Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Businesses Are More Corrupt Than People Think

People Explain Which Businesses Are More Corrupt Than People Think

With the news the way it's been lately, not a day goes by that we don't hear the word "corrupt" in one way or another. Whether we're talking about politics, police, demons (or gems for you Steven Universe fans) - corruption is everywhere.

Reddit user imbasargarepa asked :

What line of business is generally more corrupt than people realize?


Turns out there are about a zillion more examples of rampant corruption than many people initially thought. What really made this thread interesting wasn't just the businesses and industries that people pointed out. It was the fact that a lot of the responses came from people with behind-the-scenes access, insider information, and knowledge that the average customer or person would never have.

The loopholes, angles, and technicalities that some of these industries exploit are honestly kind of stunning. Take a look.

Towing Trouble

Giphy

Towing. Companies who tow cars are shady as AF. I had my car towed from the scene of an accident, and I couldn't get an insurance estimate for 4 days because the tow company claimed they didn't have it. Then they charged the insurance company for 4 days of "storage" after I went to their lot myself and took pictures of my car sitting there.

- dickskittlez

Here in WA, towing companies can sell your car at an auction if they have it for 100 hours. A friend's car got towed from an accident and it took him nearly that long to find it. I gave him a ride there, and they already had his car on a car carrier to take to an auction. He almost lost his car.

- Frequent_Albatross

We have an automatic tow policy at my apartment complex. My husband and I got back from a trip with a rental car, and just parked it. Stupid on our part

They towed within 2 min. That leads us to believe they were watching, knew who/where we were, and had no interest in giving us actual time to move it - which sucks, but fine.

We went to go get it from the tow yard because we had to take the rental back the next day and their credit card machine was broken. It was -10 degrees, three a.m, and they wouldn't/couldn't give us our car back because of the card machine.

We asked "Well when will you have your card reader fixed?" They said they didn't know.

"Do you take cash?" They said no.

Then how the hell were we supposed to get our car back? They had no real answer. Well then you pretty much have just stolen our car.

- 5sheDoesntEvenGoHere8

Pinkwashing

Susan G Koman and the other disease 'awareness' charities. Most of the money donated does not reach the scientists and doctors actually researching cures and treatments.

- Packpeach

To add to this, the pink breast cancer ribbon isn't trademarked. Meaning anyone can slap it on anything to make it seem charitable when it's really just shady marketing. It's a practice called pinkwashing, a company slaps a pink ribbon on a product to make buyers think they're supporting breast cancer research, but they don't actually donate anything. The worst in when products with ingredients known to cause cancer do it. And they do it a lot.

- kimjongchill796

As a former cancer researcher, I can confirm. They also reject any grant application that studies any treatment than can work on other cancers because they then feel like other cancer organizations are 'stealing' from their "brand" of cancer. However, scientific standards dictate that all potential treatments must be studied on several different cancer types in the lab and in vivo to be considered a legit study. So it's a catch-22. Do you have an amazing new discovery that could cure breast cancer but also works on prostate or colon cancer? Sorry, no money for you!

Sadly, because the US government cut NIH funding so badly over a decade ago, more and more labs have to rely on charity and industry funding, which leads to biased results or good research getting defunded and tossed in the circular file. Entire labs are shutting down because of it.

Also, look at who Komen takes money from. A lot of food and chemical companies. Dairy consumption is a known cause of breast cancer, but Komen takes money from yogurt companies and lets them slap pink ribbons all over their packaging to give it a false health halo to increase profits. It's hypocritical at best. If Komen was truly interested in preventing breast cancer, they'd stop taking money from the companies that cause it and start educating the public about how to prevent it. Full stop.

- boatswainblind

Mortuary Services

Giphy

Mortuary services. You do not need to be embalmed, you do not need an expensive casket, and they are overcharging you for everything. It's a disgusting extortion racket no one does anything about.

- beatthinker

Worked in the funeral business, can confirm. I used to be written up on evaluations for not up-selling caskets, vaults, and urns to families. Legally you don't even need an urn, if you provide the funeral home with a container they have to use it. I put someone in a coffee can once just like Donnie in the Big Lebowski.

- Mortician-For-Hire

Pest Control

Pest control. You can buy almost every single thing we use yourself online without a license. For the price you pay for one service you can get enough stuff to do it yourself for years. Also, almost all major companies now will spray the outside only if you aren't there because we're required to complete a certain number of jobs a day. So if you never confirmed the appointment we made for you that you never even knew about, guess what, you're still getting sprayed - and billed. I work for one and the policy now is that the techs have to do the outside only if no one is there. My boss even told me to not call the customer if we thought no one was home because they may try to reschedule. Just spray exterior.

- ThotsAndPIayers

Worked as a pest control tech for a summer and can confirm some of this, though at our company we would call if you weren't there and leave a note to reschedule the indoor treatment later. Also, training for this job took like 1 hour, and basically amounts to "hit corners, crevices, openings, and humid areas." People thought I knew a lot more about pest control than I did.

