Let’s be honest, Pandas, how many of us genuinely read all of the terms and conditions, cover to cover? Whether you’re buying a product or service, no matter if it’s physical or digital, more often than not, you have to wade through pages of confusing, lengthy technical jargon that is formatted into huge walls of text. Most of us just skip over all of that, either recycling what we consider to be a waste of paper or clicking [Accept]. Not many of us have the spare time to put on our corporate lawyer hats every single time we purchase something.
There’s one problem, though. You can never be certain if there isn’t something important hidden within those dizzying lines and twisting phrases. Some details are bizarre, unfair, absurd, and even hilarious. And that’s exactly the topic that internet users from around the world tackled in a viral r/AskReddit thread.
These people actually take their time and get to know the T&Cs and details of every contract and petition, intimately. Scroll down to take a peek at the weirdest things they’ve found. Have you come across any similar strange things when you got down to the nitty-gritty deets? Share your experiences in the comments.
#1
I considered auditioning for the first season of Canada's Got Talent. I got the contract for auditions and read the fine print.
"You will pay your own room, board and travel. You agree to being on camera 24/7. We can listen to your private phone calls. We can enter your room at any time to check on you and record it."
I noped out of that audition fast.
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339points
#2
I was a witness on Judge Judy probably about a decade ago. In the waiver that you have to sign it said you would get paid $5 in cash upon request in the small print. I asked the woman who took the form from me she chuckled and pulled out a crisp $5 and handed it to me.
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338points
#3
I was asked to sign a petition for something that I generally was in agreement with, until I read the last part of it, that read something like, "the chairman of the committee reserves the right to change the wording of this petition".
So it was like, "sign here, and we'll figure out what you signed later".
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298points
There are two things that life has taught many of us to take seriously. First of all, don’t sign any important papers without knowing exactly what you’re in for. There’s a difference between accepting the terms and conditions of a video game you bought or signing up for a weekly newspaper delivery and buying a car or a house or taking out a loan.
The more money is on the line, the more we have to be willing to take our time and patiently get to know every tiny little nuance.
#4
You never own the Tesla you pay for.
Tesla, (and to various extents, other anti-right-to-repair companies like Mercedes, Apple, John Deere, etc.) hold that their products are intellectual property and cannot be owned by customers, instead claiming that they are effectively leased to buyers."
"Tesla has on on multiple occasions (illegally) disabled features of cars being sold used because of this.
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265points
#5
I’m an auto mechanic, I regularly purchase tools from tool trucks. Sometimes there’s little giveaways if you spend x amount you get this scratch off ticket that could win you something blah blah.
One time I was reading the fine print at the bottom, usual legalese stuff then the last line cracked me up - said something like “residents of Canada will be required to complete a series of mathematical questions in order to claim their prize”
What the hell did Canada do to require being punished to win a prize?
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259points
#6
The terms and conditions for the rewards card at the grocery store i worked had "if you've actually taken the time to read this, please email (email) with this code and the pin for your card for $500 in rewards points "
And it actually did, then I started getting a new card every other month or so. Then they changed who the rewards program was with.
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241points
The second lesson is to always leave a paper trail, whether at work or dealing with company representatives or clients. Human memory is fallible. And different individuals can interpret some things in completely different ways. So if you have documentation of some sort to fall back on, it can save you a ton of headaches down the line.
Disagreements and mishaps sometimes occur. You don’t want to be the only one left without any legal leverage.
#7
We were interested in purchasing a house, and sent the Contract of Sale to our conveyancer as a final 'rubber stamp' before signing.
They quickly got back to us, pointing out a clause buried in the Contract. It said that we agree to forfeiting our cooling off period and all 'subject to building/pest/structural inspection' rights, and that we agreed we must proceed with the purchase no matter what. Even if the house was rotted with termites, or the vendor had blatantly hid some structural fault, they could legally 'force' us to proceed with the purchase.
The conveyancer said that the vendor's legal firm had a reputation of putting these hidden nasties in their Contracts, so she knew to scrutinise every word as soon as she saw their name on it.
Needless to say, we didn't proceed with the purchase.
