Is Anything in This Country Not Corrupt?

submitted by raven9 from (self.whatever)

One of my neighbors was telling me about a bad experience he had at Firestones so I was telling him about a friend of mine who had warned me not to take my car there because when he worked there the managers told them to sabotage certain parts on their customers cars so they would get more work.

So my neighbor told me years ago when he got hired by Terminex they gave him training that taught him how to identify female cockroaches with egg sacs, he said they told him not to spray them so they would perpetuate the infestation because the company wants long term contracts to spray these places every month.

So that is two former employees with first hand knowledge of big corporations totally screwing their customers. Obviously they are getting away with it so how deep does this go? How many others are doing similar things?

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[–]SMCABwhatever 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

If you hire anyone with a graphics wrapped truck, a billboard, a Sunday paper ad, anything like that you're part of the problem.

You're paying higher prices, with worse service. If you call three A/C companies and one guy pulls up in a white van with letters from Ace Hardware on the side and they are falling off, he's your man. His entire livelihood is based on doing well for you with a fair price.

Yes, they exist, in every neighborhood, you just have to ask people in the know. If you use your phone or computer to find any of these people, you've already lost.

[–]rubberbiscuit 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

This is my approach as well. Find some new software or product at a large tradeshow that looks awesome? Never use them, but search for the competitor with 0 sales staff. Product/service will be better, and it will be less expensive because they're not spending 50% of their budget on sales and marketing.

Also NEVER use a franchise like Terminix or Firestone. Not that the mom and pop or smaller operation will be corrupt free, but your odds are way better.

[–]SMCABwhatever 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly. It's almost every service industry. Heating and cooling is one of the worst price gouging schemes out there. Every town has a guy that will do the same job for a third of the price, for the same unit, with a better warranty, no exaggeration.

Cars tend to be the least affected by our mentality, but it's still worth finding a shop that's independently owned. I just paid 375 bucks for a set of used tires for one of my trucks that were practically brand new, and they matched. Same place patches for $12.50 vs 35 at the big box shop. It's amazing how clueless people really are, even when they pretend to understand capitalism. Same people hand over 7000 for a 2000 dollar unit, and get a shorter warranty, because they have a shiny billboard and they paid Angies List 50 grand a year to tell you they are good. Congratulations, you paid for the billboard, and the Angi fees to lie to yourself. It's insane

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not really, if I want something done right I need to do it myself, whether it's medical, car repair, or pest control.

[–]IridescentAnaconda 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I used to know a guy who in the distant past worked as a firefighter for BLM (the other one, Bureau of Land Management). They would occasionally set fires to make sure that they always had work.

[–]Plastickillsyou 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I have Googled this country but it couldn't find it, so what country are you talking about?

[–]raven9[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The one with firestones automotive and terminex pest control.

[–]IMissPorn 0 insightful - 3 fun0 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Hmm, let me think...

Some indy game devs and... cats. That's about all I got.

[–]yelgy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

tendies

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Libraries, maybe. I still admire US for their library system. At least the parts of it that still mostly are "intact", so to say.

[–]Insider 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

History books promote fakes news though. Do they allow books for Holocaust denial?

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The winners of war write the history of it.

[–]H3v8 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I see lots of small business owners and self employed doing even worse, and there are no large corporations like the ones you mentioned here.