As a coke-icee devotee, I have to ask–what’s in them that’s so gross? :eek:
I have worked as a custom framer, a waitress, and currently as a bartender.
Custom framing really isn’t the huge scam a lot of people think. Keep in mind that every order really is custom-made, and be very polite with your framer and let them know the budget you have in mind. Those 50% off framing coupons at a well-known craft store chain are bogus; their prices are set to compensate for the “discount,” so you would do well to visit a smaller, locally-owned framer who will probably do a much better job, and may give you a better price, even without the supposed “discount.” The framers at huge chain stores are the same people who were flipping burgers yesterday; they receive a minimum of training and they are usually not trustworthy with any sentimental/valuable piece of artwork.
Also, if you need a piece of framing in a hurry, most of the time it can be done. Every framer who tells someone “Our turnaround time is rock-solid at two weeks” tells someone else “I can get that for you tomorrow.” It’s just a matter of your attitude and the flexibility of your budget/taste.
Restaurants keep their kitchens behind closed doors for a reason; I have friends who work for a very beautiful, trendy restaurant here locally that doesn’t even have a handwashing sink in the kitchen. Anywhere. And they wipe all the dishes off with the same moist rag, all day long…and the plates sit for hours with food on them before anybody washes 'em. It’s truly gross.
And those chips at Mexican restaurants? That salad before your steak? The baked potato? All grabbed by your waiter’s hands. If the restaurant even owns tongs, they’re usually nowhere near the salad or chip stations. Look at your waiter’s nails…if they’re dirty, it’s usually with your food.
Most waiters can give you free sodas/chips/desserts, etc., because these are things they don’t have to get from the cooks. They are “self serve” in the back. So it pays to be nice to him.
Bartending is a business of priorities; if you want good quick drinks in a busy bar, drop ten bucks on the bar when you order that first round, just as tip. Don’t open a credit card tab without tipping cash first; in a really busy bar, the bartender’s gonna go with the “sure thing” rather than kiss the ass of the guy with the credit card tab who hasn’t proven he can tip. In the bartender’s mind, this is “just business.”
If your drinks aren’t very strong on that first round, tip really well on the second round; if the alcoholic content doesn’t improve on the second round, close out and find another bar where the bartender appreciates your generosity. Screaming about the lack of booze in your drinks will just get you cut off and thrown out.
If you’re at a bar with cocktail waitresses, you’ll usually get a better pour from the bartender than you will from the cocktail waitress. It’s an ugly practice, but a lot of bartenders short-pour “service bar” drinks for the waitresses, because they’d rather you come to the bar and tip them.
Some bartenders will pour alcohol on the top of the mixer, rather than at the bottom; this can look/taste/smell like a really strong drink, when in fact there’s very little alcohol in it. This can also be done by pouring booze down the straw; the first sip will taste lethal, but again, there’s very little alcohol present.
And this is only done to people who are either very drunk, or very cheap/rude, so again…your attitude will determine how well you’re taken care of.
I know what place you’re talkin’ about! (I’m from Montgomery, PA myself!) I love that place, I love that place, I…
I take that all back.
[sub]I didn’t name the place, to protect the guilty and potentially your hide.[/sub]
Well, the only place I’ve had actual experience “working” (it was volunteer) is at my local public library and the high school’s library…but there is some stuff. Nothing earth-shaking, but still…
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At the public library, I was just supposed to shelve books. I wasn’t allowed to help any customers even if I knew exactly where that book or videotape they were looking for was, even if it was inches from my fingers. So if you don’t get help from somebody there maybe that’s the reason. [Still, most of the time, I ignored this rule and helped anybody who needed it.]
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The librarians are 10x more helpful than you might think, especially my high school librarian. If you come up and say “I need a book from this reading list, and can’t figure out which one to pick,” she’ll go through each one with you and track them down. Most students are amazed.
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If you have fines from a book, and you just know you returned it already, go check the shelves. This is a big problem at my h.s. library (though I don’t know about the public one). Volunteer students usually check the books in, and a lot of them at once, so mistakes can go. I remember my freshman year when 10 books I’d returned had late fines on them, and I found all of them on the shelves–they’d never been checked in properly.
