MSCs love me because I'm 21- turning 22 in a few days- and they're always trying to get me to do integrity shops. Today I did one for TGI Friday's, and unlike others where you just report on whether or not the server carded you, for this shop you have to go, get a manager, reveal yourself, get a form signed and upload it, and the form makes it (unfortunately) clear that not carding is grounds for immediate termination.

I can understand what went through my server's head: here's a guy with a goatee who's clearly not a teenager, and he's eating dinner with his mom (my perennial MS guest) so it's not like he's here to get piss drunk... and then I had to go to the manager. As I was leaving, I saw the manager and the server talking through the window and I felt like a huge heel for the first time in my career. I'm sure other bad reports I've given have probably cost people their jobs, but this is the first time I've ever known that I was directly responsible for a firing.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? How'd you get past it?

I started with tobacco and alcohol integrity/compliance shops. Like you, I started young. I was 18 when I first got into MSing.

I'm currently at 11 Friday employees fired on the spot. It doesn't get any easier, when you see it happen. You feel like the world's largest A-hole until you realize, you were doing your job, and they weren't doing theirs.

My worst was a server who got fired on the spot, then found me in the parking lot as I was leaving. She started screaming at me, asking "Are you happy?? What about my kids??" I just kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over. Took me the entire car ride to calm down and look at it objectively.... If I had kids depending on my paycheck, (I do now!!) I'd damn sure not put that at risk by going against policy and law, just to be the "cool, easy-going server."

Unfortunately it doesn't get easier, but you do start to look at it more objectively, and that helps with the feeling like crap part.

I am sure I have been responsible for at least two, especially when they questioned my report and the MSCs backed me up. It may have been the embellishments they provided to question my integrity but ended up proving their dishonesty. But in those situations, I never expected or hoped for that extreme outcome. They just provided atrocious customer service and I reported on it.

The managers just underestimated my relationship with the MSCs, I suppose. I'm not sure. But that depends really on the client. Some companies will attack the shopper and demand that they be removed because they want to side with their employer. At times like that, I wonder why they even bother with mystery shopping. It defeats the purpose of incurring additional expense if they are already biased and are only interested in good reports.

Most of my 18-21 compliance shops, I was accompanied by my "dad".... a federal compliance officer. Those reports were never questioned. I've had two challenged since then, one right there in the restaurant. The server said she did card me, I said she didn't. I emptied my bag and showed that I didn't even have any ID on me. The manager asked me to wait a few minutes while he ran back through the security footage. He did, came out a few minutes later, and signed my form.

You were doing your job. As someone who bartended for 10 years, you always card unless they look like your father. ALWAYS. They have these shops for a reason...if they aren't carding you, chances are they aren't carding regularly and then what happens when you do get that 19 year old kid in their getting pi$$ drunk and choses to drive home and kills someone in an accident? Try to think of that way.

I, for one, do everything I possibly can to not cost anybody their jobs. In this day an age when jobs are rare and unemployment basically inexistent, it's bad karma to put someone out on the street.

I've had only actually two shops that I could have been a real bish but I kept my negative comment to a minimum and hopefully nobody got fired. I just reported that a little bit more enthusiasm would've been nice.

A good friend of mine got fired because of a report saying she wasn't smiley enough and I quit a job once because a shopper said I short changed him a penny. Well, it was rush hour, and long line at the register and on my way back to return the guy's change, a penny flew off the tray, under a crowded table. So with a line of people waiting to be seated, I wasn't about to go back to the cashier and wait nor crawl under the table. When the manager confronted me about "stealing" from a customer, I said "You have got to be kidding me. After seven years of good service for this company, that's what I get? Fine, I quit. See ya!"

Then, when I started shopping I promised myself that I'll always give someone the benefit of the doubt and keep my reports as positives as possible for all involved. And so far so good.

Bad karma to put someone out on the street? I don't understand this. They put themselves on the street.

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bad karma to put someone out on the street? I
> don't understand this. They put themselves on the
> street.

I agree. When a person is terminated for not performing his job correctly, the karma is his own. I am OK with minimizing negatives, but a mystery shopper who does not accurately report his observations is not doing what he has been paid to do...........which is very bad karma in itself.

You can't judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes.

I divorced a husband because he had no empathy for the service industry. I've been in the hospitality business for 30+ years and it always amazes me how outsiders have no clue how difficult this field of work is. Firing someone should always be a last resort after a verbal warning, written warnings, a suspension, THEN firing.

