# The Biggest Rip-Off in Your Life



## Krelf (Jul 3, 2012)

It doesn't have to be guitar related. Has anyone taken you for serious money? Has a so-called friend, a salesperson, investment advisor, healthcare person, insurance company, relative, neighbour, ex-spouse (I can hear it now!) really taken you to the cleaners and exploited your kinder nature?

Years ago my wife and I took our eldest child to the home of a couple for child care. We paid them promptly at the going rate. He was old and she was young and we became friends with them (or so we thought) as they were so unconventional and progressive. After my daughter started school they asked us for a loan of $3000 as they had gone into debt. They gave us a receipt, and then disappeared. End of story, end of money. Not a king's ransom, but in 1984 it could buy a lot more than it can today.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Nope. Never been ripped off.
But I just gave a collateral free loan of $15,000, at 4% interest, to my Brother in Law who I've known 34 years.


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## Krelf (Jul 3, 2012)

ed2000 said:


> Nope. Never been ripped off.
> But I just gave a collateral free loan of $15,000, at 4% interest, to my Brother in Law who I've known 34 years.


It's rare to encounter people such as yourself who have never had an account with a telecom company! :smile-new:


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I still steam when I think of the only time I got hosed (personal - not business). I'll have to leave out the details concerning retribution, or you guys won't look at me the same again.

So,...

I buy a couple of pairs of shoes from Harry Rosen. I still have the one pair (I should show you photos - they are the absolute shit imo)

I could bring myself to wear them much (the ones I sold), because if anyone accidentally stepped on them or similar, I would scream inside. they were cream and white.

I decided to sell them on eBay, since I stopped wearing them. I have a guy who's interested, but wants them rushed - to Argentina. He agrees to pay for everything and the faster shipping (says he needs it for a party that weekend).

I receive the funds, so I send the shoes. The funds were sent from an unassociated email. I didn't care - I thought I had the money. Apparently, eBay freezes the funds, because they see this as an issue needing resolution.

I couldn't get my money and the shoes were gone. I was out $700. That was a decade ago.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

adcandour said:


> I still steam when I think of the only time I got hosed (personal - not business). I'll have to leave out the details concerning retribution, or you guys won't look at me the same again.
> 
> So,...
> 
> ...


Even if you flew down there and personally slapped the guy in the face with a paper bag full of feces, I would not look at you differently...scammers/thieves/etc are low pieces of crap IMO.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

For me it was a snowblower I bought. The augers were on backwards so a couple of hours later I got them on right. Then it wouldn't throw snow...kept clogging. The guy I bought it from took it back to fix it...and I paid him. I came to find out that it was recalled for having a 'too restricted discharge chute'. It would throw enough snow to clog and then I would have to clear it. Brutal.

I ended up selling it to a guy who fixes up motors. I lost as much on that thing as it would have taken to buy a brand new machine and it never cleared my driveway once.

Tough, tough lesson learned.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

An ex girlfriend. Cost me large over 2 years ($30K +). When I told her I wasn't going to pay anymore she found someone else. I mark that down as a very expensive ***w **b. Karma got her in the end. A few years after we split she went to the states and got stopped coming back.


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

Ottawa......


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

Just one rip-off?! Awww, pleeeze!

1. The one that stings the most was not the most costly. I ordered a ~$500 software upgrade from Adobe, it arrived, and a few weeks later I noticed I was charged twice on my VISA for it. I called Adobe, which some unfortunates will know often means ~40 minutes or more on hold before anyone answers. I explained that I was double-charged, was put on hold for ages longer, then told that I had ordered it twice, they had shipped twice, tough luck. When I insisted that I had not ordered twice I was put on hold again, and after a long while the phone went dead. Long story short I had to call, wait, explain a total of SIX times over several days but each time the result was the same... call dropped without resolution. On the sixth call I was able to tell THEM (after I called the courier company myself) that they had indeed shipped twice since they had shipped one order to my address from five years earlier, one that was long ago changed by me in their system. Eventually they retrieved their software from the courier and credited me the $500, but made me pay the shipping. That $50 and five hours of my time sticks in my craw more than anything else! Hate hate hate Adobe!

