Family and mystery shopping

I understand that the details of my mystery shopping are private, and not to be shared with anyone. However, how do I handle the details within my family?

I've done a lot of pizza shops lately (and we can't eat that much pizza) so my 20-something son has been sharing them with his friends. Is that a no-no? I'm doing a medical provider job later in the week and put it on the family calendar so I'd remember. Hubby just asked me about it. What should I tell him?

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

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I tell my family about my mystery shopping. As long as your family doesn't go and divulge the information to the clients or interfere with your actual assignments I feel like it should be fine.

As for sharing the pizza, that's okay long as you've conducted your assignment. I'm sure your waistline will thank you for it.

It's not a state secret that you mystery shop.

It's not much of a secret who you shop, if you're coming home with pizzas and bags of food from McDonald's.

It is a secret who the MSC is for those shops.

It is a secret what questions you have to answer, and how you answer them.

It is probably a secret how much you make for any given shop.

But since your husband will be sharing your tax return with you, I don't think any MSC will have a problem if your husband knows what you're doing and even for whom, since emergencies come up and the MSC will appreciate hearing from your husband if you have to go to the hospital and can't do the shops you've scheduled.

What do your kids need to know other than "mom sure brings home pizza a lot, isn't that cool!"?

Putting on the calendar, "shop at 2" or even "2 p.m. work" is not the same as "shop at Banner health care at 2." You don't need to name the client on your calendar. Your husband needs to know it's a shop, not an MRI, so he doesn't worry.

And maybe get your own calendar......

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2014 03:04PM by dspeakes.

dspeakes, that was part of the issue. He wanted to know if I was having health issues I hadn't told him about :-)

I like the idea of keeping it generic, since we share an Outlook calendar on the computer. Maybe I'll even assign a color for my mystery shopping assignments. Both he and I will get the hang of it.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Well said, Dspeakes. KathyG, I like your idea of color coding your shops in Outlook.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

I love that about Outlook. I color code by video shops, those with specific dates or flexible dates and use other colors for personal or family errands.

Kathy, don't worry so much about what your husband knows, just make sure he won't be out discussing it at the local bar

Back when I did a lot of PJ's shops my neighbors knew because the teenage boys loved getting the pizzas even if they were mutilated. It would have been hard to explain the mutilation and why I had 3 to 5 pizzas to give them. I tell who I feel comfortable with about my business. They rarely, if ever, know the clients and never know the MSCs.

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My family, a select few friends, and my boss for my main job know what I do. I put "mystery shop" and the location on my outlook calendar so my boss knows when I'm not going to be available to work for him.
I do not divulge what place I am shopping or who the MSC is.
If people come over I hide any shopping guidelines I may have been studying.

I wouldn't enter a report in front of another person either. However, both my cat and my python have watched me enter reports since they have no respect for privacy or personal space. But since one doesn't speak English and the other doesn't speak at all, I think my secret's safe with them. ;-)

I am sure your ICA does not state that you can't tell your spouse and children that you mystery shop...heck, sometimes you need to take them on shops with you. The intent is not to come on boards like this and say XYZ Company has shops with ABC, DEF and HIJ companies or not to divulge that you are a mystery shopper to clients, etc. I don't go into great detail with my husband but he knows I am doing some bank shops today, or whatever.

I certainly don't keep it a secret from my family.

I keep the fact of my mystery shopping to a few selected individuals that can be trusted to keep it to themselves. Why? The last thing I want is to meet someone at a store and they tell the the employee that I'm a mystery shopper and wonder if I am mystery shopping them right now.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

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Family and mystery shopping

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