This blog was started mainly to write about different rip off report experiences I have encountered. I hope this will be to a benefit to you, and because what I write, you will be able to avoid some of the rip offs out there. I believe in the power of the internet to share information, and prevent dishonest business practices to occur repeatedly. I keep wishing that one day I will not have anything to write about, the the world keeps me in constant supply of material to write about.
Somebody asked me if I think it's ethical to talk bad about other people or organizations. I believe, that if somebody behaves unethically, they deserve do be exposed to the public, so that such behavior is stopped. This is a good think and I think I am making a service to the community this way.
9.3.2012
Se we had another baby recently, but one thing that surprised me was getting a hefty bill from my family doctor few weeks after the delivery. Basically after the baby is born and you are in the hospital surrounded by tuns off very qualified doctors and nurses, your family doctor shows up very day to "check on the baby". Oh what a nice gesture, she is so caring! Well then you get with a medical bill that your insurance company does not cover for whatever reason, so you end up paying for those three days more out of pocket the the child will cost you for the whole year. Well dear doctor, when I normally come, you at least tell me upfront what you will charge me, but this is really a scam from your side. First, you are really not needed there, because there is tuns of more qualified people than you, second you are charging me for something I did not order, and last these visis cost m
9.3.2012
Just came from Puerto Rico, so here are some of my lessons learned. Puerto Rico looks like a inner city ghetto but prices are high like upscale towns. I got some amazing deals on priceline.com, but there were always extra fees at the hotels, so the price I was bidding was far from final. There either a "service fee" or clean up fee, at the hotels where I was staying. I mean I don't care that you charge me extra, but be upfront about it. Dont trick me in, and then set "fee landmines" all around to lure money from me!
9.3.2012
So I wanted to save some money and decided to get another house insurance. Coincidentally, I was on the phone with Geico updating my car insurance, so I decided to switch, since they were offering a special discount for those who have both of their insurances with Geico. This deal saved me almost $50 per month, so I thought I was getting a deal. Not until I get a letter few moths later from Geico, telling me that I have to do 10K worth of house improvements getting new roof and that I have three weeks to do this, otherwise they cancel my insurance. By the way the letter comes two weeks before christmas when it's 30 degrees outside. Even if I really tried and was willing to spend 10K to make my house "safe" there is no way I can find a contractor to get on the roof in this weather. Geico: you are really out of your mind, and it looks like you will not be getting much of my business any
9.3.2012
I have been doing some light house hunting lately, and realized again how that the realtors are just pack of wolfs trying to snatch a bite. In addition, the stick together with their National Association of Realtors (NAR) basically preventing healthy competition in the market. You are pretty much out of luck trying to sell your house with being in MLS and in order to get there, you have to agree to 5% commission on the sale of your house. Here some facts: Realtors spend most of their time marketing their services and hunting for other clients, rather than marketing your property and thus increasing your changes for selling your house for more and quicker. Most listing agent does is tell you what your house is worth, and enters (often incorrectly) your house in MLS There is conflict of interest when you are buying a house: despite of your agent's BS, she really wants you to pay the
9.3.2012
Recently, there has been an article in the New York Times on how certain online colleges rip trick their students into pursuing degrees under false perception, that they will help them get jobs with very high earnings. The online education industry in general has long been overheated bubble that deserves to be more strictly regulated, so I am glad that at least some colleges get now the exposure. As the article points out, the for profit education has become a huge industry mostly financed by government money, and 30% of those profits go into advertising which has build another huge industry around generating potential student leads. What needs to be mentioned here is that companies like yahoo.com or google.com also highly profited from these huge advertising budgets, as the advertising market size in started to reach even to the levels of credit card or mortgages.
9.3.2012
Here is an article about how bad the taxi services are in Prague, especially to clueless visitors that just flew in. In general tourists are the most common targets for scamper in any country, so make sure you read all the local tips you can before you travel. New York City is full of such rip-offs. If you are being offered something too aggressively, don't take it!
9.3.2012
Here is an article about how bad the taxi services are in Prague, especially to clueless visitors that just flew in. In general tourists are the most common targets for scamper in any country, so make sure you read all the local tips you can before you travel. New York City is full of such rip-offs. If you are being offered something too aggressively, don't take it!
9.3.2012
Two months back, I got the new shiny iPhone 4G and gave my wife my old 3G iPhone, thinking she does not really need the data plan so I will not renew her contract just yet, to save some money. Yesterday I am looking at my phone bill and see that at&t automatically charges me $25 data plan for her plan. What a screw over, at&t! First, you did not even bother letting me know that you are adding service, second you automatically sold me the most expensive one data plan you have! So After calling customer service, I was told that there was a letter send year ago, that "informed" all customers that they cannot have "smart phones" without data plan. Fortunatelly, I googeled arround and found this tutorial that let's you trick AT&T. This is what you do. Insert the AT&T Sim card in the already activated iPhone. Turn on WIFI and connect to the internet. Go to unlockit.co.nz. Click “Continue
9.3.2012
The IT consulting/contracting business is in many ways an exploit to the US worker as well as to the foreign national. This is how the system works: US corporation wants to save money on IT development, and after realizing that outsourcing may be not an option due to a complexity of the project, it asks an IT staffing company to provide "consultants" that would work on a particular project. The staffing company is an international company with offices in India and US, so it is allowed to transfer workers between the offices without any special visa provision (visas are granted almost automatically), so now the Indian company can ship as many workers as they want. Now since these "consultants" are Indian employees of an Indian company, they are paid "Indian" wages (with some extra bonuses + living expenses), but still being very cheap compared to local US consulting rates. The Indian com
9.3.2012
Here is a list of thighs you should be check for before you order from an online store: Physical address, and full contact information: If a website that you would like to order from does not have a physical address in the contact info section, but just a contact form, DO NOT order here! It's most likely somebodies side business, where you have no grantee that this site is still operating, and if something goes wrong... might take a while till you get an answer. Again, this is just the first red flag, and most likely there more things wrong under the hood, which you do not see. If somebody is not brave enough to put their own address on the site, maybe he is scared that you show up at his door, if your item never gets delivered, or you get something else than you ordered. Don't order from non US online stores The ecommerce world is enough of a wild west even in an country that in ge