@SoCalMama wrote:

I 100% agree with you on this.

You can only understand this if you have been a scheduler, editor or have been to a conference. (I've done all 3.) I don't smoke any herb, but don't judge me for drinking at 10 am either, OK? Hey, if I am getting PAID to drink at 10 AM, make mine a Maker's Mark please.

Drinking jobs at 10, sounds like a Rosebud?


I dont understand the majority of people who are on this forum. They literally base their shopping around these absurd situations that are never going to happen.

Just for fun I tried finding a single mystery shopper who had ever been arrested or caught on a job like this on google for 20 minutes and couldn'[t find anything. Ive never even heard a story about it happening to another shopper before and I know a TON of full time mystery shoppers.

@jrossetti wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

I 100% agree with you on this.

You can only understand this if you have been a scheduler, editor or have been to a conference. (I've done all 3.) I don't smoke any herb, but don't judge me for drinking at 10 am either, OK? Hey, if I am getting PAID to drink at 10 AM, make mine a Maker's Mark please.

Drinking jobs at 10, sounds like a Rosebud?


I dont understand the majority of people who are on this forum. They literally base their shopping around these absurd situations that are never going to happen.

Just for fun I tried finding a single mystery shopper who had ever been arrested or caught on a job like this on google for 20 minutes and couldn'[t find anything. Ive never even heard a story about it happening to another shopper before and I know a TON of full time mystery shoppers.

Apparently, a few people feel comfortable with these and more than a few don't. Just an FYI, I'm in the last group. I would not feel comfortable doing these, I don't care if my butt was covered or not. Aw, the beauty of being an IC, we get to choose what we want to do

You know a "TON of full time mystery shoppers". Really? Long ton = 2,240 pounds, so presumably I am suppsed to believe that you know 2,240 full time mystery shoppers? Or maybe you meant just a short ton, meaning that you know a mere 2,000 full time mystery shoppers.

By the way, what it a full time mystery shopper? Almost everyone I meet here has another job. But YOU know at least 2,000 Full-Time Mystery shoppers?

Life is full of risks. Life is full of rewards. You are entitled to set your risk to reward threshold anywhere you want. I am entitled to set it where I want. Maybe you are correct and no one has ever been arrested for concealing an item in a purse. Frankly, I wonder how you can possibly know that. Have you searched every arrest record in the United States? OR maybe you tried to use Google and search terms you chose? BUT - even if you are correct, and no (zero, nunca, nada) mystery shopper has ever been arrested for that, there are risks involved. You and your 2,000 or 2,240 full-time mystery shopper friends are welcome to perform them if you want to, but I am not going to. For me, the risk to reward ratio is too great. For $40 I can visit two banks, and have essentailly zero chance of getting arrested for speaking to a platform banker. Or do you and your 2,240 Full-Time Mystery Shopper friends know a mystery shopper who has been arrested for inquiring about a checking account?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 08:56PM by myst4au.

@myst4au wrote:

You know a "TON of full time mystery shoppers". Really? Long ton = 2,240 pounds, so presumably I am suppsed to believe that you know 2,240 full time mystery shoppers? Or maybe you meant just a short ton, meaning that you know a mere 2,000 full time mystery shoppers.

By the way, what it a full time mystery shopper? Almost everyone I meet here has another job. But YOU know at least 2,000 Full-Time Mystery shoppers?

Life is full of risks. Life is full of rewards. You are entitled to set your risk to reward threshold anywhere you want. I am entitled to set it where I want. Maybe you are correct and no one has ever been arrested for concealing an item in a purse. Frankly, I wonder how you can possibly know that. Have you searched every arrest record in the United States? OR maybe you tried to use Google and search terms you chose? BUT - even if you are correct, and no (zero, nunca, nada) mystery shopper has ever been arrested for that, there are risks involved. You and your 2,000 or 2,240 full-time mystery shopper friends are welcome to perform them if you want to, but I am not going to. For me, the risk to reward ratio is too great. For $40 I can visit two banks, and have essentailly zero chance of getting arrested for speaking to a platform banker. Or do you and your 2,240 Full-Time Mystery Shopper friends know a mystery shopper who has been arrested for inquiring about a checking account?

I refuse to believe you are dumb.

