A company’s reputation is everything. If you have a respected and ethical brand, offer quality products and services, and have earned your customers’ trust, then you’ll likely succeed in business. On the flip side, any shady things that happen have the potential to undo everything that you’ve poured your heart, sweat, and tears into over the years.
The reality is that many companies have things they’d like to keep under wraps. We’re looking at an AskReddit thread where former employees finally blew the whistle on the very worst and most disgusting secrets they found out about their workplace. Scroll down to read about their awful experiences.
#1
I worked for 2 years for LEGO, and have nothing but nice things to say about them. For the most part, everyone I encountered there was awesome.
Image credits: anon
#2
I know this isn't that juicy but I used to work at an overnight camp (I had also gone there as a camper) and every morning we had a drawing where we put all the campers names into a hat and picked one out at random, and the kid that got picked got to spin the Wheel of Wonder and do silly stuff to the counselors like pour flour on them, or throw water balloons etc.
WELL as it turns out when I was old enough to be a counselor they let me in on the secret... all the papers inside the hat are blank
They pick a kid that seems to be having a hard time adjusting to camp life, or a kid who isn't very social and then pretend to pull their name out of the hat. In conclusion, MY CHILDHOOD WAS A LIE - I used to sit there every morning hoping and hoping that they would pull my name but I never won.
At least the kids that really needed it end up getting that extra attention though!!
#3
AMR - America's largest private ambulance company
Contracts with counties will specify response times that they need to meet to remain in compliance. Typical response windows are about 10 minutes in heavily populated areas and 14 minutes or more in more rural areas. This compliance usually needs to be maintained to 90% or higher for all 911 calls generated.
Several times this year we've been "too good" and been running compliance up at 98-99% for the month. AMR's response is to cut staffing hours to save labor/diesel costs. They are willing to be late at the end of a month because they know they'll still hit their monthly compliance requirement.
I personally think that's despicable. Even though MOST 911 calls are BS and not a medical emergency, somebody that needs a defibrillator RIGHT NOW could have a reduced chance at survival in the name of pleasing "corporate" and ultimately the shareholders.
Image credits: SploogeMonster
According to the CFA Institute, your best course of action when “ethical challenges put your career and professional standards on the line,” is to gather and document your facts and questions. You should also check the issue escalation policy and then talk to your supervisor, and then your chief compliance officer.
At the same time, it’s important to question what you’ve witnessed while also not being accusatory or self-righteous. Meanwhile, if you’ve reported your suspicions but those activities continue or are excused, it might be time for you to leave.
If you report a problem internally and you’re fired in retaliation, you should strongly consider hiring an employment lawyer. They’ll help you determine whether you have a potential case against the company for unlawful termination.
#4
My mother, who was a school teacher in an inner city middle school, was "strongly discouraged" from failing any student for any reason. If you failed to many students, you would be sent to the worst school in the district. This policy actually broke about 2 years after she finished working, when a teacher's final grades were changed by a principal who didn't want to fail the students.
Similarly, an incident occurred where one of her co-workers was assaulted by a student and had to go to the hospital because the a*****t aggravated her heart condition. She was told that if she chose to press charges, or if she leaked the incident to the public, she would be transferred to the worst school in the district.
Welcome to American Public Schools.
Image credits: keepcooler
#5
I worked at a pet store once. It was probably the worst job I had. Animals were generally well taken care of in our store but almost never touched or played with (unless the managers were gone). This pretty much makes any animal we sold pretty hostile to its new owner or unmanagable. It also sucked because when stupid kids would come in and want to hold animals, we all would groan on the inside, knowing we were probably gonna get bit. The kid was definately gonna get bitten too. Probably will also drop it in surprise and make us run around trying to catch it again. If the management had let us handle them a bit more we wouldn't have had kids freaking out over being bitten by a gerbil or a parakeet or people bringing the animal back when it wasn't instantly warm and receptive.
EDIT: I'd like to say though if you or someone you know thinking of buying/adopting a pet don't give up just because it doesn't take to you right away. They need love, support, training and time from you. Just because it isn't all loveydovey now doesn't mean it won't be if you treat it right. Just remember the places they come from, where they don't get affection very much. Its new to them.
Image credits: anon
#6
I worked at a Walmart. This is the biggest secret I can share with the public:
Believe it or not, the floor associates have no control over how much of something is in stock.
Image credits: spicymelons
It’s a pretty big dilemma about what to do if you witness something unethical happening at work. You want to do the right thing, but it’s likely that you’re also scared of the consequences of speaking up.
On the one hand, you might have signed a bunch of NDAs, don’t want to rock the boat, feel hesitant to act, or you’re also scared to lose your job, career prospects, and financial stability. On the other hand, arguably, everyone has a moral duty to lead by example and push back against shady, immoral, and toxic behavior. And if you see something that may be illegal (not just unethical), there’s even more pressure on you to report it.
#7
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.
Good business strategy. And hey, made my clothes smell nice (I had a jacket that smelled like fresh waffle cones for 3 months after I left that place)
#8
Google spies on you. A lot.
Image credits: mgollllll
#9
I worked at American Apparel for two years. During the time that I worked there, the company implemented a company-wide recruitment policy where any person applying for a position must be photographed (1 headshot, 1 body shot) The actual resumes were thrown in the garbage. These photos were then sent to a company email address where someone would either give a thumbs up or down to the photographs. Staff were encouraged to recruit instore and on the street and were given a $100 bonus for every person they got approved.
Before this was implemented, all existing staff were photographed (again, 1 headshot and 1 body shot) Anyone deemed to be physically unworthy was let go from the company. Of course this wasn't legal, however right before they started this process every employee had to sign a waiver form, that was pretty much a lot of legal gibberish, on the spot. I wanted to have a lawyer take a look at the form however I was told I had to sign it on the spot or I would be let go.
