I will show you a trade secret, you show me yours

[makesmefez]

Bring your vehicle into a auto repair shop. Often they will quickly find the problem and fix it, but will leave your vehicle in the shop with the hood up. Then instead of charging you 0.3 of an hour for the actual repair, they will charge you 3.5 hours for the repair, while they were working on another car. Many auto mechanics will flag 15 or more hours in an 8 hour day ($29 per hour) and this really adds up. Just because your vehicle was in the shop for 3.5 hours doesn't mean it was being worked on for 3.5 hours.

Another one is many auto repair shops will just wipe off your oil filter and then claim they changed it. This trick is also used for selling new shocks and other parts. Never go into a repair shop and say "fix it, I don't care what it costs!"

This is mostly bullshit. There is book-time. Ask to see it if you don't believe them. Chilton, Shopkey, Haynes... all have listed, published standardized time for replacing components. You may be able to haggle on the 'diagnoses' time.

But if a labor manual states it pays 4.0 hrs to replace a fuel pump, that technician deserves to get paid for fours hours even if he can knock it out in one. That is experience and knowledge that gave him that ability. They cant be 'punished' for being efficient and intelligent.

There is more bullshit rumors about car dealerships and repair shops. Trade secret from my business??? ... We actually want your car to be fixed, and we want you satisified, and we are not trying to screw you over.

One thing that is bullshit at the big domestics dealership repair shops...? We don't have the best deals on tires. Ever. The prices are inflated by the manufacturers to all hell to provide kickbacks all along the chain. Go buy tires at a tire store.

 

[slag]

This is mostly bullshit. There is book-time. Ask to see it if you don't believe them. Chilton, Shopkey, Haynes... all have listed, published standardized time for replacing components. You may be able to haggle on the 'diagnoses' time.

But if a labor manual states it pays 4.0 hrs to replace a fuel pump, that technician deserves to get paid for fours hours even if he can knock it out in one. That is experience and knowledge that gave him that ability. They cant be 'punished' for being efficient and intelligent.

There is more bullshit rumors about car dealerships and repair shops. Trade secret from my business??? ... We actually want your car to be fixed, and we want you satisified, and we are not trying to screw you over.

One thing that is bullshit at the big domestics dealership repair shops...? We don't have the best deals on tires. Ever. The prices are inflated by the manufacturers to all hell to provide kickbacks all along the chain. Go buy tires at a tire store.

No, fuck that. IF book time is 4 hours and he does it in one hour, he should get paid for the 1 hour of work and not to sit on his ass for the other 3. You get paid for the time you work, not the estimated time you might work. I always thought those book hours were bogus.

 

[rudeguy]

ok I'll play.

This little folder removes tamper errors that lock out credit card terminals if they are tampered with. Its guarded more than Fort Knox.

 

[Sluggo]

No, fuck that. IF book time is 4 hours and he does it in one hour, he should get paid for the 1 hour of work and not to sit on his ass for the other 3. You get paid for the time you work, not the estimated time you might work. I always thought those book hours were bogus.

I don't have too much issue with the book system, it's the mechanic equivalent of working on commision. An experienced mechanic who can work quickly and efficiently most certainly deserves a bonus for his efforts.

 

[TerryMathews]

But if a labor manual states it pays 4.0 hrs to replace a fuel pump, that technician deserves to get paid for fours hours even if he can knock it out in one. That is experience and knowledge that gave him that ability. They cant be 'punished' for being efficient and intelligent.

No. Youre trying to eat your cake and have it too.

Either you approach a job as a fixed contract cost (shop time according to the book), or youre paid hourly plus parts for actual time spent.

I believe that if someone could prove it (video evidence) charging 4 hours labor and only actually performing 1 is fraud.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I don't have too much issue with the book system, it's the mechanic equivalent of working on commision. An experienced mechanic who can work quickly and efficiently most certainly deserves a bonus for his efforts.

I'd be OK with the book system if they actually gave me my car as soon as they were done with it. Don't quote 2 hours or something, finish it in 30 minutes and make me unnecessarily wait 90 minutes more.

