It can feel like your constantly looking over your shoulder anytime you want to buy anything today, as if someone is following you around with a pen hoping for you to sign away your wallet on a dotted line.
Scams and schemes are all over the place, and while they may not be some shoddy-looking man in a suit hoping to take you for a ride, they manifest in different ways.
Ever heard of "convenience fees?"
They're everywhere, and we all seem to have to be okay with them.
Reddit user, Horror-Tap2093, wanted to hear how people have the wool pulled over their heads daily when they asked:
"What's the biggest scam in life that no one wants to admit?"
While the internet has certainly made things easier to sign-up for, you ever notice how difficult it is to cancel once you decide you want out? Why is that?
One Website To Join. Nine Phone Calls To Cancel.
"The easy-to-join, difficult-to-cancel subscription model."
[usernamedeleted]
"Pioneered by gyms. I cancelled mine as soon as lockdown started and I put together a home gym. Literally had to print out something from their website and mail it in then call them 3 times."
"That whole business model is based on people signing up, not going, and putting off canceling due to a combination of not wanting to admit failure and the whole process being a pain in the @ss. If everyone with a gym membership went just twice a week they'd have a real problem on their hands."
ac1084
We Make It Easier For You To Give Us More Money
"Online convenience fees"
Vast-Anxiety-4066
"My bank has free bill pay and will mail them a check if they don’t have any other option. So now they get a check from me and the “inconvenience fee” is their own cost to process the thing, get paid slower, etc."
RazorRadick
"I recently paid $10 in convenience fees at AMC to buy tickets online instead of purchasing tickets at the theater. Doesn't purchasing tickets online allow them to save money on having less employees run the ticket booth? I get that it costs them money to run a website but $10 for a convenience fee? It just isn't justified."
TLOC81
Once A Month, Every Month, Regardless Of The Quality
"The subscription based economy"
Shenanigamii
"This makes me so angry. Why does everything have to be a subscription now? I mean, I know why but I still hate it"
big_red_160
"I imagine it’s a ton of easy profit. Instead of having to constantly advertise to keep you hooked and buying each month, they just have to hook you once into a long term commitment."
RickTitus
There are certain things in this country, America, specifically, which should not cost the the amount that it does. Yet, here we are, in 2022, overcharging people for routine medical provisions.
Costs A Lot To Live
"How the f-ck does HEALTH insurance not cover dental and vision? What kind of shenanigans is that?"
OldDust8123
"Didn't you hear? Teeth are your luxury bones."
deepseascale
"And eyes are too complicated for health insurance, but your brain is simple enough."
OldDust8123
"Health insurance is the biggest scam of this century. You pay them every month in hopes they can cover you when you need it and they do everything in their power to not give you your money back. Even if a doctor says you need treatment or medicine your insurance can say f-ck you, and keep your money?"
CAHTA92
A Day Of Bliss And Drained Bank Accounts
"The entire wedding industry."
"To be clear, not marriage but weddings specifically."
"I’m happily married to my wife and we were content to do something special just the two of us, maybe spend a couple of grand and treat ourselves a little bit to something amazing."
"Cue the families getting involved and before you know it we’re spending closer to twenty grand on one day and feeding a bunch of people I’ve not heard of before or since the wedding."
J-ShapedNerd
Being Healthy Costs A Lot
"$18 Salad lol"
Marshmello7
"Water is 3$ while pop is 1$"
kitiikit
"Before telling people to make healthier choices, figure out why a burger is $9 and a salad is $18."
TomoyoHoshijiro
Death and taxes are the inevitables we should expect out of life, sure, but lest we forget the secret third expectation: Hidden fees.
Under 65? Tough.
"We work the majority of our lives, during our fittest years of health, for the promise of a golden retirement, when we will probably too old and ill to enjoy it properly."
Mr_Bob_Ferguson
"First you have strength and time, but no money."
"Then you have strength and money, but no time."
"Finally you have money and time, but no strength."
wordserious
Fees, Fees, Fees
"Ticketmaster"
bigsz
"I used them to go see my first comedian. Got two seats priced at $90 each. My total was $313. I'm not good at math, but I knew something was wrong there. Their fee per ticket is just nuts. I ended up getting seats that were about $45 each and it still cost me almost $200."
User Deleted
Earn That Cheddar
"Hustle culture"
BenjaminoBob
"Bought a "gold" membership in a greeting card mlm so I could send unlimited custom cards. My "coach" thought I was taking it seriously as a money maker (plus he wanted me to recruit more people for his downline). He actually asked, "Are there any friendships you can leverage?""
"Yeah, that made my skin crawl..."
ollieollieoxinfree
"I’m sorry but the “grind” and “hustle” cultures only generate a--holes. They think everyone else’s goal is to be rich as f-ck, working 100 hours a week."
"I just want to be able to pay my bills and feed my family. Anything after that should be time spent with my family."
am0x
Everyone's out to get you, it seems.
Keep your eyes and your ears open then, just to be extra safe, keep your hands on your wallet.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
