You may have read about industry secrets from grocery store employees or human resources staff…

But now insiders are revealing the specific secrets of THEIR industry. Recently, Reddit user u/Ferro_Roux asked the question: “What’s one hack in your industry that you don’t want customers to find out about?”

Here are some of the top-voted answers and secrets from the BuzzFeed community:

1.“Just because you’re on hold doesn’t mean we can’t hear you.”

—u/Spanksy_Banksy

2.“When you were on live chat with customer service, I could see what you were typing before you hit send. I saw people go through grotesque, racist and sexist statements, fraudulent lies and untruths, and meticulous grammar corrections in real time before deleting and typing ‘OK.'”

—u/BariatricPressure

3.“You can rent a nice coffin for the funeral and be buried in a cheaper one.”

—u/lurch940

4.“Here’s a former body process engineer. Don’t buy a car in its first or last year. In the first year they are still working out the defects in the manufacturing process and in the last year they are focusing on getting the processes up and running for the new model and paying less attention to the outgoing model. The very best year is the mid-cycle refresh. By then the processes should be stable and the refreshed exterior usually looks better than the original.”

—u/IndyEleven11

5.“I’ve handled luggage at the airport. Nothing is handled with care. If it’s marked fragile, your only hope is a nice baggage handler. You should avoid packing fragile things at all costs.”

—u/FatTim48

6.“Good engineers have faders/knobs that do nothing. When the talent asks for a change that is silly or doesn’t make sense, we set that phantom fader and watch them nod in agreement at their great idea.”

—u/iMixMusicOnTwitch

7.“In many private practices, cash payment rates for therapy are negotiable if you are uninsured or your insurance does not cover mental health.”

—u/Catflappy

8.“Hospital bills are negotiable to a certain extent. Always ask for a detailed bill and take the time to analyze it.”

—u/Baby_giraffes

9.“Teachers here. We sometimes give grades based on a child’s effort, ability, likeability, etc. rather than on his or her performance.”

—u/Terrible_Figure_6740

10.“I worked in retail for years and I can tell you that all new clothes are dirty. That still shocks people, but there is no washing machine, no disinfectant spray or wipes when clothes come in or are returned. Nothing. I’ve opened boxes of new clothes and only seen bugs coming out. I’ve seen women come in after a workout and try on clothes drenched in sweat. Not to mention what can happen in the factory… The bottom line is that people are gross and nothing is clean. Always wash your new clothes when you get home.”

—u/bluehairgoddess12th

11.“Electric guitars made of fine, expensive wood sound just like guitars made of cheap wood. It is the electronic system that distinguishes the sound of electric guitars from one another, not the fine AAAAA flamed maple top. It is purely aesthetic.”

—u/Woozin_squooners

12.“When IT or tech support asks you to restart your computer, it may be to apply a fix created on the backend OR it may buy them time (for a number of reasons): 1. They applied a fix and it’s just taking a while to sync – the restart just avoids the awkward silence of waiting. 2. They’re not sure what the problem (or solution) is, so they’re hoping a restart will fix it. If not… 3. It buys them time to think or research.”

—u/ReactionEastern8306

13.“Paramedics here. Keep a list of your medical history, medications, allergies, health insurance information, and next of kin contact information on a piece of paper or in your refrigerator. This is a common place we look. If you are incapacitated, we have all the information we need.”

—u/Code5fortheCount

14.“I used to work as a security guard in a casino. From about three stories up, we could zoom in on the money on the gaming tables and read the serial numbers on the bills. We could see the eyes on the dice.”

—u/inkseep1

15.“Any Marriott booking made partially with points that has a 3-day cancellation policy may be canceled the same day with no penalty.”

—u/Will_Heredia

16.“I worked at a large national pet store chain and I would advise you not to buy ornamental fish. Pretty much every shipment that arrived was infected with a common parasite. Basically, half of our tanks were quarantined. Several customers came back and said we killed their entire tank because we sold them one fish.”

—u/idontcareilikedogs

17.“I worked at Best Buy, where many major home appliances are sold at cost or even at a loss. Many of those retail prices are also controlled. Things like TVs, washers/dryers, laptops, phones, etc. don’t make Best Buy any money. All the money comes from accessories (think: cables, cases, mounts, bags, installation, and warranty). Management didn’t care if I sold a million TVs. They cared how many cables and mounts I sold.”

—u/ChaplnGrillSgt

18.And finally: “Orchestra violinist here. Sometimes we don’t play all the notes.”

—u/reddititaly

Some posts have been edited for length and/or clarity.