That’s all I can think of…like I said, nothing earth-shattering!
Rebates for all types of things – computers, televisions, software, beer, laundry detergent – are redeemed in less than 3% of the cases (the possible exception being cars, where they’re really a discount off the sticker). Usually redemption rates are around 1.5%, even when the amounts are $50 - $200.
So, the breakage is 97+%, even though most consumers purchase based on the after-rebate price.
That makes me curious: what’s the breakage rate for gift certificates and gift cards? My guess would be that 10% of them are lost and perhaps only 60% redeemed. Even then, I’d guess that average redemption period is 6 months, giving the company the free use of money for 6 months.
I’ll chime in here. I worked at a custom framing/art supply store for years and this is absolutely true. More people than not would get all huffy and pissy when we qave them a quote for their customer framing work. It was NOT a ripoff as they insisted, and a smaller store like ours had a far smaller return or re-do rate than the bigger craft stores that do them in huge quantities. Every piece of wood was cut to fit, every piece of glass was hand-cut to fit, mats and borders were selected carefully and everything is put together so it doesn’t come apart, let light or air in, etc. Customers who regularly had things framed with us and were polite and reasonable ALWAYS got preferential treatment and were given discounts each time (small, like 5% or 10%). They never complained or had to bring the work back – because it was done right the first time.
My own industry secrets are from when I worked at a Ford Dealership for 3 years. Most of the salesmen really surprised me… they get paid crap for a base salary, most are trying to support themselves or their families while working 60 hours a week (plus every single Saturday from 9 to 9 and all weekends during holidays like Labor Day, Memorial Day, etc.), most are NOT out to take all your money from you, and most are hard-working, decent people just trying to make a living like the rest of us.
The ones that didn’t surprise me were the ones that tried to put their hands up my skirt and cheated on their wives with the female customers.
Secrets from A Stay At Home Mom. ( Soon to be a best seller and Oscar winning flick.)
**1. Never miss an opportunity to take a pee. **
Other than that, you are on your own.
a few random ones:
oxygen is a dandy cure for a hangover. If you’re not where they’re filling it, you better have a regulator though. Also, liquid nitrogen is great fun.
that crew who comes to do your cable tv work gets paid by the job, not the hour. They will be out of there as soon as possible unless you make it worth their while to stick around and do the job right. Let them know EXACTLY what you want and that you’re willing to pay them for it.
Fanciful names on wine labels such as Special, Reserve, Select, etc. are just that.
They are not regulated by BATF so wineries can use them to mean almost anything, and do.
More often than not, two identical wines, one with a fanciful name on the label, and one without it, are most assuredly the exact same blend. What’s different? The label.
Yes, there is a reason why a store will ask your ZIP Code. Just do it. It makes my life a hell of a lot easier than trying to ask a client why 90210 and 12345 have millions of dollars in sales.
I work in a toy store.
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Be nice. Be clean. The two golden rules by which we separate customers. If you have a return, don’t throw it down on the counter. If you have small children with you, do not let them destroy the store, especially if we are about to close. We are a small chain, in a small town, and we will remember you.
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Don’t lie to me. Don’t tell me that the “manager” told you that you could return a clearance item. Don’t tell me that your sister/friend/whatever wouldn’t buy your child a clearance item. I’m not taking it back. Just policy.
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If you are nice to me, I will go the extra mile beyond the exemplary customer service we are demanded to give out.
psycat - do you work for ATF, or a winery?
Take a look around the store you’re in. How many people are working there? How old are they?
The bigger the store, or the younger the worker demographic, the less likely the salesperson who rings you up or does your return can break stated policy for you. A large store often forces employees through the register interface or making you go to Customer Service, where the people there may or may not break the rules, to follow certain procedures. A store that dosen’t trust it’s employees often doesn’t let the associates do returns or other things (Hot Topic has a policy like this, for instance.) Other stores allow much more discretion - at Suncoast, for instance, technically we have a return policy with a clause that returns are subject to managerial approval. In practice, this means they’re subject to my approval. A good customer, repeat business, nice to me, returning an open non-defective DVD? Well, I’ll do it. Snide, in my face, acting like because I work for extra money at a job where I have to wear a company shirt I’m a sub-human piece of dog crap? Go ahead, talk to my manager. Have a great time.