2. We had two people booked to fly United Airlines to Salt Lake City for meetings with a client. Flight left Toronto late; storm delay in the U.S. had pushed the crew over their service maximums so everyone had to wait for them to get their legal/contractual downtime. Due to late Toronto departure, connection in Chicago was missed, another was promised for that evening. When our consultants returned to the airport that night, their promised flight to SLC was delayed due to a crew tied up by a storm in Baltimore, and then again and again and again, until after midnight they were finally told there would be no flight until the NEXT DAY AT 7:00pm!! The planned three-day SLC meeting could not be rescheduled so they dozed in the airport and returned to Toronto on an early flight the next morning. We lost thousands in billing for the meetings, plus discomfort and hassle and extra expenses, plus United refused to refund the Toronto/Chicago portion of the trip because they said - if you can believe it - that they did fly our people that far! In the end, they never refunded the SLC portion either - our travel agent gave up trying to get it - so we paid them nearly $2,000 to LOSE us another ~$5,000 or so. United not only breaks guitars, but they break their promises over and over and over, then shrug and say, "force majeure".


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

At 22 years old I bought an engagement ring, quit a successful band, changed day jobs, and relocated to a new city to set up life with a fiancé. As soon as I'd made the move, literally 5 days later, she had an apparent change of heart from enthusiasm to reticence, from affection to cold animus. She did string me along for a couple of months, in order to have an excuse to keep the ring, blame me for the breakup and other petty bullshit. Though the ring was a major financial hit (and utterly stupid in hindsight), it was the other stuff that stung, losing the band, job, and home that I loved.

No wonder I eventually married a girl with completely different qualities. No regrets on that matter 30 years later.

Other than that, no major rip-offs beyond a few customers who took me for amounts too small to bother with small claims court. Those folks are just smarmy.

Peace, Mooh.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

one time in the 8th grade a bag of chips got stuck in a vending machine, you know those ones where you press the button and a spiral mechanism twists and releases the item. then later i came back and someone had bought the same item and took mine as well as theirs. it's a cruel and unfair world we live in.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

mike_oxbig said:


> one time in the 8th grade a bag of chips got stuck in a vending machine, you know those ones where you press the button and a spiral mechanism twists and releases the item. then later i came back and someone had bought the same item and took mine as well as theirs. it's a cruel and unfair world we live in.


I knew a freak years ago that could get his arm up into that trap door the old coke machines had and click the lever that released them. Every night while we were serving our detention he would score us a few cans.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

WCGill said:


> Ottawa......


This but not for the same reason, I think.

This is part of my Charger restoration saga.

Once I dug into the car, I found that there were rust issues with structural components. Frame rails, rocker panels.
I knew there were issues with the car, but these were beyond my toolbox and skill set.
So, I started shopping for someone to do the work for me.
I knew of a guy in Ottawa that had done some fabulous work on old MOPARs. I contacted him and laid out the project and asked if he was interested. He was.
I got the car up to him in Carlton Place. I live in St Catharines.
I ordered parts and shipped them to him.
He started work and took lots of pictures.
I visited the project once.

I got the car back with all of the metal work done and I was happy with what I saw.

It's what I couldn't see that was the problem.

I couldn't start in on finishing the project right away because I messed up my back. So, the car sat on the rotisserie for a while.
When I got back to it, I found a couple of cracks.
No problem. The factory uses body filler sometimes, right?

So, I start sanding and picking at the crack so that I can fill it properly.
Well, I opened up this with just my fingernail.









That's aluminium tape under the filler and over the rust holes.
This is the drivers side rocker panel, which is structural.

Looking at that, I wondered what was done, or not done, with the frame rails....

So, I start trying to find the guy and he's gone.
Last I heard, he was driving tow truck on the highways of Ottawa, but I haven't been able to track him down. I don't know what I'd do if I did find him. So, screw it. Lesson learned.
I found out that he screwed another guy too. He had his 68 Charger for way too long and had sold parts from it on eBay (but that was part of his pay but not finishing the job made that a problem). He even lived in the guy's basement for a while. Totally took advantage of the guy.

Anyway, I had $11,000 of body work that had to be completely undone and then find properly. Actually, the trunk and floorpans stayed in but they needed some reworking.

The shop that took over was so upset with what they saw, they were near tears.
They told me that if I had put he car back together, it would have probably folded in half if I launched it just a bit too hard.

Now, for much less than $11000, I've got a rock solid body ready for reassembly and final paint.


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## -=Sc0rch=- (Mar 28, 2010)

port visit to San Diego, drunk, we all hopped the trolly train to Tiauana. We heard rumours of this "Donky Show" everyone was raving about so decided to check it out. Found out the hard way this wasn't a good "raving". 20 years later I still can't unsee what I saw in front of me. Coulda spent that 100 pesos on a stupid sombrero.


