Discussion about Products and Services which are legal but border on deceitful / waste of money

wyrmy on 24/05/2017 - 16:40
Last edited 24/05/2017 - 18:15 by 1 other user

Fellow Ozbargainers,

I was curious about what people here would list as products or services which are not illegal or regulated, but should be considered ripoffs offering no real value to customers. I don't want people to start naming specific businesses which are overpriced but more things like maybe paint protect, sofa leather warranty etc.

One particular example I came across was marketing/printing companies making medical appointment cards which advertise other businesses on the card under the guise of referrals. In most cases the actual doctor and receptionist never refer patients to the service advertised on the cards (they have their own internal services and established referral preferences). The clinic gets free cards and the marketing company charges large amounts to the clients "advertising" on the appointment card.

General Discussion

Comments

  • Skramit on 24/05/2017 - 16:45
    +11

    Hair growth products.

    I've tried everything but no matter which brand it is, or the TV ad claims, I cannot get a moustache to grow on my bicep to match my smiley face tattoo. Hair growth products are a total ripoff.

  • poboy on 24/05/2017 - 16:48
    +9

    You mean like vitamins, funeral insurance and extended warranties?

    • afoveht on 24/05/2017 - 18:24

      I've done good out of extended warranties - over a thousand dollars ahead for sure. Things break down so easily these days so I usually factor in a 5 year warranty with any bigger ticket electronic or electrical goods I consider.

      • John Kimble on 24/05/2017 - 18:27
        +3

        True. Helped with my couch actually…although shouldn't one expect a couch to last more than a 1 to 2 years in the first place?

      • Diji1 on 24/05/2017 - 20:47
        -1

        done good out of extended warranties - over a thousand dollars ahead for sure

        I call bullshit.

        • mskeggs on 24/05/2017 - 21:16

          I have a young adult friend who reliably cracks their phone screen or loses their handset, so they take out the insurance.
          I have never cracked a phone screen and never lost a phone, so I don't.
          Horses for courses.

        • afoveht on 24/05/2017 - 23:05

          I call bullshit.

          Call what you want.

          Here's just one story. My previous telly was a cheap runout plasma - around $650 plus $100 5year warranty - and got a couple of vertical lines on one side after about 18 months.. I called for warranty, they took it away and replied it wasn't worth fixing - they'd give me a credit for the telly's value. I had a look at new TVs and at the time an equivalent size was around $1000. Not wanting to spend more I asked if I could have it returned and if the warranty would still be valid. "Sure" they said. I held onto the telly for another 3 years, tolerating the lines but which slowly got worse until I found an equivalent telly for a similar amount. Called for warranty, got the credit, ended up paying about $150 out of pocket for the difference (new telly was on special - thanks Ozbargain) and a new 5 year warranty. That makes about 10 years of telly for $900. In my books, $90/year for a guaranteed telly is good value.

        • roddy84 on 25/05/2017 - 10:59
          +4

          @thevofa:

          You can't really say 9 years because about 3 years of that you were putting up with vertical lines on a broken tv.

        • afoveht on 25/05/2017 - 16:46

          @rob74: Fair call.

          In my case the lines were tolerable enough to not justify dropping $400+ but became intolerable at $150.

          For consumables - which I regard most electronics and electrical goods as - I don't normally look at ticketed prices, rather I look at costs over time. I aim for a telly to cost 50c/day so roughly $150/year. The first purchase was just that - $750 over 5 years. If I did get rid of the old one when it got the lines it would have been $100 / 18 months + $1000 / 5 years = $170/year, so I waited a bit to get it down.

          In any event, the warranty was worth it.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2017 - 16:51

    Amway, any of those investment presentations, mlm companies, counterfeit branded products, free products on fb where you just pay exorbitant shipping.

  • wyrmy on 24/05/2017 - 16:58
    +4

    Just remembered targeted pain medication was a good example since Nurofen was already caught-out and fined for that recently

  • John Kimble on 24/05/2017 - 17:06

    Chemist medical certificates?

    • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2017 - 18:01

      True, I print mine out

    • crayner on 25/05/2017 - 09:07

      Yeah, just complete a stat dec and have a pharmacist authorise it for free.

