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“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t

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A 2024 survey by PwC found that the gap in consumer trust in companies continues to grow.

According to the results, while 90% of business executives think customers highly trust their companies, in reality, only 30% of them actually do.

That 60 percent difference is greater than the 57 points in previous PwC surveys in 2023 and 2022.

Part of the explanation for these numbers might be the fact that people nowadays demand higher transparency and accountability from companies, which many just cannot provide.

This is evident in a recent Reddit thread kickstarted by platform user Ferro_Roux. They asked workers to share the secrets and hacks they've learned about industries after starting to work in them, and folks had plenty!

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

Animal Medicine. Just because you put clothes on your pet doesn’t make him your child. Please don’t spend more money than you can afford. Even if we manage to get your 14 year old dog through cancer, you still have a 14 year old dog. You should not make your pet suffer because you feel sad, Fido isn’t enjoying life let him go.

Substantial-Spinach3 Report

Final score:

116points

StrangeOne 4 months ago

Our pets have had such good lives. They deserve to be humanely put to sleep than suffer the last year or 2 in agony.

57points

Bret Sander 4 months ago

If we could only offer the same compassion for suffering humans.

15points

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Rinso The Red 4 months ago

We knew our dog was old and on his way out. Would have needed a 10k ultrasound to confirm if he had condition there was no cure for. We took him home, hoping to give him at least another good week of love/affection. But the next day, he couldn't even raise his head without great difficulty. Had to carry him to the car. My only solace was knowing he'd been loved every day of this life and had returned so much love to us in return.

15points

firecrackershrimp 4 months ago

In our area lap of love will come to your home for pet euthanasia so they don't have to go that last time to the scary vet office. They can be at peace at home where they are most comfortable.

11points

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nonesuch 4 months ago

I have had to euthanize many pets over the years. Not easy. But indeed merciful for a suffering animal.

10points

Comfortably Numb 4 months ago

20yra a vet tech, mostly in surgery. It's unreal what people won't pay for, not because they don't have the money, but because the dog is just a dog to them, they can just "get another one". Something that can be fixed easily, but will require some care and work, is just too much hassle to certain people (yes we see what car you drive up in, the clothes and watches and jewelry, etc.) on the flip side, there are people who will just not accept facts and truth and will (to many of us on the field) torture their pets through long hospital stays, constant syringe pokes, forces tube feeding, enemas and urinary catheters, surgeries...for a 15year old lab who can no longer see, hear, or stand. Alot of people think services cost too much, without factoring in building costs, electricity, buying the medical equipment, staff pay, vet pay, and on and on. Yes it's expensive, but it's not because your veterinarian is greedy. There's always exceptions

6points

leendadll 4 months ago

There are many pet Quality Of Life assessment forms online. They can be very helpful in determining when "it's time".

5points

Bored Birgit 4 months ago

So important. Be prepared to let your beloved animal go when it is time. That is our duty as owner.

3points

Cat_Whisperer 4 months ago

One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was make the choice to put my 17 year old cat, Soot, to sleep when her kidneys started to fail. The treatment for her would’ve been painful, ongoing and expensive. I was there from the moment she was born and I was there when she passed peacefully. If I’d gone through with the treatment, it would’ve been for my benefit and not hers. This was not the toughest pet loss I’ve ever experienced, but but this was tough because I had to make that choice. The worst pet loss goes to Mystery, my best friend/black cat that literally died in my lap…her death yowl is the worst thing I ever heard…her loss actually traumatized one of my younger cats that followed Mystery everywhere…it took Gypsy almost 3 months to step foot in the living room again (the room where Mystery died). Pet loss affects more than just people, pets grieve each other too.

2points

Trophy Husband 4 months ago

I'd argue that people with mental health conditions deserve the same, but are legal system doesn't agree. Only a few countries have laws that allow people who are in pain to be euthanized, and in those it usually takes years to prove that the paid is real or permanent enough.

1point

Jenn Harrietha 4 months ago

Better one week too early, than one day too late.

1point

The Doom Song 4 months ago

We put our dog to sleep not long after he turned 15. Hardest decision I've ever had to make. I always told myself I wasn't going to be one of those dog owners that dragged it out and as much as it still hurts I did the right thing for my boy.

1point

Happy Onion 4 months ago

We have the gift of euthanasia for pets. Use it wisely

1point

Stephanie Fay 4 months ago

The decision to put my dog to sleep was waaaayyyy harder than the actual day it happened.

1point

Charles Waugh 4 months ago

YES! I photograph lots of senior dogs. People put those poor buggers through hell trying to get another week, another month, another (probably not!) year. Read 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande - we do the same to grandpa when HE can't talk either - so sad. And, people come in after spending tens of thousands (or going that far in debt) on their aged pet and don't have the money for fine art portraits to remember them by for decades to come (just bills to remember them by for years to come).

1point

Colleen Glim 4 months ago

But we are eventually willing to put Fido to sleep , but grandad has to suffer until the end. Dying is a fact of life regardless of whether you want to acknowledge it or not

2points

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Bryn 4 months ago

This was a difficult decision we had to make for our cat, Callie. There were good days & bad days. We had to decide that her good days were not enough to cover for her bad days & it was cruel to keep her around simply because we wanted her. You have to do what is best for your animal, which can be hard

0points

Jan Moore 4 months ago

We lost or Golden to an unknown cause but we know it was cancer of some kind. The vet did an exploratory surgery and said all of her organs were a bright pink, he'd never seen anything like it. My husband said to just not wake her up. I really wish I could have held her while she went. I feel guilty even now, it's been 5 years.

0points

Joss 4 months ago

They always tell you when they're ready if you really listen. You can tell when they still want to fight and when they're tired and done.

0points

Blondie23 4 months ago

This is a hard one for sure. When my dog was 18 she developed kidney issues.... They told me they could manage it with medication and see if there was a donor but I looked at her and realized that it was her time to go. Still breaks my heart to this day to have lost her but she lived for 18 years and was the BEST dog ever so it was time to let her rest. Never an easy decision to let our pets go but one we have to make!

0points

Susan W. 4 months ago

Yes!!

0points

Miki 4 months ago

Yep.

0points

Suck it Trebek 4 months ago

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LonelyLittleLeafSheep 4 months ago (edited)

And if your economic situation changes for the worse at some point? Are you suggesting annual evaluations to determine if you're still fit to be a pet parent? Maybe we should be doing that with human children. You have to be financially fit enough to cover any major event that could potentially happen to them.

4points

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#2

Good audio engineers will have faders/knobs that don't do anything.

When the talent asks for a change that's goofy or makes no sense, we'll adjust that phantom knob and watch them nod their head in approval of their amazing idea.

iMixMusicOnTwitch Report

Final score:

89points

Andy Cran 4 months ago

the placebo effect

31points

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We got in touch with Ferro_Roux and they said everything started with a simple conversation.