There was also a company intranet website which all employees where to check on a regular basis. This was Dov's main line of communication to all staff. The site would have pictures of girls from the stores where he would rip them apart for having too thin eyebrows, for having "ugly make-up" or bad tattoos and piercings. They were basically publicly shamed for not looking the way he wanted to. He would also post memos saying things like "HIRE MORE ASIANS"
Needless to say, I no longer work for the company and will never shop there again.
Image credits: anon
If you see something suspicious and unethical, some good rules of thumb are to:
- Document everything, in detail, so you have evidence of unethical or illegal behavior;
- Have a group of colleagues whom you can tackle the issue with together;
- Speak to your labor union rep or a lawyer before you make any sudden movements;
- Consider speaking to your manager or HR about the toxic behavior;
- Take legal action or reach out to the authorities if you see something unlawful;
- Meanwhile, think about looking for another job with a healthier workplace culture and better values.
#10
It's common for restaurants to fill Heinz ketchup bottles up with off-brand ketchup once the bottles are empty.
Off-brand ketchup haters, beware.
Image credits: ravenpride
#11
I used to work at Petco. They had this 'spa upgrade' added to their grooming package. (included special scented shampoo, conditioner, and teeth brushing). By corporate, each store had to sell a certain number of spa packages to meet the quota or they'd be written up.
The manager at my store added it on to every dog, even if thd customer didn't ask for it. Suddenly a dog who's haircut should cost $50 now cost $70. We had many complaints and lost a log of customers.
Image credits: thedoc617
#12
I used to work at a Disney store. If you ever hear them mention a customer as a "customer" and not a "guest" it means they are suspected of shoplifting or something else bad.
Image credits: 5JuicyFlavors
What are the very worst, most unethical things that you’ve seen happen at your old workplace, dear Pandas? Did you report what you saw or were you too afraid of the potential backlash against you?
What are some major red flags that a business might be super shady? If you feel up to sharing a bit about your career, you can tell us about your experiences in the comments below.
#13
I used to work for toys"r"us and majority of the rare toys that people try to collect usually don't even hit the shelves because the workers already put them aside for themselves.
Image credits: nbertolino
#14
I used to work at Starbucks. We were always hypervigilant for people who ordered a Tall Mocha and continually checked their phone - Starbucks secret shoppers always order a Tall Mocha and evaluate us based on time, quality of the drink, and whether or not we were pleasant and friendly. These secret shoppers would get us employee rewards if we did a good job.
If you want a d**n stinkin' good cup of chocolate flavored coffee with hilariously over-the-top customer service, you know what to do.
EDIT: Several people have brought up that Starbucks no longer does customer snapshots and instead, they do a printed receipt survey. I worked there from 2008 - 2011 and our store implemented it fully, but granted it was a smaller store in a smaller town. So I apologize if you order a Tall Mocha and you don't get legendary friendliness and abnormally fast service, this might be only at certain locations now.
Image credits: emiloca
#15
Worked at Chili's for about 6 months; got nothin' on them. I will tell you this: that place was squeaky clean as a m**********r at the end of every close. I worked at close to a dozen restaurants/coffee shops as a college student; nothing ever came close to their level of cleanliness. Very good quality control on the food, too. Sorry for the lame post; feel free to downvote me because I can't follow directions.
#16
I used to work at the YMCA as a lifeguard, and we had a security camera at the indoor pool. Multiple coworkers were fired because they were "caught" texting on the job on that camera.
I became good friends with the boss, and he ended up telling me about how our security camera was useless because the lense was constantly fogged up so the footage showed nothing but blurry figures.
He had instead fired my coworkers based off rumors of texting or if he didn't like them.
Image credits: flame-princess
#17
Six Flags theme parks have a problem with gangs. Management knows about this and will alter certain operations to deter crime on designated "g**g days".
Image credits: Meetybeefy
#18
I worked at a Hilton hotel where I had to stand for 8 hours straight and was given breaks only if the front desk wasn't busy. There always had to be one person at the front desk at all times. Florida law doesn't require breaks, but most companies do. Hilton does not.
If you book a hotel room on one of those travel websites (Expedia, Travelocity, etc.) you are guaranteed to get the worst rooms available. Sure, if the hotel is completely empty, you'll get a fine room. But if the hotel is half full, you'll be getting the s****y rooms because you paid the lowest price. None of those websites can guarantee room type or accommodations and I've pissed people off MANY times because we didn't have the type of room they thought they booked.
Also shady stuff happens in hotels. Employees have "quickies" in vacant rooms, employees sleep in vacant rooms without telling housekeeping so they don't get in trouble (and it never gets cleaned).
Pro Tip: Be extra sweet and nice to the front desk people. They don't get paid enough to hear people b******g at them for other employee's mistakes. Also, it'll get you special treatment if you're having a problem.
#19
At Walmart the code for the intercom is #961. You are welcome and have fun.
Edit 1: Ok just to clear up a few things. #961 is default intercom number. I have worked at 5 different Walmarts and at each this code could be used. One store had a different number (like #445) but #961 would still work. Every Walmart used to use the same code (#960) until someone decided to shout racist things over it lol. Then they changed the default by one number making it #961. Trust me....it works lol.
#20
I worked at Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems in Arlington, VA as a Quality Assurance Engineer. It came to light that Japanese engineers without a Professional Engineer license in the US were falsifying signatures of American PEs on design documents for their new APWR-1700 to be built in Virginia and Texas.
