Professional secrets

Make sure to review your natural gas prices regularly. You can often get really good fixed pricing and if you want to change, most companies will pay your "penalties" up to a certain amount.

Dental Appointments

I worked as a dental hygienist for years and this seems like common sense, but please, brush and floss your teeth before your appointment, regardless of your usual habits. We don't want to look at your lunch or smell the cigarette you had right before entering the office. We're quite understanding for a whole host of dental issues, but if you can't be bothered to at least brush before an appointment, it's seen as disrespectful to us, and tells us you probably don't care about your teeth. I've had people come in and say they came straight from work, and asked for a toothbrush to use before we saw them and even that is appreciated.

Also, if you come across a financial hardship or lose your dental insurance, talk to your office instead of just disappearing for a few years. If you're a regular at a clinic, most are pretty understanding and will try to work out a payment plan for you and may try to give you a discount depending on the clinic and their relationship with you. If you've never been to an office before and you walk in the door asking about a payment plan and discounts, you're not likely to get one but loyalty wins big points with many dental clinics.

Edited to add: And if you're really hard-up, don't have a regular office and are in need of some serious dental services, find a dental school. They ALWAYS need patients - both for dentistry and dental hygiene (regular cleanings). The appointments take longer, but if anything they're much more thorough, you're checked by instructors to ensure they're done to perfection and they're generally given at a discounted rate (I think my school charged 50% of regular fees).

Heating and plumbing service:

When your heat/AC goes out or you have a plumbing problem do not call the company up and yell at the person you are speaking to. They are your lifeline and are the difference between you getting service that same day or 1 week from now. Most companies consider an emergency to be someone without heat when it is cold outside, non operating toilet when you have only one bathroom, and no water coming into the house. Of course if you live in the south no AC during the hot months would probably be an emergency but in the northeast it does not because so many people do not even have AC. So do not call up crying because your kitchen faucet drips and you want service within the hour. Do not call up and threaten or curse because you aren't satisfied with the answer of same day service. Please keep in mind that if you aren't an emergency you most likely will not get same day service because your husband tried to fix the bathroom faucet and he made it worse. Do not call at 330pm expecting service that is not in overtime. Again politeness goes a long way if a company is not busy and you are nice you most likely will get service immediately. Being nice and you may be surprised what you get. I know if we are busy and someone is nice to me i have been known to move them to the top of the list regardless when they call, but the people who call with an attitude or especially cursing automatically will get pushed. Also keep in mind the smaller the company you call because they have the cheapest service call so is everyone else in your town. Companies that have one or two trucks on the road do not have a ton of appt open so you should go to the more expensive company because they usually have more employees and can help immediately regardless of what your concern is. Also most companies cannot give you an exact appt yes its annoying but true. They try to fit as many people in to a day that they can and you never know what you will encounter on the job before yours. Someone may say they have a furnace that won't start and when you get there you find out their furnace is from 1940 and not as easy to fix because finding parts are near impossible and newer guys are not taught how to work on the older furnaces when they go to school and most home owners do not like to hear that they need to get a new furnace. In fact many will just kick you out when they hear that.

Dental Appointments

I worked as a dental hygienist for years and this seems like common sense, but please, brush and floss your teeth before your appointment, regardless of your usual habits. We don't want to look at your lunch or smell the cigarette you had right before entering the office. We're quite understanding for a whole host of dental issues, but if you can't be bothered to at least brush before an appointment, it's seen as disrespectful to us, and tells us you probably don't care about your teeth. I've had people come in and say they came straight from work, and asked for a toothbrush to use before we saw them and even that is appreciated.

I dont wash my car before I take it to the car wash

I owned and operated a restaurant with my parents for several years. (before becoming a full time mommy and wife) A few things to note in the restaurant (and service) industry:

1) while the mantra is "the customer is always right"; the reality is, you'll get much farther using honey than vinegar. Be nice to your server, bartender, etc… and you will likely get whatever it is you are requesting. If you're being rude or obnoxious, the staff is less likely to attend to your needs as promptly, even if you DO get whatever specific thing you asked for. If you're being a jerk, your server will think they aren't getting a good tip, so why bother giving you stellar service? You'll end up waiting longer for the 2nd round of drinks, that dessert, etc…

2) A server's job is "service" oriented- to attend to and anticipate your needs; they cannot control the quality of what comes out of the kitchen, how it is prepared or how your tastebuds define your meal. You do not tip on the quality of the food, you tip on service.

3) If you do enounter a problem, even if the server has rectified the issue, please let management know. We can't fix a problem we don't know about! The vast majority of managers and operations truly do care what their patrons think, and if you had a bad experience, we want to know, so we can address the situation and prevent it from happening. Conversely, if you've had a positive experience, we want to know that too!!!

Edit: I must add that my aforementioned list is FOH heavy; I have kitchen training and experience, but my expertise is the Dining Room and customer service. Having said that:

A good kitchen will do it's best to accomodate your special requests, particularly with respect to allergies and dietary needs. In fact, today many menus are designed with these types of requests in mind. However, if you are simply a picky, difficult person, please realize that while your server and kitchen staff with do their best to accomodate you, when it is extremely busy, you put extra pressure on your server (they take the brunt of the Chef's ire) as well as potentially throw a monkey-wrench in the flow of the line. Being difficult for the sake of being difficult just makes everyone's job harder. (Believe me, there are people who do this!)

IT professionals

Most don't know jack. Seriously. I used to charge $400 per hour with 4 hours minimum and I would often times just google things when I get to the job

This is a good one, and is very true. I have 15 years in the field and I still google everything. IT encompasses so many things. New things are always coming out so it's impossible for one person to stay updated on EVERYTHING. One sign of a good IT person is the ability to understand and diagnose a problem, be able to research it correctly and then apply the fixes properly.

