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Non-meat-eaters like to say that no one would want to eat a sausage ever again if they knew how it was made. But that applies to many more industries: apparel, politics, and even gas stations. Most of us probably have some dirt on our workplaces that we can never share without greatly damaging their reputations, but thank god for the internet, where we can still be anonymous and spill the tea for entertainment’s sake.
In one recent online thread, people started sharing disturbing behind-the-scenes facts about their career fields. “What industry secret would make customers never use that service again if they knew?” one netizen asked. Read on to find out what it really means when your favorite food item boasts a “new recipe” or whether expensive, bougie clothes are any different from fast fashion pieces (spoiler alert: they’re mostly not).
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not necessarily a industry secret, but customer loyalty is mostly a myth. Many companies will give better deals to brand new customers rather than the people who've been paying them for years.
RELATED:
#2
Every time a food item has 'new recipe ' on the packaging, it means they found a cheaper, lower quality supplier for one or more of the ingredients.
dirty_cuban:
Same with nonfood items like soap, detergent, etc.
Sensitive_Gift4866:
I noticed this with my favorite snack brand. They changed the recipe and suddenly it tasted different and the texture was off. Checked the ingredients and they swapped out real cheese for some concoction with starches and oil.
#3
"Natural ingredients" is a meaningless marketing term.
WindySwede 10 hours ago
all Natural cyanide in flax seeds! 😸. Or from one pack here on BP years ago? It said, NATURAL is just a trademark and does not reflect the origin of the ingredients..
#4
Grains used to make breads, biscuits, cookies, and what not, are allowed to contain a certain amount of contaminants (bugs, etc) and can even be rotten by some amounts.
To be fair, it's not like there's a way to avoid it. It's just hard for people to come to terms with it.
#5
A lot of "limited-time" sales aren't really that limited. Some discounts come back every few weeks.
Huddo's sister 11 hours ago
We have a kitchenware shop in Australia that constantly has 'limited time only' and 'closing down sale' plastered all over it's windows. This has been going on for at least 30 years.
#6
Clothing stores source their stock from the same third world hellholes. The only difference is the label and the price tag. Also, even the “upmarket” stock rooms are infested with rats, lice and fleas.
#7
Ai chatbots are free cause that’s how they are training their models in real time. So the product is you in other words.
Sensitive_Gift4866:
Yeah the whole "if the product is free, youre the product" thing never felt more true than with AI. I catch myself typing detailed personal questions into chatbots and then remember oh right.
Linda Lee 17 hours ago
Just wait until you have to call someone about your insurance or home warranty or even your bank. You will have to get past AI first, then when you get to a human, you will be angry and the representative won't have the authority to correct your issue. Please have compassion for the human you've reached; they don't own the company, are trying to get through the day just like we are.
#8
Credit scoring is basically a black box that punishes you for being poor, like the algorithm dings you for checking your rate too many times or having the wrong zip code. my friend got rejected for a card with a 720 score because their utilization was 'too low' like they werent in enough debt already. the whole system is designed to keep you borrowing forever tbh.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 10 hours ago
"Punishing people for being poor" is basically the main tenet of capitalism
#9
Commercial ice machines are disgusting and I guarantee that if you saw the state of them in most pubs, you would run screaming from the building.
I clean ours out once a week (completely empty/dismantle/wash/disinfect/dry) and it is always getting a bit yucky when I come back to it a week later.
Patricia Steward 6 hours ago
After seeing the condition of ice machines on restaurant renovation shows, I ask for my water without ice.
#10
Generally, the first batch of electronic products uses the best materials, and over time, they increasingly try to cut costs.
GenericElder 17 hours ago
Not just electronics. Clothing for example. A few years ago I ordered clothes from a company and loved their design, construction quality, and material used. Went back to the same company this year, ordered the same item, at a slightly higher price . . . and got c**p material, with poorly overcast stitched hems/seams that started to fall apart the 1st time I wore it, holes appeared in the middle of the fabric around printed pattern elements where I assume the stamp had been too strong for the cheap fabric used, AND the blasted thing made me itch!
#11
Insurance companies hold annual meetings where they give cash awards to employees who figure out how not to pay huge claims. I have witnessed this.
#12
How absolutely disgusting back of house is in most large non food shops. I dont think I've ever been in a large non food warehouse that didn't have either a pigeon or a rat problem. Hot wash your clothes and dishware before using.
