I recently did a route that included a payday loan. I did the loan first and used the cash for my next several shops. Normally I would have just gone home, but at the end of my route I realized I was just five blocks away from the payday shop and being in the city there are always a lot of payday shops I can do. I decided to come up with a cover story and go back in to rebuy the loan so I could be eligible to do another one in a few days when I was back in the city, instead of buying it back then.

Well, the teller asked how she could help me and I told her I was in earlier in the day and took out a payday advance but wanted to buy it back. She looked at me funny so I explained my cover story and told her that my grandmother had found out I took the loan and told me to pay it off and she would loan me the money instead so I wouldn't have to risk not having the funds on my next payday.

The teller got my check and paperwork and when she came back she asked "So, how'd we do?" I played it off like I thought she asked how my day had gone and told her that it was a long day and I was tired. She seemed to take that at face value and finished the transaction.

So, it seems like she at the very least suspected I was a shopper. Do I report that to the MSC?

You are not sure what she was thinking when she said the comment. It may be she thought you were the mystery shopper. It may be she was just asking what a new customer thought of them. I think you handled the situation at the location well.
If you were reporting the situation of hearing the comment as you would objectively in a report, what would you say?
If you wanted to tell the MSC you thought that they might have thought you were their shopper, how would you put that point accross?
Remember what is in some MSC's training material: If you are asked if you are a mystery shopper, Do not admit it. Act like you do not know what a mystery shopper is. Say, "What is mystery shopping?"

Keep quiet unless the MS company specifically asks about it. You still don't know for sure how she meant her coment and you played it off well.

Kattyk and Cettie are right. There have been several occasions where I was certain t I was identified but I went home, submitted my reports and waited to hear back from the MSC that I could not shop that client anymore. Never happened. I think we are just so aware of what we are doing that it's easy for us to interpret what they say as them knowing what we are.

Wasn't there a thread here called shopper paranoia? I think some know who I am, but maybe not. hahahaha

I swear, when I'm eating out at a restaurant and get extraordinary service, I think they know who I am. Maybe not. Maybe it's something they just do.

Another aspect, Mysterious...some of the payday loan shops have strict requirements as to when the loan is to be paid back. I don't recall seeing any where you can pay back on the same day. I think this is a time where it is best to say nothing.

If I were in the same position, I wouldn't say anything unless MSC approached me about it.

James Bond 007.5 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another aspect, Mysterious...some of the payday
> loan shops have strict requirements as to when the
> loan is to be paid back. I don't recall seeing any
> where you can pay back on the same day. I think
> this is a time where it is best to say nothing.


Yes. The payday shops I do for Service Sleuth specifically prohibit you from paying it back on the same day, most likely because it does make it pretty obvious that you're the shopper.

I'm not allowed to do these.

OP, luckily we don't have to report what we think. Just the facts. Her statement could have been interpreted many different ways.

I agree with those that say don't ask don't tell. Let the client say that you've been identified, and then force them to show proof that you were identified. It's up to the client (BEFORE they read the report) to say that they know you are a shopper. I can't tell you how many times an MSC (yes.. AN msc) said that I was identified as a shopper two to three weeks after the shop was done and said I wasn't getting paid, and that MSC didn't get the proper information to show proof that I was identified. Nasty emails out, payments in.

I really think they should be required to report to their manager, "I think that last customer was a shopper because....." and the manager should be required to report to their DM. If the DM then gets a mystery shop report matching the dates and times reported at the time of the shop, only then should a shop be torpedoed for being "outed."

This nonsense of letting the shoppee see the report and then letting them say, "I knew that was a shopper" is bullspit. If they knew it, they should have said it at the time.

I can't for the life of me figure why they would want to out the shopper. If they knew they were assisting a mystery shopper, they should have a perfect score. And keep their mouth shut and get a perfect score everytime the shopper comes back. Any associate who scores badly and then says "I knew she was a shopper" should be fired for stupidity.

I think it was said best in Casino. The same guy hit 3 jackpots in 15 minutes. So either your in on it or your too stupid. Well either way I can't have you working here. If I know I am being mystery shopped I make sure I hit every point and keep my mouth shut.

Thanks for all the advice, everybody. I was thinking the same thing, regarding it being in their interest to not out me. It simply benefits them if they know.

On a related note, I am almost positive I was outted at a restaurant. This restaurant requires me to take pictures of the food, pastry case, bread case, soda machine and condiment area. Well, I try to be coy but I am sure they noticed me once when the restaurant was slow. I go to this restaurant twice a week because its near my job. Ever since this incident I get exemplary service. I figured in this case if the requirements were the cause of me being outted then its on them and I just do my job.

