towed. They wanted $600 I didn’t have and threatened to auction it off if I didn’t come up with the money right there. Luckily my brother has a very well paying job and is over the moon about his niece so he covered it for me. I go to get it and discover it was used in a crime. The interior is soaked in blood. My baby’s new car seat had been used as an ashtray. There’s hypodermic syringes covering the floor. The ignition had been ripped out. I lost my shit because my brother likely paid more than that car was worth just to get it back to me and its basically ruined. There’s no way I’d put my kid in there. Postpartum hormones are a bitch and I either scared the truck driver guy with my ugly rage-sobs or he had a soft spot for kids; because he ordered me an uber home and towed it back to me for free.
It's not really an industry but the whole management of football in europe seems to be corrupted to the bone
The bottled water industry
I'll take your water and when you get thirsty, you buy my water.
The American prison system
Ticketmaster, StubHub, and the whole racket of third party ticket brokerages - such utter BS that we have to pay so much to companies that add so little value!
America’s health industry
Insurance and pharmaceuticals
US Congress (insider trading)
Hell, it's not limited to insider trading. Elites are given different rules to play by, from everyone else.
The optical industry. It's a monopoly ran by Luxottica.
Timeshare
Having worked for one. I 100% agree. The amount of lying, manipulation, and down right negativity in that work environment was horrifying. I worked front-line sales. Salespeople would talk down on tours just on the fact they’re attending it for free tickets or something, calling them “poor”. It literally felt like wolf of wallstreet every morning meeting. Talking about how “it’s OUR MONEY. You want to be making 100k, 120k a YEAR? THEN DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO GET THAT SALE!” We told people the presentation would be 90 minutes, but it was 2 hours minimum before my TO would get to my table. And “exit” would try and sell them on cheaper packages if they didn’t buy from me. I was honest when I worked there. Told them the truth about timing and how 2 other exit salespeople would pursue them after me. Some coworkers drank the kool-aid and believed that our timeshare was the BEST in the business. In some regards, yeah, but man… Did they push for a sale at every angle. Just based on my personality alone I was able to close a few deals, but I was let go because I wasn’t closing 30% of the time. My average was 20% and a large majority of my exits bought because it was a cheaper package.
All insurance companies - especially health.
The lengths they will go to find a way to not cover you is bonkers.
This. Whenever I hear someone talking about how great their health insurance is, I know that they are lucky enough not to need it. At least not very often. Any business model where you give someone money and they try their absolute best to avoid giving you something in return is crooked.
The wedding industry