 

[DigDog]

Oh, and those 50 million dollar F-18's arent worth 50 million dollars. They break a lot, they need way more maintenance than the F-14, even when running good they dont work for shit. Most pilots hate them, but they dont say that to the public, as a rule.

And the Navy was forced to buy a lot more than they actually wanted initially, and convert too many squadrons at once.

Again, I can only guess as to who ended up with the money. It sure as shit didnt go into the planes.

in b4 disappears to guantanamo

 

[Ns1]

No, fuck that. IF book time is 4 hours and he does it in one hour, he should get paid for the 1 hour of work and not to sit on his ass for the other 3. You get paid for the time you work, not the estimated time you might work. I always thought those book hours were bogus.

Nah that's bs because there is no incentive to be better. It goes both ways right? You don't want some sorry ass tech charging you 12 hours cuz they can't figure out how to get your fuel pump off.

I pay for knowledge, not time.

I don't have too much issue with the book system, it's the mechanic equivalent of working on commision. An experienced mechanic who can work quickly and efficiently most certainly deserves a bonus for his efforts.

this

 

[Lonyo]

Audits are near useless and auditors suck at finding material misstatements in general, fraud or not. Heck, all clients sign a representation letter that basically says the audit firm doesn’t really provide any sort of guarantee over its work. It is also almost impossible to sue audit firms unless there is serious misconduct, which does happen due to the lack of work experiance at all big accounting firms.

There is a reason that almost all fraud and major misstatement is reported by whistleblowers and not auditors.

That's because they are supposed to detect material fraud or error, not all fraud and/or error.
If someone is skimming $10 from a till, that's not something auditors care about. If someone's taking a pair of shoes from the stockroom, we don't care.
If someone's made a bunch of fake employees and is paying them $100k a year, auditors probably care.

If you want auditors to test every transaction and balance, it would be a lot more expensive and take a lot more time. That's why it's called assurance and not a guarantee.

It's the responsibility of the directors or management to have controls/etc in place to detect fraud.

 

[Imaginer]

some of them like basic wooden chairs are completely able to be make by amateur woodworkers

As a woodworker, this can be true and not true.

A seasoned woodworker, would make the chair last and be an heirloom. This is using proper joinery, analyzing the stock wood and grain used for the individual pieces that would be assembled, accounting for the final environment, properly finishing to the environment conditions.

But any amateur that can follow a guide, make straight lines and cuts, and nail and screw, assemble, and paint.

Good upholstery, is another level to consider in selection, methods, and realization.

That wholesale cost, is based on the mass produced cents labor and cheap materials. Have you seen the frames of the furniture being sold in places like Rooms-to-go? White wood that is good enough for such a purpose and MDF that is laminated to resemble real wood.

 

[Fritzo]

I personally lick every envelope I send to our customers.

 

[Theb]

if you're pricematching at bestbuy, just take whatever you need directly to the cashier and not customer service. if it's not too extreme they can and will do the pm right there.

here's a good list also. i particularly like the childrens movie ticket idea.
http://www.businessinsider.com/unethical-lifehacks-2013-9

"When you are calling a utility/customer service number, and you need to speak to someone but receive an automated menu prompt, choose the Spanish option, then press "0".

"Multiple benefits here. More often than not, they do not hire reps that only speak Spanish - they will most likely be bilingual, and will handle overflow calls in English anyway. Second, Spanish speakers are less common in India, so the Spanish speaking call-centers are usually located in the US - so when you get the rep, you will not have to deal with language barriers often encountered with the Indian reps. In addition, the wait is usually not as long."

Select spanish to avoid the language barrier. Mind blown.

 

[Hugo Drax]

This one is true, and shameful. Professional auditing is a joke - a carefully walked tightrope of covering your bases while not pissing of the client who is paying you.

Same thing with SEC agents. Though not sure if that still holds today

 

[fire400]

1. Antivirus: Never pay for antivirus. Huge ripoff. So many free versions. Microsoft has MSE/Defender. Antivir, Avast, AVG all have free versions.

