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We all have secrets. Your partner may not know that you actually did watch the new episode already, and your parents might be blissfully unaware that very little studying got done in your high school “study group." But when it comes to the secrets that companies try to keep from their customers, many employees believe that the public has a right to transparency.
Below, you’ll find some of the dirty little secrets people who work in various industries have revealed on Reddit. So enjoy reading through these juicy responses, and be sure to upvote the secrets you want everyone to be aware of!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not all that much of a secret, but, i used to work in a peanut butter factory, we produced about 25-30-ish different storebrands ranging from very cheap to stupidly expensive, we had a grand total of 3 recipes, chunky, not chunky and no additives
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
There are wines out there made by companies that have no wineries or vineyards. They just pay other wineries to make liquid and bottle liquid. All they do is print fancy labels and market the product.
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#2
None of your restaurant food is "made with love". Anger and anxiety is what made that muffin, Tina, don't you forget it.
#3
I used to do landscaping/mowing. All these people being like “I hire a professional lawn care company”. Like, no you don’t. You hire me and about 4 crackheads.
Imreallyjustaghost 1 year ago
Excuse me, you mean a professional crackhead...thank you very much
#4
The vast majority of people working for pharmacuetical companies are hardworking, highly ethical, and proud of the work they do.
We hate the executives as much as you do....
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
Yeah, I figured it was the executives. I never assumed it was the people ACTUALLY making the meds.
#5
We touch your food with our hands. Weird. And yes, we wash them so often that they might fall off. That, or you get a**holes that wear gloves for 12 hours and never change gloves or wash their hands.
#6
If it’s the first time a professor is teaching a course, there is a good chance they are just one lecture ahead of the rest of the class.
mulk 1 year ago (edited)
Me! When I taught web design and new standard or technology just went out. BUT, I asked my students first: do you want the "classic" course content, the one you signed for... or the new standard, with that one we will learn together, and I will take some time to prepare exercice... They choose the new. It was one of the best class I had in my (short) career. Learning WITH students is very cool: guided them, discover new thing and effects together, discuss and debate the impact of new technology...
#7
Wells Fargo (and other banks, WF is just the worst I’ve had experience with) likes to come up with ways to illegally charge you fees. They then eventually get sued, pay a fine that is less than 1% of the profit they made on those fees, then finds a new slightly different way to f**k you some more. Rinse and repeat.
Find a good credit union. Mega banks are all screwing you over.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Agreed with you on Wells Fargo. I was with First Interstate for years but they sold to Wells Fargo and service went to hell. That was 30 years ago now. I've had many more banks but I'm with a local credit union now and much happier.
#8
There is a lot of money spent every year that decides where specific items are placed on grocery store shelves.
If you're at a grocery store that's part of a chain, and you look at a shelf and there's an item that's approximately at eye level, I guarantee you that the company that makes that item paid a lot of money to put them there. There's lots of weird psychological tricks that go on in terms of how stores are laid out.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Bulk stuff above eye level, expensive stuff eye level, cheap stuff bottom shelf. That's literally why they call it the bottom shelf brand.
#9
this isn’t necessarily a dirty little secret, but I work in a clinical laboratory at a big hospital. there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE between pregnancy tests you get from the dollar store vs the $20 clearblue at cvs. they have the same. exact. technology.
also, we use cheap a*s pregnancy tests in the lab. please save yourself, if you’re in the US, that $1000 ER visit and get a cheap a*s pregnancy test. I promise they are no different.
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
I work for a hospital system and there are some tests performed where the female is required to have a pregnancy test RIGHT before the actual procedure. So, I'm sure those females know they are paying out the wazoo for a test that they could probably get cheaper if they could do it from home.
#10
When an app pops up with a 'do you like this app?' thing, the Yes button goes to the App Store for a review, the No button goes to an internal complaint process. This on average filters upset customers away from the app store and artificially raises app score by a whole star on average. That is the only way most corporate service apps have 4 stars.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
So the lifehack is to say yes but write bad reviews. Taken under advisement.
#11
Nobody who actually sorts mail gives a s**t about your package. The word fragile doesn't stop them from throwing it 20ft into a metal container.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
That's why you label it "Danger, BIOHAZARD". Nobody drop kicking that cardboard box.
#12
HVAC guy here. Not really a secret but home owners sure think it is. CHANGE YOUR F*****G FILTERS!!!