"The idea for my question came to me when I asked a friend, who is a pharmacist, for a recommendation for nasal or eye spray because I have hay fever in the summer," the Redditor explained to Bored Panda.

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"He recommended a product and then mentioned that there are always no-name products, the so-called generics, that you can buy at the pharmacy for much less money. I thought, okay, that’s a good hack, that you can buy medicine as a no-name product and save money. This made me wonder what other hacks exist in different industries. So I posted it spontaneously without much thought."

#3

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I work in IT and can confidently say that providing bribery in terms of food or snack will 100% get your issue taken care of faster and will help you jump the line in the ticket queue.

Big-Routine222 , Mizuno K Report

Final score:

85points

Marianne 4 months ago

Yes, we do supply our IT team with a steady stream of chocolate and cookies.

29points

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#4

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Name brand packaged salads and generic supermarket branded packaged salads come off the exact same production line, using the exact same raw materials. The difference is just the packaging.

Southerner_in_OH , Karolina Kaboompics Report

Final score:

75points

Papa 4 months ago

That's true for many store brand products, not just salads.

53points

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Ferro_Roux said that "at some point, there were too many responses to read them all; it's impossible with a five-figure number of replies."

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However, among the answers the Redditor did go through, they found quite a few amusing ones, "for example, IT people frequently mentioned that a large part of their job involves googling things or telling customers to restart their systems to fix problems," or the one about "telephone customer service — sometimes if you are on hold and start cursing, the system might recognize it and put you through faster."

#5

Lean into the bite.

I work in pediatrics and we’re re taught that if a child bites you, lean into it (push whatever part of you they’re biting further into their mouth) because their automatic reaction will be to open their mouth and the risk of them breaking your skin is greatly diminished.

Source: I was just bitten at work

chefsouthernbelle Report

Final score:

73points

ENSJ 4 months ago

Same strategy with a dog if you are on your own. (if another person is there they can help by lifting the dog's hind legs which makes it more difficult for the dog to brace and take a good hold of you)

39points

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#6

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t If you're nice to my receptionist I will find a way to squeeze you onto my schedule. If you're a B then you can have whatever the next available appointment is. If you make the office staff cry you get a certified letter firing you from the practice.

justpracticing , Cedric Fauntleroy Report

Final score:

73points

Fabian Bernard 4 months ago

Universal rule, just be kind to people, they'll be most willing to help you. Basically, we are big monkeys: you smilling, me smilling. You unhappy, me unhappy

46points

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But is a fully genuine relationship between consumers and businesses even possible? Ferro_Roux isn't sure. "Personally, I live my life on the basis of brutal honesty," the author of the post said. "However, I don't think it's possible or very limited in customer interactions because the fear is too great that one will come across as unprofessional and that the customer will turn to the competition. But maybe that's not true, and maybe it would work if one were 100% honest."

"That would be an interesting business idea or unique selling point for a company that guarantees 100% transparency and honesty, however, I'm not sure how it would work regarding [corporate matters, such as] trade secrets."

"[For example, there are patents or special knowledge that provide a competitive advantage. Therefore, I believe it's only possible to a limited extent if everything is 100% transparent. On the other hand, such a company might gain an advantage through soft skills, such as honesty and approach."

#7

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I worked at a restaurant and one time the chef burned the apple sauce that was supposed to be served with the pork chop, he put it on the menu as “smoked applesauce” and people loved it.

AssKetchum42069 , Rene Terp Report

Final score:

71points

PeepPeep the duck 4 months ago

This is how I always felt the ‘burnt sage’ trend started

19points

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#8

State Trooper here.

If I pull you over for speeding and you apologize, the odds of you getting a **warning** have just skyrocketed. Redditors like to say "Never admit to it because they'll use that against you." I have never needed what the driver said for a guilty verdict. In fact, I've never even used what they've said. I've been in court a hundred times and never lost a speeding ticket case.

The point of the ticket is to change your behavior. If you acknowledge your behavior was bad, then I'll believe there's a chance you'll change your behavior without needing the ticket.

2BlueZebras Report

Final score:

69points

Kate Jones 4 months ago

As a banker I agree in sort of the same way when it comes to fees. I don't need your sob story. Years of doing this job has made me lose empathy and 9 times out of 10 we know you're lying. Just say, 'Hey I got a fee and I'm wondering if you would reverse it for me. I totally messed up and forgot about something coming out." That's literally all I need to hear. Unless you've abused the fee returns, most reps will do it. But if you go on and on about how you're a single mom or you've been out of work, and then I go into your account and see you just spent 120 bucks at a liquor store or bought a bunch of games...I don't feel bad for you and you hurt yourself by going on and on, giving me time to go look at your account. Just apologize or at least admit if you do something wrong. People respond to that so much better.

24points

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#9

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Just because you’re on hold doesn’t mean we can’t hear you.

Spanksy_Banksy , MART PRODUCTION Report

Final score:

68points

jonesnori 4 months ago

That is really weird. I've certainly never experienced that when I put someone on hold in a business office?

23points

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#10

As a teacher: set limits with devices and instill a love of reading your children.

Students who read as a hobby *almost always* get good grades and succeed in school and beyond.

chewbaccalaureate Report

Final score:

65points

Parmeisan 4 months ago

May be mixing up cause and effect here. How many parents try to instil a love of reading but it just doesn't take? The kids who are receptive to it may be the ones who were already going to do well. That said, it can't hurt.

41points

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#11

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Bartender here. If you're at an event with an open bar or something similar, tip $20 cash on your first drink and introduce yourself to your bartender (if it isn't crazy busy). Give them the cash and say some variation on: "Hey X, good to meet you, my name's Mike. I'm going to be drinking [your drink order] all night. Thanks for taking care of us at this event." Guarantees good service, skipping the line, etc.

backlikeclap , Michal Lizuch Report

Final score:

61points

PeepPeep the duck 4 months ago

And sometimes we will ‘accidentally’ spill the bottle a bit as we nip pour ;) shhhhh

26points

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#12

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Many online retailers have what’s called “Cart Abandonment” marketing strategies.

If you put something in your cart and then don’t check out, you’ll likely receive an email or some kind of messaging with a discount code to incentivize conversion.

If you’re gonna buy something online, always at least try adding to your cart and leaving first before buying.

jbud3570 , Ivan Samkov Report

Final score:

60points

Shark Lady 4 months ago

I've done this a few times, the best one was when i ended up with 30% off code.

30points

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#13

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Paramedic here- keep a list of your medical history, medicines, allergies, health card info and next of kin contact info on a paper on or in your fridge.

It’s a common place for us to look. If you’re incapacitated, we have all the info we need.