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2015)

dodgechargerfan said:


> That's aluminium tape under the filler and over the rust holes.
> This is the drivers side rocker panel, which is structural.


I once bought a '68 belair (very cheap) where the rear quarter had a ripple in it.
I stripped it down to find cardboard covered with chicken wire and 10lbs of bondo.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Well, I've been hosed a few times and mostly I get around to getting over it. There's one semi-recent hosing that still still pisses me off though.

About a year ago I dragged all my gear out of storage after several years not playing (kids etc.). I found some issues with my amp, but nothing I figured a good cleaning/basic service wouldn't take care of. I generally like to deal locally with Mom and Pop businesses when I can so I went into a local Orillia guitar store to get an estimate on said work. The young guy in there said most of the time this work would be around $120. Not unreasonable, so I left my amp.

I didn't have a backup at the time, so after a couple of weeks waiting (and being sick of playing my Strat without amplification) and not hearing back I called the the store for an update. Still no word he says. Another week or so later, STILL not hearing back I called again. Still no word, however, "the tech is going on vacation in a couple of days so it will probably be done after he gets back". Now I'm starting to freak because it's been 3-4 weeks and now I'm looking at another 2 weeks at least. I mean, how long can you play a Strat without an amp?

So, a couple days later I walk into the store when I happened to be in town just to see. I ask the owner about my amp and he points to the corner. I was pretty pleased thinking I lucked out a bit that the tech got it done before he left. Pleased...until I asked how much I owed for the work. "That'll be $285." Somewhat shocked I asked why so much more than I was quoted. What had to be done to justify more than TWICE the estimate (with no call to say that it would be more than quoted at any time, in fact no calls from him whatsoever)? The store owner looks at me with these blank eyes and hums and haws (clearly NO clue what was actually done to the amp) and takes my money, which I paid, out of desperation for my amp back. Upon testing it at home, it was slightly better, but less than what I was expecting for the price I paid.

The best part of the story...less than 2 weeks later I have to replace the (original from '93) stock power tubes. I still have no idea what (if anything) was done to my amp in the course of the "service".

Bottom line, the owner saw me comin' a mile away with dollar signs in his eyes, jammed me and went about his business. Kind of short sighted on his part as I was looking at getting a guitar set-up done along with some other work. I was also in the market for a new guitar and amp with a budget of around $2000 - $2500 combined. Not to mention the hundreds in strings, cables, cable ties, picks, pickups, pots, caps etc. that I would be buying in the foreseeable future.

I never spent another penny in his store. I wouldn't even buy a pick off him if they were half price. Damn...even writing this down is starting to piss me off.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

also, and this is a very true and recent story, i was waiting at the chevy dealership for my oil change and was hungry so i put a quarter in the peanut M&M's dispenser, and it gave me 3 M&M's. like a sucker i put another quarter in thinking surely it must have been a mistake. another 3 M&M's. I would have called to complain but i didn't have any quarters left for the pay phone.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

I posted this recently and, though it no longer bothers me, I do warn anyone who mentions the name of this "tech": 

Out of desperation one time (I needed my amp fixed within a week for an upcoming gig), I left my '62 Pro with an available but unfamiliar tech to address some "noise" issues. I'm not a tech but probably know more about how amps work than most players. Anyway, having already tried tube swaps on my own, the continuing static/crackling led me to believe it was likely screen resistors in need of replacement....which I made a point of mentioning to the tech. I also made a point of explicitly saying "If it's something more than that, contact me before replacing anything else...._especially_ if it's going to be over $200". I hadn't heard back so I checked in a week later and the tech tells me "I'm probably 1/2 way towards fixing it and I'm already at $400". WTF?! Turns out, he felt that returning the amp to stock was necessary before addressing the issue I brought it in for. He apparently didn't consider the possibility that some mods had _intentionally _been completed previously, to actually improve the amp. 

Moral of the story: Develop a _relationship_ with your tech and communicate _everything you know _about the amp beforehand. Oh, and that guy was (and still is) an utterly arrogant dick by the way. I'd bet that most, if not all, of our members from Kingston and area know exactly who I'm talking about (who is definitely NOT a member here by the way).


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

It's hard to pick just one...

As if losing the benefits of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus wasn't bad enough.... it was the disappearance of the Free Lunch that really hurt.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I paid $1500 for a custom built mandolin about 15 years ago that I have never received. I consider myself ripped off on that one.