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
So true. They cost around $20 a piece but a dirty filter can cost you a couple hundred over the course of a season because of reduced efficiency in your furnace.
#13
Locksmith here.
We can get into any lock/door within 30 seconds.
All the posturing and bringing out a impressive toolkit and hammer drill is just showmanship to pro long the call out.
30 seconds flat.
#14
ex-farmer here. specifically, I worked at a "bio-certified" one. since there were no pesticides or herbicides used, every snail, every bug, every mouse had to be killed "manually" or by having a LOT of their natural predators around, ie. cats.
the reason? nobody buys tomatoes, or anything else with snail bites on them
mulk 1 year ago
Many Bio certifications are f***ed up... like this story about a farmer who produce milk I red. He is not certified, because he used antibiotics on sick cows. He used it because he love his cows and don't want them to die. When a cow is sick, he take it to another field, give it some antibiotic (depending on the problem found). When the cow is okay, he test its milk for any antibiotic trace. He bring back the cow to the main field only if no trace of antibiotic is found.... for that: not bio certification.
#15
a very popular local bagel shop/bakery i worked at advertised all of our baked goods were homemade (dozens of muffins, danish, cinnamon rolls ect) and they were not. they all came from sysco, frozen on sheets. many customers would rave about the baked goods saying they were the best they’ve had. god bless them
#16
Whenever you see a high profile person publishing an opinion piece in a news outlet, 9 times out of 10, they didn't write that. The "author" came up with a 1-2 sentence concept of what they wanted to say; their second-in-command engaged whoever the ghostwriter is; the ghost created the copy; the high profile person's #2 reviewed for necessary changes; the high profile person themselves reviewed and signed off; and the #2 engaged marketing people to place the piece in a news outlet.
If you see an article from a CEO, a Sr. VP, a member of an elected body, anyone with status, they don't write their own stuff. This is not inherently bad - organization leaders are busy, and they have the resources to have a team oversee their public-facing thoughts, so they don't have to worry about it. Still, the opinion pages of just about every news outlet in America (and elsewhere) are populated largely by ghostwriters.
Source: Am a ghost
#17
They put little weights in lipsticks to make them feel more expensive so they can charge more.
#18
Wash all of your “new clothes”. A very high percent has been worn and returned.
Jan Rosier 1 year ago
And even if it is not worn and returned, there's bound to be a load of chemicals in it (pesticides for during transport from the low-wage country where it was made, harmful colouring residues etc...) you would want to wash out before wearing. The closer to the skin, the higher the need to wash before wearing.
#19
Schedule your surgery as early in the day as possible. People in the OR get just as tired at the end of the day as anyone else.
SadieCat17 (she/her) 1 year ago
To be fair though, being the first surgery is in their tired as hell from the morning and warming up for work period. Not that I have much belief that it actually weighs the quality of the procedure anyway. /gen
#20
When the health inspector shows up, a mad scramble happens in the back to clean the kitchen while they start the inspection in the dining/bar area of the restaurant.
#21
People like to think that data analytics is some objective truth when there is sooooooooo much bias and room for subjectivity in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication. Oftentimes insights are cherrypicked datasets deliberately presented to make a specific point rather than having the data craft the conclusion.
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago (edited)
As the saying goes, there are lies, darn lies, and statistics.
#22
The Defense Department literally just spends money to spend it without any actual purpose just so they can say it was spent so they don’t receive less next year. In my building with 10 men the men’s restroom was gutted and remodeled 3 times in 3 years.
David 1 year ago
This reminds me of something I witnessed back in the 80s on my aircraft carrier. Upon returning from a cruise, the air departments generally get to leave a couple of days before we get back. The jets leave back to their home land bases and many of the airdales get to leave too if they can find a ride on one of the flights. Many don't of course. == Anyway, we are a day or two out from returning to port and we see these airdales throwing tool boxes full of tools over the side. Also one of those plug in juice coolers. We would have LOVED to have had that stuff down in the reactor plants. We needed more tools (had enough but often had to share between plants) and a cooler full of ice water would have been excellent. We asked them why and they told us the squadron would just buy them new tools back on base. It really pissed us off.