I owned and operated a restaurant with my parents for several years. (before becoming a full time mommy and wife) A few things to note in the restaurant (and service) industry:

1) while the mantra is "the customer is always right"; the reality is, you'll get much farther using honey than vinegar. Be nice to your server, bartender, etc… and you will likely get whatever it is you are requesting. If you're being rude or obnoxious, the staff is less likely to attend to your needs as promptly, even if you DO get whatever specific thing you asked for. If you're being a jerk, your server will think they aren't getting a good tip, so why bother giving you stellar service? You'll end up waiting longer for the 2nd round of drinks, that dessert, etc…

2) A server's job is "service" oriented- to attend to and anticipate your needs; they cannot control the quality of what comes out of the kitchen, how it is prepared or how your tastebuds define your meal. You do not tip on the quality of the food, you tip on service.

3) If you do enounter a problem, even if the server has rectified the issue, please let management know. We can't fix a problem we don't know about! The vast majority of managers and operations truly do care what their patrons think, and if you had a bad experience, we want to know, so we can address the situation and prevent it from happening. Conversely, if you've had a positive experience, we want to know that too!!!

this this and more this

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There's a trend in this thread, and it is

"be nice to the person performing you a service"

if you're a jerk, you will not, absolutely WILL NOT get what you want. If you're the type of cheap *kitten* who tries to get everything at a discount and free, pretend to be super nice, make friends, say please and thank you.

It's shocking how many people attempt to get freebies by acting like total asshats. As if screaming and yelling and causing a big scene will somehow gain you magical special privileges above calm, normal customers.
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so here's my own experiences:

1. When in restaurants:
Be nice to the server. Look them in the eye. Smile. If you are rude, stand-offish, or completely ignoring your server, that server will assume (by experience) that you aren't tipping. If you have a bad tipper attitude, you will receive bad service. The friendly tables will receive all the attention and you will get second-rate.

If you plan to come back to that restaurant--ever--leave a decent tip. Servers remember both above average and below average tips. If you walk in that door again after leaving a bad tip, the server who received that bad tip will straight up broadcast to EVERY EMPLOYEE THERE that you aren't worth their time. Your service AND your food quality will suffer. Ever wonder why the second time you go to a restaurant sucked after the first time was awesome? You probably left a sh*tty tip.

2. Retail AND Restaurants

still, be nice.

If you have a habit of going into a business and attempting to get freebies, you will be remembered. After a while, management gets annoyed and there's a pretty good chance you'll start missing out on good deals just because you're a pain in the *kitten*.

3. Clothing Retail

All the good deals are in the back of the store, on jumbled sales racks and unorganized sales tables. The clearance items are made difficult to get to and a pain to sort through to discourage shoppers. The full-price stuff is nicely placed, and organized by color, fit and size, so that out of convenience you'll be drawn to paying full price. The best deals are burried in the back, on the bottom.

Sometimes discounts, sales, and coupons stack. Sometimes they don't. If you don't know, ask. Don't throw a hissy fit at the cash register. That will get you nowhere.

If you're looking for something specific, ask a sales associate. That person knows the merchandise backwards and forwards (she/he did, after all, put every article of clothing where it is in the store that morning and spent every mind-numblingly-boring hour organizing it every day for however long). Chances are, if what you're looking for is in that store, the sales associate knows exactly where it is. If you're super nice, that associate will also know how to get it on discount.

4. Disabilities

I gave up customer service after college because I hate people. I hate people because of customer service.

I took my 13 years of service and got a job serving people who have disabilities (you know, people who actually need to be waited on hand and foot and who really appreciate the help).

Often times, I'll go out into public with my clients and we'll be treated like we have the plague. In restaurants, the server talks to me as if my individuals don't exist ("what does she want to eat?" "does she like ice cream?" "how will you be paying today?").

It's really insulting. A wheelchair isn't contagious, people. Come on.

In your company, your IT guy is the most dangerous person even though often least respected.

Your IT department have access to everything about you, your customers, your life story, your emails, your personal files, what you do all day, what websites you are browsing, we often even have access to cameras in the building.

Do not piss these people off

Yea, it's good to know and be nice to your IT guys. They're usually busy with everything from a loose monitor cable to a crashed server.

JM

JM

i worked as a cashier for a couple years in high school.

at Harris Teeter, when they say "security check aisles A - F" it's total bull****. they don't check security, they just say it to deter theft.
when you self check out, you can input the codes for cheaper veggies and fruits. for example if i get apples which are 1.29 a lb i'll input the on sale code for apples at .99 a lb and save some money.

also, if you're on your goddamn bluetooth and can't spare five minutes to check out, i will definitely accidentally ring up something twice, or put in the wrong code to charge you more to waste your time having to come back (if they even notice).

thats bullsh*t ~ how is "stealing" and overcharging customers a trade secret?

Here's my professional secret... do your research!!

1. You should STILL price shop when you go to a liquidation sale or a going-out-of-business sale. Just heard a story of a lady who paid twice the amount she would have. What a shame.

2. Hiring a web designer/developer? Do your research! Ask around! I just heard of a lady who paid, well, let's just say A LOT of money for something that was a little bit of money. He whole family pitched in and now she's feeling scammed. It's horrible

Web designers/developers or anything in the "marketing" department is hard, though, to find someone you can trust. Best thing I can say, is to do your research. Look for case studies, testimonials, credibility of how long they have been in business, etc.