Five Big Scams - Lehto's Law Ep. 3.40 

2 years after buying tires, my cooper tires were bald again. I decided not to go back to that dealer, but when I complained to the second tire shop, that the coopers did not last, he said, "these are not coopers". Honestly, I had never checked, and only two years later did I realize I did not get what I paid for. I was staring at the tires dumb struck. I paid for the new tires, and moved on with my life. Check that you get what you paid for.

Here's a scam that hit me... It started when my leased car was hit by a fire truck and severely damaged. I had the car towed to a repair shop, at which point I signed papers to release the car from the towing company to the shop. The towing company secretly held onto the release papers for a month while the shop slow-rolled the repairs. Then I got a bill from the towing company for "storage fees" amounting to around $20k for supposedly storing the car for a month - though they never stored it - purely on the basis that no release was signed (a lie). Under this pretext, they put a lien on my car and were going to sell it at auction. At this point I contacted the Bureau of Auto Repair. Note the towing company was right next door to the repair shop and both were owned by the same crook. He soon fled the country. Through massive effort I got my car back, repaired. The Bureau of Auto Repair inspected it and discovered pervasive fraud on the parts used, which were billed as new but were used parts. Still I felt lucky to have survived the episode without defaulting on my lease, and without getting a repo on my credit report. Side note: the towing company had been picked for me by the highway patrol. And when I had originally asked my insurance company about the repair shop, they said the shop was as good as any. One month later the Bureau of Auto Repair admitted that the operation was been the subject of endless complaints, while my insurance company admitted they knew all along that the repair shop was run by crooks... I assume that both the highway patrol and my insurance threw me to the wolves because they were afraid of being sued by the wolves. So yeah, this episode wiped out my faith in institutions and I've never looked back.

We see this once in a while: You go to a car dealership and however it goes you negotiate yourself a deal you're happy with. You hammer out the value of your trade-in, dealer financing, final sticker price and all the other details. You get the contract and don't read the details because the final number (or monthly payment) looks correct. After you've signed and the remorse period (if there is any), you notice that the interest rate is 1 or 2% higher, or the value of your trade-in is $500 too low, and the duration of the dealer financed loan has been stretched out an extra year. You're stuck with the final numbers. "They're not what we agreed on!" you'll say. The problem is that the prepared contract that's handed to you is the final step in the negotiation. It counts as an offer. You signing it counts as acceptance of that offer. And, since it has an "integration clause" ("this agreement supersedes and voids all prior agreements"), when you sign it, that is going to appear to a judge like you agreed to those final numbers. And it's the *appearance* that counts, not what you later claim was the "real agreement". Instead, you need to read the document to make sure that all of the variables are exactly what you negotiated. "It says here 3% interest, but I was told it was 0%. FIX IT." or "I was told I was getting $2500 for my trade-in. Here it says $1500. FIX IT." As many times as it takes. Check the numbers and refuse to sign until they are exactly what you are expecting. The sales staff might try to make you feel guilty for doing this, like you're wasting their time. Too f'n bad for them. Waste all their time (the truth is they'll stay there til midnight if that's what it takes to get you to sign, so them complaining is just for show). Get the numbers right. If you spot it before you sign it, they'll say "Whoops! Gosh how did that get there!?!? It's that idiot in finance -- he's always pulling crap like this I am SO sorry." But that doesn't mean they won't try it again. "What? Now the loan term is a year longer? UNPOSSIBLE!" Remember: The paper they hand you at the end of the ordeal that they want you to sign is always a COUNTER-OFFER that supersedes and voids all prior verbal agreements. Once it's signed, you've got next to zero chance to get things put right.

When I bought my car in 2016 I was told the radio came with a free year of satellite radio. At the end of the year, I would have the option to purchase a subscription. It wasn't until I was going through my detailed invoice that I discovered that I was charged for the "free" satellite radio subscription for a year without being asked.

I heard a story about a music shop once. I'm a harmonica player, and the 'used as new' scam worries harmonica players. It's actually illegal to sell used harmonicas as new, and some brands are now selling them sealed in clam shells. That causes problems though, and a lot of stores won't take them as returns. One dealer wanted to offer returns though, but he didn't want to create even the hint of impropriety. His solution? He'd take your harmonica back, and, right there in front of you, put it on the floor and stomp on it. Then he'd give you a new one. (That said, there is a fairly good secondary market for used harmonicas. Vintage ones can be worth more than new ones. Apparently the old bell brass reeds had lead that gave them particularly good characteristics). I had a weird call from American Express once. I'm on disability. The rep tried selling me disability insurance. I tried explaining that I already had a disability and he kept saying that I should get the insurance because it would pay my balance if I ever became disabled.

I went to a car dealership to buy my daughter a car for college. We found a car and negotiated a price. While we were at the desk where you are distracted and are signing all he paperwork, they increased the price of the car by around a thousand dollars. My daughter was the one who found it a few days later. Fortunately we had no cash down on the car and we returned it.

