Page 12 | Biggest scam you didn’t know was a scam

Sillysausage2 · 2025-03-16T02:24:17+00:00

Lighthearted 😂 I saw an Instagram post earlier about the biggest thing you don’t realise is a scam and we all accept as normal. We all have stories about how our parents raised 7 kids etc in a 3 bed if they were lucky, my grandparents had 9 in a 2 bed 😂 the aim for everyone now is buying or building massive houses, 3 en suites at least, we spend the weekends in Ikea, home bargain etc buying shit we don’t need and cleaning the houses with the 4 bathrooms! I swear I’ve spent more Time cleaning the legs of chairs than is reasonable and I seem to wash the walls of my bathroom far more than people ever mentioned. I don’t remember my mother ever cleaning the panelling on the walls. is it all a scam? Are we busy fools? sometimes I got to centre Parcs like places and think how simple my life would be if we al only had one suitcase each

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 13:09

dramalessllama · 16/03/2025 13:07

Marriage, and the belief in soulmates.

I had a soulmate and married him. he died in 2011.

MyCatNamedCookingFat · 16/03/2025 13:09

Oh, and religion is another bloody scam. Literally causing so much bloodshed.

We die and that's it folks.

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 13:08

MyCatNamedCookingFat · 16/03/2025 12:51

Christmas is a huge scam.

why? No one makes you do it?

Regretsmorethanafew · 16/03/2025 13:08

Trovindia · 16/03/2025 12:07

I tell my kids that! It's not exciting! They have so much more freedom than I do!

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How? That have none, you have plenty.

dramalessllama · 16/03/2025 13:07

Marriage, and the belief in soulmates.

MyCatNamedCookingFat · 16/03/2025 13:07

It's all about Capitalism. Somebody has to be making money out of something all the time. We get poorer and the twats at the top get richer.

TheignT · 16/03/2025 13:06

Hwi · 16/03/2025 13:00

The biggest scam I have signed up for and did not know was a scam was private school for dc. I am a product of a state school and I genuinely thought that by paying I was buying entry to something absolutely special in terms of education (not in terms of sports, drama, music), just education. So I paid for the lot, from primary to secondary. And off I went to work, tyring to earn enough to pay for the dream, having outsourced education. I am so embarrassed now. Then came the realisation that the teaching was sub-standard compared to Europe, that the teachers did not care that much, etc. etc. And then the realisation that other parents hired tutors ages ago to help with the basics and I did not, and the rush to hire tutors to get A*s, and the nerves, etc. So I paid twice for the scam - first for the scam itself, then for tutors to rectify the mess the scam created.

No doubt some will say 'that is your experience, ours was different'. Well, maybe your price bracket was different (ours was a minor school), or maybe you are not ready to face up to the fact that a private school, like every private enterprise (I don't care that they say they are charities), puts profit above all else and all else comes second, if not lower down the line.

Someone in RL told me this almost word for word a couple of months ago. I didn't know what to say.

TheignT · 16/03/2025 13:04

We bought this house 30 years ago, 4 bed bathroom, ensuite, downstairs loo. The couple selling were pensioners and she said she was sick of cleaning 3 toilets for 2 people.

My kids are now grown up, we are pensioners, I know how she felt.

quantumbutterfly · 16/03/2025 13:04

HangingOver · 16/03/2025 07:58

Adulthood. I feel like a child that just got taller.

I keep seeing my mum's face in the mirror!

Hwi · 16/03/2025 13:00

The biggest scam I have signed up for and did not know was a scam was private school for dc. I am a product of a state school and I genuinely thought that by paying I was buying entry to something absolutely special in terms of education (not in terms of sports, drama, music), just education. So I paid for the lot, from primary to secondary. And off I went to work, tyring to earn enough to pay for the dream, having outsourced education. I am so embarrassed now. Then came the realisation that the teaching was sub-standard compared to Europe, that the teachers did not care that much, etc. etc. And then the realisation that other parents hired tutors ages ago to help with the basics and I did not, and the rush to hire tutors to get A*s, and the nerves, etc. So I paid twice for the scam - first for the scam itself, then for tutors to rectify the mess the scam created.

No doubt some will say 'that is your experience, ours was different'. Well, maybe your price bracket was different (ours was a minor school), or maybe you are not ready to face up to the fact that a private school, like every private enterprise (I don't care that they say they are charities), puts profit above all else and all else comes second, if not lower down the line.

MyCatNamedCookingFat · 16/03/2025 12:59

PlusOneThousand · 16/03/2025 11:21

Weddings, good God. I am currently planning mine and the wedding planner (needed because it’s abroad in a country one of us is from) keeps trying to upsell me on things like renting designer chairs and sending long impassioned texts about how other couples are hunting for said chairs and she is stressed. Absolutely not.