Code5fortheCount , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

59points

Corwin 02 4 months ago

Why the heck would you look IN a fridge for paperwork ?

37points

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#14

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t When I worked as a pharmacy tech, I spent a lot of time calling insurance companies and waiting on hold while the world burned around me. One time I got impatient with the voice recognition bot because it kept hearing background noise and made selections impossible so I started cursing it out.

Turns out if you say the F word a few times in a short span, the bot recognizes you as an angry customer and will switch you to a representative real quick. I did this multiple times to a lot of strange looks from my coworkers until I explained the hack.

Quick edit since I'm getting a lot of the same responses:

I now know that you can spam 0 or # to get the same results.
It's a feature being phased out in places.
Shouting representative or operator also works.

joshhupp , Karolina Kaboompics Report

Final score:

54points

Ace 4 months ago

For the most part these systems will eventually connect you with someone after enough failed attempts at voice recognition or invalid keyboard options. I don't think it matters what you're saying, just that it is not recognised.

10points

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#15

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t We design parts for appliances to break in five years. We can make them better but the OEM doesn't want to pay for it. We used to make the same part last 15 years.

CaesarEvil , ThisIsEngineering Report

Final score:

54points

Ge Po 4 months ago

That's why, especially on house-hold appliances, I usually go for the reasonably priced one, never for the top-brand with even more digital features that can fail.

43points

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#16

I dont work there. This can be a hack to get out of paying a towing fee. I had my car towed to a yard because I stupidly thought it was a different day where I could park. Got my car towed, aware it's my fault so I might as well make this situation a fun one.

Walked into the office with a customer already screaming at the front desk. Waited a whole 5 minutes for them to finish and they finally left. Front desk was just expressionless and were clearly used to it. I came up with a bright face and said, "so if I scream like that, will there be a chance I dont have to pay for the towing?" they all cracked up laughing and we all just went along the convo. Front desk stamped the receipt in front of me and just said, "just read the signs next time bud, we got you for now".

Didnt expect this. But felt so boss when I left.

Silver_Scallion_1127 Report

Final score:

54points

StrangeOne 4 months ago (edited)

Towing company staff can have a real good sense of humour with their chill customers. What you definitely don't want to do is p**s off anyone working for a towing company. They tend to have a lot of connections to other people and companies that can make your life Hell. But if you're nice to them, they can give you some leniency. Oh, and tip your tow truck operator. They do a lot of grunt work, and do some pretty harrowing work. They're the ones cleaning up the fatal accidents and dragging cars out of bogs. A tipped tow truck driver will treat your vehicle like platinum gold.

18points

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#17

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I’m a singer, and I book a lot of weddings/corporate/ general gigs, if you come to me directly rather going through an agency, I can plan and run all the music whether you want just me and a guitar to full band and dj for after party,

It can literally save you thousands, some agencies put a 40-60% mark up on my services, and I ask them for more than I’d charge someone privately, it’s crazy

If you’re looking for entertainment, try and contact direct.

THETJRAT , Thiago Patrevita Report

Final score:

53points

Marianne 4 months ago

True! Whhenever I booked a person via an agent, they always told me to contact them directly, if I ever needed them again. Same goes for small hotels.

17points

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#18

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I used to work in the floral industry. Don't call a large national florist. Look up a local florist in your recipient's area and call them directly. Most have websites to help you choose and you'll save money on delivery and service fees which can go towards a nicer arrangement.

Also, unless you order flowers regularly, the membership/loyalty program is a scam and hard to cancel.

abbys_alibi , Amina Filkins Report

Final score:

48points

Kiss Army Premium 4 months ago (edited)

Agreed. I regularly order for my dad's (and now my brother's) grave and the place I go to in my town knows exactly what I want. They put one red rose and DAD on the ribbon of my dad's arrangement and one blue spider mum and BROTHER on the ribbon of my brother's arrangement and then use discretion for the rest. She makes beautiful arrangements and charges me $35 (she just increased it from $30). She is AMAZING!!

12points

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#19

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t When a car salesman offers you a "premium car care" package, don't buy it. It's a scam.
Say you're buying a new car and I offer you the premium car care package. It'll only cost you X-amount of money per month, but every time you come to the dealership, you get:

*Premium car wash (we hose it down, not a proper car wash)
*Interior detailing and rejuvenation (we use compressed air to make the dust go away, sometimes a man uses a wet paper towel)

*Functions check and clock synchronization (Check if all the lights work, heater and A/C work and set up the clock if it's wrong)
*Summer and winter inspection and free wiper fluid refill, only done once per season. (Check tire tread, visually check tire pressure, look at temperature gauge to make sure car isn't over heating and add water in the summer, tiny amount of wiper fluid in winter, visually inspect brake disks to see they are not scratched by worn out brake pads)
*Assistance when you are on the move (You call us and then we can call a tow truck for you, at your expense, only possible during business hours)

Basically, we charge for simple things you can do yourself. Also if a car dealership sells you a used car and they told you it has been fully serviced... take it to your local mechanic and have it serviced properly.

Carguy_1992 , Antoni Shkraba Report

Final score:

43points

Dave In MD 4 months ago

As with most absolute statements this varies wildly depending on the dealership you go to.

24points

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#20

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Dog trainer, this is a hack we *want* people to understand.

One reason we can get your dog to do something so fast is because we use a high rate of reinforcement.

Example :
I'm training your dog to walk on leash without pulling, and we practice in your driveway. I feed the dog 20 tiny pieces of food by my knee as we walk to the end of the driveway. The first time a client tries the exercise they may use five.

The mechanics of the exercise look easy, but it takes time to get used to. And when people are practicing on their own they do other things, instead of focus on the exercise. They forget how often they need to reinforce the dog for doing the right thing.

If they do the exercise for two minutes during each walk, with a high rate of reinforcement (RoR) , that may be all it takes. And once the dog starts to learn, you can gradually slow down the RoR.

a_real_dog_trainer , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

41points

clairebear 4 months ago

Also praise your dog when it does what you want. Every. Time.

33points

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#21

I work for an airline. I manage the development of the system our call center agents use. "Please" and "thank you" will unlock magical doors of help when you're on the phone with the agents or are at the airport dealing with airport staff. Simple politeness no longer seems to exist in these interactions. I've shadowed agents to understand how they use what my teams develop and I can count on two hands in the 150-200 calls I've listened into over the last year where the caller was polite and acted decently towards the other human on the other end of the line.

LittlePrincesFox Report

Final score:

39points

michael Chock 4 months ago

I can vouch for this. I am always polite to customer support and have gotten things resolved quickly. Sometimes with extras added in. Even if I end up cursing out the company, I let the rep know my frustration isn't at them.