I went to a Firestone for an oil change in Texas. My vehicle had been sitting in my daughters driveway for the previous month. As they started the oil change they called me and said I need an oil pan gasket. Indicating that the gasket must be leaking oil. No oil leak on my daughters driveway. No gasket needed. I turned it down.

I bought a 35mm slr camera lens once. I got home and opened the box to find it was used. As in all caps USED, long & hard. The distance & f stop #'s were nearly worn away. I returned to the store, which had an extremely busy counter. Without waiting for a "how can I help you" I plopped the bare lens on the counter and loudly exclaimed "You Sold Me A Used Lens". The counter lady pulled me down to the end away from the mass of cash in hand customers, profusely apologized, gave me a new one, and some $ back for my trouble. You hear of this kind of thing so often, it's clear that retailers aren't a bit concerned.

I purchased a brand new car, from an American manufacturer at a nationally acclaimed dealership. As I drove off the lot I noticed paint overspray on the windscreen. I pulled over and went in for a closer look. I pulled my finger across the fender and managed to smear the fresh paint. Obviously, between purchase and delivery the fender had been damaged and they did a quick spray job to hide it. I immediately returned to the dealer where I demanded my money back or an exact replacement. Their position was that since I had the car off their lot for the extended period of 10 minutes I could have been in an accident and had the shoddy repair done somewhere else and they weren’t about to properly fix my new car, replace it or refund it-they told me to hit the bricks. A word to the wise...always have a disinterested party inspect your newly purchased vehicle. It can save a lot of name calling, litigation and bad feelings between vendor and consumer. Especially if your buying a car with the letters G-M in the name.

I had a headlight I just bought blow and returned it to walmart. A couple days later was looking in the car section and the blown bulb was put back in the package and put back on the shelf and it was clearly blown with no glass. Actually took a picture of it and sent it to walmart corporate.

Mt mom bought a car one time and the salesman convinced her a demo car would be better because a little cheaper. Later a mechanic told her that it had front end collision fixed at some point then later she found it was a rental car wrecked and repaired by the shop and sold for almost new. What a scam. She had tons of problems with that car.

Hello Steve. I always enjoy your channel. I own a truck repair shop and was scammed by Mitchell1 Pro Demand and Shop Key which is a software company for our industry who publishes labor guides and repair information. It never performed as represented by their salesman. I made the 12 installments andI did not renew the subscription. The contract was signed on the salesman’s computer. After thinking about signing up for 3 days I agreed and I met the rep,for lunch and closed the deal. And as always they say 30 day free trial but give us your credit card. Signing up was seamless. The rep said that after 12 moths when the subscription was up I don’t have to renew. The software sucked, I made my 12 payments and stopped paying and changed cards. They kept,trying to bill me after I would call to,say I’m not renewing. I’m usually pretty good at,catching the small print in the contracts but I dint catch this one. Remember the contract is all electronic an the reps laptop. Now I’m being sued for $ 5300.00 because of their auto renewal. Their attorney advised me that the clause is in the contract that I signed that I had to give in writing 30 days before renewal that I want to not renew. I didn’t so it renewed and I am responsible for another year. I call BS! I live in Florida and I have an attorney and we are going to challenge this. I know that you did I a podcast on this very issue of hidden clauses in contract that can jam you up. I don’t understand how these deceptive practices can be legal. It should be highlighted and initialed next to the clause. The rep never brought it up or pointed it out. Shop owners beware of Mitchell1 Pro Demand. Scam artists and crappy product.

That parts store sounds much like the Boys who ripped my daughter off a decade ago. I contacted their home office gave them the receipt #s which they were able to review and said they would be back in contact. Have not heard a PEP from them BOYS yet.

I understand the shady mechanic story, but as a retired mechanic, who son is currently a mechanic...I’ve never seen a “parts swap” I installed exactly what they purchased usually the issue I’ve had is as an example you used of a “brake job” is people refuse to buy things like new rotors or replace a sometimes sticking caliper, even when you tell them about the safety issues. I finally got to a point that turned those people away, if my name is on it it’s done right.

I was a salesman at a car lot in South Carolina. they would always advertise a Kia Rio for $6,999 +taxes, tags and license (which in SC are a set price) new with warranty and everything. Of course this was a strip-down no frills car. no power steering, no power locks or power windows anything. cheap wheels etc and a 5 speed. A pastor came in and wanted to buy that car the day the ad came out he would routinely come in first thing and try to buy it. the dealership always made the excuse that it wasn't on the lot (required by law) someone would drive this car down 1/2 mile to our excess lot. one day this guy gets there at 7am and parks the car in and wont move his car at all. he wants to buy it and I just laughed and laughed. I got $200 base for selling a new car-any new car. so I don't care I will get $200 and this guy wants this car! so I figure whatever. I take some huge abuse because they didn't want to sell it and even told him it wasn't for sale they tried to get other sales people involved because "I wasn't very good if I couldn't upsell this guy"... they finally relented and sold him the car but tried to put a dealer fee on and several other fees. he came prepared with one check for $7213 the exact cost of a 6999 car with taxes tags and license. that is what he was going to pay... I just laughed and laughed... they threatened to have him arrested and eventually he told them that he would just call his wife (who was an investigative reporter) and see what the news would do. he left with that car and for $7,213. lol. I lasted 3 months there. couldn't take their backdoor shadiness.

