Everyone knows that shady business practices are a reality, but wouldn't it be nice to drag them out into the light?
These 20 former industry insiders decided to step forward and share the secrets they uncovered but weren't supposed to know.
1
TGI Friday's
“All the food at TGI Friday's is microwaved, minus the salad. Probably the same for all restaurant chains.”
2
Supermarket
“New and improved at the supermarket means the packaging is new. They changed the shape of the bottle or container to give you LESS product for the new higher price.”
3
Fruit Harvesting
“I used to work harvesting fruit for a big company. Since many workers get paid by the amount collected, a lot of fruit is either too ripe or too unripe. Chances are there are only a few good ones and many in the way are decomposing.”
4
Hotel
“I found out the general manager of our hotel was embezzling money from the cash drawer by pretending to refund guests.”
5
Land Surveyors
“Sometimes land surveyors have to just eyeball it, if the described points of reference are not found.”
6
Medical Help Over the Phone
“Don't call an advice nurse to ask if you should go to the ER. The only function that call serves is to put a trail in place to possibly deny your claim if you are directed to not go. Just go.”
7
Banks
“Banks make most of their money on how much they can tell the government they have on hand, via fractional reserve lending. Thus many banks will be slow to clear checks out of your account but fast to authorize transfers into them. They are trying to maintain what they call the "float" or "floating balance" on the bank’s overall books.”
8
Restaurant
“Anytime a food item on our menu was advertised as "NEW RECIPE," it just meant that the owners found a cheaper version of it from a new distributor.”
9
Public Storage
“The managers at Public Storage steal from units going up for auction, thinking that no one will ever know. Until one of the customers buys their stuff out of auction at the last minute.”
10
Camping
“All of the fancy glamping tents at Terramor Outdoor Resort in Bar Harbor, Main are going to fall apart soon. The timber frame tents don't have foundations or pads to sit on. But the owners don't really care.”
11
Prisons
“Most prisons are dangerously understaffed. Also, most guards aren't the power hungry people you hear about, they're just there for a paycheck.”
12
Arby's
“I used to work in an Arby's a few years ago, and people got frisky in the back.”
13
Sales
“When sales were down, my company resold the exact same product but with a different label and called it new.”
14
Ice Cream Shop
“I used to work at an ice cream store part time. We made our waffle cones from scratch and at regular intervals. Not just because of the demand. The strong scent could be smelled from outside the building and draw people in. Also, people were more likely to buy waffle cones or increase their serving size when we were cooking up a fresh batch.”
15
Restaurants
“More food than you think is dropped on the floor then picked up and put back on the line. The five-second rule does not apply.”
16
Telemarketing
“Telemarketing is a scam and they know it. We were given a script that lists all the most common responses people will give, so we can instantly have a counter for it. And last but not least, my customers were almost exclusively elderly. Because they are easy to trick. Sickening.”
17
University Accounting
“The accounting system used at the University of Iowa last century was based on an old system to track the location of gas cylinders on campus.”
18
Dental Lab
“I once worked for a dental lab as part of a ‘back-to-work’ rehab program after a work injury. I overheard the boss and his wife and the office manager planning on replacing some 60% of the staff with high-school kids in work-study programs. On Monday I was called into a meeting with my rehab consultant about missing many hours of work. Two weeks later he let nine people go, replacing them with high-school kids. By the end of the month another six employees left for the competition and without experienced employees, he went out of business by the end of the year.”
19
Bank
“I worked at a bank. When you refinance your mortgage there’s this thing called a right to cancel. My boss made the uneducated minority borrowers waive the right to cancel so she could sell and fund the loans on the secondary market. This is very illegal and is punishable by jail time.”
20
Amazon Contact Centers
“I used to work for an Amazon contact center. They will replace your order if you insist that you did not receive it. Every contact you will receive an email, and there’s always a survey link at the bottom of the email.”