I reported them to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but since I had already resigned after they contually asked me to violate internal procedure and the customers contract (legally binding quality control specs), and no one who still worked there would corroborate, I recieved a pretty letter that pretty much said "there isn't enough proof to investigate."
TL:DR - nuclear reactor maker falsifies design documents, I report, nothing happens. Think Fukishima in your backyard since this will be on the fault line near Richmond.
Image credits: eldawsome
#21
Someone close with me works at Forever 21. They cannot ask or accuse you of stealing. They cannot do anything. Even if they see you put it in their bag they cant really do anything. Mall security wont handle it, and they dont do LP. They cannot contain you, or chase you, etc. They can just comment on that shirt thats in your pants would go nicely with a bracelet.
Edit: It's kind of disappointing with how many people are saying "so tempted" and "going to try this". I'm sorry, guess I'm one of the few people who still has morals. Probably the same people who think police are pigs when they get caught breaking the law. I hate people.
Image credits: anon
#22
I worked at a Lowe's home improvement for a few months after college. Everything in the seasonal department has a huge profit margin, and as soon as it's slightly out of season the price will drop and haggling becomes available. More time elapsed since next season's stuff got in = more haggling off the sticker price.
* The outdoor furniture sold during the summer is crazy overpriced. Wait until they start to roll out the fall selection. Your choices will be more limited, but my managers used to give away $200 tables for $50 or less because they just wanted the floor space back for new stuff. This is even more true for decorations, like Halloween inflatables, Christmas lights and fake trees.
* Same thing goes for the seasonal power equipment. Deals can be acquired on leftover snowblowers, depending on who you're talking to. **Also, Lowe's almost always puts power equipment on sale right when they get it, usually 15-25%. For example, snowblower sale in October.** Beware, this may not work as well on expensive, low-stock items such as a log-splitter.
**Protip:** When buying something big, like a mower or an appliance, ask the salesman if the manager can get you a better deal. When this happened to me, my manager would check the margin on that item and give them 10-15% off right on the spot. This happened almost every time someone asked.
#23
This is no secret, but whenever an annoying customer asks if we have something in the back, we go take a break, come back out, and say "hey, sorry, we're all out"
Image credits: CherrySlurpee
#24
I used to work at a local movie theater that only costs $2. I don't know if other similar places do this, but the manager used to take out the used cups from the trashcans wash them out and use them again. Lesson i learned: Never buy a drink at a cheap movie theater.
Edit: I've decided to report them! I figured they would be caught and shut down by now, but the place is still open.
Image credits: anon
#25
I've actually wanted to get this out there cause it has really bothered me and its been a few years. I worked at Dollar Tree (terrible decision btw). The store had a charity drive for toys during Christmas. We would ask people at the end of their checkout if they wanted to donate a toy for active Military family's kids. The incentive for the cashier was to sell the most and you would win like $100 or something (I got second place so I don't remember). Anyway, we sold what had to be thousands (so we thought). It was easy since what's one extra dollar right? Well, whenever the customers bought a toy it went into a big bin at the front. However, after every day, this bin was unloaded and was recycled to be sold yet again, over and over. In other words there were only so many toys that they just sold over and over. I guess they figured that we sold so many, that every local kid would buried in toys but I will never forget it. It makes me sad and reluctant to donate unless I know it'll actually go somewhere. This wasn't the only thing that was sketchy either.
#26
I used to work for the state I lived in. The biggest secret about working for the state is that civilization and society as we know it are a farcical construct that could be toppled with a light shove. I can't even begin to consider what kind of identity crises people at the federal level go through. I think Obama's hair went so gray so fast due to the burden of knowing that everything on the d**n world is constantly seconds away from bursting into flames.
#27
I used to work at an Apple store.
If you bring in a computer 3 times for the same issue, they will replace it with a brand new model.
Image credits: ilovethetaste
#28
Worked at a facility which was an operation center for the Affordable Care Act.
All of the systems were connected so poorly that the Government systems were exposed, and the software was extremely vulnerable to exploit.
I wrote a threat assessment and turned it in to my floor manager. He passed it along and shortly after, one manager quit, one was fired, and my floor manager never spoke to me again.
Shortly after, we suffered an 'internal attack' and when systems were restored, I had access to deep company emails with military and other government officials, domestic and foreign, detailing weapons sales and transport. One of those countries was North Korea.
#29
Every last bit of food made at Macaroni Grill is either frozen, canned, or out of a serving pouch. ABSOLUTELY. EVERYTHING.
Image credits: anon
#30
Working for Borders (I'm going to assume this policy holds with other bookstores as well), whenever we did inventory, we would strip the covers off old paperbacks and magazines that weren't supposed to be shelved anymore, and toss the reading material itself. We would then either scan in the covers' barcode, or mail them back for inventory purposes.
It hurt my soul, wasting all those books and magazines... =(.
#31
Former Casino employee here. Avoid slot machines near the exits and cashiers. They are designed to pay out poorly.
#32
I've worked at a few major Canadian "alternative financial" businesses. One has a major parent company in the US with the same policies. So what I'm about to say applies to Money Mart, Cash Money, Speedy Cash, and Rapid Cash. And those are some pretty major companies, so I feel confident that this is industry-wide.
There is no authorization system. Absolutely none. We talk it up like we have to put all this information in the computer and send it all off to head office for an approval, but there is no such system. Every decision is made by a living breathing employee right there in the store you're in. We talk about this system to protect ourselves, to keep the crazies away--those guys who will be pissed that we declined their check and wait outside to ambush us when our shift is over (which, btw, all kinds of other security procedures in place for that, so don't go to crazytown).
Handing me a check that looks like it was written in the same pen as your signature on the back? "My system is just asking me to verify this, I'll be right back." No it isn't. I think you're trying to hand me a stolen check.