#13
Brand name foods often come from the same factory as store brand food. I'm talking *literally* the same food. They just charge more for the brand recognition.
In fact, its often sold to the store BY the name brand and repackaged.
A lot of the time the store brand is the same quality but cheaper, or inconsequentially lower quality.
That way the name brand looks *premium* in comparison, still makes money by selling to the store, and the store gets more sales by being the "affordable" option.
#14
I know of a fiduciary business that is horribly unorganized. There are people literally signing over their life savings to this company to manage their finances when they can't even keep track of their own finances.
MozeeToby:
My wife works in finance, the number of advisors that have giant houses, fancy cars, and no savings or retirement is enormous. If you see an 80 year old advisor that just "loves his job" too much to retire? Just run.
#15
I work as a hotel manager and I would be very sceptical to use couches in the room.
#16
As someone who’s worked around corporate environments, I’d say how often major decisions are made with incomplete information and a surprising amount of educated guesswork. People imagine a room full of masterminds when sometimes it’s just “this seems like the least bad option.”
Luke || Kira (he/she) 10 hours ago
Idk, looking at the current state of the work, I'd say that "incomplete information and educated guesswork" is one of the best case scenarios we can hope for
#17
Hotels don’t wash the comforter like you think they do — that blanket has seen more strangers than a dating app.
#18
Ethanol in gasoline is pointless and keeps prices elevated for more profit by the petroleum industry. It has been proven to not help emissions at all.
#19
Those plastic cups and water bottles with printing aren't cleaned before you use them the first time, and they're not handled sanitarily when they're made at the factory. That cool sports-branded cup you got at the game when you ordered a soda was probably handled by someone who didn't wash their hands and doesn't wear gloves on the line. SOURCE: Worked at a plastics manufacturing company.
OneHappyPuppy 1 hour ago
The amount of times a potential customer asked me if the packaging we sell is sterilized is insane. Of course not, it would be much more expensive if it was
#20
Grocery store deli employees do not [care] about proper handling procedures, cross-contaminated meats and cheeses, whether they have been stored correctly or if the products are even in date. They do not have time, energy or enough staff to [care] along with being underpaid.
You getting 3 lbs of chipped ham for your potluck picnic is more of a gamble than you realize.
Linda Lee 17 hours ago
All customer facing jobs are like this today due to poor wages and chronic understaffing. My late husband's grandmother worked at a department store in the women's section from the 60's through the 80's and was able to buy a house, raise two kids, and send one to college. (Her husband passed away in a car accident when the kids were little and she never remarried.)
#21
I once did a training course for a housekeeper at a big hotel chain.
We were taught to use the dirty pillowslips to clean everything, including the toilet.
And it wasn't an off-the-cuff suggestion. It was the standard procedure. And they were the pillowslips in the room that were going to be washed, not old ones.
It was disgusting.
#22
The bubbles in a hot tub/spa are... you know, the bubbles you cover yourself in like you do with bubble bath bubbles at home.
It's human body fat and skin secretions, it's women's make up, sweat, missed patches of feces, and so on and so on.
Enjoy, glad I could be of Service.
#23
I work customer service for a mobile phone company. It's an open secret in my workplace that the shops particularly will give you a tablet under the pretence that it's 'free', but in reality you are paying for the tablet and a SIM card to go with it over 24 months.
They get away with it by including the cost of the tablet with the price of something else, like home broadband or a mobile phone, and making out that for the combined price, you're getting the thing you purchased plus a free tablet to go with it.
Ace 11 hours ago
It has always been thus. In the very early days of mobile phones it was even more common than it is today, and quite often the phones they would give you "free" were locked to the network provider so you couldn't switch to someone else. Most people sussed it out once they'd got to the first or second annual renewal, seen that there was a different price if the handset was not included and done the quite simple sums to work out the better option.
#24
Not sure if this quite counts but:
People don’t like delivery drivers tossing packages onto their porch. And I get that, I really do.
But I’ve seen the inside of both a USPS Pd&C and an Amazon distribution center and throwing packages into giants bins and letting them crash into each other is a huge way that everything makes onto the trucks in time. It’s literally called “throwing”. Supes will be like “we need people throwing” and workers will start doing it.
I’ve seen a 6 figure a year postmaster yeet a package labeled “fragile” across the room and into a cinder block wall.