Out of a few hundred gear purchases, sales and swaps, I have been pretty lucky I guess.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

dodgechargerfan said:


> This but not for the same reason, I think.
> 
> This is part of my Charger restoration saga.
> 
> ...


That is terrible. Have you considered taking them to court for charging you for services not received?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

-=Sc0rch=- said:


> port visit to San Diego, drunk, we all hopped the trolly train to Tiauana. We heard rumours of this "Donky Show" everyone was raving about so decided to check it out. Found out the hard way this wasn't a good "raving". 20 years later I still can't unsee what I saw in front of me. Coulda spent that 100 pesos on a stupid sombrero.


In the 70's, between wives, 4 of us drove from Burnaby to Tiawanna. Non stop. We'd heard of the dog and pony show and it was all we'd heard about, and then some. The rip off was when we had to ransom back the plates from the car. Not the biggest rip off but a lesson learned, when a kid says he'll watch your car, pay the kid.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

laristotle said:


> I once bought a '68 belair (very cheap) where the rear quarter had a ripple in it.
> I stripped it down to find cardboard covered with chicken wire and 10lbs of bondo.


Years ago on Kingsway in New West. there were quite a few body shop/car dealerships that had the corner on the chicken wire/bondo market. Some of the parts in the cars were kinda warm to. Buy a shiny looking car only to have the sheriffs come and pick it up a few weeks later.


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

Labour sponsored Global focused funds. Cost me $10,000 and it nose dived to 0. Oucha!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Ripped off and pissed off to the tune of $50,000.00! Business venture my husband invested in with a supposed "very good" friend. He vanished without a trace. Had the police(fraud squad) involved. That was 25 years ago. I still get very angry about. We lost a house over this!


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I've been pretty lucky. My worst rip-off was at the hands of the infamous FatSound Guitars. 

Two items...firstly, he took the case from my custom ordered MotorAve McQueen and sold it with another guitar. He shipped mine in an ill-fitting case with a promise that I would get the better case later on. Secondly, he screwed me out of a $600.00 deposit on another MotorAve when his business went down the toilet a couple years back.

In reality, more of an annoyance than a life changing event.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Lola said:


> Ripped off and pissed off to the tune of $50,000.00! Business venture my husband invested in with a supposed "very good" friend. He vanished without a trace. Had the police(fraud squad) involved. That was 25 years ago. I still get very angry about. We lost a house over this!


Now THAT sucks! That's just nasty.

Peace, Mooh.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Scotty said:


> That is terrible. Have you considered taking them to court for charging you for services not received?


I've given up trying to find him.

And part of the challenge is that it was almost two years before I found the problems.


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## 67mike (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, I just paid $250 EACH for Nikon eyeglass lenses......apparently the cost is less than $10 each.

My BUM hurts?!?


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

dodgechargerfan said:


> I've given up trying to find him.
> 
> And part of the challenge is that it was almost two years before I found the problems.


Hmmm .... curious. I've got a neighbor a few doors down with an old Charger stripped down in his garage ........


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

bad contractor for an addition at the cottage. kept adding fees without getting much completed, didn't buy all the materials, went our separate ways with him being ahead about $10k . Lawyer said there wasn't much that could be done, fees would exceed getting the money, even if we could collect, which was highly doubtful.
found out later that he ripped off a number of others in the area.
Worse still, when it came time to get the building inspection done, found he lied on the permits, and the structure wont pass inspection. ive wasted more summers tryign to complete the thing myself, than actually enjoying having a cottage. the experience has killed my love for the cottage, I can barely stand to look at the thing every time we go up. its up for sale as soon as I can get it fixed up to code. problem is, building inspector now goes over everything this guy has touched with a fine toothed comb, due to his reputation.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I have never been ripped off ...... but I have learned some very expensive lessons ................


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Contractor here too. Got a local painter, recommended by the local Cloverdale dealer. He quote a decent price for two coats, wanted some money to start so I gave it to him. He could only schedule a specific weekend I was out of town, but said that would be fine. Came back to a painted house. When he returned for the rest of the money, I challenged that he did two coats over the weekend (confirmed a few months later as it got sunny). He said he'd need the rest of the money to finish the second coat. He was pretty good to return calls and be accommodating - until he got the final payment. Never could contact him again. Lost probably a couple thou there. I did tell Cloverdale what I thought of their 'recommendation' and they just said "Oh, we let any customer put up their cards and anyone may recommend any one of them." Ahhh, pride in your business, eh?