Handing me a low-sequence check (e.g. check number 0003) from a numbered company? My first thought is it's a fake business, unreliable, unestablished--I'm probably not going to cash it. "Oh I'm really really sorry, but my authorization system is down right now. Can you come back tomorrow?" (So I can run a search to see when the company was registered, who it's registered to, and so forth).
You want 70% of your net pay on your very first payday loan? "Hm, I mean, I'll try, but my system only usually approves 30-40% on a first loan... let me try... hmm... yeah, says I can only give you $200. I might be able to get you a little more if you have any references verifiable in the phone book, do you know anyone with a land line?" (Note: Money Mart is unique in that the system ACTUALLY caps you at a max of 20-30% on the first loan, but the rep at the window can still offer below that if they don't trust you.)
Sending $2000 to Nigeria with some generic test question about what their favorite color is? "Sorry, my Western Union system is down." B***h, that thing never goes down. You're just too stupid to realize it doesn't make sense for a nice 2-bedroom apartment in downtown cityville to be $300 a month with a huge deposit and a landlord in a foreign country who will call his buddy to let you look around just as soon as he gets your security deposit that there's no way to get back once you give him that lovely little 10-digit number on the receipt.
We blame the system because it protects us, because it keeps us safe, because it's hard for you to argue or bicker with us when you don't believe we have any say in it. But we do.
The only time the person you're dealing with face-to-face isn't the sole person making the decision is if they're a newer employee and they haven't been deemed able to be trusted with the amount of money you're dealing with (e.g. someone who's been working for us for less than 6 months needs to get actual approval from a real other person for a $4000 check).
#33
Even though there are very specific rules regarding the amount of hours a commercial truck driver can be on the road, and if you ask the employer they'll always say that the driver is told to always follow those rules, I was always encouraged to work over houred by falsifying my log book. Those drivers that followed the letter of the law were given significantly less work and made WAY less money (the difference was close to $20,000/year.)
#34
Back when I used to work at McDonalds we would get shipment time to time for buns, fries, etc. Every time shipment came the manager had to sign and check that everything was there but my manager would always mark certain things missing and hide them in the store so that she can get a few extra boxes for free. I have no idea how she got away with it for so long but it's been a couple years since and she is still there so I guess it worked for her.
#35
Those security cameras? Nope. Not real.
This is really pretty common.
Image credits: Chtorrr
#36
Former Starbucks barista here. I guess these are really more of ordering tips than unscrupulous secrets.
- there is an unlisted size: short (8 oz). This is most cafes' "small," but Starbucks shifted the sizes up a number of years ago (which is why "tall" and "grande" weren't weird names then), making the venti the largest. You can get any hot drink short.
- we have a number of flavor syrups that aren't listed on the menu, just ask what we have. Also, despite what many customers think, we have peppermint year round, so we can make peppermint mochas and peppermint white mochas any time of the year. Gingerbread and pumpkin spice *are* seasonal, but we may not run out of stock for quite a while, so if it's February there's still a chance.
- bring your own cup, save 10 cents. Might have to remind the cashier, we forget sometimes.
- you can get a drink "for here" and get it in ceramic/glass, feel fancy, waste less.
- edited to add: 50 cent refills on coffee, iced tea, or iced coffee (not espresso beverages)
- iced large drinks have extra everything, on account of being 24 and not 20 ounces - extra espresso shot, extra pump of syrup.
- it's honestly not that annoying that you have a very specific drink order. It breaks up the monotony, and it's nice not to be a vanilla latte robot. Sometimes people would ask for weird things that I'd make for myself later and end up liking! (protip: green tea latte with peppermint)
- You can get the matcha green tea as plain, non-milk tea. It's pretty cheap for matcha tea, too.
- adding a syrup to a drink always costs extra (unless the cashier likes you/doesn't care, which is frequent), unless it's already in that drink. i.e., a caramel frappuccino with extra caramel doesn't cost extra.
- that delicious caramel sauce is in fact real caramel. That plastic-tasting caramel syrup is not. Many people don't realize we have both - the caramel sauce is what decorates the cup of the caramel frappuccino and on the whipped cream, the caramel syrup is what flavors the actual frappuccino or a caramel latte.
- a caramel macchiato is a vanilla latte with caramel sauce, and least (Starbucks: "most") importantly, the espresso shot put on top of the steamed milk.
- infrequently ordered, but delicious drink: a marble macchiato. It's like a caramel macchiato but with half mocha syrup, half white mocha.
- if you want a legit cappuccino and you see jugs of milk on the counter, ask for them to use milk from the fridge. Milk needs to be cold to foam that well. Likewise, if you want a soy cappuccino, you can be a pain in the a*s and ask for soymilk from the fridge (they might not even have any in there), since soy will barely foam at room temperature, since the cartons are shelf-stable.
- if you have no idea what to order, ask us. Since we get free drinks you can count on us trying every single drink in every disgusting combination. Our favorite drink will probably be something excessively complicated we'll be happy to make for you.
- on that note, if you're like, green tea latte? disgusting or delicious? you can ask us to sample it. we'll make a whole drink and split it into sample cups. No big deal, our manager will probably like us better for promoting drinks anyways, and you don't have to spend money to find out raspberry mochas are gross and green tea is delicious.
- same thing for pastries. We'll sample it if you ask and we have enough (generally yes).
- if you really like a certain coffee we have but we don't have it brewing, you can ask for a french press version. French press generally tastes better anyway, and iirc it doesn't actually cost any more and you can order whatever size you normally would. We'll probably sample the rest of the pot anyway. However, this will take significantly longer since, for once, we actually have to brew the coffee ourselves.