Just don't mention the word wedding.

I noticed planning a funeral had lots of things you need for a wedding but a lot bloody cheaper.

Itsjustgonenoonhalfpastmonsoon · 16/03/2025 12:57

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 12:51

thank you! yes deffo scamsville

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My husband has done pcp a couple of times. Both times he paid up and kept the cars. I suppose if you want to change your car every 3 or 4 years, it’s a practical way of achieving that.

PointsSouth · 16/03/2025 12:57

Violashifts · 16/03/2025 08:31

Ironing is a scam. Waste of life and electricity. Low spin. Shake it dry. Absolutely fine.

Totally. Tumble drier. Hanger. No wrinkles by the next morning.

When my daughter was about 17 she had a costume for a play or something. She wandered into the kitchen and said, "Do we own an ironing board?"

Ireallycantthinkofagoodone · 16/03/2025 12:53

What about children’s parties? You used to be able to make some jelly and sandwiches, play ‘pass the parcel’, ‘musical chairs’ or ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, and then send the guests home with a piece of birthday cake in a paper napkin.
I dread to think what children’s parties in ‘venues’ cost nowadays.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 16/03/2025 12:52

NetZeroZealot · 16/03/2025 12:37

Don't agree at all. New houses are built to much smaller proportions than, say, victorian homes - with nasty poky rooms and low ceilings. There may be more ensures but the overall floor space is tiny. So the greedy developers can fit more on the plot.

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Yes, but they are much easier to heat bc they are better insulated and the rooms are smaller.

Dairymilkisminging · 16/03/2025 12:52

Seeing as it's soon enough but bloody easter eggs. I must be getting old as I used to be like meh about them but seeing the prices this year I'm shocked. Like who's paying £16 for a dairy milk egg?

If its a proper fancy one like the hotel chocolate ones I can get but even the nestle brands are getting up there in price

MyCatNamedCookingFat · 16/03/2025 12:51

Christmas is a huge scam.

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 12:51

Itsjustgonenoonhalfpastmonsoon · 16/03/2025 12:48

Personal Contract Plan, for when you get yourself a new or used car. You pay a deposit, then up to 48 monthly payments followed by large payment at the end of the term. You can either pay this final payment or give the car back to the dealer.

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thank you! yes deffo scamsville

3rdtimeinflorida · 16/03/2025 12:48

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 11:52

my bank account is free AND I get free Disney+ and cashback

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Well done you

redlightgreenlight123 · 16/03/2025 12:48

Middle class. You are either working for a living or not.

Itsjustgonenoonhalfpastmonsoon · 16/03/2025 12:48

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 12:44

what's a PCP please?

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Personal Contract Plan, for when you get yourself a new or used car. You pay a deposit, then up to 48 monthly payments followed by large payment at the end of the term. You can either pay this final payment or give the car back to the dealer.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 16/03/2025 12:47

FrozenFeathers · 16/03/2025 11:33

Cleaning is a scam. It's annoying, boring, unrewarding, relentless and when you're done it all just gets dirty again.

Yes, it really is. I do as little as possible.

godmum56 · 16/03/2025 12:44

CrotchetyQuaver · 16/03/2025 12:18

I'm a relatively old bird at 60
I'd say
Weddings
PCPs for cars
Recreational shopping
Credit cards and their interest rates.
Big fancy lifestyle someone feels they need to have (cars, house, holidays, private school fees type stuff) and it's all financed on credit.

20 odd years ago I asked an estate agent friend of mine how people we both knew (not anyone specific) could afford to buy these lovely houses and have such a seemingly great lifestyle because I was concerned I wasn't being paid enough compared to others at work. He confirmed that in most cases it was all on credit, the ones who actually had the funds available to really afford to live in such a manner were pretty rare.

I just hope they kept their jobs, didn't have an extended period of unemployment and it all worked out in the end for them.

what's a PCP please?

Itsjustgonenoonhalfpastmonsoon · 16/03/2025 12:44

Jossse · 16/03/2025 08:39

Inflated prices for holidays and trips during school holidays.
Not Allowing people to bring their own food/drinks to an event and then charging extortionate prices for these.
Charging for parking in hospitals.

Re not bringing drinks into venues. It’s nice to see that Wembley Arena and the 02 Arenas have water bottle refill stations.

volingaround · 16/03/2025 12:43

The seeming necessity of a university education in the late 90s / early noughties.

Social media lives.

Cleaning the fecking bannisters. They will look exactly as grubby as when you started by the time you reach the top. Bonus points for those, like myself, who were stupid enough to buy three storey townhouses containing an extra level of bannisters.

Okay maybe that last one is not a scam but bloody hell I'm sick of them.