#23
Nurses and doctors have too many patients and the nurses are on the front line to alert the doctor on important changes in patient condition. Ideally a nurse should have no more than 4 patients who are stable but VERY FREQUENTLY nurses will have 6 to 8 patients and in that mix there are very ill individuals. We URGE you to read r/nursing frequently to get a true flavor of the atrocious dangers you are ALL in if you are a patient in the hospital. The medical establishment is gaslighting you with the nice websites, music in the lobby, smiling calm staff but behind the curtain we are all scrambling to make sure we don’t make errors but with all the stress, long shifts ….people are most likely dying from nursing and doctor errors. Most are avoidable if we weren’t stretched so thin. The industry will say there aren’t enough nurses and that is partly true but we’ve been in many many situations where there can be safer staffing numbers. Coworkers calling the hospital offering to work and they are declined.
Unfortunately, the medical system is all too focused on financials to pay BIG CEO and upper management salaries and they answer to their shareholders interests and NOT you the patients. It is a dangerous time to be a patient.
Again, I beg you all….in mass….educate yourselves buy reading the nurse’s comment on how scared they are. Anything marked “vent” is most likely a good read on a stressful and dangerous shift for a nurse.
Mark Reaves 1 year ago
I was in the hospital a few months back and someone mixed up records or something and now my documents say I drink alcohol. I haven't had any alcohol in literally years. It seems to be impossible to get them to correct it. It took almost a year for my medical records to be updated showing I don't smoke.
#24
Microsoft Excel runs the country
#25
My buddy worked at our local movie theater (AMC), he told me the signs up front say "no outside food or drink" but their policy says they can't search or stop people even if they clearly have something, I told this to another buddy and he went next week with a whole tai dinner and a big gas station soda, cashier said it smelled good lol
#26
I work in childcare. If your child has a milestone first at the centre, we don’t tell you. Taking first steps is the one that sticks out the most.
#27
I'm way late to this party, but I used to be a political campaign manager and political office staffer.
The US government is run by an invisible network of interconnected staffers. The good elected officials are informed, but it's still the staffers who inform them. They write bills, they write bill summaries, they research the issues, they write the things the elected officials say. Without staffers, the vast majority of elected officials wouldn't have a f*****g clue what's going on, and we have *an absurd* amount of influence over the information they base their platforms off of.
On the campaign side, the reason there aren't viable third party candidates in the US is that campaigns are highly complicated, absurdly expensive, and outrageously time consuming. Successful candidates even for your state legislative races really can't do it all by themselves, which is why everyone hitches their wagon to a party. Only ultra wealthy people can really afford to run their own successful campaigns, and even they usually need a party apparatus just to get the competent manpower required to run a successful campaign. Our first past the post means of voting virtual guarantees a two party system, because elections are just extremely difficult for individuals or small party organizations to campaign in.
Kristy Marion 1 year ago
It’s such a shame this is the US system, bc so many talented individuals are being overlooked bc they simply can’t afford to mount a campaign, both due to the system and the outrageously long election campaign. For all the political faults in Australia, I much prefer having the party choose the candidate they’re going to put forward, and only giving me 4 weeks of listening to their b******t before voting.
#28
I worked at a major jewelry company in the US. When we wanted to buy jewelry, we paid what it costs to make the product (material, labor, shipping), plus 10%. I paid around $115 for a pair of $950 diamond earrings.
Cavern Gill-Vernon 1 year ago
And THAT'S why you go to a proper jeweller. We don't charge excessive markups. I know one company in the UK that charge 300% PLUS vat on top of what I charge. And I charge them the same as I charge my own customers who come through my shop door.