...Also, 3rd party freeware firewalls can be difficult, not only to remove later, but can even cause problems (ports, tunneling, etc.) without restoring the computer entirely.

Also, if you say you're there to work on a company's computers or phone system and have any kind of tool that looks official (like a punch down tool or something,) virtually any small business will give you the keys to the kingdom and let you go anywhere and do anything. You could pick up a computer, walk out with it, and say you are taking it back to fix it. You could grab their server and go. Most won't question or even ask for documentation.

...Sad, but true.

This can also ruin a small business operation for months and months or cause a domino-failure in a city infrastructure (services, assistance, etc) that relies on the small business heavily. A stolen $2,000 server rack could cost a company $200,000 in losses and also its contractors $2,000,000 in losses, instantly or revenue-wise.
Don't be surprised how bad I.T. is in small or large business.

Also, linux-injected viruses inserted into Windows OS machines can shut down servers across major business departments in an organization, locally. When someone decides to pull out any random machine because they think it's a hardware failure, you could just throw it into a cardboard box and walk out with it.

Is causing so much damage to a firm and its partners with the initial stealing of a thousand dollars worth of computer equipment, worth it?

 

[highland145]

I personally lick every envelope I send to our customers.

Yin/yang. I allow every customer to lick my shoes before I send them to the shredder.

:ninja:

 

[HeXen]

I may choose to work on your computer for free. What I don't tell you is that I may have a favor(s) to ask of you later for that which you will not refuse or I remotely screw up your computer without you realizing it's me causing the issue next time you get on and guess who you will call to fix it?

 

[Imp]

I personally lick every envelope I send to our customers.

Ah... so I'm not paranoid when I open envelopes anywhere but from the top.

 

[Mandres]

Also, if you say you're there to work on a company's computers or phone system and have any kind of tool that looks official (like a punch down tool or something,) virtually any small business will give you the keys to the kingdom and let you go anywhere and do anything. You could pick up a computer, walk out with it, and say you are taking it back to fix it. You could grab their server and go. Most won't question or even ask for documentation.

So which trade is that a secret of exactly? Thieves and con men?

 

[theevilsharpie]

May I ask what field you work in?

Physical security (video surveillance, access control, etc.)

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Select spanish to avoid the language barrier. Mind blown.

I've done this and it works. Only thing is that they usually start with "Buenos Dias" and you're like "Heeeeey".

 

[zanejohnson]

you gotta get dirrrttty with it..

it sucks that i know some of you people have been doing this as long as i have......

and i'll shut up.

 

[zanejohnson]

the world of RFID.


$hut the fuck right up now.

 

[Blitzvogel]

Oh, and those 50 million dollar F-18's arent worth 50 million dollars. They break a lot, they need way more maintenance than the F-14, even when running good they dont work for shit. Most pilots hate them, but they dont say that to the public, as a rule.

And the Navy was forced to buy a lot more than they actually wanted initially, and convert too many squadrons at once.

Again, I can only guess as to who ended up with the money. It sure as shit didnt go into the planes.

I sense a highly biased or misinformed post.

First of all, the F/A-18E/F is a decent multi-role aircraft. lt's equipped with enough newer technologies to keep it competitive with most 4.5 gen fighters while offering great flexibility in being capable of all roles, and it's actually deployed unlike all the advanced Flanker derivatives that armchair analysts are always up in arms about. As for the price, $50 million isn't so bad when one actually considers what it takes to build a semi-stealth aircraft that must be built strong enough for carrier landings, 17000 lbs of external loads, 9G maneuvers, equipped with modern AESA radar, ECM, processors, etc. and not to mention corrosion resistant to the salty environment.

Building planes is a very expensive business which calls for mostly custom parts and tooling, often involving $20 bolts and $500 torque wrenches. It all adds up. The aircraft industry needs innovation in improving material costs and production automation, but it means meeting standards laid out by the FAA and/or the US military.

 

[Printer Bandit]

peep holes are not one way.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

My company gives us latitude when dealing with customers. I give free or reduced price spare parts to customers that are cool with me. If you act like an asshole, I am strictly by the book - you will pay full price for everything.