Entering the contest and venting at the same time...here's my list:
1) Payday lenders.
2) Time shares.
3) Leasing cars, furniture, etc.
4) Multi-level marketing programs.
5) Lotteries.
6) Rent-to-own (furniture, appliances, etc)
7) Credit cards in general, especially those with double digit interest rates.
8) Adjustable rate mortgages (in many cases).
9) Gambling.
10) Co signing for a loan for someone who doesn't have the financial ability to get the loan on their own.
Did I forget anything?
Top 10 Financial Rip Offs
May 24th, 2007 at 03:32 am
May 24th, 2007 at 03:44 am 1179978279
May 24th, 2007 at 03:51 am 1179978661
May 24th, 2007 at 06:06 pm 1180030002
Yes, if you don't pay your bill each month, they will hit you with often substantial interest charges, but that's the user's fault, not the credit card's fault.
When we are enjoying 10 free days of hotel stays in New Hampshire this summer courtesy of our Marriott Visa card, I certainly won't think it is a rip-off.
I have a bit of an issue with #9 also. Yes, when you enter a casino, you need to do so with the knowledge that the house has the advantage, but I consider gambling to be entertaining. I enjoy sitting down and playing blackjack for a couple of hours. Sometimes I win a few hundred. Sometimes I lose a few hundred. There are other forms of entertainment that are equally expensive and don't ever offer the chance of walking away with more, or even as much, as I started with. I suspect you wouldn't call those things rip-offs. Does it really matter if I spend $200 to visit the casino or spend $200 to see a Broadway show? Either way, I get a couple of hours of entertainment for my money. That's not a rip-off in my book.
May 25th, 2007 at 04:11 am 1180066303
Gambling I consider a rip off because there is not a single game where the odds are not stacked against a player--and this is legal!
May 25th, 2007 at 12:34 pm 1180096451
As for gambling, I guess I don't consider something a rip-off if you know all the terms upfront and agree to them before you play. If you sit down for the purpose of making money, you just don't get it. If, however, you sit down for the entertainment value, I see nothing wrong with that at all. Just a difference of opinion, I suppose.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am 1180525096
As you enjoy your "free" stay at the hotel you are overlooking the fact that ALL studies have shown that we
spend more when using plastic than we do with cash.
Depending on which survey you use, that would be 10-30% more. Even if the results are only half way correct, you are spending 5-15% more to get rewards ranging from 0.8-1.4%. My calculator says that is not a deal. Why do you think they offer those rewards? I bought in to that myth to the tune of 3-4 grand a month for many years. I got wise and have more cash to show for it. I will pay for my airline tickets with cash that I saved by not spending more than I should/would when using plastic.
If you play at their game, you eventually will loose. By offering rewards they hide the fact that you are loosing. I do not know any millionaires who say that those credit card points put me over the top. If you want to be skinny, to what skinny people do, if you want to be wealthy, do what wealthy people do. They don't play games with credit card companies.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:56 am 1180526174
As you enjoy your "free"hotel stay you are overlooking that ALL studies have shown that when we use plastic we overspend from 10-30%. The rewards range from 0.8-1.4%.
My calculator says that is a bad deal for the consumer.
I bought into the myth to the tune of 3-4 grand per month for years. I found that I have more cash now and pay cash for airline tickets with the money that I saved. I do not know of any millionaires who said that the CC rewards put them over the top. They do not play that game. Why do you think they offer rewards? It gives us a false feeling that we are getting something when in reality we are loosing much more. If you want to be skinny do what skinny people do. If you want to be wealthy, do what wealthy people do. Read "The millionaire Next Door" for the habits of the wealthy. It will shock you.
May 30th, 2007 at 01:21 pm 1180531313
I would add:
* additional warranty coverage on major home appliances or electronics
* most variable annuities
* much of the cost of title insurance
* 6% realtor commissions
* Terminix and similar pest control companies (I can do just as well by doing it myself and save the hundreds they charge)
May 30th, 2007 at 03:25 pm 1180538711
May 30th, 2007 at 08:10 pm 1180555840
spend more when using plastic than we do with cash"
There are certainly people for whom this is true. Probably the same people who carry a balance every month because they are spending beyond their means, paying late fees, over limit fees and hundreds in interest charges.
But it isn't true for everyone. What I buy has absolutely nothing to do with how I intend to pay for it. In fact, many of my monthly credit card charges are other bills that I pay with the CC. For example, I pay my alarm company monitoring, my auto insurance, my cell phone, my home phone, my internet access, my cable bill, gas for my car, groceries and more with my CC. I would be paying those exact same bills in the exact same amounts if I paid by cash or check and I'd get nothing in return. Using the CC, I get the rewards in return and keep the money in my account earning interest for up to an extra month or more.