The palm pilot story had to take place at Circuit City.

Most car dealerships that push extended warranties, gap insurance, credit life, disability insurance is just a big profit center. These businesses should be "insurance sales" in their name. The cars they sell is just the way they pull people into the sales floors. At 65 years old, I had learned to just say NO to these extras. I have walked out because some of these closers don't understand what "NO" means.

Bought a 'new' cordless phone (back in the olden days) from Wal-Mart. Set it up and discovered that the Wal-Mart employee who repackaged it didn't even bother to delete the previous messages, some of which were pretty steamy. A little embarrassing since the phone was a gift for my parents.

When selling cars the first rule is, "Never show the customer what he is paying for the car. Show them the monthly payment. If they feel they can afford that, they will buy it. What they actually pay for just the car becomes unimportant." The net effect is that it keeps people upside down in their loan longer. Just remember....the majority of the profit for the dealership is made in the Finance Manager's office...where they make points on your loan when they go to sell it to a financial institution...who then pays those points by charging you a higher interest rate than you would have paid if you had shopped for a car loan yourself.

I bought a space heater once from Home Depot. Opened it up to discover there was a completely DIFFERENT model inside the box. I looked at the bottom and opened that side to discover someone glued it back together. What the other person did was buy a new space center and put a broken different one back I the box and resealed it with glue then returned it to the store (which looked unopened so they put it back on the shelf.) Glad they didn't fight me and they replaced it with a new one.

Back in the 70's I used to work for a stereo chain and that was pretty standard. We kept the boxes for the demonstrator models and sold them as new when they came off display. We sold defectives as new after they were fixed in our shop. We sold returned items as new. It was just how things were done. Back then it could sometimes be tricky to get away with since manufacturers actively tried to prevent it by sealing their boxes with tape that had their logos or some other unique design on it. When resealing a box we had to use regular tape and hope the customer didn't notice. That's a protection that has disappeared in the age of big box retailers. Go into any Home Depot or Lowes and every box you see is sealed with clear tape, which can be easily replaced by store personnel. The big retailers are able to force manufacturers to do this.

Steve, Back in the 1980s I managed a division of a car dealership in Arlington Va. They sold Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Ferrari. Back then the paint sealant and fabric/leather protectant packages were absolutely not imaginary. Whether or not they were valuable or priced low or high, I am not sure. We spent, in my department, many hours applying these products. Im not completely discounting your idea that they are not valuable in some cases but implying that they are always nothing is less than accurate. In our department we were all salary or hourly and we took a lot of pride in what we did.Thank you for making this contend, I really enjoy your videos.

I could have bought my last 10 cars from dealerships but I'm not that stupid; 2 was enough to learn my lesson. I find it hard to believe it's more profitable to scam people than just being honest.

My brother is a plumber and told me when you buy a water heater they have like a 5,7,9, year warranty. You pay more for the 9 than 5 year warranty thinking it is better, it's not , basically same water heater.

For scam #2 - Fry's Electronics here in the Bay Area pulls that crap all the damn time. The only thing that they do different is that they have a special label on it indicating that it was returned, but most people ignore it. How they stay in business is beyond me.

I worked for Radio Shack and any returned items if they still worked was reboxed as neatly as possible but clearly marked as a return and we were not allowed to sell it as new. The repackaged item was sold at a discount.

So many rip-off's out there.. Home Depot sold me a brand new Wagner power painter, when I opened the box, it was covered and clogged in paint. It was a return and not marked as such.... Pep Boys changed a flat & damaged tire for me, charged me for a new valve, didn't change the valve, had another flat the next day on the new tire, they 'fessed up to not changing the valve at all... Good Year tried to charge me extra labor for changing the hoses while changing a leaking radiator even though the hoses were already removed for the radiator job. (That's called "stacking" - well known in the auto industry). The majority of service shops will charge the "book time" on a job, even though the job actually took less time - they will say "that's because our guys are efficient". But if it takes the guy too LONG, they will find an excuse to charge you the actual (longer) time. It never ends...

I saw the "returns put back on the shelf" myself at CompUSA. I had bought a color scanner, and the red channel didn't work so I returned it. They didn't have another on the shelf, so said I had to pay a restocking fee. And I complained about them selling me something defective, and they agreed to give me store credit. It didn't cross my mind that they were trying to charge me a "restocking fee" for something that clearly shouldn't be restocked. A few days later I looked back in the store, and the defective scanner I returned was there on the shelf. The box had a small tear from being opened (not shrink wrapped) when I bought it, and I saw the same tear on the box on the shelf. So I was at least the second person to return it.

Counselor - Very much appreciate your straight shooting narrative. Your clients are fortunate indeed...

