20 Wild Things That Were Snuck Into the Terms and Conditions
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.
1.
I was a witness on Judge Judy probably about a decade ago. In the waiver that you have to sign it said you would get paid $5 in cash upon request in the small print. I asked the woman who took the form from me and she chuckled and pulled out a crisp $5 and handed it to me.
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.
Not my reading but a few years back people read Amazon terms and conditions and found it contained a clause addressing the fate of products if a zombie apocalypse were to happen.
4.
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."
5.
Gamestation (an old video game store in the UK) had an immortal soul clause. They own thousands of peoples souls!
6.
"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.
7.
On my apartment rent agreement, there was one part that basically said: If you (the renter) dies then your family is responsible for paying the rest of the rent left on your contract.
8.
One of my old jobs said that if there was ever a contagion that resulted in people losing their minds and acting like violent, mindless, swarming animals (i.e. zombies or infected), then we would be expected to hide in bunkers, rescue our clients and not kill anyone.
9.
EasyBCD is one of the few I read. It says I owe a picture of my sister in the shower if the author asks for it. That was like 10 years ago. I don't know if the software still exists.
11.
The terms and conditions for the rewards card at the grocery store I worked had, "if you've actually taken the time to read this, please email with this code and the pin for your card for $500 in rewards points." And it actually did.
12.
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.
13.
PPG (paint company) does not allow their paint to be used on terrorist, biohazard or nuclear facilities.
15.
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.
16.
I read the terms and conditions before joining a gym. It said the only reason you could cancel your membership is if you moved out of the area or got injured and had a note from a doctor. Otherwise you had to give 30 days notice and pay 3 additional months worth of fees. I did not join.
17.
You never own the Tesla you pay for. Tesla, (and to various extents, other anti-right-to-repair companies like Mercedes, Apple, John Deere, etc.) hold that their products are intellectual property and cannot be owned by customers, instead claiming that they are effectively leased to buyers.
19.
Accordingly to Photoshop ToS, you can't use Photoshop as a verb. and must say "edited with Photoshop" or similar instead of "Photoshopped". In Spanish it's common to use it as a verb, "photoshoppear".
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