That's all I'm gonna say.

Peace out!

Happy shopping!

Unless someone is risking their lives, I don't see why one industry deserves that much more empathy than another. How about empathy for all the workers who would lose income when liquor control shuts down the restaurant for a few days or a few weeks? Workers who did nothing wrong by the way. Unfortunately the server was putting everyone at risk and over something so simple.

I knew of a grocery store (in Canada) that sold cigarettes to a minor (shopper) and she was fired immediately. She did this to herself.

As someone with 30+ years in the hospitality business, why didn't you carry extra change? I waited tables for two months in the summer one year, and even I figured that out after the first week. Sometimes the bar would short me a penny or two when they processed the customer's cash, but I always made sure the customer received the right change.

It's really, really hard to care about someone else's job, when even they don't care about it enough to do it right.

"It's really, really hard to care about someone else's job, when even they don't care about it enough to do it right."

That says it all.

towncountry Wrote:
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> You can't judge a man until you walk a mile in his
> shoes.
>

Weren't you the one calling customers who order burgers at specialty restaurants "cheapskates" ?

@Bbird, I wondered about that, too. Interesting, huh?

Another note - mystery shoppers should NOT judge. Mystery shoppers are not paid to judge or to form opinions. If you are a mystery shopper and you are judging or presenting your personal opinion, you are not doing what you are being paid to do. Mystery shoppers objectively report what they see. Any judgments are made by the client. I report the actions of a target cashier/salesperson/server. The client makes the determination whether the actions of the cashier/salesperson/server are within that person's job requirements.

Each employee is responsible for performing according to the requirements of his job. If he does not, and if my report spotlights that he has not, then management should deal with the situation. Maybe the employee will be retrained. Maybe the employee will be warned, reminded or "written up." Hopefully, my report may bring the employee's performance to his supervisor's attention in time for him to be retrained or warned and it will help him improve his job performance so he can keep his job.

Ignoring poor job performance in order to "help" people keep their jobs does not help anyone. Letting an employee know the expectations and then requiring that he meet those expectations is fair and professional.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2014 03:19PM by AustinMom.

Misanthrope, I hope you're listening to those who tell you that you did right thing. If you take anything from this thread, please remember:

• You may have saved lives by stopping an irresponsible server.
• If law enforcement had been the "shopper", he/she would have been fired AND arrested.
• You may have saved the business from a state BAT crackdown.
• Consider the domino effect if the business suffers a loss.
• You have provided a great service to all the stakeholders in this business (owners, employees, community, etc.)
• There are great lessons to be learned here for server if he/she chooses to learn and apply them.
• For anyone who is fired, perhaps there is a place you are meant to be - you'll never get there unless released from your present situation one way or another. You can't climb that ladder unless you let go of the bottom rungs.

Let it be.

Adding to LJ's,

If you haven't signed on with the MSCs that provide the hookup to the federal programs, look into it until you find them! They're great because they pay $20-$60 a pop depending on scenario, and "Dad"/"Mom"/"Older brother/sister" pick up the tab for you, so no outlay for you, no waiting until next month for reimbursement.

And they shop just about everywhere that serves alcohol, so you can get a break from chain places, and can enjoy a wide array of assignments.

I have been in the service industry prior to my current job (and mystery shopping) and agree with LJ. Would I make a big deal about a penny? Likely not, however if you agree to do a compliance shop it is your job to report if you get carded or not. For the server who chased the shopper into the parking lot, was she worried about other people's children when she was serving alcohol to minors? She should be happy it was only a shopper that caught her and she got the opportunity to go home jobless to her kids, if it had been police she would have been arrested on the spot and they would not have cared about her kids, who could have gone into foster care if she was a single mom. Also, if police were doing the compliance check, the business could have lost their liquor license which could have cost all the other employees at the establishement their jobs even though they weren't at fault and I'm sure many of them have children too, so you did the best you could in a situation that the bartender created.

One thing I should point out: It is absolutely legal for minors in the state of New York to have alcohol in the presence of their parents. I don't know if that's what was going through the server's head (he probably just didn't think I was under 21), but I honestly don't think it's some cardinal sin to let a kid have a single beer over the course of one night's dinner. In this particular case, it wasn't even against the law.

