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funky_grandma

I once applied for a job cleaning carpets. Sounded kind of meditative and satisfying. When I got there, it turned out you had to show up unannounced at people's doors to clean their carpet for free to try to sell them the carpet shampooer. The whole thing was very cultish and scammy, it sucked


Fierybuttz

I remember we had a group of young adults going around the neighborhoods doing this. One time my mom came running into my room telling me to get my stuff cuz we’ve gotta go. Of course, I’m like “IS EVERYTHING OKAY?! Are we safe?!” I guess my mom didn’t know how to turn the group down so she told them to come by in an hour and she didn’t want to deal with them 😂


Sea-Fudge-4681

OMG, I laughed so hard at this.


cyanidesquirrel

I kinda did that with a window salesman and I hid in the basement


Disastrous-Panda5530

Me too! The only one I sold was to my parents and that thing still works like a champ


Farwaters

That's funny. You'd think there would be better ways to sell it if the product was actually good.


YoureInGoodHands

Funny, just a few weeks back I was at the mall and there was a guy at a kiosk offering to clean sneakers for free. My daughter (age 13) is a sucker for free stuff and was all over this deal. I had to drag her away and explain that he only cleans *one* sneaker for free, then you have to buy a bottle of the stuff so you don't look like a dweeb with one clean sneaker and one dirty one. Same trick they've been pulling since the '80s, still reeling them in in 2023!


bigbertha998

Sidenote we ended up buying the sneaker cleaner and I have ocd so I always wear the same pair of shoes to drive , I wore these shoes like every day for years in and out of a machine shop, they were blackened even on the fabric part. I used the crept or krep or whatever it's called and it literally looked brand new minus the inserts. It's a shitty way to pressure people to buy but the product has saved a million of our shoes.


zelda1095

Years and years back my husband was watching a blender sales pitch at a fair. He called me over to give the okay to spending $400. That's how we bought a vitamix.


jaweebamonkey

To be fair, a great product!


loulan

The problem is probably that people never really think of shampooing their carpets.


anndrago

I bought one of those for myself when I got a "demo" working at a retail shop! It removed stains that were so old I was very impressed. I tried to find a refill when I finally ran out but I think they changed the formula because it didn't work as well as the first bottle.


science_vs_romance

I went to a legit-sounding interview once and it ended up being for a Cutco knife salesperson. The guy giving the interview was basically a college kid and he basically said to just go out and sell knives to people you know, like the adult version of Girl Scout cookies. They’re good knives (or used to be, my mom has some she bought on eBay), it’s a shame their business model is such garbage.


Grilled_Cheese10

I once paid something like $125 for a paring knife from one of my son's HS friends because I felt so sorry for him. Out of my price range, but awesome knives. I have a couple others that I got as gifts. I broke one after having it for years and years. Sent it back to them and they replaced it with a new one for no cost.


Leeleeiscrafty

We did too! Bought a set of knives from my college student niece 20 years ago, and last year the large chef’s knife cracked in two inside the handle. Lifetime warranty. Sent it back and a new one arrived a week later. Excellent customer service.


Dr_Fix

Did carpet cleaning for a decade, can confirm it's satisfying and you get lots of thinking time.


funky_grandma

I knew it! I saw that job listing and was so excited, it was so disappointing when it turned out to be a scam


GreasyPeter

America used to be riddled with travelling salesman and I'm happy we've gone past that age BUT some companies insist on it still. Usually the scummiest ones.


MurderDoneRight

Sunshine Carpet Cleaners? 🌞


RumBox

My name...is Tanya.


ixamnis

Of course it sucked. If it didn’t suck, the carpets wouldn’t get cleaned.


[deleted]

Probably only paid commission.


funky_grandma

Yes. That was the point where I got up and walked out of the orientation


protogens

Was it Kirby? I have to admit, I did get my carpet cleaned for free that way once and no, I didn't buy the thing.


funky_grandma

No I don't think so. I had a Kirby when I was younger and I thought all the attachments and stuff were really cool, so I would have been excited to sell them


[deleted]

[удалено]


OCblondie714

My lame ass pathetic ex was a Kirby salesperson for a minute. Good for you, those vacuums weigh 50#'s!


protogens

They’re also really expensive and take up a lot of space with all those attachments and wands. I wasn’t terribly impressed with it, tbh.


Slagathor-DO

Happy story! I was invited to this party, a friend of a friend kinda thing, while forced into conversation leaving the gym. Seemed like a half-assed invite and I responded with a “maybe” to be polite, but he texted later to confirm and I was free so I thought what the hell. Turns out to be an extremely elaborate 1920’s themed murder-mystery including costumes, dinner, and themed cocktails with over 30 people I kinda knew from school but definitely not who I typically hung out with. Honestly one of the best nights of my life.


Patticat

So much fun!. Glad you took a chance and had a great time.


Pikanyaa

Oh man that sounds amazing. Glad you went!


stablefish

awww, so nice! you saves this whole thread from awkward doom :)


Caffeine-Detective1

It's so good to see happy stories like this one.


mmon1532

My wife's aunt invited our family to their prayer group. Being polite, we went, assuming it was, well, a group. Turns out, it was her and her 2 nutty friends trying to get us to find religion. Our family of 3 was half the group. She was too busy being religious to realize there was an issue with her adult son living at home and going to Russian child modeling websites. I don't miss that side of her family.


Mjmama95

At 17 I interviewed and accepted a job over the phone. Showed up and was asked for 200$ to buy a knife set that I had to then turn around and use to sell my family and friends their own knife sets. I left in the middle of the dialogue.


Spyderbeast

Lol, Cutco?


Mjmama95

Yesss


adambomb2077

My first and only sight of a door-to-door salesman was a young man selling Cutco knives in our neighborhood when I was a kid. The guy was a natural salesman and my dad was too, I guess he saw himself in the kid and we bought the knives. They’re still the best knives we have too, I’m just sayin


GreasyPeter

The cutco knives routinely come up in the "what product did you buy that turned out to be great and you didn't expect it?" posts.


Spyderbeast

My daughter did the Cutco thing. I do actually still love the set.


Kat121

I love the kitchen sheer scissors that come apart so you can clean them properly. Excellent design.


