Business is business; it's not kind, forgiving, or even fair sometimes. That being said, there are some businesspeople out there who are so shrewd, so sharply focused on making that extra buck, they're willing to put their very integrity on the line to make it happen - even if it means bending a few laws. The good people of Reddit were recently asked what shady business tactics they've seen used, and the answers they gave may shock and disturb you. Whether you're in business yourself and have seen it all, or you're a regular customer who's curious about where your money is going, you need to be aware of these dirty tricks in order to avoid them. Scroll down to see them all, and let us know which ones you've seen go down under the table in the comments.
#41
In Nova Scotia Canada severance pay is paid on the average of your last 30 days of pay. This means that some companies will actually reduce your hours to minimum your last month with them if they are going to lay you off. Happened to me wife. She worked for this company for 5 years, worked 35+ hours per week, suddenly she wasn't getting shifts. BOOM, layoff notice. Happened to other folks too.
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31points
#42
If you're in the UK, working for an agency or temp work for a company, you will accrue holiday pay. However, the company or agency is not obliged to tell you that.
After a certain period, if you haven't claimed it, the agency gets to keep it so often they'll 'forget' to tell you about it.
They are obliged to payout if you've requested it in writing, though.
After a certain period, if you haven't claimed it, the agency gets to keep it so often they'll 'forget' to tell you about it.
They are obliged to payout if you've requested it in writing, though.
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30points
#43
Watch the ever changing price of pre-packaged food goods at most grocery stores. One day the price 'may' seem to go down, but if you checked the weight, it has also gone down. Snack foods do this constantly.
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28points
#44
When I worked at H&M we used to do some sneaky stuff with setting up the mannequins/displays. Whenever we had a supply of shirts that were really ugly, and weren't selling well. We'd put the ugly item on the mannequin, and it would sell out very quickly.
This isn't necessarily the dirtiest trick, but it worked pretty well for pushing really ugly clothes.
This isn't necessarily the dirtiest trick, but it worked pretty well for pushing really ugly clothes.
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28points
#45
Literally anything a corporation does that they can be fined for is taken into account as a business expense. If it's cheaper to pay an illegal dumping fine than it is to change the way they process waste nothing will be done to stop the illegal dumping.
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27points
#46
My good friends job at a Medical insurance company was to evaluate existing accounts and do risk assessments and cost analysis. Take over the cost sucking accounts and find a way to eliminate them.
He cut a costly account off and argued for a month with the primary holder because he found some weird rule in their terms the family Violated. My friend got a bigger monthly bonus and he got a call two months later from the dad thanking him because his 10 year old son died.
He cut a costly account off and argued for a month with the primary holder because he found some weird rule in their terms the family Violated. My friend got a bigger monthly bonus and he got a call two months later from the dad thanking him because his 10 year old son died.
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27points
#47
In restaurants, the daily special or the 'chef's choice' option for things like cheese plates and desserts means 'the stuff that will expire tonight.'
In the US food laws are stringent, and most of those things won't hurt you, but you will not get the best the restaurant has to offer.
In the US food laws are stringent, and most of those things won't hurt you, but you will not get the best the restaurant has to offer.
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25points
#48
some telemarketers will ask if you can hear or understand them. if you say yes, they'll call back and say that you ordered their product with a recording of you saying yes.
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24points
#49
A company having a business model that relies on charging fees for breaking its own rules without justification for them.
Looking at you CreditOne.
*Has a late payment fee but refuses to add any kind of auto-payment. In 2017.
*Takes 5 days to clear a normal payment. Pay 4 days before your bill is due? That's a late payment fee. Want your payment to clear earlier to avoid that fee? Pay an express payment fee! Its the same fee amount? Lordy! What a coincidence!
Looking at you CreditOne.
*Has a late payment fee but refuses to add any kind of auto-payment. In 2017.
*Takes 5 days to clear a normal payment. Pay 4 days before your bill is due? That's a late payment fee. Want your payment to clear earlier to avoid that fee? Pay an express payment fee! Its the same fee amount? Lordy! What a coincidence!
