I’ll be more specific then: The guys at Jiffy Lube who are trained to randomly suggest things you should have done based on the age of the car (or if you happen to be female and carrying what they percieve to be a very expensive handbag and is really a fake.) I needed an oil change ASAP because we were driving to Vegas and I didn’t want to risk overheating in the desert. My regular (normal, legit) oil change place was packed and there was a Jiffy Lube handy so I figured “oh well, what could it hurt?” It cost twice as much, for one thing and then I have to have my intelligence insulted by this slimebag.
He: “Oh, my my, miss, that sure is a pretty bag! That’s real nice, right there. It seems your coolant is very very dirty, and I recommend a radiator flush in addition to your oil change today.”
Me: “Well gosh golly, imagine that. And here I just HAD a radiator flush 3 months ago the LAST time I had my oil changed.” (I show him the printout and everything.)
He: “Well I just don’t know what’s up with that, it sure is dirty.” (It wasn’t…That night I made my husband actually check on the outside chance this guy wasn’t a dickweed.)
Me: (looking over his shoulder at what he’s entering into the computer) “Uh, it’s a manual transmission, not automatic.”
He: “Are you sure?”
WTF?!?!
I’ve also noticed they check that they top off powersteering fluid you don’t require, what with having no power steering and all. :rolleyes:
Health insurance companies. Maybe not all of them, but mine certainly is. They will do absomlutely anything to keep from actually having to pay for medical treatment. Bastards.
I’d have to agree on the check cashing/payday loans sort of place.
I never saw these until I moved to a farely low income, run-down section of Phoenix, Arizona, and I ran into them -everywhere-. From what I’ve gathered, they exist because normal bank branches move out of such areas. It isnt profitable for say, Bank of America to set up shop in the heart of a minimum-wage slum with a large black market, setting up accounts for folks who live paycheck to paycheck and typically hold zero balance in an account. Hence, they move out, and the Check Cashing/Payday loans stores move in, charging something like 5% of a checks worth to cash it. The one time I went to one I waited about half an hour for service, behind folks I presumed were mexican immigrants, drug addicts, and generally desparate types.
They do, indeed, perform a service that their customers need and likely wouldnt be able to get through a bank. But its a very sleazy, sketchy, and just despicable practice. I’m all for capitalism, but its definetely on the “darker” side of the free market. I’m not sure what the start-up fees to open a bank account are nowadays, but it really boggles my mind why people go through these CheckCashing stores instead of having an actual checking account. I imagine they -must- have had some good reason, or else they wouldnt have been paying a 5% fee to have their check cashed.
Nobody has mentioned my first thought. The slimeballs at collection agencies. Of all the complaints about businesses the AG of my state receives, over half are about the practices of collection agencies. If you have never had to deal with one, consider yourself lucky.
Any kind of psychic or clairvoyant service. They take advantage of people’s lack of education and desperation to fleece people who often truly don’t know any better.
Those companies that buy out your life insurance. I forget what they are called.
I went for a office job once, (had been unemployed for awhile a few years ago) and at the interview I asked what type of business it was.
The guy interviewing me explains that they buy out peoples life insurance. Mainly people with AIDS. They give the person a fraction of the value and when the person dies, they (the company) cashes in the policy, making big bucks.
I sit there dumbfounded…
“Well” says I “what if they find a cure for AIDS?”
“Bwah haahahahhaahha!,” he laughs, “Nah, I don’t think so!”
I walk out, don’t take the job, and a year or so later, they come up with those drugs that make people with AIDS live for quite a bit longer than that wienie ever expected.
I imagine he’s in the unemployement line now.
Bartenders. Not all- just the jerks that are nice until you are all slobbery and then throw you out.
Collecting debt is a hard job. It takes a special breed of human to put up with 3rd parties covering for the debtor, little kids forced to answer calls for their parents, employers and receptionists, Privacy Manager ( how the hell can they afford that but cannot pay $15 for their credit card monthly bill?) and people filing bankruptcy at the drop of a hat. So I say the slimiest job has got to be professional debtor.
The bank dude (Mr. Investment Advisor / Insurance Salesmen) takes my check, looks it over like it’s forged, finally leaves the room to have it deposited.
The bank dude returns, and with kind of a smart ass smirk says, “We have to hold your deposit for 10 days”. (Chuckle).
I tell him, “I don’t care if you have to hold it a month, I just want to get a checking account opened”.
Then bank dude snarls back, “I said 10 days, not a month, 10 days!”.
Many people will disagree, but I am going with the vitamen/supplement industry. There are some legitimate reasons to do this, but most of the stuff they peddle is overpriced placebos that will do nothing but drain your pocket. Anyone claiming to “cure” your diabetes, asthma, seizures, high blood pressure or any other chronic medical problem with a simple, risk free treatment that doctors just don’t want you to know about is full of it.
"Dr." Joel Wallach is the prime example, if anyone knows who he is. Complete and utter liar for his own personal gain.
After much soul searching, I’m going with those insurance companies that imply that if parents or grandparents really love their children, they’ll insure that child’s life.
Let’s be sure we got this straight;
If the baby dies, you get money. How loving. :rolleyes:
mangeorge, the reason to buy life insurance for a baby is not to collect money if the baby dies, but to insure the kid’s future insurability. The reason this works is because once the kid has insurance, then by definition the kid can never have a pre-existing condition as long as the kid doesn’t ever have a lapse in coverage.
So, say a kid is five years old and gets some disease that would make him uninsurable but probably won’t actually kill him for a long time (say 50 years). Well, that kid can never get insurance unless he had insurance before he got the condition.
How come no one wants to talk about why they think a business is slimy?
People that make you feel guilty about not using their service or buying their product. Especially people that imply you don’t love your family. Or they imply you are some kind of mental deviate for not doing business with them.
They’re called viatical settlements, and there’s nothing wrong with them at all. The industry has always been around, buying life insurance policies from people with “six months to live” or whatever. Basically, they’re making a bet on how long – the return on their advance declines the longer the person lives. But it’s not like they’re allowed to kill the guy or anything.
When AIDS came around, the industry grew like topsy as people who thought they had a death sentence sought up-front cash to enjoy their last years, to try alternative or otherwise uninsured therapies, etc.
And as you mentioned, the viatical settlement companies mostly “lost the bet,” so to speak. New therapies became available and for many people AIDS isn’t a death sentence at all. So those people who sold their policies and didn’t die made out. That’s business. Nothing wrong with buying the policy, and nothing wrong with not dying.
The electric company, they charge you $25 just call and tell you your bill is late. Those lieing bastards get to “estimate” 4 times a year and the “estimet” is always $25 more then your bill usually is. Those monopolistic butt holes refuse to work with you if one of their false estamates makes it too hard to pay all your bill.
the buttholes:“I’m sorry in order to keep your service I’m going to need the full amount.”
me:“there is no way I used that much electricity. I would like to review the math on your estimate”
the buttholes:“Sir the estamate is accurate”
me:“really? because I have some old bills here. accouring to my math the average was $70 yeah so it is $70 not $95. where you getting the extra $25?”
the buttholes:“sir I’m not going to argue with you about the $95 you owe. pay it or we’ll be forced to disconnect your service. I am going to hang up now”
thieving black mailing bastards.
I’m thinking about turning those bastards into a class action lawer