14points

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#22

Don’t take a filthy car to a mechanic. Clean cars are always treated better.

antilley Report

Final score:

39points

michael Chock 4 months ago

True for everything. Used to install/service equipment in customer sites. My organized installs got many less repair calls than the messy installs my coworkers did.

6points

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#23

You can and should get your kid an evaluation for learning disabilities if there is any potential - (many parents want to avoid potential stigma) - but depending on your school district they might not tell you because they don't want to increase their SPED caseload.

Spotted_Howl Report

Final score:

35points

StrangeOne 4 months ago

Teachers may not tell you because they are not certified to make that diagnosis. They can make recommendations for assessments. Trying to push your kid through school with an undiagnosed learning disability doesn't mean that disability doesn't exist. Never mind the stigmas. If your kid needs help, it's your job to provide that help.

39points

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#24

Hotel prices are negotiable. If you go to a hotel and show them a Booking.com or Expedia price for their location that's lower, they can price match. They would also much rather you do it that way because third party websites are a bitch and a half to do anything customer service related.

Booked a king but got two Queens? Good luck on your hour long call with them just to talk to a representative in another country. If the front desk does it, beep bop boop and two seconds later you have a key to a new room.

DiscontentDonut Report

Final score:

35points

Kristal 4 months ago

It's the same for booking airlines through a 3rd party. Can't change tickets if booked through a 3rd party most of the time. Basically, avoid 3rd party bookings for travel basics

16points

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#25

Academic here — to get a PDF of a paper you can usually email the author and ask for one, the times I’ve tried this they’ve been happy to share. After checking if it’s available on https://oa.mg of course.

Don’t mess around with formatting your references manually — use something like https://citationsy.com to automate the whole process.

CenkCenk Report

Final score:

31points

Chech Dasaus 4 months ago

Yeah I have done that super often. I also worked as a student researcher and my prof sometimes asked me to scan, format or compile some of his works (he was old and many of his stuff only existed on paper) to send to to researchers, students etc. for free.

5points

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#26

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Not sure if your homeowner's insurance will cover something? Apply this one simple rule:

> Was the damage caused by a sudden and one-time occurrence?

If the answer is yes, 99% of the time you're covered. If the answer is no, 99% of the time you're not covered. (This advice applies to the US).

ColSurge , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

28points

Mohsie Supposie 4 months ago

... Unless there is an exception in the policy!

13points

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#27

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Electric guitars made out of fancy expensive wood will sound exactly the same as guitars made out of cheap wood. The electronics system is what makes electric guitars sound different from one another, not the fancy AAAAA flamed maple top. It’s pure aesthetics.

Woozin_squooners , Markus Spiske Report

Final score:

27points

Chech Dasaus 4 months ago

Not completly true. The wood does have an effect on the sound, but the returns are diminishing fast.

17points

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#28

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t If you use Libby to download ebooks from your library to your Kindle, you can turn it to airplane mode and keep the books as long as you want. The next person in line is not affected.

Edit: because not everyone wants to illegally download ebooks from sketchy servers in Tuvalu? It's not any easier than what I suggested. .

DachshundNursery , freestocks.org Report

Final score:

26points

Robert Beveridge 4 months ago

Sketchy Sites in Tuvalu sounds like a hot new folk/emo crossover band.

20points

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#29

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I worked for Wells Fargo doing customer service on mortgages. If you use the keywords: lawyer, media or government we're trained to escalate you immediately to the highest level of customer service.

background: if you call for a question about your mortgage there are five tiers of representatives.

If you call and say "give me a manager" you'll only get to tier three.

The media/lawyer/government statements get you escalated to essentially tier six, of salaried customer service representatives that will essentially be given a ticket to fully research your complaint and prepare a summary in a complete and total cover your a*s manner. You may not like the result, but they will do enough due diligence on your question so they're comfortable they won't be sued.

supergooduser , Karolina Kaboompics Report

Final score:

22points

Beeps 4 months ago

I have heard the exact opposite: many call centres have a policy, where the moment you threaten to sue or mention the word lawyer, they have to terminate the call and advise you to direct any and all further communication to their legal team.

30points

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#30

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Most industries have retention teams because it costs 10X more to get a new customer than it costs to keep one you have. So if you call up and complain/threaten to cancel every other time they raise your rates they'll probably give you the introductory rate. Just be aware you might have to switch.

edit threaten to cancel added.

edit 2: Another thing I'm seeing a lot is people getting shut down with no explanation. People hang up and call back. Just say you got disconnected you might have better luck with another operator. Yes they take notes, but some reps are more empowered than others. Also feel free to escalate. Make sure you know how long you've been a customer, and how long you've been up to date on your bill.

SuperstitiousPigeon5 , Jack Sparrow Report

Final score:

19points

StrangeOne 4 months ago

This actually does work, most of the time. Still be calm and kind to the rep and make it clear your frustration is regarding the specific issue.

17points

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#31

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t If you or a teenager you know are admitted to a name brand / expensive / *rich* college and their financial aid package isn’t enough, write them and ask them for more money.

Mention the other schools you were admitted to and that you received strong financial packages from them. DO NOT mention specific numbers unless it’s a named scholarship — eg “presidential” or “provost.”

At least five of my students this year got between 10-20k ‘extra’ in scholarship money just by soliciting for it.

MobbSleep , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

15points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

wouldn't happen here (SA). About half the students are on government and other loans/bursaries and the numbers are so huge that no-one will give more money at this stage.

0points

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#32

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t You can rent a nice casket for the funeral and be buried in a cheaper one.

lurch940 , Pavel Danilyuk Report

Final score:

15points

Shark Lady 4 months ago

I'm having a direct cremation so no need for most funeral expenses.

11points

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#33

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t In the tech industry, one 'hack' customers aren't supposed to find out is how much they can save by avoiding brand new releases and instead purchasing slightly older models or refurbished devices. The previous year's model often has nearly identical specifications to the latest release but comes at a significantly lower price. Additionally, refurbished devices are rigorously tested and certified, providing like-new performance with a warranty, making them an excellent cost-effective option. For software, many companies offer free or heavily discounted versions of their products to students, educators, or non-profits, so always check for those discounts before purchasing at full price!

anon , Josh Sorenson Report

Final score:

15points

PFD 4 months ago

I've had universally s**t experiences with refurbished electronics.

6points

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#34

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Orchestral violinist. Sometimes we don't play all the notes.

reddititaly , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

14points

Ge Po 4 months ago

You that one note that never really sounds quite on pitch right after that other note? There's five more of you playing. You just make sure you'll play the one that your neighbor doesn't get quite right after a pause and now you're a team.

10points

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#35

A CT scan is significantly cheaper if scheduled (outpatient) instead of at the ER. Like 5x to 10x cheaper. Like $5000 vs $600.

It might even use the same CT scanner, the same doctor. The report might take an hour instead of a half hour to get completed.