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24points
#50
An older fellow I know had a bodega and he'd put a can of cream corn on the counter by the register. This was some time ago so the van had a price tag of $.17. He sold that can of cream corn to everyone who bought anything there. If they realized they were paying to much he'd just say he thought that was their can of corn. Most people didn't notice though and he sold that same can of cream corn maybe twenty times a day.
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23points
#51
Placing the most profitable items at eye level (worst deal for you) and the best value for money items in hard to reach places
Making you walk past all the items in the store due to design
Making you walk past all the items in the store due to design
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23points
#52
Whole Wheat Breads. Double check the ingredients list. If bleached flour is listed at all, put it the f*ck back.
Sara-Lee is noturious for this. Most of their Whole Wheat products are actually just molasses make the bread darker.
Sara-Lee is noturious for this. Most of their Whole Wheat products are actually just molasses make the bread darker.
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23points
#53
I worked at a Nissan dealership as a car salesman and it was made abundantly clear to us that all of the advertised prices and sticker prices where 100% bull shit. I even remember one of the managers telling us a new commercial went out and referred to it as "a bunch of lies that are going to get people in the door".
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23points
#54
Yelp and their blocking off web reviews and photos if you're browsing from a phone. Oh, you want to read this review? DOWNLOAD OUR APP. F*ck that.
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23points
#55
Know the difference between a gigabit and a gigabyte. One gigabit/megabit/kilobit is only equal to 0.125 gigabyte/megabyte/kilobytes. A lot of services (like Verizon) advertise their data caps and data speeds in gigabits so as to confuse customers who don't know the difference. If your plan has a 8 gigabit data cap, then you can only really use 1 gigabyte of data. Likewise, your 100mbit/s internet speed only has a peak download of 12.5 megabytes per second.
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22points
#56
Many nursing home communities require a massive deposit to move in, mid-6-figures. They earn interest on that deposit, but that's not the dirty part. The dirty part is in the fine print:
Marketing staff will tell you that the deposit is returned once the leased unit is relinquished. And that's technically true. But what they don't tell you is that the contract defines "relinquishment" as "whenever the marketing staff fills that unit again."
So if Grandma dies or moves out, and her apartment is vacated, marketing staff will intentionally not fill that unit again for years at a time, to keep earning interest on the deposit. This results in countless retirees and their surviving families becoming financially destitute as they wait for some leasing agent to feel like giving them back their money.
Marketing staff will tell you that the deposit is returned once the leased unit is relinquished. And that's technically true. But what they don't tell you is that the contract defines "relinquishment" as "whenever the marketing staff fills that unit again."
So if Grandma dies or moves out, and her apartment is vacated, marketing staff will intentionally not fill that unit again for years at a time, to keep earning interest on the deposit. This results in countless retirees and their surviving families becoming financially destitute as they wait for some leasing agent to feel like giving them back their money.
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21points
#57
Before moving in you should take pictures of areas that show existing damage and note that in their form during your walk-thru. Even though they signed off on the form which I stated the existing damage, they still tried to charge for things like water damage to window sills and cupboards that were already there. Also it'd be wise to take a black light through the place before move-in. They tried to charge me for a urine stain they missed from a previous owner who had pets. And lastly, they tried to charge for cleaning the oven.. Except I cleaned the oven. But I forgot to take out the aluminum foil I put in the bottom to catch drips, and they wanted $50, the price of a full cleaning, to remove it.
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20points
#58
Dish Network's door-to-door salesmen will tell you that's it's fine to use your parent's name and Social Security Number for your account if your credit prevents you from getting service. This is not ok, it's identity theft.
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20points
#59
Buying a car from a "buy here, pay here" dealership. You put $500 or $1000 down they say you are approved and you drive the car home. Two days later the dealership calls and says that they couldn't get you financed at that down payment and interest rate so we need an additional $2500 down and your interest rate doubles. If you don't have the extra money they take the car and your original down payment. This is in AZ.
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20points
#60
People give no f*cks about your luggage or parcel, they get dropped, thrown around everyday behind the close door, especially heavy items.
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20points