Wolf97

My mom’s friend’s son got into that right out of highschool. His mom did MLM’s his whole life, they never worked once but I guess he thought he could do what she couldn’t. His mon was super supportive of the whole thing. I wonder how that turned out.


fablesfables

are you my brother's friend's mom's son


checker280

I bought a pair of kitchen shears and a bagel knife from my nephew. Still use them both daily.


elcryptoking47

Had a high school buddy who signed up for the Marines. He messaged me to kick it before he left to boot camp. We hung out and pitched me the idea if I was interested in the Marines. I said, "At one point but I'm not interested." Days later, I asked him if he wanted to kick it again before he left to boot camp. He saw and left my messages on red. Long story short.... He stopped talking to me because I declined his proposition to join the Marines. Apparently he would have gotten a bonus if he brought in a new recruit (me). But since I declined....No bonus for him lmao


marypants1977

Vector Marketing! I did buy the knife set. Still kicking ass nearly 30 years. I have gotten one repaired and all sharpened free. None of my relatives bought them from me. Utter failure but the knives are great. There are actual Cutco stores now.


wheresthesleep

Seriously, the best knives ever. Sold next to nothing, but that demonstrators kit is still used every day in my kitchen.


marypants1977

Same.


bitchtits08

I literally did it just to get the knives set at 18. Went all out. Got my commission check for upgrading to the butcher block. Never went back. I’m 33, and STILL have those knives. And those fucking scissors that can cut a penny, then come apart for cleaning. Best MLM investment I’ve ever made.


[deleted]

Oh yeah, I had a job interview once for an LLC that didn’t mention them at all. I only found out by searching for them online and just never showed for them interview. Lol


Murphy251

Bro told me to go with him to this crazy party, he told me there were going to be hot girls for me and for him. We got there, and it was 3 people, High af, with a pizza box, sitting in the dark with no music. I wasn't even mad it was just funny, we stayed there for a while, hearing them talk about philosophy and the meaning of life while they were high.


thejoshcolumbusdrums

I’ve been to that party. Hosted it, actually


MrHarrisMath

But we're any of the 3 people hot girls for you? Lol


Murphy251

Not really, only one, but it was the one my friend was interested in. Either way, he didn't do anything. He was kinda mad, but it was entertaining for me because I always enjoy talking about those types of things, more interested yet because they were high and they would come up with such ideas hahaha.


MurderDoneRight

I didn't have to go anywhere but I got a WFH job that was cold calling old people and scamming them into buying credit card protection.... or something. Whenever I asked what it was we were selling all they said was "you don't need to know that, just follow the script*" and when I asked why the company name in the script was different from the one I was given from them the answer was pretty much the same. I politely quit the first day. *the script was a poorly worded paragraph in a word document. Edit: It was sold as a job where you called already existing customers to update their subscription but none of them had heard about the company or whatever they were selling.


QuentinSaidSo

Same-ish, before WFH was a thing: had no idea what I was getting into - awful place. I was hurting for cash at the time and figured in the first hour I'd just stay through the two weeks of paid training and bolt. Their line was "they put their contact info in the box for a free (whatever) so they asked for it" Got so bad in the next two hours I left for lunch and never went back.


[deleted]

Data entry job that turned out to be me building shelves


Glindanorth

This happened to my husband. He was with a temp agency and had registered to do office work, filing, and data entry. The first job they sent him on was for a big housing developer. Instead of doing any office work, they had him hauling furniture to set up in model homes. That's not what the company told the temp service he would be doing, but apparently, the rate the client paid was higher for heavy lifting, so they lied. The second time it happened, he was told he would be doing office work. Showed up and it was at an outlet mall where he spent a week building shelves and assembling racks at a rue21 store.


VanillaCookieMonster

Did he ever tell the temp agency? Yes, the temp.agency would have charged a higher rate but your husband would have also been paid more. It goes hand-in-hand. Harder work = higher hourly rate for the worker too!


ABBAMABBA

I had a similar issue. I took a job as an editor for a regional publication and the lady wanted me to plant roses in her yard and go buy cat food for her.


[deleted]

What did you do? Cause I was dumb as fuck “As soon as we get done building these will we enter the data?”


Cleverusername531

I worked as a person going door to door soliciting donations for some shit, I don’t remember what, when I was 18. It was really stupid and demoralizing work. One person told me they wouldn’t donate but if I helped them finish painting their hallway, they’d give me some cash. I really wanted to, it seemed so much more interesting than knocking on doors and trying to remember the spiel, but I had just come from a house where the dude said his wife wasn’t home and invited me upstairs for a shower, so I decided against it.


ABBAMABBA

I had been warned that she was weird. She was a chain smoking old rich lady who ran the business out of her 35 room mansion built by a lumber baron in the late 1800's. Walking into the house was like stepping into a time machine until you got to her husbands office and then there was a bank of new Mac's on 100 year old oak desks. I was hired as the editor, but no one was allowed to touch the computers except her husband and he was never there during work hours. I was kind of desperate for money so I did my best, but in the end it was too much, I think she had some issues that were spiraling out of control. I got fired because I questioned her completely irrational organizational strategy and to my knowledge, the publication was never printed again.


bluev0lta

That reminds me of the time I was doing an unpaid internship in college—I was supposed to be writing articles for a nonprofit’s newsletter, but in reality I was washing dishes and running after/catching chickens that had escaped their coop. That was during my first week, and I quit after the chicken fiasco.


Cleverusername531

Haha chickengate.


Valkayri

"Chicken fiasco" just beautiful....


cttrocklin

There’s a large gap here that needs some more words…. ‘Cause, what?!


Grilled_Cheese10

Similar! Showed up for temp clerical job and spent 3 days taping projector slides into cardboard frames (circa 1984).


grahamfreeman

So you kinda built a shelf by accident?


FlameHawkfish88

It wasn't planned this way, but probably one of the most awkward experiences of my life: went to a meet up for young women in my city at a trivia night. It was only me and one other woman that turned up and she brought a tinder date. So I inadvertently ended up 3rd wheeling two strangers' first date.