And "my foot has been hurting for a week, I don't know why" is not an emergency. Go through your regular PCP and have them order your x-ray.

punkindle Report

Final score:

14points

HangryHangryHippo 4 months ago (edited)

Wow. How a simple medical procedure can put you in debt is insane! So glad we get Universal health care

2points

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#36

Our physical presence / approach toward the user will sometimes fix the problem they are facing without any additional effort - IT Support.

Inumayobaka Report

Final score:

13points

Marianne 4 months ago

Works like a charm.

4points

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#37

IT Support, you can fix 90% of your problems by turning hardware off and on again. Also if you're nice to us instead of being horrible we will fix your problem faster.

Imo Customer Support is not paid enough for all the s**t they have to deal with. Customers are very f*****g rude through the telephone.

UniQue1992 Report

Final score:

13points

Remington Greer 4 months ago

You'd be amazed at what clearing cache and cookies can do too. I had an issue printing to PDF and clearing CCs did the trick. I had to reset a users password to a portal and it wouldn't take but clearing CCs did, it worked after that. The list goes on. Most browsers in Windows can access your CCs by pressing Ctrl + shift + del.

1point

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#38

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t You will almost always get a better rate/term on a car loan if you go directly to the finance company. Even if you get the quotes from the dealer and take those quotes to those lenders, you will likely find a better deal.

Always bring your own financing to the car lot. Always.

Source: I work in indirect lending. It is my business to make money off of people who finance at the dealership.

lindydanny , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

13points

Donkey boi 4 months ago

Wasn't the case with my last car. The dealer offered a much better rate (admittedly, after they saw what the finance company was offering).

2points

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#39

"Premium tire" filling using nitrogen instead of atmospheric air has almost no research to back it up. There is basically no difference between the two, it's just a way for tire shops to charge you an extra $50. I MUST NOW ADD THAT I AM WELL AWARE OF THE DIFFERING EXPANSION FACTORS OF AIR AND PURE NITROGEN, AND THAT NITROGEN CAN BE BENEFICIAL IN CERTAIN APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, THE DIFFERENCE IS NEGLIGIBLE FOR MOST PEOPLE WHO DO NOT DRIVE RACE CARS, OR FLY COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES. THAT IS WHY I COMMENTED. MOST PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE OF THIS AND DO NOT NEED TO PAY FOR PURE NITROGEN IN THEIR '05 SHITBOX CIVIC. RANT OVER.

skilover1375 Report

Final score:

12points

Urbangirlatl 4 months ago

Upvote for the rant.

8points

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#40

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Therapy cash pay rates are negotiable at many private practices if you are uninsured or your insurance does not cover behavioral health.

Catflappy , Alex Green Report

Final score:

12points

Samuel Pelatan 4 months ago

Yes but what if you need therapy because you lack the confidence to negotiate ?

8points

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#41

Telemarketer (shush, it puts food on the table). If you say "Put me on your do not call list", or "take me off your calling list", and if the company is based the USA, they are legally obligated to take your number off the list of numbers they call.

Disastrous_Act_4230 Report

Final score:

12points

StrangeOne 4 months ago

Same in Canada. But it only means for that company that's calling you, not the national do not call list. You have to register for that yourself.

3points

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#42

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t **if you do not have health insurance (yayyy america), there are FREE pharmacy discount cards you can get that will DRASTICALLY reduce the cost of your monthly medications.**

i learned about this from my little sister after i had been spending over $100.00 a month on a 30 day supply of generic adderall for 3 years straight after losing my health insurance after i got divorced. now i pay around $12.00.

there are MULTIPLE pharmacy discount cards and they all offer different discounts for different pharmacies, so i have signed up with pretty much all of them.

last year i checked my pharmacy annual spent/savings amount, and i saved over $2000.00 using these discount cards.

just make sure before you pick up your medication that you check online to see which discount card will give you the biggest discount. they often stay the same, but sometimes for some meds, it changes.

**this also applies to PET medications!** a lot of medications prescribed for your pet at your vet's office are human medications that can be filled at your local pharmacy at not only FAR less than the vet's office that marks it up substantially, but you can *also* use one of the pharmacy discount cards on top of it!

wifeunderthesea , Tbel Abuseridze Report

Final score:

12points

Kel_how 4 months ago

GoodRX is one such program. Works great for my uninsured sister. I'd much rather have universal healthcare, but alas...

10points

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#43

If you're in credit card debt, a lot of companies will allow you to negotiate a better interest rate if you agree to start making payments. You'll save a TON of money on interest and you're credit score won't take a hit from missing a payment. It will likely increase your credit utilization but that's just temporary and isn't as bad. I was out of work for a bit due to medical reasons and put my life on a credit card (that is what they are for after all). I let my card go overdue, called in and told them the situation and said I couldn't afford the minimum payments. They set me up with lower payments with an interest rate that was like 15% APR lower than it would have been if I just let it sit on my card. .

Trollselektor Report

Final score:

11points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

Yeah I had this happen, can confirm for SA as well.

3points

#44

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Hospital bills are negotiable, to a degree. Always ask for an itemized bill and put some effort into analyzing it.

Baby_giraffes , RDNE Stock project Report

Final score:

10points

Fabian Bernard 4 months ago

Pro tip: healthcare is free in Europe

20points

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#45

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t This was 6-7 years ago so may not be relevant but when I worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the higher ups were so tunnel visioned on positive customer reviews that if there was any problem at all we would write off anything from gas to whole days of rentals. We had a few repeat customers that would catch on and habitually complain about dumb s**t to get parts of the bill discounted. Only a rating of “Completely Satisfied” counted and it was tied to bonus and promotion so a huge incentive to make people happy.

CromeDaBeast , Hassan OUAJBIR Report

Final score:

10points

Remington Greer 4 months ago

Worked as a tire monkey for a large national tire chain. They had someone walk away with a free set of tires (an $800 value) because they complained that the tire tech did a poor job/didn't apply tire shine (a mix of soap and water that gives tires a sheen when they roll out of the bay). Others have been given tires because the ones they rolled in on were so unsafe and couldn't be mounted on the car again.

3points

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#46

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t I used to work in credit cards. If you disputed a charge for less than $75 (not as fraud), we would just credit you the money. Most the time we wouldnt even investigate it past the initial chargeback. If we didnt win the case you still got your money back.

However if we find out you've figured this out, we would stop giving you the credit unless we won. We've even closed accounts that took advantage of it.

But if you want your money back as a one time thing or whatever, you'd be fine.

SlammedOptima , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

10points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

yep, the cost of investigating and/or suing whoever defrauded you is much higher than just returning the charge.