Ah Steve Lifetime Warranties. I worked for a couple years for a popular hardware, software and every other ware chain. One with a REALLY thick catalog back in the day. Let's call it "Shears". Towards the end of their run, our store began to reject any and all claims on their tools. Worn out? You must have misused it. Broken? You must have misused it. I bought a lifetime warranty sump pump. It went bad after 6 months. They exchanged it. About 6 months later same thing. Sorry, you only get 1 replacement. Just because this is so much fun, Lets go with a car we have. Lets call it a Minimum Crooper. At 50,100 miles the plastic water pump goes bad. I kid you not, it was on a business trip my wife was making and it left home under warranty. We were out $600. Years later it turns out there is a class action suit over it and we get a pretty substantial part of it back. At 110,000 miles the water pump goes out again. Me being a retired bodyman with a lot of mechanical experience, I replace it myself. (labor intensive requiring the raising of the engine.) They replaced it with another plastic water pump of course. I used an aftermarket aluminum one and no problems so far. Just makes me wonder.. did they settle that suit and still continue to replace the known defective short life pumps with known replacement short life pumps? I'll bet they did. Keep fighting the good fight Steve!

This is a great episode. I am watching it for the second time.

really don't know how you don't get more views, the videos are so interesting

In regard to scam 2... I used to work at Best Buy in the mid '90s and that was the common practice back then. To be slightly fair, the staff in the various departments of the returns were supposed to inspect it and re-shrink (the "machine" was nothing more than a paper cutter and a heat gun and a roll of film.. it was obvious to tell what had factory shrink vs. in-store shrink if you ever saw the two next to each other) it to make sure it was actually still new and complete. It was also extremely common for someone to buy something like a CD-ROM kit that their computer didn't support (remember, this was long before the age of USB and even Windows 95 so that stuff was very, very common) and they didn't figure it out until they opened the box and took the stuff out of it. This is one of the reasons why many stores have exchange only policies on stuff like that now. I think back then we for sure had a 30 day return policy, or maybe even 90, on everything except laptops (because people would "rent" laptops from us and try to return them after a trip or a school project or whatever). Anyhow, you can imagine that a guy making just barely over minimum wage, and trying to get out of there after the store had closed, didn't spend much time picking it over in detail and most of the time just took the box, shrinked it back up, and stuffed it back on the shelf. I worked in the computer department and back then most of us were big enough nerds that if we looked something over we actually _could_ see if something was amiss (and store policy did eventually change to make us inspect stuff like that BEFORE a return was accepted), but I doubt that most of the employees now could other than obvious physical damage. I'm not sure if this practice is, or ever was, actually illegal, but I don't think it's done much anymore. Best Buy, Sam's Club, Walmart, etc normally now have "opened box items" instead. We almost never sold stuff like that back in the day. It was either "new" or got sent back to the manufacturer for a full credit.

Steve some time ago i bought an Acer computer brand new. I came home and opened up the box which was sealed only to find the the computer was a used display model with a persons name on it. Walmart sold me a used computer that was reboxed.

Two related stories: First, about putting returns back on the shelf: Sometime back I went to a home improvement store and bought some chimney pipe for my woodstove. Hired a chimney sweep to install it; he looks at it and says "The joints are dented, you can't install this". So I take it back as defective and get my money back. Sure enough, the next week I see the very pipes I'd returned back on the shelf ready for sale. Second one is the expensive/cheap part bit. Brought my car in for service, they call me up and tell me that my automatic transmission cooler lines are shot and need to be replaced. Custom-fabricated stainless steel, very expensive! I okay the job and pay for expensive stainless steel. A few years later I'm doing a DIY radiator replacement, and when I go to disconnect the very expensive custom stainless steel transmission cooler lines I find... rubber hoses. Cue sad trombone...

Your Palm Pilot (fun toy) story reminds me of the first personal computer I purchased, back when a 20 MB hard drive was typical. Got it home, set it up, played with with it for a day and realized it was not what I wanted so I packed it up and returned it. Big chain store service desk says no problem, didn't even open the boxes to see if it was in there, just taped them closed and pushed them over to be restocked. Since I had paid for it in cash, they counted out the $2,200+ in cash and told me to have a good day. Returned possibly damaged merchandise, heck it didn't even really have to be there, and we pay for this irresponsibility.

When it comes to brakes, I've found buying all the pads/rotors/fluid/lines up front and then bringing them to the dealer/shop for install is the only way to take out the margin aspect and get exactly what you want for repeated braking performance. Cheap brake fluid is one thing, but a lot of times they don't actually flush out enough the old fluid so you're still left with needing to bring it back more often I've found. Brake fluid = #1 most overlooked fluid.

Anyone in the Detroit area remember Service Merchandise? Infamous for selling used stuff as new. Thank god they are no more.

Anyone tries anything like this on you, WALK AWAY. Don't haggle or argue with them, just say "Sorry, I'm not interested anymore" and get out of there. Even though you're in the right, they won't see it that way. Find someone who doesn't try this crap with you to start with, they're going to be more honest and probably do a better job.

Thanks for helping people to read the fine print.