- Akomatai

The Temp Employee

Hiring temp employees.
Besides the low pay and zero respect there is also the health insurance scams. I had an agency charge me $8,000 per year automatically for a health insurance package that only covered $5,000 AFTER my initial up front costs of $5,000.
In short I had to pay $13,000 just to get $5,000 worth of coverage.

Which was of course denied claiming a pre-existing condition. Being hit by a car is, "pre-existing," apparently. I was hit that day. It's why I was at the doctor.

They denied paying for the CAT scan stating the injury occurred prior to being refereed by the doctor.

- ambermage

I had health insurance through a temp agency like a dozen years ago that didn't actually cover anything. It was weird. They had a network, no one was in network.

- GirlWhoWrites2

My husband was once hired as a contractor through a temp agency. The company who contracted him promised they'd make him a full time employee with benefits after a year.

I don't consider it a coincidence that he was fired less than a month before that year was up. Worse, he didn't qualify for unemployment since he was a temp.

It's a racket.

- Lady_L1985

Megachurch Megabucks

Giphy

Former Altar boy here. All that money people give to churches makes me sick. Most of it isn't going to good works. It's going to the mega umbrella corporations, the Vatican, building Joel Osteen's mansion, and getting your pastor a new Benz. They take poor peoples last few dollars and hoard it or use it to develop their brand. It's just another business. The people who pay the price for their greed is societies most vulnerable like the elderly.

- Obladi

Mega Churches in the US: These guys are stealing money hand over first through the use of flashy sermons and trumped up versions of how the Bible actually works. Not to mention the fact that most of the donations they receive help the people that own the church pay for private jets and mansions. Remember that mega church pastor who "needed" a private jet so he wouldn't have to share his flight with "sinners?" Yeah...

Even if there's a catastrophe in their neighborhood they can't be bothered to send some money their way. After that last tornado in Missouri a local mega church didn't donate a dime, meanwhile a local casino donated a large sum of money to the victims.

- mbattagl

Yup, Joel Osteen didn't do shit here in Houston during Harvey. I lived right by the church and there was NO water like he tried to say. Meanwhile Mattress Mack opened all his stores for people and did a ton to help.

- Mper526

Joel Osteen couldn't be bothered to open the doors to his as a shelter, without a ton of pressure, after Harvey flooded Houston. His own congregation was basically told to suck it. Megachurch operators are ghouls, to their rotten cores.

- BlackBetty504

My grandmother is destitute and relies on my mother for everything now despite having been well set for retirement, all thanks to the "prosperity gospel" preached on TBN. She sent them everything, on the promise that God would return her "investment" seven-fold. If hell is real, I have no doubt those snakes will be there with me.

- haveyouseenjeff

More from People

TikToker films Stan Lee’s return as an AI hologram at L.A. Comic Con.
@melmadog/TikTok

Stan Lee AI Hologram Unsettles Fans

In 2016, Stan Lee told the Hollywood Reporter that “Los Angeles is, to me, the center of the world’s entertainment. It has to have a Comic Con.”

This year’s convention, held Sept. 26–28, delivered on that vision in a way no one exactly put on their wish list—by resurrecting the late Marvel legend as an AI-powered hologram. That’s right: between the swag, panels, and trailer drops, fans were invited to “meet” Lee, who passed away in 2018 at age 95, via a digital stand-in programmed to chat like the real thing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ne-Yo shoved a stage-crashing fan during a Japan concert.
@CelebRapInsider/Twitter

Ne-Yo Attacked by Fan

Ne-Yo is “So Sick” of anyone disrespecting his stage.

During a performance in Kobe, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 27, the R&B superstar shoved a fan off stage after they tried to get "Closer” mid-performance at the Glion Arena.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tom Holland and Zendaya
James Devaney/GC Images

Tom Holland Swiftly Corrects Reporter Who Called Zendaya His 'Girlfriend'—And Fans Are Obsessed

Some love is quiet and unassuming, known mostly to those in love and few else.

Actors Tom Holland and Zendaya have been largely quiet about their engagement, but when the Spider-Man actor appeared recently at a press event, he was more forthcoming about his relationship status.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel on each other's shows
@jimmykimmel/Threads

Jimmy Kimmel And Stephen Colbert Unload On Trump In Rare Crossover Event As Guests On Each Other's Shows

Late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert were each other's guests in a special crossover event on Tuesday and took the opportunity to call out "son of a b*tch" President Donald Trump, who has used his influence in attempts to silence them for criticizing him and his MAGA movement on the air.

Last week, ABC announced it would end its suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! just a week after Trump pushed to get host Jimmy Kimmel off the air following comments Kimmel made about the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk. ABC had had internal discussions with Disney, which saw a wave of subscriber cancellations in the wake of Kimmel's suspension.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tina Turner
Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images

A Massive Sculpture Of Tina Turner Was Just Unveiled—And It's Going Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

When it comes to entertainment legends, the late singer Tina Turner is right at the top of the pantheon.

And fittingly, the songstress' hometown of Brownsville, Tennessee, wanted to pay tribute to her legacy with giant statue of the icon.

Keep ReadingShow less