      • furys12 on 25/05/2017 - 10:12

        is this actually a thing?

        • crayner on 25/05/2017 - 10:39

          My enterprise agreement allows me to use a stat dec in place of a medical certificate if it isn't reasonably practicable to see a doctor, such as over weekend's or at short notice, for example.

  • teacherer on 24/05/2017 - 17:08
    +17

    registered training organisations that prey on unemployed people, single mothers and the like, with diplomas that are 10x expensive as tafe leaving them with 20k debt
    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2238404

    • try2bhelpful on 24/05/2017 - 17:56
      +2

      I wish I could + that 1000 times. Those scum places steal from the student and the government.

    • poboy on 25/05/2017 - 07:18
      +2

      Yeah. I can't believe the Government let this go on for so long. Such waste.

      • teacherer on 25/05/2017 - 07:41
        +2

        I was a victim myself being naive and stupid. Dilpoma of management 20k each for my wife and myslef, fought it down to 4k for me, 1k for her.

        • tsunamisurfer on 25/05/2017 - 12:31

          I've always wanted to know this from a student's point of view. Before labeling establishments as 'rorters' / 'scum' / 'thieves', I want know as much of the story as possible.

          What did they do to sell you the Diploma that was unconscionable?

          Please note, I am not defending these organisations. I want to know what is it they do that is bad? If something is overpriced, isn't it simply up to the individual to understand they aren't getting value for money and vote with their feet (a la what we discuss and vote on in ozbargain daily)?

        • poboy on 25/05/2017 - 15:11

          There's always an element of buyer beware. Ignoring the emotional side, the schemes had Government funding. So it's the Government's responsibility to establish a framework to deny rorting. They failed in this miserably. Each week they did nothing, vulnerable Australian's were being hit up with valueless debt.

        • teacherer on 09/06/2017 - 16:40

          @tsunamisurfer:
          Sorry for the late response mate, this reminded me today

          The parent company was called ASIA PACIFIC TRAINING INSTITUTE and I dealth with ASQA.
          Today we were successful in cancellation their registration

          Letter is as follows:
          Your complaint, along with many others, helped raise wide spread community concern about poor
          practices and behaviour by a number of Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers
          including ASIA PACIFIC TRAINING INSTITUTE. Information in complaints identified a number of
          concerns including:
           unscrupulous recruiting and enrolling practices, in particular targeting disadvantaged
          students,
           failing to provide accurate and comprehensive information about courses and the VET FEEHELP
          program prior to enrolment,
           taking advantage of learners who lack knowledge about their rights and obligations in
          relation to entering and exiting training contracts.

          As a consequence ASQA has cancelled the registration of ASIA PACIFIC TRAINING INSTITUTE as
          a provider of vocational education and training (VET) services, which took effect on 5th May 2017.
          An associated training provider, Franklyn Scholar (Australia), has had all Diploma-level qualifications
          and the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment qualification removed from its scope of
          registration.

          ASIA PACIFIC TRAINING INSTITUTE is the fifth training provider to have its registration cancelled
          following the VET FEE-HELP Strategic Review; the others were ASCET Institute of Technology
          (RTO number 20770), Smart City Vocational College Pty Ltd (RTO number 6494), Australian
          Vocational Learning Institute (RTO number 21289) and Conwal and Associates Pty Ltd (RTO
          number 31190).

  • scrimshaw on 24/05/2017 - 17:24
    +10

    Remember, when you want to check the encumbrance (to see if it's stolen, written off or defected) on a car you're about to buy, the correct site to go to is

    Personal Property Securities Register
    https://www.ppsr.gov.au/

    and NOT any other site.

    These well known sites such as http://www.ppsr.com.au/ and http://www.revs.com.au/ are all run by the same company whose sole purpose is to trick you into paying money for something you could get yourself for free from the actual government site.

    The other things you gotta watch out for, are bogus sites designed to look like legit government sites (can only be identified because they don't have a _.gov top level domain) who will prey on people who google for the immigration services website and mistakenly click on a .COM link. Most of these sites offer visa services and trick you into paying for one.