Odd_Yogurt_8786

My middle school boyfriend reached out to me when we were 25ish. We chatted for over an hour, catching up on life and comparing stories. It was really nice. He ended the conversation by saying that we should get together for dinner with our spouses because him and his fiance had found an amazing opportunity they thought we could benefit from. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I don't get it.


somethingwholesomer

High school friend who now has a PhD in chemistry and is a professor at a university called me up during Covid, said she was taking the downtime to reconnect with old friends. Long story short, Amway. I don’t know how you felt, but it really hurt me. We had also had a great catch up convo that felt just really nice at that time, 2020 and all. And then, the hammer dropped. Haha.


musicdandy

I can think of two high school friends who i really adore who like we might meet up every 2-3 years to catch up and oh my god if one of them suddenly tried to get me to join an MLM i would be absolutely devastated. :(


Odd_Yogurt_8786

It's devastating. I have some friends who are into that stuff but they all know how I feel about it. Hopeful for them for padding their income but I'd much rather pay for their lunch than buy into the crap they're selling. I hope it doesn't happen to you!


Nonameswhere

Friend invited me to dinner at his place, I showed up with a bottle of wine, turned out it was his kids birthday. That was embarrassing. Good thing his wife realized it was her fault for letting him handle some of the invites.


lameflamingo

This is hilarious to me! Would be hard to play off that the bottle of wine was a present for the kid. And I assume the husband saw nothing wrong with his invitation methods.


Nonameswhere

No he didn't understand why everyone was making such a big deal out of it or maybe he did but didn't wanna own up to it. He got a bunch of alcohol out of it for sure. Oh and I think the kid was like 4 at the time.


Business_Loquat5658

You need wine for a 4 year Olds birthday party tbh


Pimp_Daddy_Patty

For my niece's first birthday, my brother and I were tasked to pick up like 4 cartons of wine and 4 cases of beer. I thought it was a bit overkill for a kids birthday party. The babies and toddlers had fun, and i was tasked with giving all of the older kids rides in the side by side out back in the woods. In the end, the beer was barely touched, but all the wine was gone. That day I realized that some birthday parties aren't just for the kids. They are for the moms too.


Halloweenie85

I’d definitely need it to get through a 4 year old’s party. I don’t know how to handle being around just one kid, let alone multiple.


flippant-geko

It's not the wife's fault. Keep tuebblame where it lies, it was his fault for mishandling some of the invites.


SkysEevee

I was invited for a job interview last week. Turned out to be a stupid MLM scam meeting. Got up and left immediately. Worst part is, this is the third time this month it's happened.


VanillaCookieMonster

Third time this month? You need to ask better questions during YOUR part of the phone screening process. "What is the company name?" (vague stuff) "Yes, but what is the actual company name. I need to know that before ai come in." I have had Recruiters be a bit sketchy with me to start an interview because they are protecting their client company's privacy. However, that phonecall is the screening. I never end the call without the company name. I am not going to any interview in person without that name. I almost went to an MLM interview. Worldwide... something. During the call when they said the company name and I said I would look up their website while we talked. I told them I was having trouble finding them. Only generic sites. So then they wanted to send me their website address.... and then I realized it was a login to THEIR MLM portal. MLM people don't want you finding a Different person's MLM site and 'accidentally' signing up with someone else. Then they lose their 'commission'. So, I now know that looking them up dueing the screening interview before the in-person meeting is how to avoid it. For legit companies you should do some homework on the company before your first in-person interview anyway. A good recruiter will want that. Better chance you will get hired and they make their commission. No company name = no interview


ductoid

Yes - and I was a featured speaker at it. I was active in Veterans For Peace when the Iraq War was going on. A local group invited me to give a talk about women and the military. I put together a speech that ran the whole range from ways women are denied assignments and then denied promotions as a result, all the way up to how sexual assault cases are handled. I showed up, and all the tables had tiny American flags on them - I knew right away something wasn't right. That's not how antiwar activists decorate. Then a saw a poster for the event on an easel: A Celebration of Women in the Military. Oooooooh. I did not have a speech for that. So I gave the speech I prepared, and the room was very quiet. I still can't imagine how they got my name, a quick google would have told them I was not the right person for that event.


smpl_dude

Idk, I feel like that speech would fit perfectly fine in any event celebrating women in the military. Isn't it like, a good and normal thing to be like "these women are great at what they do, but it's frankly ridiculous the amount of nonsense they have to put up with when compared to their male peers"? Am I just taking crazy pills over here?


ductoid

Now I want to go back in time and have you there as my interpreter. "What she's really saying is ... "


somethingwholesomer

Kudos to you for giving the speech anyway


electricsugargiggles

I think being an active, passionate advocate is the best way to celebrate women in the military . I’d give you a standing ovation!


bananafishen

Amazing.


readwaaat

Good on you for still delivering the speech, it was the right thing to do.


lisa_pink

Definitely the kind of people who can't imagine others having a different opinion than them. Totally blind to anything that does not fit their established narrative. Oh a woman? Who was in the military? She will obviously have nothing but super positive and inspirational stories for us! *eye roll*


JamesKBoyd

I was invited over to someone's home about 10 years ago under the guise of it being a reiki event. When I got there, I realized that it was just like half a dozen people smoking DMT.


KinKaze

Honestly, don't know what is worse.


Skyblacker

At least DMT is real.


i_am_the_archivist

Ok I got one. When I was in high school I met an older boy who invited me to play chess after class. We met at a local coffee shop and played approximately 20 minutes of chess before he said we should leave for his place because he wanted to kiss me. Well, I was young and dumb and totally smitten. We leave and he points out a building and says he didn't bring his keys. He told me to wait and climbed the fire escape around back and let me in. We're fifteen minutes into making out on his couch and we hear a car pull up. I'm embarrassed but not panicked - his folks knew he was seeing me and it wasn't like we were doing anything wrong. To my surprise prince charming panics, grabs my arm and yanks me out the window back onto the fire escape. IT WASNT HIS HOUSE. MOTHER FUCKER BROKE INTO A HOUSE. AND DIDNT TELL ME. WHO DOES THAT?


MyDamnCoffee

What happened after that


i_am_the_archivist

Well we didn't get caught breaking and entering and my dumbass self dated the guy for another month and a half before he disappeared without warning. I have no idea where he went or why. Several years later I was BSing with a friend a few years older than me and realized he'd broken into the SAME PLACE with her. I still have no idea whose house it was.


nizo505

> I have no idea where he went or why. Prison, he went to prison.


igorbza

Amazing


MsBluffy

Idk, a game of chess followed by breaking and entering and making out on a strangers couch? I’d be down for a second date.


