Slimiest, sleaziest industries

[Spiffster]

Any industry that prays on the elderly or robocalls my cell phone, or both. Usually auto warranty companies, BS collectibles, gold plated coins, etc.

Any industry that dabbles in deceptive marketing tactics, ie: sends mail posing as government documents or fake renewal notices. This all should be illegal.

[disneysteve]

Durable Medical Equipment companies.

They have a reputation of drastically overcharging for medical equipment.

The overcharging isn't the bad part. The sleazy part is that they cold-call people, typically seniors, to sell them all kinds of unnecessary equipment. Of course, they tell the patients that everything is "free of charge". What that means is that the patient pays nothing but the company bills Medicare for millions of dollars. It's all fraud. I have no idea how they get all of the patient info - that's a whole other sleazy story.

I deal with this all the time because the companies need a physician order for the equipment so we are constantly getting faxes from these DME companies we've never heard of to approve these things. We always deny them and contact the companies to stop soliciting our patients but it does no good.

[ua_guy]

Durable Medical Equipment companies.

They have a reputation of drastically overcharging for medical equipment.

Any folks with sleep apnea who use CPAP machines and related supplies know that DME's are scum of the earth! You don't even have to be old, or have Medicare--they're equal opportunity across the board!

[disneysteve]

Any folks with sleep apnea who use CPAP machines and related supplies know that DME's are scum of the earth! You don't even have to be old, or have Medicare--they're equal opportunity across the board!

True. It's just much easier to defraud Medicare and seniors are far more trusting and gullible so they're easy targets.

[FLA]

Wall Street & pharmaceutical companies.

Unbridled greed makes me very cranky.

you beat me to it, Big Pharma. I just got a 30 day script for some miracle drug to help me. $780. They have a program so you can get it for $20 a month for a year BUT your insurance company has to have it on formulary and cover it. Of course, mine does not. So to get the helping hand, you have to have insurance that is also helping. I went without the med.

I could go on and on about this topic, how the elderly end up in the Medicare donut hole and all of a sudden their meds skyrocket, how the elderly pick meds or food, or they take half the dosage to try to save money. But I'll spare you

[FLA]

I'm going for a sleep study and assume with my wt and snoring, I will need one. Any advice on how not to get screwed over on this?

[disneysteve]

the Medicare donut hole

This isn't pharma's fault. This is the government's fault. Who the heck created an insurance plan that cuts out completely at a certain point and then picks up again later was insane. It would make a lot more sense (and probably cost about the same) to give lesser but steady coverage without the donut hole. In other words, cover 75% all year rather than 100% for part of the year and then 0% for part of the year.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

mortgage and car loan companies. I don't get how they get away with giving people loans they cannot possibly afford.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I'm going for a sleep study and assume with my wt and snoring, I will need one. Any advice on how not to get screwed over on this?

My experience was good, only have to rent the machine, comply, then I own it. Insurance does not kick in until the deductible though.

[disneysteve]

mortgage and car loan companies. I don't get how they get away with giving people loans they cannot possibly afford.

Pretty much all lenders fall into that category. Credit cards for sure. Heck, my wife and I have about $100,000 in combined credit on our credit cards. That's ridiculous. We could go nuts tomorrow and end up with 6-figure debt.

[Nutria]

I don't get how they get away with giving people loans they cannot possibly afford.

• With the demise of the old cultural agreement that you don't eat if you don't work, the desperate need to be thrifty has disappeared.
• People want what they want, when they want it. Telling you otherwise is being judgmental.
• Computers. Without them, widespread and instantaneous use of plastic would be impossible.

[ua_guy]

mortgage and car loan companies. I don't get how they get away with giving people loans they cannot possibly afford.

I'm split on this one. On one hand, debt is about personal financial responsibility and management, and it's not the lender's job or place to tell you what you can and can't afford as long as the debt is acceptable risk to them. It's the consumer's choice to apply for the loan, and the lender's choice to issue it.

On the other hand, the industry is broken. Misrepresentation by either party is a real problem.

[disneysteve]

I'm split on this one. On one hand, debt is about personal financial responsibility and management, and it's not the lender's job or place to tell you what you can and can't afford as long as the debt is acceptable risk to them. It's the consumer's choice to apply for the loan, and the lender's choice to issue it.

On the other hand, the industry is broken. Misrepresentation by either party is a real problem.

I agree with the personal responsibility point but if the average couple walks into a mortgage company, fills out all of the paperwork, and the lender - the professional, trained, licensed lender - says they can afford $xyz, the couple will likely think, "It must be okay. They wouldn't lend us more than we can afford. They want us to be able to repay the loan." Who is wrong in that situation? I think there is definitely fault on both sides.

[Nutria]

the professional, trained, licensed lender - says they can afford $xyz, the couple will likely think, "It must be okay. They wouldn't lend us more than we can afford. They want us to be able to repay the loan."

This.

[FLA]

This isn't pharma's fault. This is the government's fault. Who the heck created an insurance plan that cuts out completely at a certain point and then picks up again later was insane. It would make a lot more sense (and probably cost about the same) to give lesser but steady coverage without the donut hole. In other words, cover 75% all year rather than 100% for part of the year and then 0% for part of the year.

I realize that and was kind of just ranting about old people getting screwed