#29
You have to know your way around health care to get good health care What you should know: 1. Your patient rights. You can ask for a referral to a specialist. You can ask for second opinions. You can ask to see what is in your chart. Know your rights. 2. If you have a family member in a hospital or long term care home, please visit and be there as much as possible. When you are sick or old you are just not able to summon the energy to be on top of Med errors or even general care. The more eyes on the care and environment the better for your family member. 3. Advocate for your family member. Do some research too: what is the illness? What are some options? And take these to the doctor and ask if they’re appropriate (with the patients consent obviously) for the patient. 4. Follow up. If the office doesn’t call you : FOLLOW UP. Keep following up with offices, pharmacies, specialists, etc. until you’re satisfied. 5. If you are in the States, review your bill. Go over every item and see what can be negotiated and hound them until you feel it’s fair. The squeaking wheel gets the grease. 5. Get a job in health care. Not a clinician? No problem: environmental services and portering are excellent well-paying entry-level jobs that can get you potentially into a union. You will learn hospital and health care really fast. 6. Before your family member goes home from hospital make sure you see a “discharge planner” or a “social worker” to talk about discharge. Hospitals are full and they usually are pressed to send people home fast with health care at home being an option: but it’s not the only option. Talk to the discharge planner and push back if you need to. Look up questions to ask the discharge planner. 7. If you want the doctor to do/prescribe/refer something and they CHOOSE NOT TO, you are within your rights to say “May I have that option noted in my chart? I’d like to keep track of what I’ve asked you about”. Innocent, right? Well it’s a good way to get the clinician to think about whether they want their rebuttal of your suggestion in the chart. 8. If it feels wrong, please see someone else. Don’t just blindly trust health professionals. They’re people too. They’re not magic. Some are better than others. read clinician reviews so you at least know what to expect. To all those folks who go into appts with chronically ill family, or partners, you are guardian angels. Keep doing what you’re doing. It is more supportive (and the optics for the clinicians matter) than you know.
LB 1 year ago
I was on the operating table to get my pacemaker when I asked my doctor to give me beta blockers after... it was half the reason for the surgery, that I'd be able to take this after. Had a feeling they forgot about it... I even 'decided' my own type and dosage! All because I remembered what I used to take a few years ago. Health literacy is important!
#30
The ice cream machine is not broken, no one put it in its cleaning cycle when it needed to be so they're locked out of it until they do the whole cleaning process.
quentariel 1 year ago
I would like to know how your machines never break? Also do you really have an automatic cleaning cycle? We have quite strict standards here for cleaning, daily cleaning and desinfecting the nozzles and literally taking the whole thing apart every other week to individually clean every single part that is even close to touching the ice cream. But still, the damn machine has so many problems and malfunctions often.
#31
In the consulting world, nobody really knows what they're doing
#32
Hotels don't change the comforter on the beds in between guests unless there's a noticeable stain on it. If the pillows are placed on a chair instead of on the bed at check out, housekeeping assumes they weren't used and puts them back on the bed without changing the pillowcases. All of this is due to cutting corners in housekeeping because the keepers are under strict timers for each room, and they have an insane amount of rooms to do everyday.
Yer maw 1 year ago
The number of beds I've slept in over the years from hotels to friends/family houses and everything in between is it really a massive deal that another person has been there before you? Unless it stinks or has stains or whatever I really don't especially care
#33
I apologize in advance. Do you ever set your groceries in the fold back child seat of your grocery cart? Between children with leaky poop diapers, vomit, the dirty shoes when children stand up and the small pets that are often placed there, you probably should stop doing that. The carts are not cleaned daily…not even close. They are sanitized by professional steam cleaners, once a month. ONCE A MONTH. That’s the frequency the Health Department requires. You’re welcome.
#34
Airlines often make more money carrying cargo than passengers. Also, they have much stricter contracts about delivering cargo on time than passengers.
If a plane is overweight, they will usually remove passengers before they remove cargo.
#35
When you call a cable company to cancel you speak with sales first the deals they offer are not the best they can do.
What do you think ?
Joy 1 year ago
I work at a medium security prison in the US. A lot of folks don't know that we have a crapload of programs for the inmates to take advantage of. We even have programs to help inmates accept their sexuality if that is something that they struggle with. You only hear about the horrors of prison life, but there is a lot of good that comes from certain ones too. (DEFINETELY not all of them though, ESPECIALLY private prisons). HOWEVER, a lot of folks also don't realize how much of a struggle it is for an officer to do their job. Inmates don't just stop breaking laws while in prison. They will continue to try to do whatever it is that they did on "the outs" while locked up. I've busted sex offenders trying to contact minors. I've busted inmates trying to get a buddy to buy drugs off the dark web and have it smuggled in. What's the most frustrating, is that it's so hard to hold the inmate accountable as well. (Part 2 in reply).
Joy 1 year ago (edited)
Like, if I'm doing a cell search and I find a shank hidden in a sock at the bottom of an unsecured locker of an inmate, underneath a pile of clothes, there is a high chance the inmate could beat the charge. They would claim that someone else put it there and the folks overseeing the case, (WHO DON'T EVEN WORK AROUND INMATES!!!), would side with them. EVEN if that inmate has a history of violence!
Load More Replies...