I got really lucky when I brought a used car. They asked me if I wanted tire warranty for about $300 for three years, since they were low profile tires I said yes. I had the car for about 3 months, when I'm driving down Gratiot and hit a pot hole, it didn't bust the tire but it put a bubble (titty) in the sidewall. I took it back to the dealer, they told me both front tires had to be replaced. The warranty took care of the cost of both tires which was about $270 each, couple months later nail went in my back tire in an area that couldn't be repaired. Warranty took care of that too. I learned three things during this period. 1) Never get Low Profile tires in Detroit, not worth the hassle. 2) The roads in Detroit are terrible. 3) Always get the tire warrenty in Detroit.

One of the reasons I moved to the part of Kentucky I live in is that I don't need permits for anything. I installed my own water heater. I built a 40x20 deck and an 8 x 12 deck, an overdesigned large shed and never had to worry about any permitting. I can even build a house if I don't need financing. However, septic systems are a different story.

When ever you have your vehicle serviced at a dealership or at a "big box" service center bear in mind that all of the basic stuff (oil changes, tire rotation, etc) will be done by the lowest paid and least skilled employee available.

Your videos are addictive. Sadly, one of your cars is missing. Wait! I'm watching this out of order...

Great stories and video. Thanks :)

I had a water heater installed once and lost some money to an interesting wrinkle of the whole "permit" shenanigans. This particular water heater was built by Bosch, a European company. The plumbers showed up, removed the old water heater, then stopped. I asked why they stopped, and they said the water heater didn't have an LPGA certification, and the county I live in required it. I was instantly dubious, as LPGA is the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and, while they engage in many activities, those activities don't include certifying water heaters. I called the county plumbing inspector and explained the situation to him, and he said that the European certification carried by the water heater was very strict, and fully met the requirements for my county. A couple more phone calls to the plumbing company got them going again, but they basically sat around for 45 minutes (while I was paying them an hourly rate) while I dealt with this certification nonsense.

Thanks Steve for the helpful info.

One of the big three automaker dealers wanted to rip me off on a water pump, serpentine belt, coolant flush and oil change. First was they wanted to charge me four separate charges for pulling the car in the garage. Next was they wanted to charge me labor for the serpentine belt which had to already be removed to replace water pump. Note it just slipped on, no brackets removed. The coolant flush included double the amount of coolant than what the car required. Proper amount here plus another equal quantity on charged on water pump repair. There was also three environment removal fees. Two for coolant and one for oil. Oil change was same flat rate but should have been combined with the flat book for pulling the car in. Real estate has the worst rip off on home inspections and home warranty. Had one of those wonder 160 home inspectors do my mother's condo. First problem was the out door siding owned by the association. Then there was lack of GFCI outlets that were in fact covered by such circuits as breakers in the electrical box. Next was washer and dryer inspected. Those were not covered/sale in the sale. Next was pest control. Couldn't understand what he wrote but a licensed exterminator covered that. Then there was the warranty. Everything covered up to 10 years of age on a prorated basis post manufactures warranty. $500 for essentially covering 9 year 8 months old appliances.

My question is, have you done one yet on the five biggest lawyer scams?

2nd scam. To me it sounded like a major electronic/computer store that used to repackage returns. They have a great return policy. That caught up with them and now all returns are either considered "open box" or "refurbished." Can no longer be placed back on the floor as "new."

I remember the CLD thing from many years ago. A Pontiac dealer in Royal Oak on Main St was involved in that. If I recall, the state came down pretty hard on those that were doing this. Correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe that if they sold this, the money was supposed to go into some type of separate escrow account (or something like that) and of course it wasn't. This was going back into the late 80's if I recall. When the guy tried to sell me rust-proofing and I refused, telling him "why would I buy rust-proofing when GM guarantees no rust for 5 years?" Then he tried to sell me some poly-raz-ma-taz for the paint. "Yeah bud, $200 buys an awful lot of wax", then came the Scotch Guard for the upholstery - "Why would I pay you $200 when i can buy a can of Scotch guard for $6 bucks (which is what they will do) Then a week later I noticed rust pitting on the roof. I called my salesman and told him. He said, yeah, also on the rear deck lid. I looked and sure enough, it was there. He then told me that a battery had broke while in transport on a car above and battery acid blew back on all the cars below. I told them i want a new car. They refused but offered to paint the car. I called a lawyer and he told me "The GM bldg is filled with lawyers just waiting to fuck you over. You will most likely win in the long run, but in the meantime, you will have to park your firebird in your garage, all while making payments into an escrow account, and after they drag this out for several years, you will be vindicated. But in the , meantime, you will still need a car which you will have to buy, making payments on two cars now" In the end, I just traded in the car on something else a year later.

A used car dealer in my town was selling a branded warranty with their cars and not paying the warranty company. It turned out he had sold hundreds of those fake warranties which almost never get cashed in. He went to prison. He is now back in town and selling cars...

I have received use produce from Home Depot and Lowes on multiple occasions - plumbing fixtures and lights that have putty or paint on the edges, light fixtures missing much of the packaging because that never fits in the box once removed, etc. So, when I return such items I not tuck a note in with the product in an area not easily spotted (but you have to clear our to install the product) stating that I have returned it to the store because it was used when I bought it and advised the store it was not suitable for sale as new.