I've had a few other little ones. I pretty much stay away from e-net commerce (although I would probably buy something from a forum member through this site). I have a basic distrust of humanity. Hey, I never sent an amp to Howard Dumbell so I count myself lucky.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I lost $70,000 on a business gone bad. Went in with one of my friends, bought a business. I was working "in the back end" with about 6 guys turning out product, he was running the "front end". I wasn't watching really, I thought the bank would be watching for some reason. One day he vanished & I suddenly got a lot more involved in the rest of the business. Tried to bring it back, but it had gone too far. I couldn't do it. It's only money......I've bounced back since then (late 80's).


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Sneaky said:


> I paid $1500 for a custom built mandolin about 15 years ago that I have never received. I consider myself ripped off on that one.


Bad. Who was the builder?

- - - Updated - - -



Diablo said:


> bad contractor for an addition at the cottage. kept adding fees without getting much completed, didn't buy all the materials, went our separate ways with him being ahead about $10k . Lawyer said there wasn't much that could be done, fees would exceed getting the money, even if we could collect, which was highly doubtful.
> found out later that he ripped off a number of others in the area.
> Worse still, when it came time to get the building inspection done, found he lied on the permits, and the structure wont pass inspection. ive wasted more summers tryign to complete the thing myself, than actually enjoying having a cottage. the experience has killed my love for the cottage, I can barely stand to look at the thing every time we go up. its up for sale as soon as I can get it fixed up to code. problem is, building inspector now goes over everything this guy has touched with a fine toothed comb, due to his reputation.


That guy should be in prison...in a perfect world or in a world with any reasonable semblance of justice.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

smorgdonkey said:


> Bad. Who was the builder?
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> ...


aren't you supposed to be telling us a story about your roof right now??? :congratulatory:


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

mike_oxbig said:


> aren't you supposed to be telling us a story about your roof right now??? :congratulatory:


My roof is still fantastic...especially considering that my neighbor and his buddy did his for $2400 in materials plus their 2 days work (not to mention the back pain). I told you guys that the stuff I used was not that rubberized crap that you had run into. No doubt that is was a bit of a gamble but it worked out for me.

I don't know how I didn't think of this before but when I moved to Nova Scotia in spring 2007, I had a 2001 Hyundai Accent. In the fall I had not spent any extra money on the car and I decided that I would get a full service done on it. This included some significant brake work, trans service, timing belt, and plugs & plug wires (which I would usually do myself...but since I was already there...).

At the end of it all it was about $1500...keep in mind that there is 15% tax in NS so everything seems a little steeper. The car seemed to run well...like new even, EXCEPT that it would have a little stutter about every 10 seconds. It turned out that they didn't push 2 of the plug wires on to the plugs fully so it was missing some fires. They also used such poor grade wires that during wet weather the spark would go right out the side of the wire and into the block rather than through the plug so fuel was being thrown through the exhaust system unburned...F'd the catalytic converter. 

They stonewalled me when I went back to them. I never replaced the catalytic converter (even though they really wanted to do that $2000 job for me). Realize that, at the time, they were selling those cars for $9999.00 base price...I had just spent $1500 and they wanted me to spend 2G more. Riiiiight. When that car got t-boned in Oct 2010, I went to a dealership not owned by them ( biggest dealer owner in the province...owns all Toyota and some of pretty much every brand - and super rip off artists) and bought. They bought that dealership about 4 months later. FFFFFFF!!!!


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

67mike said:


> Well, I just paid $250 EACH for Nikon eyeglass lenses......apparently the cost is less than $10 each.
> 
> My BUM hurts?!?


Next time take a look here. www.zenni.com


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## LanceT (Mar 7, 2014)

This by no means big as it involved all of $4 but it's the one I remember the most because I was so pissed off & disappointed.