By the way, if you've done that location several times and they, 'suspect' you; they'll put a note in your folder.
I found this out, when I got caught

I recently received a call from an MSC asking for details on a phone shop. The employee did not do one of the required things, and she told her manager that she remembered the call, and did not make the offer because I was moving from the area, to a specific town up north. The MSC wanted to verify. I said for sure I had not said I was moving, but I wanted to go back and review the call. After reviewing the call, there was no mention about my moving. Obviously the employee 1)remembered a different call; 2)on more that one occasion did not do one of the required things. The MSC didn't even hesitate, and said I would be paid for the call.

I did a Post Office shop where the employee did not ask the HAZMAT questions. I heard nothing back for about 3 weeks and then received an email that I could no longer do that Post Office shop because I was identified. I was also admonished by the scheduler fairly severely because the employee said she knew it was me because I sent a package to the same zone I was mailing from and that I told the employee what was in the package. As it happened I had recorded the entire interaction and was able to prove she was lying as well as providing my receipt which proved I did not send from and to the same zone. I sent the audio to the scheduler who had admonished me and never received even a hint of an apology. The scheduler came back to me and said I had been identified from the video because I had long black hair in a ponytail and was wearing a black sweater. I replied that I had blonde hair, never wore ponytails and did not own a black sweater. It didn't matter. I am still banned from that location and the employees word was taken over my proof.

For several years I had my pick of ICCDS grocery store jobs in my neighborhood. In the past year or so, the grocery shops in my area have been very difficult to get because of the competition and I have not had that many. I was thrilled to get the maximum this past week and completed them the other day. Well, I
don't know what the other shopper has been doing, but every employee was overly perfect. It was strange. The guy at the deli counter looked me in the eye as he handed me my purchase and said, "Can I get you anything else? We want to be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PERFECT FOR YOU!" I have shopped this
man many times before and he's always been good, but he has never said anything so weird to me. I feel like they were all tipped off.

I would not say anything unless there was a specific question asking if I thought I was "outed." I have never seen that question on any of my shops but I know that I have been nailed as the mystery shopper because those assignments are usually not offered to me anymore (hello 5 Guys). The payday shops that I have done are very specific about when to repay the loan and that is 2 weeks from the time that the loan was taken out. I would have been a little suspicious if someone paid the loan back the same day because the interest does not change - you are still charged the outrageous interest if it is one hour or 2 weeks.

I would never say anything to an MSC about thinking you may have been outed as a shopper, unless you are flat out asked if you're a shopper.

nycrocks Wrote:
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> I would never say anything to an MSC about
> thinking you may have been outed as a shopper,
> unless you are flat out asked if you're a shopper.

Even if they flat out ask, I would look puzzled, say no and ask them what a "mysterious" shopper is. I would definitely not report it to the msc.

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wasn't there a thread here called shopper
> paranoia? I think some know who I am, but maybe
> not. hahahaha
>
> I swear, when I'm eating out at a restaurant and
> get extraordinary service, I think they know who I
> am. Maybe not. Maybe it's something they just do.


What gets me, are the places that are "chronically shopped" and it's my first time shopping there and they look at each customer with scrutiny, to figure out if that is their "shopper?"

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2014 12:07AM by SunnyDays2.

My favorite story about being "outed" is from a McDonald's. I'd reported on issues with the fries that were so horrendous that I felt I had to provide supplemental information lest somebody get their butt raked over the coals: "I eat at this location on a regular basis, and unless the fries are straight from the basket into my cup this is a regular problem. I suspect this is an equipment, rather than employee, problem, as the employees are quick and conscientious with their work." (the problem: SUPER-uneven fries. Some piping hot, some hard and cold, some "meh" warm . . . all from the same batch.) Not included in the report was the information that this was a new, built-to-purpose location after they outgrew the old location--if there was ever a time to replace equipment that'd be it, but apparently they repurposed old fryers, grills, etc. for the new building.

I go in like a week later for a sweet tea. The girl behind the counter kinda-sorta knows me (in that way where she's never heard my name, but she sees me getting tea or a wrap often enough to count me as a regular and we've swapped work horror stories), so she goes "you're never gonna believe this. We had our mystery shopper in here last week and when we got our report, THEY FINALLY FIXED THE FRY HOLDING." I put on my sweetest and most innocent face and went "oh, you guys get mystery shopped?"

She goes "yeah, we--SHHHH. Don't say anything. That's him" and nods at this super-old guy who just walked in and looks about as much like me as I look like Elvis Presley. I lower my voice and say "How do you know?" She tells me the guy is only in once a month, same time every month, and always orders the same thing.

I didn't bother telling her it was two days after Social Security checks go out. He can take the heat for my reports when somebody there doesn't do their job. Granted--he also got credit for that fixed heating element!