#25
When I worked in a sports bar, the low ketchup bottles at tables would be emptied into the kinda-low bottles. It's a guessing game how many times that old ketchup was placed on top of newer stuff.
#26
Most things that happen in restaurant kitchens.
countpandula 54 minutes ago
Once witnessed a chef drop a steak on the nastiest kitchen floor imaginable, give it a quick rinse under the tap, brush some grease on from some used pan that was sitting on the counter, put it on a plate and send it out.
#27
That plumbing is not rocket science. Recently got quoted $1000 to replace a leaking wax ring on a toilet, plumber said it was hard because it was a skirted toilet. Took me literally $10 in parts and 30 minutes in labor. It was mildly tricky because of the skirted toilet. Would have been an absolute cake walk with a regular toilet.
#30
Food service is entirely dependent upon that individual store’s manager’s attitude about cleaning and sanitation regarding whether or not the entire store, equipment, food, sauces, etc… is in code and up to date and standards.
I rarely, if ever, eat anywhere unless I know the kitchen staff.
#31
I guarantee any chain coffee shop is absolutely not washing your pitches or reusable supplies enough. That cross contamination is literally everywhere. If you have serious allergies starbucks, tim hortons or second cup is a gamble every time.
#32
Credit unions are not the angels that many think they are. not uncommon to have hyper toxic leaders and culture. CEO of a large west coast credit union actively appeals to politicians to keep overdraft fees a thing. credit unions love their fees. source: me, I am credit union employee in management.
#33
All shipping companies are lying to you about your "insurance". Yeah, you purchased it. Sure, the driver maybe delivered it to the wrong house, or threw it into a ditch, or yeeted it around his truck. Sure, perhaps someone loaded it on its way to you haphazardly and under a bunch of heavy [stuff] and it's broken.
You're not getting that refund. You're probably not getting your package.
Unless you have an individual driver or at the facility who is genuinely going way out of their way to help you, nobody is. Your ticket was sent to some dude in India who's entire job is to find a creative way to tell you to go pound rocks.
Doesn't matter if your shipper took photos of their immaculate packaging job beforehand and you sent in photos of your items mangled corpse. Doesn't matter if the driver personally ejaculated on it. You aren't getting your money back.
The only assurance that works currently in the shipping world is when you go to a UPS store and they package it for you. The UPS store chain does have a gaurantee if they pack it, but you'll spend a ton for them to do that.
Source: Worked FedEx Express customer service. They "suspended" their "gaurantee" during COVID and conveniently never put it back. I had to quit when my driver didn't have the time to pick up the cancer meds he delivered to the wrong house and get them to the right place and the customer said "I only have so many days left with my husband on this earth, and now I have to spend them trying to track down his meds."
Also when another dude told me to KMS because his lobster went bad because it was late.
#34
A lot of "fresh" food isn't nearly as fresh as the marketing suggests.
Becky Samuel 8 hours ago
Most 'fresh' apples that you buy in a supermarket are 6-12 months old. They are stored in massive warehouses in an oxygen-free atmosphere to prevent deterioration, and then artificially ripened with ethylene gas when they're required for sale.
#35
I worked for Apple Care (the call center tech support, not in store) and 99% of what we do is looking up the problem on the public Apple website that you can just google. If we couldn’t figure it out from there we’d send people to the store and have them figure it out. The 1% where we could do something was usually helping an old person figure out something that would be very easy for a younger, tech savvy person.
#36
If you knew how disgusting the inside of slaughter houses and meat processing plants were you probably would reconsider, at the very least, buying grocery store meat.
Calling them charnel houses is really under selling it.
Fungus John 17 hours ago
my stepdad refuses to eat pork because he used to work in a slaughterhouse cutting the tumors off the pigs
#37
The cremated remains of your loved one is mixed in with a teeny tiny amount of whoever else has been in there previously. No, we do not clean the machines in between uses. They are like the inside of a kiln, very porous and rough. We just sweep one person out and pop the next person in. Sorry. I will NOT be cremated. I seen too many flaming skulls for that to be me.
#38
Chilled supermarket deliveries stay out of fridge for multiple hours before being put away in fridge, particularly in smaller stores.
Heir of Durin 17 hours ago (edited)
My office window overlooks a food distribution company. The amount of times I see forklifts taking food from refrigerated trucks and leaving them on the asphalt in the hot desert sun is ASTOUNDING.
#39
The older I get the more I realize convenience usually comes with some pretty ugly shortcuts.