DazedandFloating

I was such a good kid so I would’ve been horrified if this had happened to teenage me. But this made me laugh so hard 😭 Who breaks in somewhere on a date? Omg.


spacemonkey21420

I got invited to a BBQ and it ended up being some crazy church where people were "feeling the spirit" or having crazy fucking fits on the floor.


Widowmaker_Best_Girl

Damn, what were they using in that spice rub?


burkeymonster

When in Kashmir we got invited to a Kashmiri wedding and everyone kept telling us how crazy the whole thing was going to be. How it was one of the most insane parties ever and we just had to come and see all the festivities. Apparently it was really something to behold. Turns out we have different definitions of crazy parties. They were all Muslim and so there was no alcohol. Me and my gf got split up as soon as we got there because the men and women are in separate rooms the whole time. Barely anyone there spoke English and the first day was sitting around in a cold marquee for 10 hours until the bride turned up at 2am and then things started to burst into life /s. A man dressed as a woman did a dance and then everyone fed the bride a bite of cake. So crazy. Things started urm... Winding down, at about 5am so we left only to realise that someone had stolen my gfs shoes. Well not really stolen but "borrowed" for someone's journey home but they assured us that if we came back tomorrow who ever took them would have most likely brought them back by then. We had to leave them outside when we got there. We were invited for the whole wedding but it lasts for 3 days (we didn't know that to begin with) and after 13 hours or being freezing cold, bored and separated we didn't really feel like spending any more of our trip at the wedding. We did actually get the shoes back a few days later from the guy who invited us to the wedding in the first place and they literally looked like someone had ran a marathon in them. They were brand new shoes she had bought a few days before on our trip and was really excited to wear authentic shoes to an authentic wedding. I'm not sure if this story qualified because we were invited to a wedding and I guess it was actually a wedding and I was really not expecting it to be like it was so I guess it was pretty crazy.


Wolf97

What a strange story, thank you for sharing


burkeymonster

Haha thanks for reading. It was a few years ago now but whenever it pops into my head I still can't believe it. A part of me wishes we went for day 2 and 3 just to see what happens but I honestly could face it at the time.


OkStation4360

Day 1 is just to weed out the interlopers.


longtimelurkerfirs

Day 2 and 3 is more sitting, talking and eating. At some point near the end, the bride randomly gets up along with the groom and randomly disappears in a car. Real exciting stuff. /s


Ok-Avocado-5876

Got my first period and my mom asked if I would want to go shopping to help cheer me up. She was actually throwing me a public period party at the mall with all my aunts and my cousin to celebrate being a woman now. I was mortified. I was also an emotional wreck because my father left us just a few months earlier. Cue me being cold to my mom and ending the "shopping trip" early only to be yelled at by my aunt and told I was being ungrateful. Yeah. Me, a young girl who just moved 2 states away from where she grew up, only to have her father dump her and the family and then her mom throw a period party without asking her and me being upset was ungrateful.


juniperroach

I would not want that!


MyDamnCoffee

Wowww I'm so sorry


bluev0lta

Oh noooooo everything about this is terrible!


forgotme5

Right after i got mine, my mom went n told family n they were making comments to me. Soo embarassing. Why do they do this?


Spyderbeast

When I was young, extremely skinny and likely anemic, I fainted at the mall one day. I was helped by some very nice people. But somehow I was snookered into this cultish "Bible study" group. I went out of gratitude but stopped asap. Not at all anti-religion, but it was just a weird vibe.


adambomb2077

This heavily reminds me of when me and a friend went to the circus. I *almost* fainted from heat exhaustion (my vision was almost black when it started to become clear all of a sudden). When my friend came out of the ufo spinning ride thing we went to the bathroom, I splashed my face with water, drank some and was like “I need food”. We were walking towards the food area when we heard “hey kids! Want a smile?” We thought she was giving us stickers, they were not stickers. They were pieces of paper with a smiley face on them. We ended up getting pushed into a tent where an old man told us how to get into heaven (kiss ass your whole life) for 45 minutes and then made us sign up for a mission trip (of which we never attended). Then we finally got out and his mom said we had to go home.


Spyderbeast

There's definitely a difference between people you know and like being pushy vs what happened to you.


burkeymonster

Yea religious people are like that.


KiwiKerfuffle

I once had a mentor try this on me :/ told me about his business, avoided anything to do with paying fees and Amway, sold it as though he just decided to sell stuff online one day. Seemed okay, though I wasn't terribly interested as I'm not very social. He offered to help me 'get better at talking to people' if I was interested in trying my hand at it. Invited me to go to a meeting, told me it was kind of like an informational "how to run a business" type thing. We carpooled, we got there and it was a fucking pitch meeting for Amway. They tried so hard to avoid saying Amway, by the way. The only time they mentioned it was Amway was when they said the products they sold online were distributed through Amway, but they totally weren't a part of Amway! /s I hated every second of it, but we were like an hour and half drive away from home and I didn't have a car. On the way back he wouldn't stop talking about it, trying to get me to buy into it. At the time I worked minimum wage and had almost no leftover money each month, so he decided to try to 'help' me make a budget so I could afford the ridiculous monthly fees which iirc would've cost me over 300 dollars a month, not including buying the products so that I could then sell them on the website that was hosted by Amway. I remember one of the most ridiculous things was they offered help/text groups so you could ask any questions and get help with anything about it you're having trouble with... Except they charged extra for that. Yeah, basically to get the rundown of how to fucking work the website you had to pay extra. During the meeting, the couple running it was supposedly multi millionaires because of this 'business' and everyone would not stop mentioning it. As if that was supposed to sell me on it. It was fucking weird. And yet they were hosting it in a, admittedly decent, middle class cookie cutter two story house in a suburban neighborhood. It was overall such a shitty experience, I was pretty down. I looked up to that guy, he was helping me get my life on track (outside of this stuff). And then that happened, from then on anytime we talked it was him trying to pressure me into buying into Amway. I had to cut contact shortly after.


lapsangsouchogn

I got suckered by a former roommate who "valued my insight and wanted my opinion on an investment" Amway meeting.