1point

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#47

I work for a nation wide steel supply company. We sell the same plate of steel sometimes up to 6 or 7 times. What do I mean by that? Say you need a ring of steel that is 5 feet in outer diameter and 4 feet inner diameter. That leaves 4 feet in the middle being cut out of it. well your not just buying the ring. Your buying the whole piece of steel used to cut that ring out of. The piece that comes out from the middle and the corners are called drops. If you don't request we ship the drop to you then we do not. You get a ring and we get a 4 foot circle of steel to sell again or multiple times if we can keep cutting it.

Wisdomlost Report

Final score:

10points

Just-4-2day 4 months ago

Glad to hear it is not going to waste

0points

#48

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t If you know you’re shipping something within a few hours drive of you, always pay for the cheaper shipping option.

The “premium” shipping option is just a markup if you know you’re sending something close by. It will arrive the same day regardless.

StagTheNag , RDNE Stock project Report

Final score:

9points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago (edited)

not in SA. Regular postal delivery can range between 1 month and 1 year, for any random number between 28 and 365 days. You ALWAYS want premium shipping in SA.

2points

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#49

Just ask customer service for a replacement. Doesn't matter if you didn't buy an extended warranty. Doesn't matter if there was no warranty to begin with. A lot of companies just want to resolve customer complaints quickly and will give you free replacements on request.

The_Werodile Report

Final score:

9points

Remington Greer 4 months ago

Secretlab is good that way. I have an older model and the vinyl arm covers started to crack from normal use (me shifting my weight compounded over thousands of motions on day-to-day use. I contacted them and asked to replace under warranty but told me that they weren't covered and sent replacements at no charge as a courtesy. The chair is still going strong and I've had it about 5 years. Highly recommend.

1point

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#50

You don't have to buy solar panels from some door knocker for $20k-$30k. There is absolutely nothing magical or financially superior about what they do.

You can just buy the parts, or a kit, and hire an electrician to install it for about half the "retail" price.

OutlawLazerRoboGeek Report

Final score:

9points

Savahax 4 months ago

Or, you get it for free from the government like we did. Triple glazing as well

2points

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#51

Software development: We've no f*****g idea but we'll say yes and google it later. Works every time.

tummyache-champion Report

Final score:

9points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

can confirm.

1point

#52

If you actually do your home exercise program you won't have to pay for as many physical therapy appointments, because it actually helps you.

JaketheSnakePlisskin Report

Final score:

9points

A little Elf Conscious 4 months ago

Okay, mom.

0points

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#53

For the US only... Accuweather, along with the vast myriad weather apps, really just uses data provided for free by the Nation Weather Service. Oh sure they have forecasters but no way do they have enough for every county and forecast, most really just give overall forecasts for general areas. Instead of saying, "My app is more accurate," actually go find your local NWS office, and you can find a more specific forecast for your area that will tend to be more accurate overall. And remember, what the NWS literally gives away for free these companies want to monetize and have you pay subscription fees for what already is free weather data...

Edit: got messaged a cool question regarding why your local NWS would be more accurate. A NWS office will have employees from that region who focus not just on synoptic (large scale forecasting) but also local patterns and their affect on weather that you just can not get from a lot of the paid apps. A majority of the apps will literally just take the data from a single weather model. While NWS uses what are called ensembles that give multiple outputs that they can use to not only analyze the agreed upon patterns, but deduce the most likely outcome before making an official forecast. In the immortal words of the great Bill Paxton those apps are “in it for the money not the science.”.

Final score:

9points

David 4 months ago

I use weather.com for free. zip code to local city about 5 miles from me. seems pretty accurate. and yes, i assume it is just pulling data from local instruments everyone else is using. I ignore the ads and the hoopla and national stories - I just want local temps / chance of rain and such.

0points

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#54

Aquafresh Sensitive Toothpaste is the exact same as Sensodyne toothpaste.

spinctersezwhat Report

Final score:

9points

StrangeOne 4 months ago

I'm sure a lot of toothpaste brands are all the same.

7points

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#55

Working at a big insurance company (one of the biggest), they relied on people not calling and complaining. Pretty sure that's where a lot of their profit lived. If you think something is odd, definitely do call, even if you end up on hold forever. It's frustrating as hell, but it can save you a ton of money.

Final score:

9points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

in SA we have migrated to app-based claim/enrolment systems for insurance. No more call centre idiots YAAAAAY

1point

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#56

Computer engineer here. We ship so many products that have broken features. The product is fused at the factory to disable features that just didn't bake fully before we needed to ship. Every product I ever worked on has a half dozen bugs that we could have fixed if only we had more time and money.

Eventually you have to say "it's good enough" and ship something to make money.

jdyubergeek Report

Final score:

8points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

Microsoft's motto: It compiled, ship it.

9points

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#57

I’m a teacher. You can learn ANYTHING you want now from the internet if you have the willpower. Teaching continues to exist because most humans learn best with someone to hold them accountable and human interaction. That said- especially with YouTube, if you have a little patience and aren’t afraid of trial and error, you can literally learn anything.

Add: as many of you pointed out, plenty of room for nuance, and I am speaking very generally. But very interesting discussion so thank you all 👍🏻 There’s probably a balance to be made between situations where we can use our own intrinsic motivation to learn and the moments we recognize our needs for an experienced person in the subject to motivate us and bounce ideas off of. I do sometimes feel a bit guilty that I could be learning literally anything I want and I’m… ahem. Scrolling Reddit. Guilty guilty, I am the reason for my own job security… I also need the accountability at times. .

ConejillodeIndias436 Report

Final score:

8points

michael Chock 4 months ago

True. One hour spent on learning how to learn saves you an hour everytime you have to learn something new.

5points

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#58

I don't work there anymore, but I used to work for a cable internet ISP. You weren't supposed to know this, but when customers complained about slow hardwired speeds, we'd show up and pretend to do something, knowing full well that the issue was our nodes being oversaturated everywhere. But we would never tell you. We eventually introduced something called "Power Boost" to mask the problem by skewing speed tests. Your first 5-20 seconds would be uncapped bandwidth and you would think you were getting a quality product when you weren't.

Final score:

8points

David 4 months ago

Does not have to be hard wired. Wired or wireless, many internet providers oversell the amount of bandwidth they have and customers see slow downs during peak usage times. If this matters to you, some providers will sell you guaranteed bandwidth (packet prioritization) for an up charge. Especially important for businesses that use the internet for things like VPN connections to remote stores, but some private customers get it was well. YMMV. Packet priority is also why 'off brand' cell carriers can sell you cheaper cell service even though they don't own any towers and their calls run on the big name (ATT, Tmobile etc) towers. They are buying up the unused bandwidth. During heavy usage times, ATT (or whoever) will prioritize their own customers over the off brand. It's not 'evil', just a trade off people should be aware of when choosing which is better for them.

