I try to give most people the benefit of the doubt and assume they are trustworthy until they do something to breach that confidence. But there are a few exceptions where my trust has to be earned, typically from people / professionals who hold all the cards in the buyer-seller relationship.
Dentists and auto shops come to mind. I don’t know enough about the details of my teeth or my car, so when one
of these professionals claims that something needs filled, pulled, or replaced, I don’t have much choice except to get a second opinion and hope that all parties involved are scrupulous.
The dentist and auto shop have all the incentives in place to claim things are worse than they are, with very little accountability to keep them honest. I would like to think that most of these types of professionals are honest, but it’s difficult for me. This is probably because I’ve always taken great care of my teeth but had over half a dozen “cavities” filled in my adolescence. I also rarely went to the same dentist more than once, so didn't have much of a chance to build a level of trust with any of them.
Dentists and auto shops come to mind. I don’t know enough about the details of my teeth or my car, so when one
of these professionals claims that something needs filled, pulled, or replaced, I don’t have much choice except to get a second opinion and hope that all parties involved are scrupulous.
The dentist and auto shop have all the incentives in place to claim things are worse than they are, with very little accountability to keep them honest. I would like to think that most of these types of professionals are honest, but it’s difficult for me. This is probably because I’ve always taken great care of my teeth but had over half a dozen “cavities” filled in my adolescence. I also rarely went to the same dentist more than once, so didn't have much of a chance to build a level of trust with any of them.