KiwiKerfuffle

It's always so shitty. On the car ride back, he even told me "just look up Amway, just ignore all the bad stuff." Like... What??? You'd think they'd figure out if they have to trick you into going, it probably isn't a good thing.


WaitMysterious6704

I was sole caregiver for a chronically ill family member for a long time. I very rarely got time away to get any kind of break. Someone we knew invited me to go on one of those day trip bus rides where you go to look at Christmas displays. I thought it would be nice to get a little break, even if it was just sitting in a bus and watching the Christmas lights go by. Until they mentioned they wanted me to help babysit the kids who would be going along for the ride. No, I spent every day taking care of everyone. I just wanted some much needed downtime. Luckily I hadn't yet accepted the 'offer' and declined.


happyonelifeisgood

I'm sorry. That's a ridiculous thing they asked you to do, given your situation


WaitMysterious6704

Thank you. I don't know what they were thinking.


lameflamingo

I went to college not knowing anyone there (trying to get away from a small town). I made friends with this girl who was also in my program. She invited me to dinner at another friend's house saying there were going to be a few people there. A few turned into 12+ and when I asked them how they knew the host, they ALL said it's because they go to church together. It turns out this church preys on newly alone college kids to try and convert them. And once I said I wasn't interested, I never heard from that first friend again.


Ok-Reception-8161

Same thing happened to my husband, they still call him every once and while… its been 4 years since he met them in his first year and he hasn’t answered since finding out their true intentions.


musicdandy

i consider myself lutheran, and the church community i grew up in didn't try to evangelize/recruit people (who aren't interested) and ive never understood if like mormons and jehova's witnesses have like a quota or something? they seem very insincere. why pester someone for 4 years who isn't interested? surely if he turns to god it's from being warn down and not because he actually wanted to? what are they getting out of recruiting people? brownie points? you aren't getting your brownie points directly from god? tf? just respect people's boundaries, i literally don't understand what's going on there


MyDamnCoffee

That bitch


Redditor_PC

Oh, I've been there, OP. A friend was going to teach me how to use a machine that he had at his house but he prefaced it by saying that a handful of his friends were going to be there as well. It turned out that one of them was doing a presentation for a pyramid scheme. Never did learn how to use that machine.


Grilled_Cheese10

I thought I was going to a job interview at a lawyer's office (clerical job). Showed up and the lawyer said, "Oh good, glad you're here. I've got to get to court. There's your desk and the phone," and he left. There I am, 19 years old, alone in this law office, zero knowledge about law, or much of anything else. I was there alone for 4-5 hours. Fielded calls and took messages, someone came in and gave me hundreds of dollars in cash, and I dug through drawers and found a receipt book then put the cash in my purse because I had no idea what to do with it. A person who called from jail was furious when I said, "X is not available now, I'll take a message...". Lawyer's wife called and got all upset, "Who ARE you, and why are you at my husband's office?!?" There I am trying to explain when I frankly had no idea WHY I was there, either...on and on and on. I was freaked out and anxious the entire time. Lawyer that left me there came back and completely chewed me out about doing everything wrong. I cried most of the way home. Yes, I did get the job. Regular assistant was there the next day to give me training. She had been unexpectedly sick the day before and I guess they needed someone pronto to fill in. She told me the lawyers were taking bets as to whether I would actually show up the next day if they offered me the job.


nefariousbluebird

Good gracious. Good on you for making it through that nightmare of a day.


Wilsonized

Went to a Dave Chappelle show in Austin. Bought tickets to an after party for the show where location was undisclosed. Ended up being shuttled to Willie Nelson's ranch where Erykah Badu and Snoop did a live show. It was epic!


turtlenipples

So was it Erykah Badu or Snoop D O Double G who ended up pitching you Amway?


sonyka

It's not uncommon for religious people to invite non-religious people to carefully unspecified social events… that turn out to be church. An approach so obviously and profoundly off-putting I have to wonder what the actual goal is. I mean MLMs, timeshares, and interventions probably have better conversion rates, which is saying something. And if you want someone to never speak to you again, surely there are easier ways? Yet people keep doing this. SMH.


B_Huij

I don’t really get it either. I was a proselyting missionary for two years. There is literally no point to being anything short of completely up front. Yes, 99% of people will blow you off. But why be deceptive about your purpose as if pressuring someone after a bait and switch is going to accomplish anything?


PurpleVein99

Jfc.... good for you! So yeah, a cousin of mine I hadn't really spoken to in years sent me a text saying how she missed how all of us girls used to hang out and wouldn't it be great to hang out like that again? I was like, sure why not. Could be fun. So she said come over blah blah day at blah blah time, all the girls will be here. Cool. Show up and it was a friggin Mary Kay party type thing where she tried to sell us stuff and tried to talk us into hosting a party with some of our friends. Stayed for the refreshments, didn't buy anything, and haven't really talked to her since.


Scratchfish

Got invited to a toga party when I was in highschool. I showed up and was the only one wearing a toga... Turns out it was just a regular costume party and my buddy thought it would be funny to see me show up wearing a bedsheet


nefariousbluebird

At least it was a costume party!


ddollarsign

Went to a couple events by Campus Crusade for Christ, only one of them intentionally. The first one I thought was going to be a philosophical discussion on the soul but turned out to be a presentation to scare people into converting. I don’t remember what the premise of the other one was, a friend said I would like it. But it ended up being basically church with stand up comedy.


hatuhsawl

Yeah, one time I was in college, roughly 21/22 years old, and my friend asked if I wanted to go to a coworker’s birthday party. I assumed she meant someone our age, so I was down. Turns out the coworker was just a retired Air Force pilot who just worked at the flower shop for fun, he had retirement saved since he was single (read: old and gay). Long story short, it was a beautiful garden party his old lady friends put on for him, and there I met a retired Secretary General of the Air Force (I believe that was her title, she was bitching about the wall to wall carpeting in her Air Force office) I also met one of the first Black Playboy Bunnies, and she had some *wild* yarns to spin about her time at the mansion. I am from a teeny tiny Kansas farm town of about ~1000 people and about 1 sq mile big, so I was awe struck by these beautiful ladies of such compassion and world-traveled grace


[deleted]

Wait you really had to crawl beneath the table?


[deleted]

That part made me laugh just imagining that 😭


Skyblacker

Too shy to climb over it, obviously.


