I have been doing MS for 16 years and have had two reports rejected so far. One was for shopping the totally wrong location. The MS company was willing to let me make up for it by sending me to do the right location and submit another report (whew!).

The other was for forgetting some of the shop's guidelines that were important to the scenario. There was a lot to remember and my brain went blank during the middle of the shop. I tried to wing my way through and bombed. That's what I got for waiting to the last minute to study everything I needed to know. Lesson learned.

I've had two bank shops rejected for not getting a business card. One time the banker apologized, saying she had just switched locations and had not received her new ones yet. The other time, the banker gave me the folder and all the other stuff and pretty much ushered me out the door without handing me one. I kinda wonder if he was playing a game with me.

Wasn't much I could do as the business card had to have the correct name. Couldn't grab one of the generic ones at the counter. That's the way it goes.

I consider that I can still truthfully say I've never had a shop rejected for something within my control.

One denied because I did it on a Sunday, that detail was in some fine print. Now it is in about 40 font in the instructions so I obviously wasn't the only one that did that.

One denied for flipping the cut pizza up on the wrong edge. Bet a lot of people have gotten nailed for that one.

I've had the business card issue come up several times over the years. If they don't give you a business card, you politely ask for one in case you "have any questions." If they are new to that branch, get their old business card and have them write the new address or phone number on the back of the card, take pics of both front and back and explain it at the end of the report. If they are brand new to the bank in general, ask for a business card showing the address and have them write their name on the front of the card and once again, explain it at the end of the report. I have never had a shop rejected using this method.

I've had one rejected by TrendSource because the baby decided to play with my phone and checked me into a location the night before I was supposed to shop it. That's the only time I've really ever regretted living less than a block from that particular store.

I think I've had one rejected for not ordering the right side for the meal on a MF wing shop, which had just changed and I wasn't careful about reading the paperwork. Oops! Don't get so hungry beforehand...

One car wash shop rejected for taking the upsell. Oh well.

One other was just flat out going to the wrong Sonic location when the correct one was a couple of miles down the road and I got tunnel vision...before the reschedule option came up, I believe. Cancelled.

I forgot what the end result of one other Sonic shop was (also just a cancellation, I reckon), but the store was closed at about 8pm on a Saturday night. That's not something that happens every day! Was asked why I did not call in advance, but let's be honest, that would not have helped. Stores that are on the verge of closing down don't announce that and won't close on a good night of business. I guess that's why the option now exists to denote that on those shops. You're welcome?

I never bother calling first unless it's a requirement. Local stuff, I either know their hours or it's no big deal if i drive past and it's not open because i was driving past anyway. Route stuff, I'm doing the route anyway. Not going to waste my time on a phone call that just tips them off that a shopper is coming soon.

I'm in the thousands of shops, handful of rejections group. My first PJ's had an issue with a photo that I didn't understand at first. Mixing up the scenarios and ordering the wrong car wash was another. By then I had been shopping long enough and contacted the scheduler immediately following the shop rather than waiting for the report to be rejected.

Eh, maybe it's not unusual, but I had to take a loss this week.

I became a rotation shopper for a specific client for ID checks. Originally, this client had a 120 day shopper rotation.... Eventually, the MSC waived the restriction, probably because they had a difficulty finding the specific demographic and the amount of shops per location per month. It became to the point where the majority of the bartenders began to remember me and see me as a regular. Until one day.... One of the bartenders flat-out stated 'I remember you from last time' and just didn't ID me basically because he remembered seeing I was of age.

@Tarantado wrote:

It became to the point where the majority of the bartenders began to remember me and see me as a regular. Until one day.... One of the bartenders flat-out stated 'I remember you from last time' and just didn't ID me basically because he remembered seeing I was of age.

I'm assuming this was TGIF with the zero tolerance policy. You must ID your identical twin brother or be fired on the spot? With the rotation period lowered, that is just setting someone up to get fired.

@scanman1 wrote:

@Tarantado wrote:

It became to the point where the majority of the bartenders began to remember me and see me as a regular. Until one day.... One of the bartenders flat-out stated 'I remember you from last time' and just didn't ID me basically because he remembered seeing I was of age.

I'm assuming this was TGIF with the zero tolerance policy. You must ID your identical twin brother or be fired on the spot? With the rotation period lowered, that is just setting someone up to get fired.

Nope. Different restaurant. And also no reveal. I suspect none of the bartenders realize I'm a shopper, but instead, a just a Happy Hour regular.

When your targets start to see you as a regular, it's time to stop mystery shopping them. When you are recognized as a regular (whether they realize you are a mystery shopper or not), you are no longer an anonymous customer and their treatment of you may be different and may skew the results of the shop.

This is why there is a restriction to shop no client where you have a close relationship. Some locations restrict your ability to shop a location where you are recognized as a regular although many do not address that. Of course, few bartenders would check ID on their identical twin brother. If the identical twin brother were mystery shopping them, it would not be a reasonable mystery shop to determine the service given to the average customer.