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Thanks! That lifted my spirits! (It's been a bad week.)

So he's only in once a month, but was there last week, and just walked in.

File this in the McDonald's Logic folder, LOL.

End of month/beginning of month, BB. She probably assumes that mystery shopping works on a calendar-month basis.

jpgilham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
The
> scheduler came back to me and said I had been
> identified from the video because I had long black
> hair in a ponytail and was wearing a black
> sweater. I replied that I had blonde hair, never
> wore ponytails and did not own a black sweater.
> It didn't matter. I am still banned from that
> location and the employees word was taken over my
> proof.

That seems strange. I am sure a lot of mystery shoppers could be identified if they go back over the videos of the transactions done during the time frame of the shop. But they had your receipt and transaction number and they still identified the wrong person?

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nycrocks Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I would never say anything to an MSC about
> > thinking you may have been outed as a shopper,
> > unless you are flat out asked if you're a
> shopper.
>
> Even if they flat out ask, I would look puzzled,
> say no and ask them what a "mysterious" shopper
> is. I would definitely not report it to the msc.

Of course, I would never admit while on a shop that I was mystery shopping. That's MS 101.

It only happened to me once that an employee accused me, and I screwed myself because the shop required a pre-visit call and appointment and I forgot to hide my caller ID on my cell phone. The number was already in the computer system at the gym since I'd shopped 3 other locations previously and had to give out some contact info. The employee got my number from his caller ID and looked my number up in the system. When I arrived, I gave an alias name, and he asked almost immediately if I was a shopper and said he'd found my number and threw my own name in my face! LOL I was mortified but I kept my cool. I just denied that I was who that number belonged to and the employee gave me the gym tour anyway. I was fairly new to MS when this happened and have learned a lot since then. Now I have 3 extra Google voice phone numbers and email addresses, several aliases, and I keep track of which ones I use, and I block my caller ID whenever possible. I did report what happened to the scheduler right after the shop, and I got paid by the MSC anyway, at their expense, which is probably pretty rare, and I didn't have to do the report. The scheduler said, had I sent the report and if it came back to them that I'd been recognized by the employee as a shopper then I'd never have been able to work for that client again.

You run a risk by not telling, as well as telling the scheduler. If an employee tells their boss, "I thought she was a mystery shopper and I said so at the time," what would happen? I feel it's better to forfeit just the shop pay (if necessary) than lose all future opportunities to make money from the client. I haven't been back to any of the gym's locations since then, but only because I think it's too much work for the pay. I guess I'd feel it out and then make my decision.

I sent one of my friends to this MSC and she did some of the same gym shops. She was identified even though she said she wasn't ever accused at the time, and she couldn't do any more shops for the client. I wonder if she didn't hide her caller ID too on a 3rd or 4th shop. These particular gym employees are very savvy at checking on phone numbers to see if someone has been to the gym at any of their locations before. Maybe they do it because people try to get multiple guest passes when they're not entitled to them, rather than checking to see who's a shopper. Or maybe not -- because out of 4 shops I did for this client, this was the only one where the employee looked up my cell number.

Personally, I think any employee who outs a shopper during the interaction or to their employer should be penalized in some way by their employer. They are told they will be shopped and should be told not to question anyone they suspect, because if they are wrong, it's bad customer service to be confrontational! But since the client doesn't lose anything except a little time in getting the employee evaluated by another shopper, they don't care about getting a shopper banned for being called out, and the client gets a free report on the employee who cries "shopper" that they claim they can't use and don't have to pay for. So it's a win-win for the client, as long as the MSC can supply someone else. Pretty crappy all around for the shopper!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2014 12:58AM by nycrocks.

There has been a few times I thought I was outed doing audits at gas stations. Each time however I ran across a fresh employee that didnt even know what I was doing.

It's one thing to believe you may have been outed and quite another for someone to say flat out, "It looks like you've been to a few of our locations before because your number is in our system as having visited another location before. Are you a shopper?" Me: "I don't know what you mean?" Employee: "Is your name _______, and your email address ______?" Me: "No, I don't know why my number is in your system." Him: "Well maybe someone else used your information."

It felt like I was being interrogated for committing a crime, having my name and email thrown back at me like that.

Google voice numbers, extra emails, aliases and hiding caller IDs are so important. But as I said, I didn't know too much back then. Even though I had an alias prepared and would've used fake info for the contact information he was supposed to ask for, it never occurred to me that the guy would grab the number off my phone and start looking for me. He did a great job of showing me the gym, and it was a pleasant enough experience other than getting the third degree early in the shop. He probably suspected I was lying to him, but he gave me the tour anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2014 01:09AM by nycrocks.