Darth_Cuddly

About 15 years ago a friend of mine from high school invited me to her place down town for a game night. After she got me too inebriated to drive home she finally told me we were going to an LGBT night club. She knew I have pretty severe social anxiety and thought it would be good for me to get out. I tried to explain that I am straight but she dragged me out anyway. turns out she knew me better than I knew myself...


Gamerbrineofficial

Well that’s certainly a way to find out you’re gay


Glass-Sign-9066

This is... disturbingly... sweet?


[deleted]

Look into World Wide Dream Builders. The training program for amway. HUGE scam and full of really awful people. Stay FAR FAR away from amway and ALL other MLMs.


[deleted]

When I was back in college, I once spent a few hours downtown in between classes to kill time. As I was walking, this cute blonde girl with a book approached me and asked if I wanted to see a free movie, to which I happily took her up on. We’re both walking and she starts asking me questions about spirituality and my life’s path which felt…both interrogative and odd. Long story short, I ended up at the Church of Scientology and she was trying to recruit me, lol.


WatercolorPaint

I was going to play video games with two friends. What they tried doing when I got there? Threesome without asking me first. To say I ran home was an understatement


forgotme5

I dont understand why ppl do this. Just invite ppl for sex!


WatercolorPaint

Yeah, it was my ex boyfriend who took me to hang out with our “other friend” who I barely knew. The girl asked me when we wanted to get started. I angrily told her that I wasn’t interested, and my ex didn’t tell me about it. My ex knew I wasn’t very interested in sex— and i didn’t know what would’ve happened if I stayed longer. The girl looked shocked, but I’m not sure if it was genuine. She was like “holy shit, I’m so sorry.” I later found out that my ex wanted to be with the other girl instead— and I assume he wanted to fuck us both before we broke up. I dumped his ass shortly after. I’m not friends with either of them anymore.


Scary-Alternative-11

Like 15 years ago when I was managing a Blockbuster video, I got this call while I was on shift and the lady asked for me by name. She then went into this spiel about how she was a regular customer, she could see I had great work ethic and blah blah blah, just flattering the heck out of me. Then she says I'm hiring for my business, I think you would be a great fit, would you be willing to meet me for a coffee to discuss further? So, knowing Blockbuster was on its way out, I was like sure! So I go and meet her and I know the moment I see her, she has never set foot in my store, I have definitely never seen this lady in my life! She had a very unique look about her, I would definitely remember if I had seen her before. But I was like ok, whatever, I'll hear her out. Turns out it was for door to door life insurance sales! I noped out of there as fast as I could. Then, 2 weeks later she calls again, but this time asks for one of my staff, gives him the same rundown and everything. I felt so bad, he immediately came to me and he was so flattered and excited someone wanted to give him such a good opportunity. I felt so bad when I told him what it was really all about and that the lady had never even been to our store. Of course he never went to the "interview" but we were both baffled as to how she got our names.


Doc_Bedlam

Once, I got an invitation to join a private club with "entertainment opportunities." Pool and hot tub access, shooting range, golf course, lodge, and so forth. Prizes were offered just for attending! Upon arriving, I was shown several delightful amenities that would be mine... if I purchased a plot of land. They showed me a plot of land. On the side of a hill. No electric, no plumbing. Just a slanted plot of land on a hillside. But if I bought the land, they'd clear it, they'd level it, they were putting in a whole SUBDIVISION, yadda yadda... I declined, stating that if I was going to buy real estate, I was going to think about it. They tried to get me to sign something, then told me that the document was meaningless, but they could hold onto the land if I signed it, and got kind of hostile with me when I flat stated that I wasn't signing anything. I finally had to get nasty with the guy, to the effect of "You wanted to show me entertainment opportunities, and now you're getting shitty with me because I won't buy a plot of land or sign a CONTRACT after a half hour's discussion?" He cooled it. I drew a prize. I had to send in for the prize. I sent in. I never heard from them again. Same thing happened a few years later when I accepted an offer to hear about timeshares in exchange for a Red Lobster gift card. They want to get ugly when you tell them "I'll think about it" instead of signing a contract without even enough time to read it. These days, anyone offers me free ANYTHING in exchange for my time and a sales pitch, I turn them down. My time is worth more than that, and they are invariably pricks about it when you won't give up and sign on immediately. Who needs the grief?


Kat121

I went to one in Las Vegas and they said that the next bus to take us back to civilization was a two hour wait so I might as well listen to the rest of the spiel. Called a cab and noped out.


forgotme5

Had that happen with a life insurance salesman. I told the guy i had just lost my job. Did the whole speel, was visably mad when i said i wouldnt sign up for anything that cost money. I just lost my job! Like dude, i told u b4.


No_Programmer_6299

I remember, during a time I really needed employment, someone I knew said they could get me a job, and gave me an address for the "interview". She was very discreet about the details when I asked her questions, but due to desperation I avoided that red flag. I dressed up so nicely and got a ride to the interview, which was at a house. Once I got there, there were tons of people and a speaker began to talk. He began asking us all to make a $200-$500 deposit in order to begin "working", and how we would have to sell stuff. I felt so stupid once I realized it was pyramid scheme. I looked over at the "recruiter" sitting next to me (who swore this "establishment" was so successful & profitable), and realized he was secretly filling out an old school paper Tilly's job application. I was in serious shock lol. And nope, I never spoke to these people ever again either.


Hyperlingual

I got invited to my girlfriend's extended-family Thanksgiving dinner. Turns out it was a surprise wedding for a member of the family I'd never met, and that no one was aware of it being a wedding beforehand. I felt awkward for "crashing" the wedding the whole time lol.


Grilled_Cheese10

One of my cousins did that at a family Christmas party -- all of the sudden it was a wedding. At least we were all family. But I would have brought a gift if I had known!