- we often forget or get too busy, but we actually have giftwrap, especially around the holidays. Ask and we'll make that overpriced mug purty.
- I had a few customers with impossible or silly requests. (1) impossibly hot beverages - in excess of 210F. guys. srsly. (2) people who ask for extra hot cappuccinos and are disappointed by them still not being hot enough. This is how a cappuccino is - there's too much air/surface area for the foam layer to ever be hot. If you want hot, get a latte. (3) asking for less-hot milk from the pitchers we've already made. We can't serve milk that has gone below 135, you have to have us make a fresh batch. Sucks for waste, better for you not puking.
- in terms of dairy allergy/vegan stuff, the caramel sauce, white chocolate syrup, and pumpkin spice syrup all contain dairy. The chai contains honey. The whipped cream is 100% legit heavy cream. The caramel syrup, mocha syrup, and other syrups are non-dairy. This stuff might not matter to the lactose intolerant, but to some it does. For the caffeine-sensitive, the mocha syrup does not actually have any coffee - it's chocolate sauce, and is just named that because it's what we use for mochas. The "creme-based" list of fraps is usually pretty short, but there are usually more caffeine-free options, just ask.
- edit: you can get an "old school" iced americano, which is espresso + all ice, instead of espresso + ice + then water to fill
- edit: you can get a café au lait, but it's called a misto (mee-sto). It's half brewed coffee, half steamed milk. Handy if you like lots of milk in your coffee and don't like making it room temperature with it.
- edit: if you want a little soymilk in your americano, iced coffee, or regular coffee, just ask for it at the bar. I've never seen anyone charge for it. Full cup of soymilk for a latte, yes, 1" for another drink, no one cares.
- edit: if you want chai but no sugar/honey, get a chai tea misto. It's half brewed tea (tazo stuff) and half steamed milk. Also costs less! You will have to wait a little longer, since there is actual tea brewing happening.
- edit: if you like honey, we have it at the bar and can make your drink with it. Works better with hot drinks.
- edit: We have two forms of vanilla - the syrup, and vanilla bean powder used for vanilla bean frappuccinos/caffe vanilla frappuccinos. You can get the powder in any drink, many people think it's tastier, and it has those magical vanilla bean speckles.
- finally: You are probably worried about being weird, inconvenient, and an a*****e. Starbucks customers are the nicest in my experience. I think it's because you're all worried about being a d**k. KEEP WORRYING, THANKS
Now for the unscrupulous part:
- in terms of cross-contamination, it's pretty bad. We had blender pitchers labeled "dairy" and "non-dairy," but no one cared. The metal pitchers and blender pitches are rinsed out with pressure, and continue to be used throughout the day. The steam wand on the espresso machine (used for heating milks) is cleaned with a rag that soaks in cleaning solution as well as using the steam to clean out the inside, but the cleaning solution is often pretty contaminated with all the milks (if you think about it, wiping off a little milk and then putting it back in the same liquid... even if you change it out frequently, cross contamination is almost immediate).
- The soymilk *does not* cost more than the dairy. What's more, is it's shelf-stable packaging, and so there's less waste than with dairy.
- Frappuccinos have the highest profit margin. Watch someone make the drink and it's apparent - it's mostly ice, generally more than the iced drinks (non-blended) gets. Not a real shake by a long shot, but... so delicious...
- those overpriced sandwiches below the pastry case get tossed every night. Yeah, we could take some home, but you always get tired of the food at work and none are particularly great, so yeah. Same goes for "morning" pastries mid-day in many Starbucks. Other pastries are given a shelf life of 2-3 days upon arrival, but generally some of those are always tossed too. Occasionally I had a whole, unopened package of something that was expired, though ideally this is minimized. These things go in the dumpster, and many people will understandably go dumpster diving for these - I mean, it's a trashbag full of slightly-dry pastries, some still shrink-wrapped. They purposely place the dumpsters somewhere more secluded to avoid this (they don't want to be liable), but apparently it can easily be figured out.
- we can & do guess what people will get before they order when we're bored. We have stereotypes, they hold pretty well. Except for that one skinny woman who got caramel frappuccinos. Breaking barriers, man.
#37
EVERYTHING AT PANERA IS FROZEN (pretty much). Phew. That felt great.
#38
Working at Target sucks balls. At least that was the case when I was there. The best way to describe it would be like watching one of those movies where there's a family that seems perfect. One day the main characters goes over for dinner and has to use the restroom and they find a locked door in the hallway and they hear a strange noise. Whatever's behind that locked door is the result of working for Target. It's soul-draining and spirit-crushing and every time I go into one I'm equally as relieved to no longer be working there as I am afraid some powerful force from the back room might suck me back inside. *shudder*.
#39
Anytime a food item that was on our menu being advertised as "NEW RECIPE" just meant the owners found a cheaper version of it from a new distributor.
#40
Former Office Depot "Technician" reporting in.
You bring your computer in for a $100 virus clean up - we hook it up to the network and let some guy overseas fix it. Most of the tech employees know about as much about computers as the average 45-year-old shopper.
Edit: a lot of people have messaged me stating that the techs on the other end of the network connection were not, in fact, over seas. I apologize to all of you, that was unfair. I never had any interaction with you guys except through the little chat box. My store manager told me we outsource over seas, and when I saw how some of you type in that box, I didn't doubt him
Edit 2: I also never meant to imply that the real technicians didn't know what they were doing. I was simply showing the incompetency of the actual employee.