One time in writing Firestone put my car needs REAR tie rod ends. Which of course are non there. Printed a estimate on paper. I went to my normal shop, and my father and our friend who was a manager there both went under the whole car on the lift and there was nothing wrong with the car. Especially parts that are not there.. We of course did not give them business.

Don't know about now, but Texas had consumer protection laws that specifically forbade putting returned items back on the shelf and selling them as new. But the big chain stores still did it. I learned the hard way to always keep receipts: But the behemoths have strict time limits for returns, so you may still get ripped off if something lasts longer than the return limit. They know that by reselling most items enough times, eventually someone will probably not have the receipt or forget and get stuck with it. All for a few pennies of shrink wrap and labor by a minimum wage employee. As Steve mentions, missing manuals, batteries, or parts are big clues. But even still, the big stores are usually very particular about returns having every little thing included because of what they plan to do.

Thank you for these videos.

I know that as far as automobile dealerships go there is a lot of scamming going on. However being in the car business for over 40 years I can tell you it works both ways. Nothing better than to screw your dealer, then go down to the bar and tell all you drinking buddies. Of course this is OK and you are the hero for the night. I had a farmer come into the dealership I was working at and at the time as a salesman and lead salesman sort of like a floor manager I was able to appraise my own trade in. So I would drive the trade in, look it over and put a price on it. From my appraisal the customer and I would agree on a difference make the deal etc. I wrote my own ticket so to speak and it was what we call "flat dealing" I didn't have to go to the boss to get the deal done. So this transaction I am talking about the guy wanted to come back the next day and pick up his new truck and turn over his trade in to us. No problem I will have it cleaned and ready and we agreed on 10AM the next morning. Soooooooo I get at the store at 8am the following day and the owner meets me at the door and says the farmer had already been there, got his new truck, and here is the keys to his trade in. No problem I go out and get in now my truck that I traded for yesterday and it won't start. Hum .......... so I raise the hook and instead of that new Die Hard battery it had in yesterday the farmer had gone out and get the broken case battery out of his combine and swapped it. Now i really start looking at my truck and he has removed all 4 of the new tires and put on the bald tires from his grain wagon. Now mind you if I had went out and done the same thing I would be the biggest thief in the county but down at the local bar he is a hero. If I would have went out and removed the old nasty battery out of our wrecker, and if I had went out to the back row of our lot and removed 4 wore out tires and installed that battery and these tires I would be in court. So I say sure, no doubt many car dealerships are scammers but there are two sides to the coins. There is some justice in the above story I called the farmer on the phone and told him he had 24 hours to bring me the new battery and tires or he wouldn't get his title until he did. I dunno if I could have made that stick but I did get my stuff by noon that day. I could go on and on but I won't I am sure you and most people have ran into people like this.

Really enjoy these.

Experienced a similar story where I bought an electric drumset (during Rock Band video game craze). The box looked old and damaged... but as long as everything inside is good we're happy right? Right out the box it didn't work properly... Obviously broken! Paid a lot for it so I brought it back very upset. Got a full refund no questions asked... which seemed odd to me... but it was the last one they had - no replacements available. Months later I return to the same store, see the same drumset, same exact damaged box - including the additional damage I made when I opening it last time... I couldn't believe they knowingly tried to resell - as new - full price - a very expensive piece of hardware. For a cheap gizmo I could understand. Someone might accept it and take the damaged goods at a loss and not to bother returning it... But something that costs hundreds of dollars? How can this not be a liability to the store? At the very least knowingly needing to store, track, inventorize, etc... and all that work for something they will never make money off of? Let alone the damage to their reputation. I stopped shopping at Best Buy...

The life insurance one hit me hard because we only ever get financed through our credit union when buying cars. We bought a used Chevy a few years ago. My dad bought it and my mom cosigned and the woman who was helping us - Crystal you are a credit to all credit unions 💜 - brought it up and asked if we wanted to add it. It was so cheap, they added it. We didn't have to file a claim when daddy passed away. Closing out his account, they took care of all the details including voiding the rest of the payments and my mother recieved outright ownership, no more payments required. We payed half, I believe.

I can accept the idea of re-wrapping used palm pilots as long as they LOOK like new and have all the manuals and accessories in the box. That way if I get a palm pilot and after a week I decide I rather have something else, I can return the palm pilot and get a refund and the store doesn't loose a lot of money for providing "good service". If an item is damaged or incomplete, then they will give you another item. That policy can work both ways to help the store and help the consumer.

With an employee purchase the manufacturer cares about the discount on the price of the vehicle as it left the factory. Dealer add ons are outside the discount program and between the dealer and employee buyer. It’s up to the employee to say yes/no to the adds or go somewhere else. There is also no mandated discount with dealer adds.