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240points
#8
Peacock tv has a recipe for chocolate cake in section 9
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201points
#9
I read the terms and conditions before joining a gym. It said the only reason you could cancel your membership is if you moved out of the area or got injured and had a note from a doctor. Otherwise you had to give 30 days notice and pay 3 additional months worth of fees. I did not join.
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200points
As we’ve covered on Bored Panda before, it can be extremely time and resource-intensive to get to grips with the finer details of contracts, such as the non-disclosure agreements many folks are made to sign at work.
Essentially, NDAs are civil contracts that are meant to protect companies by preventing employees from leaking sensitive information or harming the business in other ways. If you breach the terms you signed, it can mean that your company may seek damages by taking you to court.
#11
Gamestation (an old video game store in the UK) had an immortal soul clause. They own thousands of peoples souls!
191points
#12
I read the terms and conditions for either Windows 95 or the Windows 98 upgrade. Somewhere buried deep in the middle was a warning that the operating system should not be used to operate a nuclear power plant. I'm assuming it was a joke because it was an individually licensed product rather than a corporate license, and if they were serious about it, I would think that warning would be at the top!
Also, can you imagine a nuclear power plant running on a 90's version of Windows? It would give a whole new meaning to "the blue screen of death."
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188points
Ideally, both parties would negotiate mutually fair terms of the contract. In practice, however, many employees don’t have the time for this or the spare cash to hire a lawyer to peruse everything under a microscope.
You can, however, still raise any questions you have about the need for the NDA and the particular terms therein with your superiors. You shouldn’t be scared to speak up if you spot something unclear, ambiguous, or weird while you’re scanning the stack of docs, bigger than your book backlog.
#13
*You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.*
This is from the Terms and Conditions for Apple's iTunes.
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183points
#14
I read the waiver at an indoor paintball place one time. It covered everything you’d think it would cover, but that wasn’t all. Insect bites and stings. Attacks from wild animals “such as bears, etc” (yes, it specified bears), and dangers such as guides incorrectly navigating rapids.
All of these things were covered.
For paintball.
Indoors.
The experience did not live up to what the waiver implied.
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177points
#15
One of my old jobs said that if there was ever a contagion that resulted in people losing their minds and acting like violent, mindless, swarming animals (i.e. zombies or infected) then we would be expected to hide in bunkers, rescue our clients and not kill anyone.
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160points
#16
On my apartment rent agreement, there was one part that basically said: If you (the renter) dies then your family is responsible for paying the rest of the rent left on your contract.
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154points
#17
It was when I was setting up android work profile (The high school I'm attending rn issued us emails that route the emails through their servers) for online school. G-suite and everything.
I couldn't rlly avoid the work profile thing cuz android wanted me to set it up.
I couldn't rlly avoid the work profile thing cuz android wanted me to set it up.
Enough with context here.
I downloaded google device policy to set this up and I saw, and I quote.
"Administrators on this domain can have access to any and all data on your phone"
I was like, Hell no! They do random phone searches of the students already why give them full access!?
I then decided to do the online class stuff on my computer and do it web-based instead of giving them full access to my phone.
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147points
#18
EasyBCD is one of the few I read. It says I owe a picture of my sister in the shower if the author asks for it.
That was like 10 years ago. I dunno if the software still exists.
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142points
#19
PPG (paint company) does not allow their paint to be used on terrorist, biohazard or nuclear facilities.
134points
#20
Not exactly weird but when I was buying my car insurance they asked if I had been in any previous accidents (I was) and if I was at fault (I was not). Said rates would only go up if the accident was my fault. Okay cool. So at the end when I’m looking everything over, I notice in the fine print that it says any accidents are automatically considered the driver’s fault unless proven otherwise...so I send them an email and ask. Basically they said I’d have to purchase the policy, THEN contact them with the proof that I wasn’t at fault for the accident. So I bought the policy, went to my state’s DMV website to get the accident report, and email it to the insurance company- one week later I get “refunded” about 1/5 of the policy cost credited to my account. I wonder how many people they’ve ripped off.
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121points