    • jzdhgkd on 24/05/2017 - 19:27

      Wow what the hell.. how is this not more widespread? Everywhere I read "do a REVS check before buying a car" as though they're the official body!

      Thanks heaps for sharing

      • mskeggs on 24/05/2017 - 21:20
        +1

        REVS (Register of Encumbered VehicleS) was the name of the (at the time free!) government database in NSW for many years. When they combined the databases Australia wide they renamed it to PPSR.
        They also opened the info to private operators "to improve competition". Which private enterprise did by jacking up the price and misleadingly naming their service. Another win for privatising government monopolies!

        • jzdhgkd on 24/05/2017 - 21:23

          Oh ha! Thanks for info. Haven't bought a car in 10 years so I was a bit out of the loop.

        • mskeggs on 24/05/2017 - 21:25

          @jzdhgkd:
          Understand, it was a pain when I last bought a car trying to work out what the legit service was.

    • moar bargains on 25/05/2017 - 13:11
      +1

      something you could get yourself for free from the actual government site.

      As I read it, it's not free, but it is a lot cheaper than the other options: https://www.ppsr.gov.au/fees
      Is this incorrect? Is there a way to get it for free?

      • scrimshaw on 27/05/2017 - 15:09

        When F.U Tube (run by the Checkout / Chaser guys) talked about it, they said it was free.

        Yeap, it's not free as of July 2015.. although $3.40 is much cheaper than the $25 to sometimes $40 dollars the other companies charge.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2017 - 17:35
    +1

    A product that's say rrp $20 but you can save 50% buy now. only offers online and no store pick up but delivery is $10. just like Harvey Norman does.

    • furys12 on 25/05/2017 - 10:21
      -1

      i know what your point is, but technically you're still saving $10 if you were %100 going to buy it online at $20+$10shipping anyway, paying for convenience at that point, like a salad

  • BigTed on 24/05/2017 - 17:37
    +1

    Fidget spinners?

    • KaTst3R on 24/05/2017 - 19:49

      Im actually spinning one while reading this…LOL!

    • mskeggs on 24/05/2017 - 21:24

      Might as well add yo-yos, footy cards and marbles. All are equally about doing what everyone else is doing, but I don't remember faux outrage newspaper articles about footy cards in 1983, but maybe I didn't read the paper enough back then! I kind of feel that dumb crazes in kids being sneered at by adults is a constant through the generations.

      • mskeggs on 24/05/2017 - 21:28

        And the smart guys will buy a box of the most desirable type of fidget spinner (I assume there is one) in a few months when they are passe, and sit it in their garage until 2037 when the kids whose Mum said "no" to buying one are 30yro who can pay $25 for their own damn luxury fidget spinner.

        • Baysew on 09/06/2017 - 16:51

          What's the current market in Pet Rocks?

      • furys12 on 25/05/2017 - 10:25

        thats the internet for you, there were definitely people who hated every fad when i was at school too but all they could do was act cool about it in the hallways now they can make a youtube series about hating "insert fad they secretly like" and get thousands of views

        to make myself sound less old, the internet existed when i went to school but facebook and youtube didnt

  • ectogammat on 24/05/2017 - 19:31

    Those services which find unclaimed monies for you for a fee. It's so easy to DIY, and usually free. If there is a fee involved, it's a small one and far less than what you'd get charged by those services anyway

  • dp1 on 25/05/2017 - 11:52

    Homoeopathy
    Infant chiropractic

  • Bad Wolf on 28/05/2017 - 18:09

    Inkjet printers
    Not sure if they still do this but the included ink cartridges in new printers were only half full versions

  • 2ndeffort on 30/05/2017 - 18:13

    Those expensive import agents and government officials that you have to bribe in order to get General Ogabochi's embezzled millions into the country from his worried daughter in Nigeria. Why are they so expensive and there is always one more, why cant i just get the big box of Gold ingots like on the anonymous email I received from the Bank of Nigeria (Via their gmail account). ;-)

  • BuyoTheCat on 30/05/2017 - 21:07

    gift cards that expires.

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