Companies That Hid Shady Stuff in Terms & Conditions
Hidden stuff in the fine print.
Published 11 months ago in Wow
There's an old saying that the devil is in the details and 90% of the time that could not be any more true. Unfortunately, shady legal teams and greedy corporations have a way of hiding things in the small print and they exploit this to their advantage.
From hidden recurring fees to limiting what you may or may not do with a product or software, the fine print will get you every time if you're not careful.
So check out this list of things people with sharp eyes found tucked away in a bunch of tiny print and legal mumbo jumbo.
2
I considered auditioning for the first season of Canada's Got Talent. I got the contract for auditions and read the fine print."You will pay your own room, board and travel. You agree to being on camera 24/7. We can listen to your private phone calls. We can enter your room at any time to check on you and record it."I noped out of that audition fast.
3
I’m an auto mechanic, I regularly purchase tools from tool trucks. Sometimes there’s little giveaways if you spend x amount you get this scratch off ticket that could win you something blah blah. One time I was reading the fine print at the bottom, usual legalese stuff then the last line cracked me up - said something like “residents of Canada will be required to complete a series of mathematical questions in order to claim their prize” What the heck did Canada do to require being punished to win a prize?
5
I read the terms and conditions for either Windows 95 or the Windows 98 upgrade. Somewhere buried deep in the middle was a warning that the operating system should not be used to operate a nuclear power plant. I'm assuming it was a joke because it was an individually licensed product rather than a corporate license, and if they were serious about it, I would think that warning would be at the top! Also, can you imagine a nuclear power plant running on a 90's version of Windows? It would give a whole new meaning to "the blue screen of death."
6
I was asked to sign a petition for something that I generally was in agreement with, until I read the last part of it, that read something like, "the chairman of the committee reserves the right to change the wording of this petition." So it was like, "sign here, and we'll figure out what you signed later."
7
It was when I was setting up android work profile (The high school I'm attending rn issued us emails that route the emails through their servers) for online school. G-suite and everything. I couldn't rlly avoid the work profile thing cuz android wanted me to set it up. Enough with context here. I downloaded google device policy to set this up and I saw, and I quote. "Administrators on this domain can have access to any and all data on your phone" I was like, heck no! They do random phone searches of the students already why give them full access!? I then decided to do the online class stuff on my computer and do it web-based instead of giving them full access to my phone.
9
So i know a few years back there was a report of a dude who read through the whole thing and actually earned a cash prize for reading it in the fine print. I dont know the exact details. not even sure if its true or not but maybe someone has evidence. SelectPerception5 replied: Yes, this really happened. He got $1,000. The TOS said to send a message to an email address and he did. The company actually paid him. They said it took four months for someone to email them after the TOS was released.
10
My daycare’s release form had a clause saying that by signing, I was giving them permission to take my kids to Canada. Canada is a day’s drive away and there is absolutely no reason they would ever need to take my kids there. I crossed it off before signing. My mortgage documents included a clause that says that, if I ever get sued, they have the right to accelerate the loan and demand payment of the entire remaining balance. It doesn’t matter if the law suit is meritorious. Just getting sued can lead to acceleration.
11
Don’t remember the exact wording, but some League-of-Legends-type game included this whole paragraph about how, *by installing this software, you authorize us to monitor every process on your computer, including but not limited to keystrokes, active programs, some of their memory, browser tabs, open files and potentially their contents, and send that info back, at all times,* even if the game wasn’t running. Safe to assume I did not click agree, and managed to live life having never played that game.
12
"You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons." This is from the Terms and Conditions for Apple's iTunes.
17
These are a few paraphrased versions of what I had to sign in order to live on campus at my university: I give my school permission to charge me legal fees that have nothing to do with me. They also say everyone I know has given up the right to sue the school. They can kick me out at anytime with little warning, and if I do not leave with in a few days I have to pay a +$100 fee. They are not responsible for working amenities such as water. I am aware the school does not own their own dorms, even though the office that handles room and board claims otherwise.
20
For no reason at all I read them for a PlayStation Network update. About the 7th page in, it stated that I would be “relinquishing my wallet and all funds within.” I didn’t update but just assumed it was fancy legal talk so I didn’t report it. Three days later I found out that the update was a hack and thousands had their information stolen.
Most Popular
