Where's the line between "negligence" and "scam"?

I tend to say that, in relation to grief, a loss is a loss.  However, I may have to rethink that.  What I meant by it is that a grief group is not necessarily a contest as to who's loss is the biggest.  It doesn't matter if you have lost a wife or a granddaughter.  It doesn't matter if you have lost a spouse to death, or to divorce.  The grief will vary in intensity, not only because of the significance of the relationship, but also because people react differently to grief.  So it's not a contest, and grievers tend to feel for each other.

However, recently I was made aware of a situation where somebody is taking this concept a little bit too far.  They seem to be trying to be "all things to all people," or to make a grief support group fit all kinds of situations.  In this particular group there was someone who had made a purchase, and was then disappointed in the result.  Now, possibly, and even very likely, this was more than simple "buyer's remorse."  There was a fair amount of money involved, and this person had had a set of requirements which were not fulfilled by the actual item purchased.  But, unfortunately, this person was sitting next to a person who had lost a spouse of very long standing.  I don't think that anybody would argue that the two situations were in any way comparable.

Which has led me to the realization that a number of people are seeing the grief, of others, as an opportunity.  They see it as a sort of a weird form of empire building, or of creating a business, even though they do not understand what grief is, themselves, because of having almost no experience in it.  In a sense, they are defrauding the people they are supposedly serving.  No, it's not necessarily fraud in terms of finances, although one could possibly make a case that the payment for the sessions is somewhat fraudulent.  And no, it's not the same as the grief scams that try to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from grievers.  But, it is, in a very real sense, taking advantage of the grief of other people in order to benefit one particular person, who not only may not be providing the comfort and support that the mourner actually needs, but may, because of presenting this situation falsely as an opportunity for the mourning, may be preventing that mourner from finding realistic comfort and support.