Image credits: jbor613
#41
Pei Wei's chicken lettuce wraps? The chicken is the fatty bits we cut off during morning prep work. Whoever carves the chicken all day just gets a little sloppy so that the pieces he cuts off are 80 percent fat and 20 percent meat, then it all gets minced in a meat grinder. Its one of their top sellers and it costs the company next to nothing, since the alternative is throwing away the fatty pieces.
edit: just remembered that since PF changs is the parent company of Pei Wei, I am 99% sure this applies there as well. A lot of our recipes were identical to pfchangs recipes.
edit 2: a few fellow PF Changs/Pei Wei workers have confirmed this happens at PF Changs as well. Shout out to my fellow workers, and thanks for stopping by.
Image credits: Demontaco
#42
Was at Kohl's for 5 years, supervisor for 3. Not sure if these are all true of all Kohls, but definitely were at mine.
* We were encouraged to sign everyone up for a credit card, despite age, language barriers, etc. I absolutely hated signing people up for those cards, especially only because they wanted to see if they could get a discount. I would give them the discount regardless if they were approved or not. (If I didn't sign enough people up, I would get warnings). The APR on them was 27%!
* The jewelry cases were all opened with one key and pretty flimsy even then. With a hard jerk, you could easily open them. Also, a lot of the diamonds that were under 1/4 carat were fake.
* If you were returning something without a receipt and were getting a "corporate refund", that meant that you were, 95% of the time, returning stolen merchandise. (We would tell them they'd get a check in the mail) The other 5% were if it was extremely old merchandise (like, 3+ years old). A few people got the hint, those that didn't were in for a sore surprise when they would never get a check.
* You could easily let a friend know your associate number, go to Kohls, say you work at a different store, give the number, and get the associate discount, 15%.
* If it was returned and wasn't noticeably damaged, it went right back out on the floor, no matter how long the person had it.
* Inventory was always off, probably by about +/-5 units per item
I'm sure there's tons more I can think of, but it's been awhile.
#43
If you shop at a grocery store that sells whole rotisserie chickens, the chicken you're buying probably isn't older than about 3 hours (that was when we had to pull ours.) However if you buy a chicken pot pie or a BBQ chicken pizza, it's hard to say exactly how long ago that chicken was cooked. Why? Because the chicken that we pulled after it sat for 3 hours, we pulled off the skin and tore the meat off the bones and then threw the meat in a big container in the prep fridge. So your Safeway chicken pot pie is made out of rotisserie chickens that no one bought.
EDIT: As 500 people flooding my inbox have noted, this is as it should be.
Image credits: Red_AtNight
#44
Former fast food manager here. I don't know if this is a company-wide thing, but our regional McManager "strongly discouraged" us from firing anyone who had worked there more than six months, since they'd be eligible for unemployment. Instead, we were encouraged to make their lives into a living hell until they (hopefully) gave up and quit.
#45
As a former cart pusher at walmart, one thing i always noticed was how they pushed all of their employees, i mean "associates" , to 39.5 hours a week so that they wouldn't get full benefits. That and the 10% discount card only worked on taxed items.
Edit: Thanks for all the responses. For those that asked, NY state considers 40 hours to be full time, back in '09. Also the tax in my area was 8%, so the discount was pretty much nonexistent. I have since moved on to another job.
#46
I was a butcher for a while.
Cutting myself did not mean that I should stop working or wear gloves.
#47
Using a throwaway because I know that the boss mentioned below is a Redditor.
Back in 2008, I worked for a Red Lobster in Michigan. The guy who ran it was extremely wealthy, and definitely a little mentally "different". Let's call him "Rick". Nobody knew for sure what Rick used to do that made him so rich, because there was no way in hell our Red Lobster restaurant was pulling in enough money to make him that rich. The pay there was amazing because of him. Nobody there made less than $50 an hour. And on top of that we had health care benefits and 28 days of vacation a year. Our Red Lobster would have gone out of business long ago if the funds for all of that was coming from the profits, because our restaurant just wasn't doing so well. We all knew it was because of Rick. The Red Lobster we worked at was one of the best in the state in terms of quality but it was in a bad area, so we didn't get that many customers.
It really was a dream job. Rick truly cared about each and every one of us. Although the job application was intense (I felt like I was being interrogated for treason), once I was "in", I was family, as mafia-ish as that sounds. I worked as a server, bringing orders from the customers and bringing food to them. For the money and benefits I was receiving, it was the best job I had ever had.
But...there was one catch. Remember how I said that my boss was a bit mentally "different"? He had a bit of a "f****h" for the butter sauce. At the end of each work day, he would randomly ask three of the employees to stay overtime for a few hours. The overtime pay was **double** what regular pay was. After the place was locked up and the kitchen shut off, he brought us into the back. He had set up a room specifically for his f****h. There was a cleansing chemical shower in one corner which he used to remove anything dirty from his body. He would strip down and go into it. Then he would walk to the middle of the room where he had set up a **Jacuzzi filled with the Red Lobster butter sauce**. This was the sauce that we had in the kitchen, and it was the same sauce that went back into the kitchen. Because, why waste the sauce if something completely clean went into it, right? ಠ_ಠ
It was the job of the employees he had spend overtime to fill up the tub, and then empty it and put all the butter back into the barrels they came in. One employee would stay in with the naked Rick in the buttercuzzi while another stood guard at the door. After he was done, Rick would "cleanse" himself against, and leave while we put all the butter back and locked the place up.
We were never told not to tell anyone, because it was obvious what would happen if somebody did. We would lose our amazing job with the best pay/benefits for our level of work in the whole state. But all good things come to an end, and we were all fired in July of 2011. We're not sure why, but we noticed Rick becoming more and more agitated in the months leading up to it. He was always different and none of us dared ask him why.
TL;DR Best job EVER, nucking futs boss bathed in the butter sauce everybody ate.
#48
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.