1point

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#59

Call the nurse line on the back of your insurance card before you go to the ER. If the nurse tells you to go to the ER, insurance will/should have to bill as a covered claim. If the nurse does not recommend ER and you still go=big bill.

Frdmgir7 Report

Final score:

8points

censorshipsucks 4 months ago

Sorry americans we feel for you.

4points

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#60

At GameStop, if you get a pre-owned controller and get the warranty, you can come back a year later, get a fresh pre-owned controller and just have to pay the warranty cost again. This used to work with new controllers, but the policy changed.

Final score:

8points

Joseph Dixon 4 months ago

I love the smell of a fresh pre-owned controller.

0points

#61

Delivery driver here

Not much of a ‘hack’ but loads of people don’t seem to know this. If you create an account with the courier who’s delivering your parcel, when logged in you can set up a ‘safe place’ where we can deliver your parcel to if you’re not at home. We’ll follow the instructions and leave it wherever you want us to (Within reason, of course)

You can probably also do it from the tracking link, but with an account it’ll be set up for every single delivery to your address automatically. Makes both our lives an awful lot easier!

Groningooner Report

Final score:

8points

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#62

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Any Marriott booking made partially with points, with a 3-day cancellation policy, can be cancelled the same day of the booking without any fees.

Will_Heredia , Greta Hoffman Report

Final score:

7points

firecrackershrimp 4 months ago

A different hack if you need to cancel and they tell you you can't because it's past the cancellation window is to ask to rebook for a later date which they will usually do no problem. Then later you can cancel that reservation before the cancellation window closes.

1point

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#63

Making an application run in multiple platforms (Android, macOS, Windows, etc) is a huge pain, but what do all platforms have in common? They can all run Chrome, and Chrome can run portable (but slow) code.

So what do developers do?

**Developers write applications as standalone web pages and bundle a whole copy of the Chrome* browser** to view that "web page". The application now takes hundreds of megabytes of storage, eats RAM like candy, and every interaction is massively slowed down because it has to go through so many layers.

The address bar is hidden, and the right click menu is replaced, but it's still a web browser under the hood.

They are basically saving developer time by wasting your time and device resources. That's a big reason why modern applications (Teams, Discord, Spotify, etc) feel so slow.

---

* Technically "Chromium", since it's missing some features like Google account log in. The most popular framework that uses this technique is Electron.

Final score:

7points

Rayne OfSalt 4 months ago

Discord is a glorified irc client, not a bunch of webpages packaged with a reskinned copy of chrome. This person doesn't know what they're on about.

2points

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#64

If you like to book guided tours while you travel, and you like to do it on Viator, Trip Advisor, or Expedia, you should know that those 3rd party reselling sites take 22-25% of the booking price for themselves. When local tour companies like mine put our tour offerings on their sites we agree to give the sites the lowest price. We cannot post a lower price anywhere, because if it’s discovered that we do we will be removed from the platforms.

Tour companies like mine will JUMP to give you a 10-15% discount if you call us and mention you were looking to book via Viator, Trip Advisor, or Expedia.

You save 10%, we recoup the potential 10-15% that those sites would have taken, and everybody wins!

Final score:

7points

#65

Former local journalist here.
If you want to know something about your town, or pretty much anything locally, or find something hinky that you want investigated, just call or email them and ask "whats happening with that (insert weird item in city budget/shut down road/cop who got fired)?"

When I was off deadline, i actually loved fielding these questions (they were mainly from old people) and pretty much worked as customer service for the city a lot. I directed people to local programs that would help them, I confirmed the start and proposed end dates of construction and I told people what companies had pulled permits to build that new restaurant on Main street. Local journalists have a WEALTH of knowledge in all departments of what is going on in your city, because they drift between one or the other frequently and we ask the other reporters in the cubicle next to us, too. Theyre your tour guides, social workers, watchdogs and public defenders if you just ask them. They arent doing it for the money(*cries in past due bills*), theyre doing it for the love of their community. They all really embrace the localism aesthetic.

I guess this is sort of a "not supposed to find out" thing because if everyone did it, they'd never get their other work done.

Final score:

7points

Rayne OfSalt 4 months ago

Sadly we don't have "local" journalists or small newspapers here any more. They all got bought out by Murdoch, and now print nothing but the rubbish his buttmonkeys down in sydney come up with.

3points

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#66

I'm an auctioneer. I take a 20% cut on anything I auction off for my clients. This is the industry standard, and tax comes on top.

I tell my buyers and my sellers that I take a 20% cut. I take it from both of them. If you buy something for 100€, you pay 123.8€ (plus shipping). And then I tell my client that I sold their item for 100€ and that I get to keep 23.8€ of that, and they get 76.20€.

I honestly hate it, feels hella dishonest to take a cut from both sides. But everybody does it that way, and if I tell either the buyer or the seller that I get a 40% cut, but don't take any cut from the other party, they're gonna tell me to f**k off. So 20% each it is.

Very few people actually seem to realize this. And those who do are surprised and understandably suspicious.

SavvySillybug Report

Final score:

7points

Shine Chisholm (they/ them) 4 months ago

In any other industry, this is called "double dipping" and is illegal. Not sure how auctioneers got around that.

3points

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#67

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t If you buy flights through Spirit at the airport one of the random fees (it's called the user fee or something like that) doesn't apply, so they cost like half as much. I've flown round trip to Chicago for $30, Houston for $45, Miami for $50, etc.

FridgesArePeopleToo , Albert Stoynov Report

Final score:

6points

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#68

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Sometimes teachers do just pull grades out of their a*s.

thesongsinmyhead , Andy Barbour Report

Final score:

5points

cecilia kilian 4 months ago

Some teachers, in some countries, in some subjects, for some tests...

5points

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#69

“We Can Hear You”: 30 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t Press two for Spanish. 90% of the time the people manning the Spanish lines are bilingual, and the wait times aren’t nearly as long.

This is more like an unethical life hack, but it is true they would prefer you not find out about/do it.

Famous-Example-8332 , Yan Krukau Report

Final score:

5points

Savahax 4 months ago

"oh sorry must have pressed the wrong button, do you speak English too?". There's also direct lines for social/case workers but also trustees/guardians. There's no waiting line and the person answering the phone has no idea. I helped several people with their paperwork. Can confirm this first hand

2points

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#70

You can do most maintenance on your own car. I’m a professional mechanic and my best resource for information is a quick YouTube search.

Itshammertimebitch Report

Final score:

5points

Data1001 4 months ago

I *could* do a lot of things myself, but I'd rather pay someone else to do them and have that time for something that I actually enjoy.

5points

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#71

In medicine, if you tell your primary that your previous PCP ordered a test, gave you a medication, placed a referral, etc., and that you need to have it represcribed/ordered again, you can get your primary to order or at least consider ordering damn near anything. At least if it's not a controlled substance or an expensive unusual diagnostic study.