Sensitive_Gift4866:
The convenience tax is real. Paying more for something that used to be standard and was probably better.
Ace 11 hours ago (edited)
That second comment doesn't make sense in the context; it's talking about something completely different. Otherwise yes, well of course, if you want, say, your fruit and veg all nicely washed, separated and individually packed and then delivered to your door then you should recognise the extra costs, both financial and ecological, that are involved.
#40
Certain travel,shopping, e - commerce apps will collect data like the brand of smartphone or device you're using(if its a cheaper or expensive one), your previous purchases and search histories to bump up or lower the price for certain items or subscriptions that matches with their math.....soo basically people with expensive devices or purchases might face a slightly bunped up price which you'll never know(only on some apps, not on all).
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
"They" are tracking everything done electronically. A fried actually denied that could happen so I dared her to look at coats on the Eatons website.
#41
If the general public knew how airlines work, A LOT fewer people would fly. The amount of mind-bogglingly stupid people that work in just about every part of is shocking. Pilots, mechanics, ramp agents, gate agents, dispatchers, all of it. In general, I'd say the majority of the people who work in it are fine, but the ones that aren't I'm genuinely surprised even know how to breath.
#42
House keeping and cleaning guy. Normally mops have specific colors i.e. red for washrooms and toilets, green for kitchen and grey for common areas (these are just examples from where I work). Each should be used where the color says. But the pressure to do a good work and take the shortest time possible makes us hurry so much we end up mixing the tools. You can find a mop meant for the toilet in the kitchen, the fabric used to clean toilets used also in the kitchen and vice versa.
As long as the place looks clean, move on.
#43
Won’t stop you from using the service but an industry secret in truck and car rental is that we always overbooked. There are always cancellations, stuff coming back early etc. This is why we always call to confirm before your reservation, because we overbooked and trying to free up some units.
#44
I've seen a donut shop coffee franchise that went multiple years without cleaning out their oasis machine.
Tldr, the FDA has a legal amount of insect material per unit of consumables. And there was likely significantly more than that going into every single persons iced drinks.
Only found that out because the prior manager was fired for different reasons entirely and mysteriously her staff left with her. So everything was inspected during normal cleaning and set up for reopening.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
After much searching, I could only find this boiled down to a slurpee machine.
#45
Ex GF of mine worked at a couple restaurants in college and they both had beer on tap. The amount of times she told me they had to drain some of their beer because of fruit/drain flies is staggering.
I always order bottled or canned beer now (which isn't often because I don't drink much anymore).
#46
Beer from "Local breweries" are often actually just those labels contracting out to larger breweries to fill cans and kegs with their stuff, just marked up for the "Local Label".
Brewery I work at has our big common house lagger that we were filling kegs with, and we recently contracted to a much smaller company to fill their kegs and cans. We didn't even switch the line, it literally came out of the same tank, but we just put that smaller companies label on it.
Jan Rosier 12 hours ago
While it certainly does happen like that, I can take you to at least 5 real local breweries in Belgium, where you can visit the brewing process 'live'.
#47
It doesn’t matter if they are chiropractors, Osteopaths, Sports therapists or physiotherapists, most manual therapists have no idea what they’re doing beyond “rubbing the painful bit“.
Maybe 1 in 20 understand the human body, know what treatments to apply, and know how those treatments will affect a patient.
#48
"Low on colors" is basically a way to make consumers buy a new cartridge because apparently the cartridges have an "expiry date".
GenericElder 17 hours ago
Just ignore your printers "low" notices and keep printing until it tells you the cartridge is empty. It WILL tell you that, or you'll notice it when you see the printed result. I've gone months with perfect printouts while the "Ink is low - change cartridge" notice came on every time. Another tip - always choose "save toner/ink" option when printing; it won't affect print quality until you've been getting the "low" messages for a while.
#49
Anything with an arms reach of your airplane seat is absolutely disgusting. Wipe everything you could touch during your flight with antibacterial wipes as soon as you sit down.
#50
I’m a teacher. The way some older teachers talk about students (specifically the slurs) would make a lot of people not want to send their kids to school. Public and private.
#51
Window cleaners just use Dawn dish soap.
#52
Research what’s used to make Filler used in soft serve ice cream, cheap Parmesan cheese, and a host of other processed foods.