#49
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. The law in Oregon (not sure about elsewhere) says you have to pay a claim if the condition could be considered an emergency by a layperson. Think you are having a heart attack but turns out it is anxiety? Claim has to be paid.
#50
I'm in the military
don't tell anyone but we dont know what we're doing
EDIT: Okay seeing all the attention this is now getting I feel the need to add something.
I f*****g love my job. I meet amazing people, do amazing things, and get some of the best training in the world. The post was a joke that people in the military will understand, because sometimes orders get passed down and they don't make sense at the time. But the leadership we have is f*****g top-notch; most of our officers have been doing their job for a long, long time, and gone to really great universities (the same goes for a lot of NCOs). If you're a civilian, don't take this to mean we're all just a bunch of Gomer Pyles running around with our pants on backwards. Sometimes things seem a little f****d up, but trust us, we're really god d**n good at what we do.
Image credits: anon
#51
Family Dollar here.
As an employee, if you don't buy at least US$15 of snacks and drinks a week while working, you get flagged at Corporate as possibly stealing food.
[EDIT] Due to popular demand, here's a bit more explanation.
I was a student while working. I was on a tight budget and never bought anything while working. Manager talked to me one day and said he was getting emails from his higher-ups about me not buying anything at the store. Said I needed to buy around $15 worth of stuff a week, while working, to not be flagged.
After reading the comments, I concede that it may just be a regional thing where I worked. Apparently the rule is not in effect everywhere.
[EDIT 2] Yes employee purchases can be tracked. Especially when there's an option on the register labeled "Employee Purchase". You type in the employee ID# of whoever is buying and bam! it's tracked.
Image credits: bob_the_nuker
#52
Big Mac special sauce?
Thousand Island dressing.
Image credits: iam4real
#53
For all you ladies... Estee Lauder owns MAC, and ever since they purchased MAC, they have been using MAC formulas across the board for their cosmetics. This would be awesome if they hadn't immediately altered and "watered down" the MAC formulas upon purchasing the company. Also...Sally Girl (the Sally Beauty Brand of Makeup), yes it looks super cheap and comes in small quantities...but it is all formulas of much more expensive brands. Especially the nail polish. MAC = Studio Gear (of ULTA) and they are made in the same production facility, some days they put it in MAC bottles, other days it is packaged as studio gear. Want to know the secret to finding a h**h quality makeup brand? See if they offer makeup artist's pro discounts for FREE with credentials...MAC charges makeup artists for a discount.
Image credits: anon
#54
Used to work at Round Table Pizza. Don't order anything that requires an ingredient that seems completely random. Like the shrimp? That sits out in the open until it runs out and we have to change it, which is usually after 2-3 days.
Image credits: seeseanyawn
#55
This is probably well known, but, Best Buys discount is 5% above cost. If you are in a store and want to do a price check, find a register in computers or home theater, hit F4 then put the employee number 1(default that employees use to check prices) in and scan away. If an employee comes up just say you were checking a price, you won't get in trouble and most won't even care
This could be helpful if you want to see if the deal is good or not at best buy(is it close to cost). Typically if you find an item below cost online, it may be gray market or have a real s****y return policy.
Some other things that are fairly obvious but may be worth knowing:
No commission at best buy, but employees performance does require them to sell things.
Best buy credit cards save best buy merchant fees and is the reason they push them.
I'll also ping some friends that are currently employed there to see if anything new exists. (they have nothing crazy to report)
#56
I worked at Target for about a year, both as a sales floor person (I was the one who picks up your unwanted clothes that you throw on the wrong racks), and as the phone operator. At most targets the phone operator is also the fitting room operator, which I found out that there's a secret camera in the fitting room. There wasn't much we couldn't tell non-employees... Mainly things to do with our Asset Protection. For example, we couldn't tell you who our undercover security people are, or tip off the customer that they're being watched wherever they walk in the store. Pretty boring.
#57
From a person who recently quit Target as a Cart Attendance/Cashier,
1) They push for red cards a lot and call them "Bullseyes" when we get someone to sign up. Even if someone doesn't get the credit card version of the red card, still messes with their credit (from what I was told by friends).
2) Discounts are only for spouses and children under a certain age. (I let my friends use them all the time because no one checks the name along with ID)
3) We frequently have people who use coupons to reduce their prices to pretty much free, if you wonder why we call over our managers, that's why. Goes with people that seem to have stolen credit cards too. Also, allows the employees not bear responsibility if it gets through.
4) All the cameras are very real and at least at the one I worked at, policemen are not too far away. Maintenance are done frequently.
5) All cashiers are expected to get 2% red card conversions, means if you are not getting 2 people signed up per 100 (and you can go through like 600 people a day), means you're not doing your job and you are going to get talked to by the higher ups.
6) Team Members = Employees and Guests = Customers are what people are referred as in store.
Not sure if these are secrets, but it's all I can think of for now.
#58
I worked at a Pepsi factory at the beginning of summer.
Concentrated Mtn. Dew will burn through your f*****g clothes.
#59
Jimmy John's has a "secret ingredient" in their tuna. It's Kikkoman's Soy Sauce. Nothing shady, just thought you'd ought to know.
#60
I worked as a bouncer in a nightclub called "Pierre's" in Indiana. It was a huge nightclub broken up into five sections: Sports bar, Karaoke bar, 'Pop' Music, 'Hip Hop' Music, and the main room, which is where concerts/rock music played.
Well, they liked to keep the 'blacks' corralled into the hip-hop bar or sports bar and out of the 'Pop' Music bar, so that the white people didn't get scared. If we as bouncers noticed there were a lot of black people in the 'Pop' music area, we would give the DJ a thumbs up, and he would turn the music to techno until the black people left.
DON'T WANNA SCARE THEM WHITE FOLKS!
