Would you quit a job if you found out it was scamming people?

[Moralcompass9]

I'm really trying not to be too outing here so sorry if I end up drip feeding.

As in they massively overcharge customers and are not up front about prices, rely on vulnerable and naive people who will just pay the charges.
The ones who question will just get lied to.

It's how it's always been apparently, nobody who works there seems to care that much about what we do as long as they get paid.

Haven't been there long.

When I was 19 I quit a job in a call centre. It sold secured loans and I overheard my colleague speaking to an elderly male customer who was sobbing down the phone because they were repossessing his house. I walked out on my lunch break and never went back.

Now I have a family, in that situation I’d have to start looking for other jobs rather than walk out. Luckily, I’m my own boss so I only have to worry about my own moral compass.

@Viviennemary

I knew somebody years ago who quit such a company selling special baths to disabled people at vastly inflated prices. Charge as much as you can get away with so no fixed price. Dreadful.

My elderly mother got caught be these people. She gave them a cheque for £4k to do some work in her bathroom, all done in 1 day, according to them. As soon as I found out I cancelled the cheque & got the work done properly. It took 3 weeks to complete & cost roughly the same.

British Gas HomeCare by any chance?

Deception how though? Mid-selling? Or a premium price for shoddy quality?

I never thought id be to sort to take a moral stand and leave a job for ethical reasons… until I took a job last year and ended up leaving two months later, felt so much better afterwards. It’s really emotionally draining screwing up people lives, I couldn’t do it

I had this in a previous job, our contracts with customers basically said we could charge what we like irrespective of whether we provided the service or not.

I wasn't happy with the job but it was basically legal so I just got on with it. It taught me to read the small print on contracts.

What are the overheads, rent, business rates, wages, holiday pay, hmrc contributions, pension contributions, utilities, insurances for public liability, is there any company vehicles if so insurance, tax, mot, fuel, servicing? Technology computers etc. I can assure you the cost of running a business is huge, that’s why costs are so high, and that’s why most people prefer being an employee rather than an employer.

Yes, of course I'd leave if it really is a scam

But is it, or could it just be that some aren't looking into whatever the deal is properly? Why not link it on here - after all if it's an offer made to the public it's hardly confidential

I would be keeping a diary for a month or so, recording conversations about dodgy practices so that I could transcribe them (you can buy recording devices you wear like a watch). I would maybe instigate a conversation with my manager about my concerns so that I can show it is embedded in the culture.
I'd then blow the whistle.

We were desperate for emergency drain clearage. I booked a firm purporting to be local and they said the charge would be £250 including a survey etc. They took card details. When the van arrived it had a different name and they said the original company was national one which contracted work to local firms. He also told me it would have cost £65 if I had booked with them direct! I complained to the original company to no avail. 18 months later the drains blocked again so I phoned the local company. They came within two hours and did the job for £75 including VAT.

I did. It was making me ill with concern and guilt. I don't know how people stay when they find out what is really happening. With these jobs you start doing one thing that seems fine and over time you realise it's actually awful as you're gradually given more tasks and responsibilities. I physically couldn't continue, I had hives and wasn't eating.

It's not one of those emergency plumbers/electrician online companies is it? I had an elderly relative who was ripped off by them. She couldn't get her boiler to work one evening and called them. They said they would send a plumber out and the call out fee was £65, plus whatever the plumber charged. When he arrived he told her he charged £200 per hour and that even if it only took him 15 minutes to fix the boiler she still had to pay the full £200 + £65 call out. Being elderly and needing heating and hot water she agreed. It did only take him about 15 minutes to do. So she had to pay £265 plus vat on top of that and a £45 admin fee. The plumbers are self employed so they obviously have to give a percentage of what they earn to the online company who get them the work. The admin fee must be for the person who answers the calls. None of this was explained to her up front only the call out fee.

One of my friends' who was my flatmate at the time worked for a company that was blatantly racist. She wanted to resign and do any random job. I told her as she had to pay bills, rent etc and had suffered before doing any job that she needed to stay until she got a better job.

Her next job was clearing up after unscrupulous practices in the same industry.

So use this role as a learning experience while finding another job.

It's really really important to me to work for a company that I believe is ethically sound.
I would find another job

Prices bumped up - isn't this just profit and capitalism?

No it isn't. It is scamming and it is illegal.

I'd leave immediately.

I really feel for your elderly relative, Mamamia - much the same happened to my cousin - but in fairness she could have asked what the plumber would charge before he came, and things like the admin fee would have been in their T&Cs somewhere

People don't always go into it of course, which is why some companies get away with it, but I wouldn't exactly call it a scam, or at least not one much action could be taken over

@BoredZelda

Prices bumped up - isn't this just profit and capitalism?

No it isn't. It is scamming and it is illegal.

I'd leave immediately.

Let me guess
You’re not a single parent on UC!

@Moralcompass9

It's been really getting to me.

The people there are so lovely and it's actually a really nice environment to work in.

I dont understand how it doesn't get to them, many have been working there years and years and years and it doesn't seem to affect them the way it's affected me after mere months.

For context I know you cannot give the precise details but could you break it down roughly

E.g. It's x service,

Then small print adds, x,y ect,

Or is it a case of person wants x service

Then operator says it's a
But then when completed and come to pay its instead x because of x,y, ect ?

@BoredZelda

Prices bumped up - isn't this just profit and capitalism?

No it isn't. It is scamming and it is illegal.

I'd leave immediately.

How is it illegal to charge higher prices ? As e.g. I pay x for a equipment then just charge e.g. Double instead ?

@littledrummergirl

I would be keeping a diary for a month or so, recording conversations about dodgy practices so that I could transcribe them (you can buy recording devices you wear like a watch). I would maybe instigate a conversation with my manager about my concerns so that I can show it is embedded in the culture. I'd then blow the whistle.

excellent advice at the same time, apply for other jobs when you have got another job, you could always start talking to your colleagues- raise your concerns with them and tell them you are leaving you could also (assuming your job offer is secure) start being honest with the customers- explain to them about the hidden costs or whatever it is bothers you. during your notice period, contact whoever you will blow the whistle to (regulatory body or failing that, trading standards) - it may be that they want some infomration that you will be unable to provide onve you have left. Then leave, knowing you have done the right thing.

I can't afford to be unemployed, but I would take the first job I could, whatever it was, to get out of there.

Not only would I leave, I’d take evidence to whistleblow. But then I’m the sort of person who is strongly guided by morals / ethics so I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t,

@Viviennemary

I knew somebody years ago who quit such a company selling special baths to disabled people at vastly inflated prices. Charge as much as you can get away with so no fixed price. Dreadful.

Oh - those companies are SHOCKING. Even the ones Age UK lists as reputable. No hint of any prices on their brochures- and omg when I ordered some brochures for my mother (giving my contact t details - you couldn’t get a brochure without giving a phone number), I was subsequently HOUNDED by them