How can we get the best deal from where you work?

Mr BoMBAStiG on 21/10/2015 - 17:33
Last edited 21/10/2015 - 18:37

Inspired by a recent deal, I figured it would be a good idea to get everyone to let us the inside word on their place of work or industry.

What are some things we should know about your employer that will save us money?

Somewhat similar threads on reddit but primarily about US companies…
What does your employer NOT want customers to know about?
What is something your current or past employer would NOT want the world to know about their company?

General Discussion

Comments

  • spackbace on 21/10/2015 - 18:36
    +3

    Why don't you start us off? :)

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 21/10/2015 - 19:11
      +16

      I'm a business analyst. Best I could do is tell people to fire incompetent staff and hire better ones before you resort to hiring me.

      I used to manage a cinema though.

      Legit saving tips…

      • Group buy the books of 10 tickets at the discounted rate.
      • Bring your own confectionery unless you desperately want popcorn, preaching to the choir here.
      • There are always deals to be found on tickets as we make next to no money from them, almost all costs of a cinema are covered from the Candy Bar.

      Dodgy tips…

      • Join the loyalty program as a student to buy super cheap tickets online, very rare someone will question your student status when picking up tickets. They just want to scan your phone or print-out and get to the next customer.
      • If you are going to sneak into the cinema: do it during a weekday where there are barely any people there as there is less chance of you causing an inconvenience by sitting in someone's allocated seat. Have one person buy a ticket legitimately so you know what cinema to go to and where it is in the complex. Then just as the movie is starting walk up to the usher checking the ticket and act as if you just ducked out to the toilet or went to Woolies to grab some lollies and put on a face as if you really don't want to have to go through your pockets. Better still, just walk in confidently and give the nod to the usher. Think about it, most ushers can't keep track of everyone that comes and goes and if someone is acting like they just ducked out, why would we risk conflict by confronting someone that has a right to be there. The location of the theatre needs to be known as that is a big giveaway, not knowing where you are going if you claim you just ducked out of a theatre. Again, please only do this when there is literally no inconvenience being caused to anyone. If there is a 200 seat cinema and there are 5 people in there on a Wednesday at 11am, having 3 more people that are not causing trouble is not going to be a problem. Heck there was a time that there was a bunch of kids obviously skipping school that came to my cinema. They all got tickets, drinks and popcorn except one kid. They all went into the theatre and the one kid started wondering around the arcade machines, I asked him why he wasn't going in. He sheepishly replied he couldn't afford it. Gave the kid a small combo and told him to enjoy the movie with his friends.

      Experience tips

      • Choose seats that are an even distance from all speakers ignoring your proximity to the screen i.e. the geographical centre of the theatre. I cannot stress the importance of sound during a cinema experience.
      • Sit slightly closer than centre for 3D, trust me.
      • Watch comedies on busy nights when the movie just came out.
      • Watch action movies when the movie just came out but during a quiet time.
      • Do not buy popcorn unless you see it being popped. It is common practice to store large bags of popcorn out the back. What else do you think we do when it's quiet?
      • If you are regular movie watcher, try and go during quiet times and get to know the staff. We used to have a few customers that would have fresh batches of popcorn popped just for them.
      • If there are (profanity) talking, go and tell an usher. We will discreetly monitor the cinema until we confirm who it is and try and do something. There should be an usher that will walk around the cinema about 2 times per session, tell them if you cbf leaving to tell us. We won't take your word for it and will need to see/hear it for ourselves but at least your theatre will be upgraded to a "theatre I might be able to kick a (profanity) out of" theatre, and we all loved kicking out (profanity).
    • zolinger on 21/10/2015 - 19:31
      +1

      I'd like to hear yours spackbace… the inner workings of a car dealer

      • spackbace on 21/10/2015 - 19:33

        I'm sure everyone would, but you know, they still wouldn't believe me! :)

        • zolinger on 21/10/2015 - 19:35

          haha whats your most creative response. Mix some truth and lie to it.

          @ cymon. Awesome response! Learned the inner musings of a cinema today!

  • serpserpserp on 21/10/2015 - 20:53
    +1

    Spoke to a friend of mine who works at a bank today. Negotiate rates on all loans, personal and home loan sticker rates can always be lowered. Also get to know someone in your family that works at a bank, the big 4 usually do deals for family of staff (even if your an uncle or something like that) and the deals are basically no fees, cheaper interest rates, discounted fees etc. This kind of stuff really helps when you are trying to get a top tier credit card for points! Get it through a family member and you might never pay an annual fee ;)

    • CapeFin on 22/10/2015 - 11:42
      +1

      Definitely negotiate rates at the banks, there's plenty of great deals amongst the plethora of lenders!

      We are a Perth based mortgage broking company and will happily review your current lending rates or do the negotiating on your behalf if you're looking for finance. As we get paid by the banks, we don't charge for our service.. feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

  • dasher86 on 21/10/2015 - 21:22

    I heard recently about popping your own popcorn in the baby change room using their microwave. I haven't been in a baby change room so cant confirm.

    • YTW on 22/10/2015 - 01:35
      -2

      Please don't do this. These facilities are provided for babies and they explicitly ask people not to use them for anything other than baby foods.

      • dasher86 on 22/10/2015 - 09:02

        how is this any worse than "Dodgy tips…"?

        I never said i wouldn't do it.

    • serpserpserp on 22/10/2015 - 12:49

      This is as bad as shopping staff/security staff using the baby change rooms at shopping centres to microwave their lunch. I mean really, must you do that?

      • altomic on 22/10/2015 - 20:27

        I go to an electronic store and "test drive" one of the microwaves.

  • inherentchoice on 21/10/2015 - 23:08

    Don't bother just go to a competitor.

  • BigTed on 22/10/2015 - 00:21

    Lawyer's bills are much more negotiable than most people realise.

    • serpserpserp on 22/10/2015 - 20:36

      Before or after they do work for you?

      • BigTed on 22/10/2015 - 20:37

        both

        • serpserpserp on 22/10/2015 - 20:38

          So please elaborate how you negotiate bills down after they have done work for you?

        • BigTed on 22/10/2015 - 20:41

          @serpserpserp:
          The place I work at now is fairly flexible but the place I worked at before was very flexible.
          Don't pay. Once they start hassling you call up and complain about the bill.If you play your cards right you can negotiate a deal. They need cashflow, they know there's padding in the bill, and they don't want the hassle.

  • tomleonhart on 22/10/2015 - 08:30

    Lol. I used to work for an airlines and the discount we get for Staff/friends is worse than what they offer to retail customer !

    • zelda707 on 22/10/2015 - 09:55

      Which airline? The discounts I've had are always much better than retail price

  • Hotpotcorn on 22/10/2015 - 10:01

    My dad is friends with a home loan manager at cba, he gets good rates. 4.12% investment

  • ilikeradiohead on 22/10/2015 - 17:45
    +1

    I work for the government now in a policy area so no savings there.

    I used to work for BWS. Here are a few tips:

    • Stock gets removed from the system all the time. When you see a pricetag with a line through it, it means it's been deleted. The price drops 10% a week until it's 40% - 60% off (can't remember). Bit tough to plan ahead as someone else could pick it up, but it worked out for staff getting cheap schapps which still haven't been opened 5 years later…

    • Price tags: if you find contradicting price tags, you'll get the item for the lower amount. This generally isn't that good a deal, as it would have been the official deal the previous week, but it's good if a really good deal was on recently and you missed out.

    That's literally it. There is not much scope for savings, and DM's prices are normally much cheaper anyway, even when things are on a sale.

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