@AustinMom wrote:

When your targets start to see you as a regular, it's time to stop mystery shopping them. When you are recognized as a regular (whether they realize you are a mystery shopper or not), you are no longer an anonymous customer and their treatment of you may be different and may skew the results of the shop.

This is why there is a restriction to shop no client where you have a close relationship. Some locations restrict your ability to shop a location where you are recognized as a regular although many do not address that. Of course, few bartenders would check ID on their identical twin brother. If the identical twin brother were mystery shopping them, it would not be a reasonable mystery shop to determine the service given to the average customer.

Agreed.

There is a caveat to the guidelines for this client, where your guest would be the person evaluated as the person needing to be ID'd. Then again, there used to be a shopper rotation for this client. But I suspect it was removed considering how difficult was for the MSC to find shoppers that met the demographic.

Memories are a funny thing and there is something to be said for IDing regular customers. There is so very much at stake for these bartenders and the business that there is little excuse for not IDing someone no matter how many times you think you have seen them.

Confession time: When I was 20 years old, I accompanied slightly older friends to their local hang out. There was a bouncer at the door checking IDs. My friend was a regular and convinced the bouncer that I was 21 and had just forgotten my ID. Once in, nobody else checked. The following week, someone else was at the door who asked for my ID. I saw that the employee who had worked the door the previous week was now working the floor. I pointed to him and said, "he saw my ID last week; he'll remember me." That employee "remembered" that I was 21 and vouched for me. The following week I had two people vouching for me - all convinced that I was 21 and that somewhere along the line I had proved it. I celebrated my 21st birthday there months later. The band pulled me up on the stage and asked how old I was. You should have seen the looks on the faces of all the servers, bouncers and bartenders when I proudly announced I was 21 that night.

Even if they are sure they know you and are sure they have seen your ID in the past, memories are tricky and cannot be trusted. They should always ID. A shopper's rotation should have no bearing and is a good test.

The only shop I've ever had declined was a botched pizza surgery (or maybe two?)

The ones that I have had rejected have been due to shopper error. I used to do several pizza shops with the several pictures - never had a problem. Now I cannot seem to get the required one shot right, according to the MSC

I've done thousands of shops and only had one rejected. It was totally my fault. I had a well bonused arches shop rejected because I went to the wrong location. There was one just outside Wal-Mart and one inside Wal-Mart. Usually they list WM or something like that on the location. This one didn't, I was not familiar with the area, and I shopped the one outside. Ooops! It was on a very long route that day, I was in a hurry, I didn't even look at the address. I didn't even realize I had gone to the wrong location until I got the rejection. I have been much more careful since then, lesson learned!

Thanks for bringing me up out of depression! I have had two shops rejected. One was "sort of" my fault, the other was definitely my fault! I always apologize for being an idiot lol and they are always very considerate even though they still have to reject.
1) The "sort of" was a mix up at the drive through window, I had waited 3 minutes at the window to pay and saw absolutely no movement so I spaced and thought well maybe the order taker said pay at the 2nd window, (which they do frequently here). I pull up to the receive window and THEN someone starts waving and yelling at me from the pay window. I figured that would be rejected, but I told them what happened. Someone suggested that I did not have to tell them, just do my shop and let it go but I'm not THAT kind of shopper.
2) The 2nd was totally my fault. I don't do many of those and I do approx. 6-10 of another FF drive in monthly. At the one I do regularly you can use cash or card. At the other you have to pay cash. I zoned, paid with CC, did NOT even catch my mistake until they emailed me. They couldn't possibly be any harder on me for messing up than I am on myself!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2015 07:42PM by Tawana1956.

You were supposed to explained exactly what the person told you about not having the correct size pizza and name and exact time In your report and email the scheduler with that same information ane the shop #.

I had a gas station shop rejected because my report "did not match the video surveillance" and due to the restroom having been "recently cleaned", it was impossible for there to be debris on the floor of the restroom, as I had reported. When I disputed this false accusation, the scheduler stopped responding after I asked if the other parts of my report were disputed. There were numerous specific things in my report that would have matched up to the video surveillance, and the report was 100% factual. Either someone on the client's end was lying or the MSC was lying. I tend to now avoid Intelli-Shop and that particular scheduler. I have completed almost 3,000 shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2015 07:45AM by dedicatedshopper.

How do you avoid particular scheduler? half the time I don't even know my scheduler.

@MSNinja, I avoid that particular scheduler by not opening emails from them.

MSNinja, when you have been around long enough that they call you to schedule, you can list their names for their individual cell numbers. And what dedicatedshopper said.

Tawana1956, you may want to edit your post as it violates the forum rule against naming both the MSC and their clients in the same post. Additionally, the post also violates your ICA with MF as you have revealed their clients, something that you agreed not to do when you signed the ICA.

I must have really zoned!! I edited and thank you very much, I did not even realize I had put the name in there!! I try to be careful and crash myself anyway! Thanks again.