Many businesses, whether big or small, cut corners in order to save costs. There are plenty of dirty industry secrets that outsiders would be shocked to know. The following is a list of surprising, dirty industry secrets the insiders are letting people know.
All-in-One Auto Shops Don’t Do Everything
When you bring your car to an all-in-one auto shop that claims to change your oil, rotate your tires, and do about a dozen other things all at once, might not be doing all of those things, or even half of them. Apparently, a lot of these services are simply overlooked and charged for, yet never completed.
“Half of the so claimed ‘services’ they offer at Jiffy Lube never get completed, either by laziness or it may be impossible to do it the proper way on certain cars.”
You Really Should Wash Your Produce Thoroughly
Although it’s not really a secret as much as something that people ignore, when food producers tell you that you should wash your produce before eating it, they really aren’t kidding. Most of us have no idea what goes into growing produce and how it gets handled as it gets transported. If you knew everything that touched your lettuce before it touched your tongue, you probably wouldn’t be eating it.
“I work on a farm. When they say you should wash your produce thoroughly at home, they’re not joking.”
You Might Not Really Need an Accountant
According to this accountant, his own job is completely obsolete, because about 90% of you can calculate and file your own taxes. This is simply something that most people don’t require an accountant for, even though most accountants who charge you several hundreds for their services make you believe you need them.
“Accountant here. It is actually ridiculously easy for about 90% of you to calculate and file your taxes.”
They Destroy Brand New Books
Apparently, big chain bookstores throw out books after a certain period of time if they don’t get sold. What a waste of paper! One reader explains that mass market paperbacks are cheap to manufacture and get shipped out in huge volumes. They continue to say that to make room on shelves, it’s not worth the cost of taking them back and finding someone else to resell them and they don’t want to give them away for free. They say that as a bookstore employee, they would spend hours ripping the front and back covers off books, then tearing the book at least in half so that no one could read it later.
“I almost cried the first time I had to rip up a load of kid’s books (in a city with high child poverty rates and underfunded schools).”
They Give the Highest Hotel Room Rates First
You might think that hotels charge fixed rates for all of their rooms, but this really isn’t true. More often than not, those sneaky receptionists try to scam you out of as much money as they humanly can. If you go right to the front desk and ask for a room, you’ll always get the highest price first. The reality is that hotel managers and front desk employees generally have the power to reduce prices.
“If guests come to the front desk and ask the price we generally start at the high end.”
Unnecessary Services for Funerals
According to industry insiders, about 95% of the things that get done to bodies before their funerals are completely unnecessary. For example, embalming a body simply preserves it for a little while longer, even though it will eventually rot in the ground either way. The fact of the matter is that the whole funeral industry is a racket in general.
“Our entire industry is basically a pyramid scheme.”
Oil and Gas Shortages
All of those oil and gas shortages you keep hearing about, well, that’s just a scheme to drive up the prices. The reality is that in most cases, there is simply no shortage of gas whatsoever, and it’s nothing more than a way for producers to scam you out of a few extra dollars.
“At least once a week the refinery would call and ask if we had room where they could dump a tanker of gas, because they ran out of storage space. So much for the shortage.”
Awards Shows Are Pre-Planned
Something that many people may not know is that many award shows, such as the MTV awards, are all pre planned. All of the people who are winning awards already know that they are winning. If people didn’t know that they were winning, they likely wouldn’t show up at all.
“As a former MTV employee, I can confirm. Most of the time the awards are offered to get the artist to come to the event in the first place. They would make up awards to get artists to show up. People watch to see famous people, who are there to be seen.”
They Make You Buy More Carpet Padding Than You Need
According to industry insiders, when you buy a carpet, you generally need less square footage of the underlying pad than the carpet itself. However most companies make people believe you need same square footage for both and then can charge for more pad than you need.
“But most companies bill you the same square footage for both and often send less pad than you paid for.”
Valet Employees Might Drink and Drive Without a License
Although you wouldn’t expect your valet driver to be drinking and smoking on the job, seeing as they are handling motor vehicles, this is exactly what happens. Many valet services aren’t as responsible with your vehicles as you would expect them to be.
“The valet service I worked for never even asked to see my driver’s license.”
Construction Projects Intentionally Take a Long Time to Start
If you ever wondered why the construction signs are up but there isn’t a worker in sight, you are on to a dirty industry secret. A former asphalt/paving company employee explains what really happens behind the scenes and why it takes so long for construction to start but the signs are up: “It’s the beginning of construction season and your company is dirt poor. Bid on a huge job that you don’t have the materials for. When you put up the “road under construction” signage, you receive a percentage of the payment in advance of actual work. Use that money to buy the materials for several smaller (and higher profit) jobs. A month later, you finally have enough money to buy the materials for the big government contract that you’ve supposedly been working on all along. This is why you’ll often see road closures that seem to go on for way longer than makes sense.”
“I worked very briefly at an asphalt/paving company. It is apparently pretty standard practice for municipal construction projects (road building, bridges, highway repair, etc) to intentionally take a long time at the start of big projects.”
It’s All About the Butter
Fine dining restaurants may make it seem like they use the best ingredients possible, where in reality most of that creamy taste comes from using butter. Apparently, a big portion of your meal is always butter.
“Fine dining cook here. 30% of your meal is butter. That’s why it’s so good.”
Read More: She Won’t Forgive Her Babysitter for Accidentally Getting Drunk on the Job But Readers are Outraged at Her Own Behavior and the Wages She’s Paying
The original poster (OP) hired a babysitter who has been watching her two children for about two months. She is only 16 years-old and OP calls her a sweet and quiet girl. But OP can’t seem to forgive a mistake that she also contributed to.
Her Sister-in-Law Took Her Camera to the Beach Without Her Permission and Lost it But What’s More Concerning is What Her Husband Did
The original poster’s (OP) husband’s sister moved in with them weeks ago because of problems she was having with her boyfriend. OP says they are unlikely to get back together because her sister-in-law won’t go back until he apologizes. But she broke his Xbox device in an argument so this may not happen. Unfortunately for OP, the sister-in-law (SIL) has been creating problems in OP’s life and now things have come to a head.
Her Nanny’s Friends Called Her a Karen and a Monster After She Fired Her at the Water Park She Was at After Calling in Sick But She Was Tired of the Nanny’s Antics
The original poster (OP) and her husband hired a nanny named Marie to care for their kids while they worked. Her children where on hybrid school schedules, so they hired Marie to work full-time. They of course set out some guidelines and expectations, but Marie seemed to have some problems with following them.
Irresistible Homemade Melt-in-Your-Mouth Donuts
Welcome to the delightful world of donuts, where golden rings of fried dough meet a universe of flavors and toppings! But these smart, innovative donuts are barely fried so they are half the fat but full of flavor. The following are a list of donut recipes of all varieties to bake at home fresh when the craving strikes.
Irresistible Homemade Melt-in-Your-Mouth Donuts
10 Life Saving Travel Items that Every Family Needs to Pack
You’ve planned a fun family vacation and everyone is excited to go. But getting everyone packed and ready to go isn’t easy, and neither is the journey. Many parents have to deal with traffic, airport layovers, and hangry and bored kids before reaching the final destination. We’ve rounded up a few items that can help ease some of the packing, snacking and bored kids problems!