Look up "idiom" and what it means. Then go back and read my post and try again.

A full time shopper is someone who does this as their primary form of income without holding what most would consider a "real" job.

Regardless of what you want to claim otherwise, there is already an essentially zero chance of getting arrested for doing the job, same as your banker job.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 09:03PM by jrossetti.

@kathygry wrote:

@jrossetti wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

I 100% agree with you on this.

You can only understand this if you have been a scheduler, editor or have been to a conference. (I've done all 3.) I don't smoke any herb, but don't judge me for drinking at 10 am either, OK? Hey, if I am getting PAID to drink at 10 AM, make mine a Maker's Mark please.

Drinking jobs at 10, sounds like a Rosebud?


I dont understand the majority of people who are on this forum. They literally base their shopping around these absurd situations that are never going to happen.

Just for fun I tried finding a single mystery shopper who had ever been arrested or caught on a job like this on google for 20 minutes and couldn'[t find anything. Ive never even heard a story about it happening to another shopper before and I know a TON of full time mystery shoppers.

Apparently, a few people feel comfortable with these and more than a few don't. Just an FYI, I'm in the last group. I would not feel comfortable doing these, I don't care if my butt was covered or not. Aw, the beauty of being an IC, we get to choose what we want to do

Bingo! Plus, you're being honest about not wanting to do it is purely because you are not comfortable (and there is totally nothing wrong with that)> The rest though are making up bogus and phony reasons and that's not what this is supposed to be about. You simply are not going to get arrested or go to jail. You may have to have an uncomfortable interaction with an upset associate depending on circumstances, but thats pretty much about it.

So how many Full Time Mystery Shoppers do you know? Apparently less than 2,000

So how many is it?

And how did you determine that no mystery shopper had ever been arrested? Did you search a statistically
significant number of arrest records? How many was that? In what states? I know better than to argue with you. This ends it for me.

@jrossetti wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

You know a "TON of full time mystery shoppers". Really? Long ton = 2,240 pounds, so presumably I am suppsed to believe that you know 2,240 full time mystery shoppers? Or maybe you meant just a short ton, meaning that you know a mere 2,000 full time mystery shoppers.

By the way, what it a full time mystery shopper? Almost everyone I meet here has another job. But YOU know at least 2,000 Full-Time Mystery shoppers?

Life is full of risks. Life is full of rewards. You are entitled to set your risk to reward threshold anywhere you want. I am entitled to set it where I want. Maybe you are correct and no one has ever been arrested for concealing an item in a purse. Frankly, I wonder how you can possibly know that. Have you searched every arrest record in the United States? OR maybe you tried to use Google and search terms you chose? BUT - even if you are correct, and no (zero, nunca, nada) mystery shopper has ever been arrested for that, there are risks involved. You and your 2,000 or 2,240 full-time mystery shopper friends are welcome to perform them if you want to, but I am not going to. For me, the risk to reward ratio is too great. For $40 I can visit two banks, and have essentailly zero chance of getting arrested for speaking to a platform banker. Or do you and your 2,240 Full-Time Mystery Shopper friends know a mystery shopper who has been arrested for inquiring about a checking account?

I refuse to believe you are dumb.

Look up "idiom" and what it means. Then go back and read my post and try again.

A full time shopper is someone who does this as their primary form of income without holding what most would consider a "real" job.

Regardless of what you want to claim otherwise, there is already an essentially zero chance of getting arrested for doing the job, same as your banker job.

JRossetti, I don't appreciate your cursing and name-calling just because you don't agree what others have said. Just because you've done some of these shops doesn't mean you're the one and only expert here. Some people are looking at it from another angle and seeing it from the perspective of loss prevention staff and police officers. Have you worked in either of those fields and can you comment from that point of view?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 09:38PM by LJ.

@myst4au wrote:

So how many Full Time Mystery Shoppers do you know? Apparently less than 2,000

So how many is it?

And how did you determine that no mystery shopper had ever been arrested? Did you search a statistically
significant number of arrest records? How many was that? In what states? I know better than to argue with you. This ends it for me.

@jrossetti wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

You know a "TON of full time mystery shoppers". Really? Long ton = 2,240 pounds, so presumably I am suppsed to believe that you know 2,240 full time mystery shoppers? Or maybe you meant just a short ton, meaning that you know a mere 2,000 full time mystery shoppers.