I was maybe 18 & had moved to Edmonton, which was a big city to me having lived in small town BC most of my life. I was wandering across a mall parking lot when these two dudes in a car called me over stating they had a bunch of albums for sale and saying hey, you better hurry, they're selling quick. So I had a look and was pretty impressed with what they had-no one I recognized but I figured these guys seem cool and they must know stuff. I checked a few out and chose one after asking if the band was Canadian, which they said yeah they were. 
They wanted $6 and I only had $4. The one guy was ok with that so I went home with what I thought was a new release from a cool new band here in the big city where everyone knew more than me.
I think I went straight home to check the album out.
Turns out it was some no name band of drivel that wasn't remotely Canadian & not even current. I ended up smashing the album all over the pavement I was so annoyed.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I bought a used set of CD's that looked genuine and in good shape. After a few plays that started to break up. Although they had the original case and labels, the CD's were copies of the originals. Some played not too bad but some were awful. They have now all gone in the garbage. Goodbye about $100.00. Not a lot of money but I was upset that I was so easily taken. I should have examined them closer.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

everyone gets a turn getting screwed one way or the other. i got several of my own tales i _could_ tell. once, some of the guys from my band robbed my house. the dumbasses pawned it at the same place i bought it. it was a mom and pop place (literally, an old couple from italy) and when they saw it was my gear they called me to ask if i was ok, they thought i sold off all my gear and stereo and stuff. that was how i learned an important lesson: anytime you get robbed there's a 99% chance it's someone you know


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I was reminded by other posts here about a used Ford Escort 2 door hatchback that we bought from a used car dealer as a second car so that I could commute to temporary employment. It was safetied and handled the test drive well. As soon as I filled the gas tank it left half the contents on the ground outside the gas station. According to the very surly dealer, he wasn't required to fix or replace the tank. So, off to the competition to order the new tank and have it installed. Within a couple of hundred miles the clutch started to fail (I am very experienced with manual transmissions, i.e., it wasn't my fault) and the dealer, after accusing me of not knowing how to use it, refused to service it. He wouldn't even service it for payment, never mind as warranty, so I took it to another shop. After that, the car ran like new, great get up and go, great gas mileage, handled well, and I sort of regretted selling it when we no longer needed it. I complained to every agency in the book about the dealer and discovered he was pretty well known to authorities, but hadn't had a conviction lately. He wasn't in business here much longer.

A clutch and a gas tank required on a newly safetied car doesn't exactly meet my expectations. At the time both my wife and I were between permanent jobs, working temps, and needed to live on a shoestring. 

Peace, Mooh.

- - - Updated - - -

A friend had her car broken into and all her cassette tapes stolen. Remember when we all drove around with a box of cassettes? The thieves were probably expecting current or classic rock, they got instead gospel music. I doubt it showed them the error of their ways.

Peace, Mooh.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

allthumbs56 said:


> Hmmm .... curious. I've got a neighbor a few doors down with an old Charger stripped down in his garage ........


Are you in the North end of St Catharines?
It might be me.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Mooh said:


> A friend had her car broken into and all her cassette tapes stolen. Remember when we all drove around with a box of cassettes? The thieves were probably expecting current or classic rock, they got instead gospel music. *I doubt it showed them the error of their ways.*
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Good one! Thanks for the laugh.

Cheers

Dave


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

JBFairthorne said:


> Well, I've been hosed a few times and mostly I get around to getting over it. There's one semi-recent hosing that still still pisses me off though.
> 
> About a year ago I dragged all my gear out of storage after several years not playing (kids etc.). I found some issues with my amp, but nothing I figured a good cleaning/basic service wouldn't take care of. I generally like to deal locally with Mom and Pop businesses when I can so I went into a local Orillia guitar store to get an estimate on said work. The young guy in there said most of the time this work would be around $120. Not unreasonable, so I left my amp.
> 
> ...


I've heard of a similar situation only with automobiles. The repair shop would keep your vehicle until you paid, but as I understand it that is illegal, you are allowed to take your car home and it's off to court if all else fails. I could be wrong, often am, but maybe someone else here knows for sure. In B.C. things may be different in other provinces. Many would benefit from a closer look at this subject.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Sometimes I think the biggest ripoff in my life was my university education. Cost me tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, not to mention the opportunity cost of a salary each year I was in school and could have been working...and it wasn't even a requirement for any of my jobs until I was 34.
and uni wasn't all fun and games. It represented some of my highest and lowest points in life. It's more than just parties and getting laid. Being a starving student is a pretty thankless job overall, esp if you're struggling in some courses.
the " ripoff" part, is that at the time,I felt like I was sold a bill of goods, that I'd be a valuable commodity in the workforce and it was a guarantee to respect and a good job upon graduation. It wasn't. I got a pretty rude awakening to the value of an education with very little practical experience. Took me at least 5 years until I got on my feet with my career.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

dodgechargerfan said:


> Are you in the North end of St Catharines?
> It might be me.


Secord Woods. Bet you know the guy if you're as cliquey as I am with my car.


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