Like everybody else says - politeness will get you everywhere. And sometimes, people have a lot of discretion and can and will break policy for you. But sometimes, they really can’t do that. At the library, there’s honestly nothing I can do about your fine. Sorry.
The markup on electronics would blow your fragile little mind. I get 10% above cost at Best Buy. I get pennies on games and new DVDs, dollars on old DVDs, thousands on expensive TV sets. They pay me nothing, but I’ve made up for it a few times over on electronics.
Usually, the Product Replacement Plan/extended warranty is a load of crap. But not always.Don’t buy it on a DVD player or a TV set or a vacuum cleaner or whatever, unless you’re an employee and get a killer discount on it. Or unless you have kids and vacuum up Legos often. Do buy it on your cordless phone, the CD player you run with, definately your cel phone, maybe your computer. Buy it on anything you might drop or kick or somehow ruin, because odds are the manufacturer’s warranty dosen’t cover you dropping it in the toilet. If you buy that PRP, they will replace it, no questions asked. Keep the paperwork. Buy a filing cabinet, you cheapskate. Again, often people can be nice to you if policy dictates something unreasonable, but don’t assume they can or will. Best Buy is a big store with some bad, bad employees.
We don’t want to sell you Netflix or Entertainment Weekly or storage either. But we do want to keep our jobs. Please don’t snap at us.
If you have a real research problem you need library help with, go to the library when it’s slower. This is a no-brainer, but the librarians will have a lot more time and willingness to help you if there’s not a line for reserves. Be aware that in a smaller library, the head librarian is usually on the day-shift, however. If you use it often, be aware of his or her schedule - particularly in a special library, like a business or medical library, his or her training and experience would really surprise you.
Oh, there’s ONE secret. Contrary to popular belief, SOME guv’mnt workers are capable, efficient people who are concerned that they do a good job and are committed to making interaction with the government easier.
Zyada- I purchase labels for a wine company.
If you want to be on TV, do not look at the camera.
Say the local news crew is doing a story about the unexpected heat wave in February. They’ll go to the park to show joggers wearing shorts. 9 times out of 10 the running doofi who wave, smile or even look at the camera will get edited out of the piece. The ones who ignore it will make the final cut. (This rule does not apply to babies and cute little kids.)
I work at a movie theatre (only 7 months, but I have some experience).
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Be friendly. If you’re really nice, I might try to cut you a deal (on more than one occasion, I’ve just hit the “Staff Nachos” button and gave a nice person half-off)
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Don’t try to tell me that the prices are expensive. I work there, I know they are. You stating them will only make me less inclined to try to make them lower.
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If you say you’re not coming back, follow up on it. If you don’t, you’ll only lose the respect of whomever heard you say it.
I’ve been interviewed more than once when I just made small talk with the camera person while the reporter is busy, but maybe that’s only in Canada :D.
If you are applying for financial aid from a college, know that they are allowed to be somewhat flexible. Every student fills out a FAFSA and gets the same standard formula applied to his/her overall family situation. BUT a financial aid office can do a review of your case and make adjustments based on valid circumstances. If you are earnest about your desire to go to that college, it could be worth it to ask them to take another look to consider special circumstances. Don’t lie and don’t bully–but you do have to ask.
For example, maybe you will have more travel expenses than normal. Or you are majoring in something that will result in higher-than-normal book or lab fees. Or maybe you need to bring a car to college and so will have insurance and gas to cover. Or maybe your parents help support ailing grandparents.
Tricks that don’t work are trying to declare yourself as an independent when you actually are not, or saying that your non-custodial parent refuses to contribute to your college costs. The college might be able to work with you on the latter situation if it is true or the situation is unique (or the divorce acrimonious). But generally, you must realize that with limited resources, a college cannot automatically let some neurologist millionaire dad selfishly insist that his ex-wife’s waitress salary is the only income to be considered when determining their kid’s ability to pay for college. If that’s your situation talk to the aid office.
Speaker, I didn’t mean for interview subjects. I meant for b-roll, background or establishing shots.