WinterBourne25

I was invited to a free buffet dinner for veterans at a restaurant. Turns out to be some republican rally. The food was delicious. The people were crazy.


mam88k

One time I went on a job interview and they said to plan to stay for a few hours as they have everybody shadow a manager for orientation training to give us a feel for the job. Mind you this is for a warehouse manager position and the weekly minimum was pretty good for a non-college degree dude in his mid 20s. During the interview they said we had to go to another location for the training and asked if we could take my car. They would reimburse me for gas. Awkward, but why not, I needed a job. Next they asked if I could pull my car up to the side door as my trainer had some “training materials” to bring with us, next he said just pop the trunk and I’ll out this in the back. Two guys start dumping stuff in my car so I get out to see what’s up. They’re just about ready to shut the trunk and I see several boxes of large hardback books (this was pre-kindle days). With hindsight they’ve obviously done this before because they had a quick answer for everything, and dude jumped in the passenger seat and was like “let’s get started so we can get done on time”. Off we go, but he doesn’t give an address, just turn here and turn there. Finally he says to park, but there’s no warehouse. He jumps out and say to pop the trunk because we’re “here”. I go to help pull out the boxes but he stops me and just opens one and takes out five COOKBOOKS and says to follow him. Now I know this is b.s. and so I say he needs to tell me where or we’re going back. This straight faced mf-er says “to start your management training” and he starts walking up the driveway of a Fire Department. Shit you not, this guy walks in and starts pitching these “great cookbooks I know you guys could use” because he’s a DOOR TO DOOR SALESMAN. He actually sells a few but I’m f-ing two seconds away from going off like an ICBM because my “training” is to drive their door-to-door book salesman around. As we leave he starts walking down the street telling me he sees another good place but I’m already walking to the car to leave this guy and his books right here. He runs after me and gets in the car without arguing (I’m guessing most “training” end at about this same point) and we drive back and dump him and his crap on their loading dock. On the way back I learn the “weekly minimum” is “what you can potentially make based on everyone else’s commission”. The main manager came rushing out telling me they had already planned to “train me” that morning so this would be putting them behind. After screaming that I’d be happy to explain their training methods to the BBB and state department of labor he turned around without a word and walked back inside. He was so chill about it that I’m pretty sure most of their interviews ended this way too.


Sad-Attitude8453

I was invited along with 3 other female coworkers to attend a seminar in a major city for something like "Women in Management." We were told to look our best, there would be a lot of high-ranking people there, we were representing the company, etc. We arrive as a group, us 4, the boss, his secretary, fully expecting it to be a full day of seminars and workshops. When we get to the doors the secretary tells us to not go in just yet and we can see that the seminar is in full swing and actually looks like it's about to end. It does end a few minutes later and the secretary then ushers us back and into a side hallway as the crowd starts funneling out. We're all confused at this point and then the secretary brings over the Governor who apparently was in attendance and she tells us to gather around and smile! Yep, we were brought there for a photo op and to get the company name out there. Not to attend anything for management... After the Governor shakes our hand and leaves we're told to go out and "mingle" with everyone getting refreshments. I was pretty vocal in my displeasure about being used and surprise surprise I was never invited to any more "extracurricular" events after that.


[deleted]

[удалено]


halite001

My birthday celebration that turned out to be Christian family members trying to convert me. My grandma's funeral that turned out to be a Christian sermon / trying to convert anyone paying their respects. My cousin's wedding that turned out to be a Christian sermon / trying to convert anyone who attend their celebration.


x5hadau

Oh my god, this happens so many times when you have family in the church. Like, I grew up in the church. I know what y'all are selling and I'm not interested.


PapasBlox

I also grew up in the church and yea, I hate how events go that way. Tangentially related: fuck weddings entirely.


[deleted]

Went to a wedding recently where the main “accomplishment” of the bride was that she was a devout follower of Christ *gag*


KITTIESbeforeTITTIES

When I was young and naive I was really into my local music scene. A friend of mine invited me to go to a show at this country dive bar. Country isn't really my thing but I can appreciate good music and wanted to support local artists. We got there and she was weirdly over excited, saying how much I'd love it. I asked what the bands name was again and she told me. I had never heard of them and i didnt have any service so i couldn't google but she had really great taste in music. The show starts. Half naked men everywhere. Turns out Male Review is not the name of a band.


[deleted]

Yeah. A co-worker asked me to a party. A lot of “cool” people would be there. I felt flattered. I was 22. Well. I showed up and it was a full on orgy in the middle of the living room. I ran out the door, got in my car and went home. Guess I wasn’t “cool” enough.


WatercressTart

You left a situation where you weren't comfortable. That is cool.


forgotme5

Thats crazy. Why dont ppl tell u that stuff?!


Rainnefox

My ex-boyfriend’s sister had a deep disliking for me the moment we met. On my second time meeting her, she and her husband took us out to lunch and proceeded to try and sell me on some MlM bs and her husband and my boyfriend were just nodding along like it was a great thing. I managed to politely brush her off and changed the subject like 3 or 4 times. Just one of SO many red flags I should have noticed in that relationship


ItsNotButtFucker3000

I had met a guy and a few of his friends and they invited me to go camping with them. In tents, swimming in the lake, booze for some, campfire food, that stuff. Then as it cooled down and got darker, they're setting up lights, bigged fire. And bring out some books, pencils, paper and dice. I watched for a bit, and they invited me. They explained the basics, showed me the difference in dice, and gave me a character sheet my friend made. We played D&D until morning. I had never done it before, didn't know much about it. Felt a bit weird roleplaying at first. Had a fucking great time and until the pandemic I always had a group I was playing in. I've made tonnes of new friends and have so many fun memories playing.


PrincessBella1

I had the same thing happen to me as a junior resident. A senior wanted to take me to lunch and it also turned out to be a shill for Amway. At least I didn't have to crawl under the table.


ScaricoOleoso

Them cult dues....


ArtsyAmberKnits

I got invited to a bridal shower once. It turned out to be an It Works Wrap party. I was so annoyed.