The problem is that offices absolutely suck at transferring their records to each other, and confirming that story takes a huge amount of time.

For example, if you have knee pain and tell me that your primary diagnosed you with a specific knee issue years back and that you went to PT and it felt better last time, and I'm sitting in your chart not able to find any record of that, will I spend 10+ minutes of time trying to hunt down previous records to confirm this history, obtain reports from physical therapy about the specific exercises you were doing and any imaging studies you had and whatever else? Will I have you come in for what as far as I can tell is an appointment to reassess a known diagnosis that someone else already appropriately diagnosed and treated? Or will I click a button that takes 5 seconds to get you the appointment with PT that you want that solved your issue last time, completely unaware that the history I was given was completely fabricated? The reality for something benign like a visit to PT is that there's just not enough time to do anything besides send that order and move on.

TheDocFam Report

Final score:

4points

Shine Chisholm (they/ them) 4 months ago

I'm sure this works for physical therapy, but that's likely because there's pretty much no downside to physical therapy. With d***s, it's really easy to look at your pharmacy history (in the US) to see what you've picked up from any given pharmacy. If you're asking for a refill, they're going to expect that you've filled it in the past 90 days (or so).

3points

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#72

If you’re hurt/ill and in a lot of pain, the provider will often ask where you’re at on the pain scale from 1-10, ten being the worst pain of your life.

Don’t ever say 10. For whatever reason, it loses your credibility (or something) and makes it seem like you’re hamming up your pain level.

Instead, say 7-9. Those are all still very real pain levels and make it seem more reasonable. Providers are very likely to alleviate these levels of pain.

I don’t know why this is. As a paramedic, it also works on me. Maybe it’s because d**g seekers will often say 10/10 and so I’m conditioned to thinking that response is nonsense?

Jumpy_Secretary_1517 Report

Final score:

4points

Chech Dasaus 4 months ago

Whenever I get asked this question I think to myself "If i had 10/10 pain I wouldn't be able to hear your question or open my mouth to answer it".

9points

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#73

If you have a hotel reservation arriving tomorrow, but with a two-day cancelation policy -- and you have to cancel....

Reschedule it instead for a week out.

Then later, call back and cancel since you're outside of the policy.

CaptainTime5556 Report

Final score:

4points

R.A. Haley 4 months ago

Yeah, I stated earlier that little trick is working les and less often these days.

0points

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#74

In Real Estate if you want to buy a house in the area, call the local agents and tell them that you want to SELL a house in the area and give some made up details and ask for a ballpark figure. You will get close to the asking price.

JustanoterHeretic Report

Final score:

4points

David 4 months ago

Why lie and jerk them around? In the US, the buyer and seller typically each have an agent. Your agent works with you based on what you are looking for and budge. They are not the seller and are not giving you inflated prices. However they will often tell you if they think there is room to negotiate. My house was a bank repo. I would likely never have found it without my agent. It needed some repairs I could do myself but I got a great deal

2points

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#75

I've been getting stuck in a lot of automated loops here lately... the quick way out I've discovered is saying "past due". Press that, say this - except if your past due... ohhh... if you're paying them they definitely want to chat with you. I'm never past due, but I say this option every time and it gets to someone that can help me. Generally it's the exact same people anyway.

evil_monkey_on_elm Report

Final score:

4points

David 4 months ago

Similar to another post. Mash 0, press numbers that are not the choices listed, or if a speech recognition system just repeatedly say speak to a rep (or say angry things). Most systems seem programmed to assume you are either disabled or disgruntle - and in either case need assistance from a real human being. YMMV but for most of the systems I call, this has worked for years. But when I don't NEED a real person I prefer to punch the numbers and just get it done. Like if I call to make an automated payment.

0points

#76

Don’t buy the first or last year of a car. First year they’re still working out the bugs in the manufacturing process and the last year they’re focused on getting the new model processes working and less attention on the outgoing model. The very best year is the mid-cycle refresh. Processes should be stable by then and the refreshed exterior are such minor tweaks from a manufacturing perspective it’s not affecting quality and as a perk it usually looks better than the original. -Former automotive body process engineer.

EDIT: I’m getting asked a lot as to why the last year would be bad. Yes the large problems have been worked out but in manufacturing there will always be variability that is monitored and either adjusted where the part is made, the parts themselves or the assembly jig to keep things within tolerances. Imagine you have playing cards and you have 3 buddies with hole punches making a hole in the same spot in each card individually with different suppliers and equipment and you have a time limit on how long it takes to make their punch. Over time I’ll guarantee even with a jig they will start to vary. Punch gets worn out, your card vendor this week sent card stock that’s slightly thicker than the others humidity at friend 3’s location caused the cards to swell…

In a model change year the folks that monitor and adjust for variability have tasks for the new model that takes their full attention away from the current model and splits it up. They’re still the same highly qualified people as they were yesterday but they’re being pulled in more directions now. Where I worked we had 1 ultra accurate scanner to measure the entire body to find variability. Guess who got priority on the table? I’ve got 3 portable units to measure smaller parts out on the floor… One’s at a vendor location tracking down a supplier problem the other is figuring out why an a-pillar inner panel in the new model is twisted and I get the s****y one to figure out why the tranny dog leg on the outer panel doesn’t align well with the striker plate. Anyhow, that’s why the last year should be avoided in most cases. These are all generalizations that always have an exception or 3.

IndyEleven11 Report

Final score:

3points

ROSESARERED 4 months ago

Just buy a Toyota corolla...they go forever...😅🤣😇🤣😅😂😇

1point

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#77

If a beer doesn’t turn out quite how you wanted it to, just turn it into something else. Sometimes that’s just calling it something else, sometimes that’s adding something to it. Not every habanero stout and coffee blonde were meant to be those beers.

burgher89 Report

Final score:

1point

R.A. Haley 4 months ago

Yeah, that's kind if like how all bad ice cream becomes chocolate because chocolate flavor is strong and hides the goof.

1point

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Indrė Lukošiūtė

I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat

I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat

Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

What do you think ?

Boots 4 months ago

If it's not these lists, it's the same pictures, or some 2 and 3 year old Reddit posts being recycled as 'news' because the so-called writers don't actually write anything of substance anymore.

2points

Justin Tyme 4 months ago

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Worst Cop in Britain 4 months ago

False. I go on BP at least twice a week and this is the first time I've seen this posted. No one's forcing you to come here mate.

10points

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Boots 4 months ago

If it's not these lists, it's the same pictures, or some 2 and 3 year old Reddit posts being recycled as 'news' because the so-called writers don't actually write anything of substance anymore.

2points

Justin Tyme 4 months ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Worst Cop in Britain 4 months ago

False. I go on BP at least twice a week and this is the first time I've seen this posted. No one's forcing you to come here mate.

10points

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