I'm white.
#61
It's too late to hope this gets seen, but f**k it. I used to work at the Shamu show at SeaWorld. If you haven't been to it, partway through the trainers get the audience to make the special hand signal to get the whales to splash them. The signal doesn't actually mean anything.
EDIT: I forgot one thing. If you go to Bayside Stadium to watch the fireworks, there are spiders EVERYWHERE. They try to get rid of the cobwebs, but they rebuild before the show. They are awful.
#62
At Whole Foods, all that fresh-baked in-house bread actually comes par-baked and frozen. You can buy the frozen loaves if you ask a team member behind the counter. A lot of the items out on the floor display in the bakery are also frozen and put out in the evenings to thaw before the next day.
#63
I used to work for target, if you ever hear a code blue on the walkies it means a shoplifter was caught on the cameras. Code purple means theres a fine piece of a*s walking in the area.
#64
UPS: management spies on hourly workers, sometimes with video, or audio recording. Also, a PT supervisor only makes like $2,500 per month.
#65
I used to work at K-Mart, the workers used to and still keep copies of new games being released and keep them to themselves.
#66
So I have 2 relevant anecdotes.
1. I used to bartend at a highend restaurant/cocktail lounge. We had a lot of "well-off" customers who were very particular about their drink orders. I was working there when word came down that the place had been bought out and was going to close in 4 months. During that last 4 months the beverage manager would order 1 brand of all our major liquors, and have me fill the top-shelf bottles with the well stuff. I remember one night one of our regulars brough what I assumed was a high-(and over in my opinion)-priced call girl in, who had a very bad attitude with pretty much our entire staff. She came to the lounge and ordered a a comso, which I shook up with our well vodka, Pinnacle. She waited for me to finish making it put it in a glass and serve it to her before saying "Umm you probably can't tell any difference, but I dont drink that trash. I need Grey Goose." To which I replied "Certainly mam, coming right up" and poured her the exact same vodka out of another bottle. She took a sip and said "Mmm much better" Uppity C**t.
2. The school I go to currently administers practical examinations every 3 weeks. There is a $150 fee to retake the examination if you fail it. One of the teachers who retired last year, was a pretty good friend of mine. Before he left we were talking about the practical and he confided in me that the administration told the teachers that administered the test in no uncertain terms that they had to fail 35% of the students that took the test. I've since confirmed this with 2 other teachers that oversee the exams. One of them said that he literally picks names out of a hat.
#67
Not really a corporate thing, but I was a bouncer at a slew of nightclubs and bars throughout college and a number of years afterwards. At 95% of the places, as the night wore on and the crowd became more and more drunk, bartenders would refill top shelf bottles with well drink liquor because the vast majority of people would be far too blitzed to know the difference.
#68
I used to work at Home Depot. They had at the time (can't confirm if this is still true, as this was 2004) a policy that if a model of power tool was out of stock, the next level up in quality of that tool in that brand would be sold to the customer for the price of the out of stock tool.
#69
Ruth's Chris Steak House here, home of expensive s**t. All our soups are brought in, in a frozen bag. We would just just throw the bag into the steamer in a perforated pan until it thawed, then keep it warm until someone wanted a bowl. We would just dump frozen chunks of pre-cut lobster into the bowl on the line, the heat of the soup would thaw them out. Don't remember how much it was, more than it was worth.
#70
All the food at Friday's is microwaved, minus the salad. Probably the same for all restaurant chains.
#71
Most prisons are dangerously understaffed, with many sleeping while on shift. Also, most guards aren't the power hungry people you hear about, they're just there for a paycheck.
#72
Worked for Six Flags a couple summers as a ride operator. The "extensive" training we did operate a new ride was, watch someone else run it once then take a 10 question quiz, which usually had the easiest answers ever and if you got 8 right you were considered certified for that ride.
#73
Wells Fargo never stopped their sales practices. They just disguised it better.
#74
Sometimes land surveyors have to just eyeball it, if the described points of reference are not found.
#75
I worked at a hospital where the southeast wing of the top floor was always closed so it was just an enormous wing of a hospital with nurses' stations and rooms, but completely abandoned.
Employees, from janitors to orderlies to nurses to doctors would frequently dip into one of abandoned rooms to fuck each others brains out. There was so much fucking going on at this hospital that it put hospital TV shows to shame.
The hospital administrators were fully aware of this and there were rumors that a couple of them actually participated in the practice. They would put out hospital-wide memos whenever state inspections were coming up that under no circumstances were employees to be caught on 5 East.
#76
It's not a huge thing, but a regular cheese pizza at Dominos has the same amount of cheese as an extra cheese.
#77
I just left a job at a Sonic, and the only thing I can think of is how if we dropped a bag of food we just brought it inside and changed the bag.
#78
I used to work at a factory that makes the worlds largest commercially available gummy bear (5 lbs). The secret is we melt down small gummy bears in large heating vats then pour the molten gummy into big bear molds.
#79
Rue21 policy will not let them stop shoplifters. Even if the alarms go off at the front, have to let them go. You can't even accuse them if you witness the act. This includes management. They really only care about stopping employee theft.
*edit* adding here in hopes this one gets seen rather than buried. Also if you say you found an item on a cheaper rack, they are supposed to give it to you no questions asked. They will bend over easily on almost anything. especially if you mention contact corporate. i've seen $30 items go for $3 dollars before. I dont work there anymore, so I say take advantage of this all you can. =).
Image credits: anon
#80
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.
#81
I used to work in a Arbys a few years ago and people banged in the back
#82
Banks make most 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 in to them. They are trying to maintain what they call the "float" or "Floating Balance" on the banks overall books.
#83
Medicare fraud.
