'Your kid needs a bath like yesterday': Workers share things they aren't allowed to tell customers at their job

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Apr 27, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

If you've ever worked in retail, you know things the customer will never discover. If every restaurant in America were transparent with their customers about where their food came from, the public would stop eating out as much as they do. Or they would stop for about six months after this Supersize Me-esque revelation, forget about it, and return to their old habits. I have had friends who worked at Panera who exposed me to the truth about their soups and pasta being frozen, but that's an open secret now. Even so, they wouldn't have brought up that the soup is frozen in front of their customers: that's just basic work etiquette. As a retail employee, you're supposed to make the business look as good as possible, even if that includes telling a couple of white lies along the way. Workers took to Reddit to share the secrets they can't say in front of customers.

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  • 01
    18 g? r/AskReddit u/SeaDry2466.1d What does your job not allow you to tell customers?
    via u/SeaDry2466
  • 02
    Trashiee 21h We are highly advised against telling parents about milestones like first steps, first words etc happening at our center because it could cause numerous negative emotions in the parent and we know the child will do it again soon! It's a very special moment and we want the parent to experience it as authentically as possible. I'm a daycare teacher :) ... Reply 698
    via u/Trashiee
  • 03
    Chili919. 1d In my country there are 2 main distributors of the products my employer sells. Us and the other company..which buys their products from us to sell them as theirs. I deliver a truck full of products every week to them. But we have to deny every connection to the other company. Reply 7.3k
    via u/Chili919
  • 04
    90 dylanr23. 1d Our warranty is as long as it is because it will fail after the warranty Reply 12.7k
    via u/dylanr23
  • 05
    really_affordable ⚫ 1d I worked at a fancy hotel and was out front to greet people and assist upon arrival. We weren't allowed to say "Welcome back!" This was in place to protect those that decided to bring another spouse/partner/mistress/etc day after day to the hotel during their stay. Reply 13.5k
    via u/really_affordable
  • 06
    Dirk-Killington • 1d When I was in retail maintenance, I wasn't allowed to let the managers see the bill. That was for corporate eyes only. My theory was that if they knew how much I was making to change a lightbulb they would quit and go do that. Or maybe they would be good employees and change the lightbulb themselves, thus increasing the companies liability. ... Reply 4k
    via u/Dirk-Killington
  • 07
    Game72016 • 1d I worked for a big Japanese electronics manufacturer in a call center back in the early 90s. We were not allowed to say that a line of our tv's had bad tuners even though we all knew it and sent out countless free tuners to repair shops all over the country even for out of warranty products. I typed it so many times I even remember the part number, 1465371-11. EDIT: since so many people asked, it was a whole line of Sony tv's. ← Reply 2.7k
    via u/Game72016
  • 08
    HotSpinach 1d • I worked at a historic penitentiary in Phila., PA. At the bottom of the children's waiver, in fine print, it states that there are cell blocks that have not been abated for asbestos, and the old lead paint leaves a film of dust on everything. I got written up for pointing this out to a pregnant woman. Reply 5.1k
    via u/HotSpinach
  • 09
    onebowlwonder ⚫ 1d I was in charge of all of the keys for a navy base. Signing them out to contractors and TCNs, n such. There were probably around 300 keys for the whole base and every single one was the exact same key. When they set up the system no one realized that when they bought the same 300 locks it came with the same 300 keys. So I was basically giving out master keys to the base without no one ever knowing and I'm sure they have never replaced the locks. It passed a high level governme
    via u/onebowlwonder
  • 10
    StunningInfomercial • 1d That you overpaid on your insurance deductible, co- pay, or co-ins which is a credit on your account. If you don't know then you won't ask for a refund. Reply 1.1k
    via u/StunningInfomercial
  • 11
    Myrusskielyudi • 1d Explicitly stating whether or not their child is likely to have learning disorders that need to get checked out even though I see them 5 days a week and have a wide variety of other children to compare to. It always has to be hinted at Reply 3.2k
    via u/Myrusskielyudi
  • 12
    Suspect4pe • 1d . Any time there is a known issue we were not allowed to tell the customer it was a known issue. If you ever hear a customer service or tech support rep say, "none of our other customers are experiencing this problem" there is a good chance that it's a lie, especially if they offer that phrase up quickly. I haven't been in that game for a long time, but I did support for many customers, and they were all exactly the same. Reply 667
    via u/Suspect4pe
  • 13
    theRealTallguy2 • 1d I used to work for a medtech startup, writing an algorithm to detect if someone has passed away. Since we were not allowed to proclaim someone dead, we notify the healthcare workers that the person in question is showing 'unusual inactivity' Reply 1.7k
    via u/theRealTallguy2
  • 14
    shavemejesus. 1d I grew up working for a family ice cream business. The restaurants that we sold bulk tubs of ice cream to thought it was home made by us. While we did make our own ice cream the 3-gallon bulk containers was product that we purchased from another company and sold at a high markup. I was under strict orders from my father to never reveal this to the customers. One of our customers would then sell this regular ice cream as gelato, even though it was just ice cream. ... Reply 1.9k
    via u/shavemejesus
  • 15
    GumbyTTL 23h What we're actually filming, or if big name actors are on set. Whatcha shooting? Mayonaise commercial. Is So-and-So filming today? No sorry it's their day off. Reply 301
    via u/GumbyTTL
  • 16
    zackintehbox • 1d I work for a major US brewery and we have one beer that we put into two separate cans. One of them is a "premium" beverage (one of the most popular in the US top 5) and the other is an "economy" beer. It's the same stuff. ... Reply 2.1k
    via u/zackintehbox
  • 17
    randomcanadian81 • 1d The door to the underground parking hasn't locked for 6 months lol so whether you are a member or not you can just go park down there for free. I wouldn't know Imao I still have to say it locks 11pm-7am but it doesn't currently..... ... Reply 1.3k
    via u/randomcanadian81
  • 18
    SeeYoulnTrees • 1d "the reason I'm giving you smaller portions is because manager says so. Yes you had bigger portions another day because a different kitchen lead was in the back monitoring who didn't care. No we are out of that item, it'll be 10 minutes. No I can't grab from the other line. Yes I know the other day we grabbed some for you but the other manager allowed it and this one doesn't." ... Reply 982
    via u/SeeYoulnTrees
  • 19
    HereForTheSnacks • 1d Your kid needs a bath like yesterday. ... Reply 1.2k
    via u/HereForTheSnacks
  • 20
    creative_mist70 • 1d I worked in a butcher shop, we were told to describe veal as "juvenile cow" only ← Reply 321
    via u/creative_mist70
  • 21
    sonia72quebec • 23h This is for any customer service job: If you were nicer to me, you would get a better service. ... Reply 453
    via u/sonia72quebec

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