#53
Not sure if it’s really a secret but when you see restaurant workers wearing disposable gloves but don’t actually see them putting the gloves on, just know they could have touched plenty of dirty things before touching your food.
When I worked at a fast food restaurant at the mall, I remember getting called out by a customer for touching frozen fries before I put them into the fryer. I know it’s not the best food safety practice but I always washed my hands before handling food. I also only handled cooked foods with tongs. Meanwhile, my buddy would wear the same gloves for hours and handle sandwiches, salads and various raw ingredients. Too bad the lady was only worried about me.
As a customer, I’ll see fast food worker wearing gloves while handling mops or brooms and I always hope they change their gloves before going back to handling foods.
Kelly Scott 7 hours ago
I worked for a restaurant that screamed bloody m****r if we were out sick, so we had waitresses working with pink eye and one who had been exposed to scarlet fever. Clinton came to town once and he ate at a restaurant just a few doors down that I bet was the same way.
#54
From the time Dunkin opens until about noon you are being served 11 hour old donuts. But we do make fresh donuts in the morning. You will start to see them at noon that's around the 8 hour mark for those. Never fresh.
#55
We always send your order to the wrong address and blame you.
#56
In America, it's actually pretty easy to get your medical bills cut in half. It's still gonna be hella expensive but half is better.
Gingersnap In Iowa 18 hours ago
My son tore his ACL and broke his tibia. He WOULDN'T LET ME CALL AN AMBULANCE! He has a good job and health insurance. The next 3-4 months are going to be rough.
#57
Restaurants. Bruh, your paying triple the price to eat something that can be made at home for like $4.
Let me clarify:
The “home made Mac is frozen, the fresh veggies were cut 2 days ago….the mash comes in a bag..meal prep!
GenericElder 16 hours ago
Sometimes I'm HAPPY to pay the price just to sit in a dining room that's not my home, with someone waiting on me, while I eat a meal that I didn't have to do anything for other than ask. It doesn't take long to learn which restaurants you "like" and which you'll avoid even if the power is off at home.
#58
The only difference between a $900 shoe from a known brand and a sweatshop $30 knockoff is the known brand label.
#59
If you could turn the lights on and see behind the bar at the dark night club or bar you are ordering drinks at, you would never order a drink from there again.
#60
The cleanliness level of dishes is much lower than you'd expect. Baked on tomato sauce? Eh, food will cover it.
I hated working alongside such colleagues.
#61
Getting a Brazilian wax, or any waxing, will NOT cause less hair to grow back. There's so many follicles in a square inch of skin to replace the hairs you just got removed.
Also, the lotion that "supposedly" slows down the new growth is snake oil. Just shave.
Ange Marsden 14 hours ago
It does cause less hair to grow back. after many years of waxing I have so few hairs that waxing is a super speedy job now.
#62
As a customer service employee, your email will not be seen until at least a month later, simply because we prioritise calls and have no time for emails. If there’s one thing I recommend, if you want to cancel or rebook urgently call the phone line.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
I appreciate the advice but I've waited hours on hold and who has the time?
#63
Registered or express mail. It gets picked up at the same time as all the rest of the mail, rides along the conveyor belt mixed in with the rest of the mail and gets put on the truck and sent to its destination with the rest of the mail. Save your money.
Fellfromthemoon 11 hours ago (edited)
Registered mail is not a priority/express/air mail, but the sender has a documentation that it was sent. This documentation, and the possibility to track where it was last seen, if never arrives, are the reasons we use registered mail. Source: I used to work at the post office in 1997.
What do you think ?
Otorgar 17 hours ago
People are way too worried about germs. Haven't they heard about the hygiene hypothesis? Challenge your immune system. Eat some dirt once in a while.
Ace 11 hours ago
I agree about the first sentence, but that hypothesis has not bee supported by evidence.
Load More Replies...
Bored Jellyfish 17 hours ago (edited)
A list of fear-mongering of things that’s mostly harmless. Meh… it’s a dirty world. Everywhere.
Otorgar 17 hours ago
People are way too worried about germs. Haven't they heard about the hygiene hypothesis? Challenge your immune system. Eat some dirt once in a while.
Ace 11 hours ago
I agree about the first sentence, but that hypothesis has not bee supported by evidence.
Load More Replies... Bored Jellyfish 17 hours ago (edited)
A list of fear-mongering of things that’s mostly harmless. Meh… it’s a dirty world. Everywhere.
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