I saw a great scam years ago on, I think, 20/20, a guy would look for a large RV on the highway, pull up beside and flag them over, usually an old couple, tell them their differential was smoking, luckily there is a shop close, at the shop, the mechanic would drain the oil and put some iron shavings in, show the folks, so lucky, a close wrecking yard has a matching rear end, he would take the rear end away, go to lunch, come back with a rear end, put it back on, bill them big, of course he was just selling them their own rear end

It seems to me like we should just be able to rent a consumer law attorney for a few hours as good insurance to avoid all the dealer scams. Let them do all the negotiation and you simply sign after the shenanigans are over. Would work until the dealership pays off the attorney eventually right?! (just like our gov't).

That one about the Palm Pilot was very sleazy.

Does that Dealer have more lightening strikes near him? If not he should. And we wonder why automobile salespeople are not trusted much?

The credit life one goes back to what you have said MANY times! Read EVERYTHING and question what you do not understand!

Great chanel,thank you Steve!

The plumbing thing happened to me. I was doing a major renovation inside my home. Hired a plumber, who of course charged for the permit. After “completion” there were some issues. The plumber blew me off, so I called the inspector, who stated plumber never pulled a permit. “He called for a price, but never pulled one”. Inspector called plumber and set up meeting at residence. Plumber was nervous for some reason. Afterwards, plumber asked, “you pulled permits for all this work?” , which I replied, “yes I did” Mind you, I told the plumber to pull the permit. My advice, if you are doing a bunch of work, even if it is out of view, and some of that work will be done by companies protect yourself with permits. Seriously, I know it costs money, but it can save you a lot of grief. Think of it as insurance against scammers or shabby work.

Here's a car dealer scam....they have dealer add ons for a new car and they try to charge you twice...For example, the car price is $20,000 and paint sealant is $200 so a total of $20,200 on the window sticker. When you go to the financing department to close on the deal, they start with the unitemized $20,200 in their computer application and then add the dealer installed features such as paint sealant. I confronted the finance dept person and they looked at me like a monkey doing a math problem...said they could take it off but pretended not to know what I was talking about. This happened at two different Toyota dealers in the DFW area,

I had a client buy a faucet for me to install which he bought from a popular big-box home improvement outlet a half-hour drive from his house. (He could have bought one at the hardware store around the corner.) When I opened the box I found that not only were critical parts missing but there was ALSO A LIST of the missing parts written by the previous purchaser!

Shrink-wrap machines are cheap and easy to use.

Isn't anybody going to comment about how this man blinks his eyes very quickly several times and then blinks very slowly suddenly?? I had NEVER noticed him do this before today.

that story about the palm pilot being restocked and sold as new, had that happen at walmart, and best buy, few years back. in both cases not only were the items broken, but the wrong products were in the boxes

Circuit City did this for years until they mysteriously went out of business.

Hey Steve, How about people who buy shop worn, bent, scratched up product, out of date code, from retailers then selling it as "NEW" on Amazon or ebay? Is that "NEW" just because someone hasn't "used" it?

I got an espresso machine the past christmas that was broken and had parts missing... sure they just replace it, but it's a big letdown.

#2 if it was the big blue big box store, they do this all the time all over. They also incorporate each store separately so you can't class action sue them. So they say

Scam #2 example sounds like its Fry's Electronics because they are well known for doing just that. Enything that they get back a defective will be put back onto the shelf and sold as if it was still new.

I bought a truck with the employee discount. The problem was the discount didn't affect the oversize mirrors, the chrome package, offroad package etc. Then I knowingly agreed to the rustproofing and extebded warranty ( not a mfg offered product)

Was that Midas Muffler? If so, I am not surprised. Thanks for all the info and advice. I hate dealing with car salesman (liars and con men) so much that I hired a friend and former used car salesman to negotiate on my behalf for a new truck. I paid him $500 for a call to the dealer and everyone was happy.

That part scam seems like something Uber and Lyft do. They will quote the passenger a higher price because their software routes the longest route. Then the software routes the driver on a shorter route and pays the driver a smaller fee. While they pocket the difference.

A building permit for installing a new water heater that's ridiculous. I'd like to hear more about a Supreme Court that could allow used to be sold as new.

It's really a good thing to have had a heavy equipment mechanic for a father & another for a husband. They could/can do just about anything necessary. I always wished I'd had that type of knowledge, plus woodworking and or working metals. (The latter two would be useful in my hobby.)

I wonder how that auto repair shop chain get caught with their part switching routine. Did someone rat them out?

In the Holy Bible, Proverbs states that a man's reputation is worth far more than gold or fine silver. I agree. I would never dream of doing these kinds of things to my customers. Future and repeat business is far more valuable. Remember that a pleased customer might share their experience with maybe 5 people, maybe a little more, but the one who feels they got screwed will tell everyone they meet about their bad experience.

I'm surprised they didn't open it to see if it was actually there (or maybe they did =:-O ). My wife worked at Walmart for awhile and they opened everything that came back. Many times she would hear stories of people bringing back say a DVD player, when they cost a couple hundred, and the return person would open the box and find that it was full of drywall scraps. Of course the customer would come up with some excuse that it was the wrong box, oops.