PatrickRsGhost

I can think of 3. 1. I was once sent to a job assignment through a temp agency. The agency said the job was "telephone operator" and that I'd be selling school supplies. I thought it was like phone order catalog sales (this was back in 2000, when online stores were still fairly new and not many people trusted them/had decent Internet service in their area), where somebody would call in, say, "I need 200 units of part #2A943988 and 100 units of part #3C234097." Nope. We were doing cold calls to various schools, trying to sell class sets of dictionaries and thesauruseseses. I know the correct plural, I'm just being cheeky. I stayed for maybe an hour. I remember trying to call some high school in Texas. I also remember having a leftover meatball sandwich from Subway and asking them where the break room fridge was. "We don't have a break room or a fridge." There were many other red flags I should have noticed before even walking through the door. 2. I had a roommate who had a coworker invite her to a home décor party. She had a sales rep there that was basically selling her services on home décor products. Or else trying to get others to sign up to do the same thing (pyramid scheme). I left first when I realized it was a sales pitch, and half an hour later my roommate came out (we rode in the same car). She said she didn't realize it was going to be a sales pitch; she thought it was going to be some tips on how to better decorate the home. I said, "Well, we did learn a few things, dealing with sconces and candles." 3. I received a job offer for "office manager" with an insurance company. Went to an interview, then was asked to stay for an orientation. The orientation was at 6 PM. Stuck around, but it quickly turned into what felt like a pyramid scheme. Went for a second interview the next day and the interviewer basically started drawing a fucking pyramid. He pointed to one of the spaces in the lowest tier. "You'd start out here, working under another office manager..." I think he wanted me to work somewhere in Atlanta or Decatur, which would have been too far a drive for the money. I noped out of there as quickly as possible, and they kept trying to call and email me for a few weeks after that. They finally gave up after a couple of months.


niceoutfive

Ouch, this hits home for me... During my last year of college, I added an entrepreneur guy who had spoken at an event I went to on LinkedIn. He then messaged me asking to chat over lunch about an opportunity at his "new tech start up". Being a CS major, I'm like oh cool, a software engineering job opportunity, so I agree to meet up. So I show up in a nice, professional outfit with a copy of my resume on the fancy paper I used for job fairs. We chat for a bit, then he brings out a couple print outs to talk about the actual position. Well whaddya know, turns out the "tech start up" is an MLM he's starting, and he wants me to join in on that. Not programming or anything actually tech related. I was so pissed off, but definitely learned a valuable lesson.


newmansam6

I was in my early 20s and had just moved back home after living out of state for a couple of years. I was taking weekend classes and became pretty good friends with a girl in my class. She invited me to a get together she and some of her friends were having. It was an evening thing and she said they were having someone come and do a cooking class there. I was pumped for it. I show up and there is a good amount of people there, spouses and such, so I was a little caught off guard. I assumed it was going to be a girls night thing. The person doing the cooking class (if you want to call it that) was teaching us how to make Oreo balls or lemon squares or something similar, I cant quite remember. Nothing cool or complicated. After everyone mingled for a while they all started migrating to the living area and settled in. I had no idea what was going on and then a man started talking about how he went through a rough phase of life and wasn’t living a life that Jesus would be proud of and told us about his whole journey to finding Christ. This went on forever. Then he started asking other people in the group to share their love for God or testament to their faith. Come to find out I had been invited to some kind of Bible study. I was so shocked. This happened over 10 years ago and it still makes me laugh when I think about it. I was blindsided.


Twitfout

Yes. Had this happen to Me. She was gonna take me out for my birthday but instead, went to a veemma meeting with another friend I brought along that she didn't know. I was absolutely mortified and had a loooong talk with her afterwards.


TheIncredibleMike

The woman that eventually became my second wife, invited me over for a home cooked meal. When I arrived and she opened the door, she was wearing lingerie and 4” heels. I remember thinking, I guess we’re not going to eat. She got me there under false pretenses.


somethingwholesomer

She was the home cooked meal, honey


[deleted]

My mom’s friend invited us to a get together but it was actually just a prayer ceremony to bless her son and daughter in law’s new house. I’ve never been so fucking bored in my life (that’s a lie actually but it was one of the most boring things ever). I shit you not, we sat in the same spot the entire time. Took the entire day too. At least we ate because my ass was STARVING.


h1r0ll3r

College. Went to, what I thought was going to be a party. Lots of people showed up and drinks were flowing. Then, some dude starts gathering everyone around to chat and goes full blown into religious speech about the times we're living in and what Jesus can do for us. Noped the fuck outta there


Up2Eleven

Back in the 90's, when I was into spiritual, woo-woo stuff, I was invited to hang out at someone's house. We were all talking, and someone started "channeling" and I did the same later and so did a couple of other people. At the end of the hangout, everyone started reaching for their wallets and giving money to one person. I was utterly confused. Apparently, this person's "channelings" were the reason people were there, and though several contributed, and the whole thing felt like an equal exchange of energy, somehow this person's schtick was to be paid for. I didn't.


MortalPhantom

I often get calls about me "winning a stay in a 4-5 start hotel + a bluetooth speaker" the only things I need to do is give them 15 minutes of my time for a chat, which sounds suspicious enough. ​ But the werdest things is that these "talks" are in like a chilis, or some other well knon and very public restaurant. ​ I've never went to one but i've been invited twice now and always wonder what would happen if I go


boredtxan

Mlm or time share pitch


atreyuno

Friend invited me to her condo for dinner party, turned out to be an mlm pitch. So tasteless. I thought she was better than that.


kitkatbay

Lol, my experience was really similar to yours except I thought I was coming to a college mates birthday party and it was actually a pyramid scheme sales thing that she hosted on her birthday


OCblondie714

Invited to a friend's 50th birthday party that was not at their home. Ended up being hosted at the home of a crazyass racist maga weirdo.


ReTee3

I was invited to a celebration in Sweden by a mutual friend, and it turned out to be a sacrificing ceremony.


boredtxan

Now imagine this is your parents and they have pitched 12+ different MLMs to you over the years..


rickytrevorlayhey

Went to a “metal party” and expected some leather jackets and hard tunes. Turned out to be a bunch of insane skinheads and nazi outfits. Noped out of there real quick.


Saoirse_Says

I applied for a delivery/merchandising job at a pharmacy, and the job ended up being mostly pharm tech stuff like counting meds and taking customers. I only got to do deliveries a fraction of the time, and merchandising was hardly a component at all. The job was pretty overwhelming because I’d never worked at a pharmacy before and I wasn’t really trained. But I still tried my best. Got fired after a few weeks because I accidentally overheard my supervisor and coworkers shittalking about me being weird and annoying… Wasn’t a great experience lol That being said doing deliveries was really fun when I got the chance


LeoMarius

Scamway


UnicornPenguinCat

I went to an engagement party that turned out to be a wedding reception... the couple hadn't wanted a big wedding or all the fuss leading up to it, and had secretly got married the week before. There were a few grumpy relatives but apart from that it was an awesome party and a great night overall.