First, did the server know it was your mother? Second, are you saying a restaurant is legally allowed to serve someone under 21 as long as they are with their parents? Unusual now, but it reminds me of when I was under 21.

No, only in the privacy of a home. And the parent must buy the alcohol, and serve it.

A restaurant isn't a private establishment. And your mom didn't order the drink, you did.

I am 100% certain that the employees are versed on the rules "before" they are actually hired.

If a bartender or server sells alcohol to a minor, or does not ask for ID, the establishment can be fined (I've heard up to $10,000) but either way, that server or bartender KNEW right from wrong....

They took the food out of their kids mouths, NOT the mystery shopper.

On private, non-alcohol-selling NY premises, an underage person can legally consume alcohol in the presence of a parent or legal guardian. However, it is not legal for that minor to purchase alcohol. But that is really not relevant to this discussion.

We are talking about a mystery shopper who has been hired to do a specific job: REPORT WHAT HAPPENED. As you said, you don't know what was going through the server's head. Even if he TOLD you what was going through his head, it would not matter. Nor did he know what was going through your head. You, a possibly underage person, ordered an alcoholic beverage. He chose, for whatever reason, to not request to see ID.

The job you were being paid for, as a mystery shopper, was to report what happened. You did. Whether the server thought the older person accompanying you might have been your parent or legal guardian is not relevant. Whether he "probably just thought you were old enough" is not relevant. Whether he thought it was not a big deal for a young person to have a beer is not relevant. Nothing he thought is relevant. Whether he "just forgot" is not relevant. Whether you think it is a cardinal sin or not doesn't matter. You were hired to report WHAT HAPPENED.

It was an employment requirement of the server's employer that he check ID before serving alcohol. He did not check ID.

I agree that the under 21 people should not be buying alcohol. They could also drink too much and drive home and kill someone. However, couldn't that 22 year old do the same thing?

I have thought about it only when I have read stories from folks on this forum. People make mistakes and at the end of the day, the employer decided not to forgive that error. You have to look at it that the fired person will find other work. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be.

Why do you say that jobs are hard to get? That is an excuse that only a felon uses. Even in places that have no main local type of business, there are jobs. There are ways to look.

KARMA:Good god I hate that stupid "New Agey" word. Did all those dying from the Ebola virus in Liberia and other African countries give off "Bad Karma" during their lifetime?

Stupid, Stupid, lack of critical thinking skills Stupid.

Am I alone in thinking that the age of majority should be 18? Technically, if one is an adult, as in can sign a contract, vote, and be legally held responsible for his or her actions, why is he or she "too young" to have a beer? And what about the military? 18 year old men must register for the draft, so aren't they adults? 17 is old enough to join the military. So we say someone is responsible enough to drive a tank, old enough to risk his or her life on behalf of the government, yet is too young and tender to celebrate finishing boot camp (or a return from deployment) with a glass of champagne?

heartlandcanuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Am I alone in thinking that the age of majority
> should be 18? Technically, if one is an adult, as
> in can sign a contract, vote, and be legally held
> responsible for his or her actions, why is he or
> she "too young" to have a beer? And what about the
> military? 18 year old men must register for the
> draft, so aren't they adults? 17 is old enough to
> join the military. So we say someone is
> responsible enough to drive a tank, old enough to
> risk his or her life on behalf of the government,
> yet is too young and tender to celebrate finishing
> boot camp (or a return from deployment) with a
> glass of champagne?

I can only say this: 18 is not as mature as 21. When I was 18, I got a settlement and bought a classic Camaro. And spent, spent, spent the money. I wished they would have made me wait until 21. Believe it or not, 21 "IS" a little more mature than 18.

My son said the same thing. He was in an accident at 8 years old, when he turned 18, he bought a brand new Camry. And spent the rest on life's fun pleasures. He told me the other day, "Mom. I wish they would have waited to give me all that money. I would have likely still had some. They should have given it to me at 21, when I was a little smarter."

So, that's my example. I know those who say you die for your country at 18, why can't you drink then? I think because 18 year olds a dumb-er about life than 21. Maybe the law thinks an 18 year old will drink and crash their car. They call it "emotional maturity"

I had this happen to me on the Thank God Age Compliance Shops as well. I remember the bartender not carding me and I reported it to the manager. The next time around (because I had them all the time) the same bartender was there...serving me. It was so awkward.