Another 1 is Back flow devices The plumber's call it a drive by inspection. Thay never even look at it. People if you have a RP back flow preventer. Always alway tell the plumber you want a call when thay are to test it and always always watch them test the unit. Watch them carfully watch the reading on gage. Have them explain the steps to you as thay test it. Otherwise thay charge you for test and never get close to device.

That thing about the mechanics shop is extremely common. I mean the computer doing it automatically isn't however I have seen it on more than one platform basically all of them have the ability. But most shops do that. I've worked for at least a hundred shops and never once seen one that was always honest. The sad part is that I've never seen a customer accurately call it out. Every time I've seen a customer call something dishonest they were wrong

Sir do you think people still do those scams? Thank you for your information and knowledge. Great video sir

I was looking at “new” Camaros on a dealer’s lot and a black one had big, ugly “TR” painted in red on the front of both side mirrors. Probably a yo-yo sale that they were claiming was a “new” car. Presumably they were the attempted buyer’s initials. Weird!

The car thing of exchanging car parts for cheaper parts happens all the time now still! If they did let me stand there in the back while they were working on my car then i know they were less likely to try that because they didn't wanna get caught, If i went to a shop and they said for insurance reasons you can't stand back here, I would either leave or stand there at the window and watch them like a hawk and if they said to me again i couldn't be here in the work area, then i would ask them to let me see the part you just put on my car or my uncle who has 30 years of experience can look at it when i get home and if it's not what i paid for i will take you to court. Those people who sit in the waiting room watching tv or reading a paper, or on their phones are clueless to what their really doing and those are the ones they wanna go after, not someone like me, who could catch them! They get the easy ones all day everyday!

I’ve got a palm pilot story. Purchased an Apple Watch in SEALED Apple box from target. There was an older used Apple Watch in the box that was the wrong color! Customer serviced didn’t seem surprised.

It differentiates between a boiler/heater that heats water for heating the home. How is #1 a "scam" if all the items the employees were buying were listed on the invoice?

I just watched this for the second time and I loved the "High- Low Scam" I caught a company trying to do that to me as I watched through the window and recognized that the boxes of parts they were going to put on the car did not match the invoice.

I bought a phone from Wirefly for my wife as a Xmas gift. I did not open it because it was a gift. When I did it did not work. I found out later they were a reseller of returned/refurburb'd AT&T phones. Before I wrapped the phone I cut the UPS code of the box to get the rebate. Well by doing that I couldn't return it so I was stuck and they just hung me out to dry. So I had to go to AT&T to get satisfaction. Also part of the deal was a free printer that I didn't get because they ran out. They offered me a 100.00 gift card to replace the printer which I never got. Wonderful company..........................NOT

Building Permits which do not require a Municipal physical inspection of the work are worthless to the consumer (just a revenue stream to the Municipality), with the exception that the Municipality is commonly issuing these Permits to Licensed contractors. However, most States issue plumbing licenses in the Water Heater example. Rarely would a local Municipality be aware of disciplinary action taken at the State level against any licensed contractor or retraction of license (unless that contractor was a known trouble vendor). These laws were developed in the days without computers. Today, you can go online in several minutes to see if the contractor (plumber, electrician, remodel, structural, architect, and many trades which may include pavement) if they are licensed AND the current status of that license including if ever disciplined. That and checking the web site for the Better Business Burial BBB will disclose factors you may want to consider. I was going to install a protected gutter against leafs (leaving names out of the example). The BBB web site had indicated complaints of severe ice problems. Found another product that was less advertised, more effective all because of a three minute BBB search. No one protects your money more than you. The problem with referrals from others is they are not experts in the subject at hand. They are just a consumer like you. If you elect the “I will Verify First” attitude, you may find your life has far less stress. It’s not hard and it does not take long. I also know who I will call for specific emergencies, like a water heater and have two options for heating and air conditioning and who my local locksmith is in town. I have their phone numbers preloaded in my phone. I NEVER call 800 numbers for vendors. I do NOT trust looking up phone numbers doing a google like search. There are scam artist that steal the good name of a local business and place their own phone number using the legit company’s name. There is a nationwide one doing this with locksmiths.

it's the little scams that get ya... like paying 5 cents for a damn plastic bag!

I don't want to be that guy, but rustproofing is actually really important for certain regions of the world. I live in a place that gets a lot of snow, and all year round the roads get heavily salted and sanded. It's hell on your frame. My first truck actually had to have part of the frame replaced because it rusted out after 10 years of use. When the dealer "rustproofs" your car, they spray a decently thick tar layer on the frame and exterior facing underbody components of your car. This tar layer bonds to the metal and serves as a barrier to keep that salty slushy solution from getting kicked up from your tires onto your frame for 8 months out of the year. Options are options because some people find them useful. Just don't let a dealer bully you unto buying the ones you don't need.

So, if I’m buying a car, should I consult an attorney before signing the dotted line? Or perhaps I can take the “contract” home and have an attorney check it? Will dealerships let me do that? Your content is awesome 👏