Memaw Mitch 1 year ago
This isn't an industry secret, just something I've noticed... Not all products are created equal for different retailers. For example, if you buy Angel Soft at Target, Walmart, and Amazon, the quality of the tp will be different. First noticed a couple of years ago, I have been an Angel Soft girl for years and years, and the new pack I opened seemed to be significantly less absorbent. I assumed it was COVID-related, making it thinner so they could make more. But no, it was a pack I bought at walmart, the rolls were significantly less thick and had less absorbsion "bumps" than the last pack i had from Amazon. Same name, same number of sheets, same count of rolls. Plus, the larger bulk packs of 36/48 are worse quality than packs of 4 or 8. I've been asking my grandkids to make a tikTok about this showing how you can see the difference just by holding them next to each other. Maybe someday.
rapid unscheduled disassembly 1 year ago
Memaw, get on TikTok and do it yourself! I think you'd do a great job and people would be interested.
Load More Replies...
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
Most of these aren't dirty secrets. They are well known facts and simply accepted because there isn't much that can be changed about them.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
Once worked for a cleaning company where my boss said "it doesnt have to be clean, it has to look clean"
Alecto76 1 year ago (edited)
I'm an attorney in the US. The number of attorneys I deal with that are incompetent to do the case they are working on is disturbing. If you are looking to hire a solo practitioner, be wary of those that claim to handle multiple types of cases. Jack of all trades, master of none. In the past 5 years I've dealt with 3. Two of which would have been resolved in a year if the attorney knew what they were doing. One we were called in to try and save where the attorney's errors resulted in a judgement of several million.
Joy 1 year ago
I work at a medium security prison in the US. A lot of folks don't know that we have a crapload of programs for the inmates to take advantage of. We even have programs to help inmates accept their sexuality if that is something that they struggle with. You only hear about the horrors of prison life, but there is a lot of good that comes from certain ones too. (DEFINETELY not all of them though, ESPECIALLY private prisons). HOWEVER, a lot of folks also don't realize how much of a struggle it is for an officer to do their job. Inmates don't just stop breaking laws while in prison. They will continue to try to do whatever it is that they did on "the outs" while locked up. I've busted sex offenders trying to contact minors. I've busted inmates trying to get a buddy to buy drugs off the dark web and have it smuggled in. What's the most frustrating, is that it's so hard to hold the inmate accountable as well. (Part 2 in reply).
Joy 1 year ago (edited)
Like, if I'm doing a cell search and I find a shank hidden in a sock at the bottom of an unsecured locker of an inmate, underneath a pile of clothes, there is a high chance the inmate could beat the charge. They would claim that someone else put it there and the folks overseeing the case, (WHO DON'T EVEN WORK AROUND INMATES!!!), would side with them. EVEN if that inmate has a history of violence!
Load More Replies... Memaw Mitch 1 year ago
This isn't an industry secret, just something I've noticed... Not all products are created equal for different retailers. For example, if you buy Angel Soft at Target, Walmart, and Amazon, the quality of the tp will be different. First noticed a couple of years ago, I have been an Angel Soft girl for years and years, and the new pack I opened seemed to be significantly less absorbent. I assumed it was COVID-related, making it thinner so they could make more. But no, it was a pack I bought at walmart, the rolls were significantly less thick and had less absorbsion "bumps" than the last pack i had from Amazon. Same name, same number of sheets, same count of rolls. Plus, the larger bulk packs of 36/48 are worse quality than packs of 4 or 8. I've been asking my grandkids to make a tikTok about this showing how you can see the difference just by holding them next to each other. Maybe someday.
rapid unscheduled disassembly 1 year ago
Memaw, get on TikTok and do it yourself! I think you'd do a great job and people would be interested.
Load More Replies... Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
Most of these aren't dirty secrets. They are well known facts and simply accepted because there isn't much that can be changed about them.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
Once worked for a cleaning company where my boss said "it doesnt have to be clean, it has to look clean"
Alecto76 1 year ago (edited)
I'm an attorney in the US. The number of attorneys I deal with that are incompetent to do the case they are working on is disturbing. If you are looking to hire a solo practitioner, be wary of those that claim to handle multiple types of cases. Jack of all trades, master of none. In the past 5 years I've dealt with 3. Two of which would have been resolved in a year if the attorney knew what they were doing. One we were called in to try and save where the attorney's errors resulted in a judgement of several million.
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