By the way, what it a full time mystery shopper? Almost everyone I meet here has another job. But YOU know at least 2,000 Full-Time Mystery shoppers?

Life is full of risks. Life is full of rewards. You are entitled to set your risk to reward threshold anywhere you want. I am entitled to set it where I want. Maybe you are correct and no one has ever been arrested for concealing an item in a purse. Frankly, I wonder how you can possibly know that. Have you searched every arrest record in the United States? OR maybe you tried to use Google and search terms you chose? BUT - even if you are correct, and no (zero, nunca, nada) mystery shopper has ever been arrested for that, there are risks involved. You and your 2,000 or 2,240 full-time mystery shopper friends are welcome to perform them if you want to, but I am not going to. For me, the risk to reward ratio is too great. For $40 I can visit two banks, and have essentailly zero chance of getting arrested for speaking to a platform banker. Or do you and your 2,240 Full-Time Mystery Shopper friends know a mystery shopper who has been arrested for inquiring about a checking account?

I refuse to believe you are dumb.

Look up "idiom" and what it means. Then go back and read my post and try again.

A full time shopper is someone who does this as their primary form of income without holding what most would consider a "real" job.

Regardless of what you want to claim otherwise, there is already an essentially zero chance of getting arrested for doing the job, same as your banker job.

A ton of full timers is about two dozen. Most people dont even know one or two full time shoppers which is why I chose to use an idiom, not that it should matter.

I know this because they would have told me if they were arrested. If you need me to double check that my friends didn't just forget to tell me they got arrested doing a mystery shop I mean, I could? I'm just saying though...

If you were done, then why did you spend time asking more questions?

Do you have a single piece of evidence from anywhere that suggests anyone has ever been arrested for conducting this type of mystery shop in all of the worlds existence? You're ignoring the people who do these, you're ignoring the people who run the businesses who schedule people to do these, you're also doing so without a single piece of evidence that supports your belief.

I don't understand the illogical thinking that is going on here. How do you come to this conclusion? You're literally ignoring all available evidence there is and picking the opposite that has no supporting evidence...

jrosseti, It's good to know that if we, as mystery shoppers, if we have ANY questions, about anything and I mean "any-thing" at all...we should just come to you and not listen to our attorney and all that "other such nonsense"... since "you" know we will never have anything go wrong with the "stick-the-item-in-the-purse shop" and should just blindly trust.
you....

And.. it's also good to know you are pretty new here and have insulted other member rather regularly... (please have a cup of coffee and re-read all your posts and responses) to everyone here...

Don't you think with all your posts and you being new...that you might get off to a better start but not being so sarcastic to other members here? So, you think you know the answer to everything but you forget there are other people in here besides you and they have their thoughts to express too...novel idea, huh?

Are you related to anyone special that used to frequent this forum?

@jrossetti wrote:

You may have to have an uncomfortable interaction with an upset associate depending on circumstances, but thats pretty much about it.

I forgot to include this in my post a few minutes ago. What are you talking about here? Uncomfortable interaction with which associate?

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

jrosseti, It's good to know that if we, as mystery shoppers, if we have ANY questions, about anything and I mean "any-thing" at all...we should just come to you and not listen to our attorney and all that "other such nonsense"... since "you" know we will never have anything go wrong with the "stick-the-item-in-the-purse shop" and should just blindly trust.
you....

And.. it's also good to know you are pretty new here and have insulted other member rather regularly... (please have a cup of coffee and re-read all your posts and responses) to everyone here...

Don't you think with all your posts and you being new...that you might get off to a better start but not being so sarcastic to other members here? So, you think you know the answer to everything but you forget there are other people in here besides you and they have their thoughts to express too...novel idea, huh?

Are you related to anyone special that used to frequent this forum?

Ive been here since 2013. I'm not actually new at all. People were lying/misleading about my jobs and what my contractor documents meant. That's the only reason I went from spectator the last 2 years or so to poster. Just never had a reason to say much.

I don't think you should ever blindly trust anyone, but the statements I am making are not just an opinion. You're never going to go to jail doing this assignment. this isn't like some exxon audit that might have a new employee there every week or what not.

Yes, I do know that you will not be arrested or thrown in jail for the purse jobs. 100% There is literally not a single shred of truth to that assertion by anyone who says otherwise. I'm not guessing, I'm certain. I am pretty sure I can even get you a contact person at that company to talk to about your concerns if you wanted to. Five minutes of your time and you'll be convinced there's nothing to worry about. Plus, you could ask them. I'm sure they would tell you if soimeone has been arrested. Could you imagine shoppers finding out that a company lied about that? It'd be all over this forum with how much people like to gossip. But yet, not a single person can find anyone nor has said they have been arrested or knows someone who has while doing this job.

I doubt you talked to an actual lawyer, and even if you did they don't have the details from the shop or the company to be able to say that and I'm sure he/she told you that. No attorney would respond to that question, accurately, without having further information regarding it.

I have perhaps insulted two members? I guess that depends on your point of view. I dont believe that calling someone a liar or dumb when they are being dumb or lying is an insult. We all have dumb moments, and we've probably all lied. I call it how it is. When it relates directly to MY job directions, requirements, or assignments I am uniquely qualified to tell people when they are lying about them or being dishonest. I chose to do so because that's my name and reputation on the line.



No, i dont think with all of my posts and being "new" that I might get off to a better start. I'm not going to tolerate anyone telling fantasy stories about things that direct impact my money. If they dont like what I have to say, then maybe they should stop lying (unintentional or not) about my business, my requirements, my documents, etc. I'm incredibly approachable, ask me rather than TELLING people and GUARANTEEing things that they are not qualified to say.

Lastly, expressing an opinion is completely fine and my posting doesn't infringe on anyone elses right to express their thoughts. Novel idea that?

You could probably come to me with any question and I could likely get it answered for you by the right people. It's not boasting, it's simply the truth. If you go to even one convention or are in the network of people who did you gain access to people who have been doing this crap for decades and you should be able to do the same. Although I am certainly NOT a master of mystery shopping, the combined knowledge of the network of people I know combined is and most anyone is very open about sharing what they know. You just have to ask.

There are people here who are not sharing what they know, they are sharing what they think they know from a job description about a job that they have never conducted or even learned much about. On top of that, they are also ignoring the people posting who HAVE done those jobs and HAVE talked to the company to learn as much about it as they can.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 10:54PM by jrossetti.

@jrossetti wrote:

This site seems to be a bit of a cess pool of whiny cranky people and isn't really giving me a good vibe and the misinformation from people is outrageous.

That is insulting to significantly more than 2 members.

@jrossetti wrote:

I'm incredibly approachable, ask me rather than TELLING people and GUARANTEEing things that they are not qualified to say.

And yet you don't give the same consideration to other posters. You read, misunderstand, and then fly off the handle without ASKING. Instead you TELL them how wrong they are.

@jrossetti wrote:

Lastly, expressing an opinion is completely fine and my posting doesn't infringe on anyone elses right to express their thoughts. Novel idea that?

Completely agree. Everyone has the right to be a jerkface. Just like everyone else has the right to not like them because they're a jerkface.

Jrossetti, you stated that there is zero chance that someone would be arrested and that is just wrong and reckless on your part. Looking over some of the other things you have posted on the Internet concerns me that you don't think things all the way through and I would hate for someone to blindly follow your advice.

Is it likely someone will be arrested doing the purse shops? Probably not. Possible absolutely. You think that because you don't know of anyone who has been arrested doing these, that it couldn't happen? By that reasoning, we must assume that because we know a lot about people who go out drinking and ride their bikes and have never been arrested for DUI that it couldn't happen. Likely? Probably not. Impossible? Nope.

jrosetti, "going to an attorney or speaking to an attorney" was used in the general sense. I did not go to an attorney but another poster had mentioned that they had spoke to someone who was an attorney. I can imagine the law does not "twist and turn in many directions" so if one attorney advised not doing this type of shop, then I would likely heed that advice. but that's just me...

I strongly recommend you do the "insert item into the purse" integrity shops. If you need to be female, I am sure you can dress up and pull this off..... Please do at least 15 of these and report back to us, via home, jail, wherever you might be and let us know if you were ever arrested

@LJ wrote:

JRossetti, I don't appreciate your cursing and name-calling just because you don't agree what others have said. Just because you've done some of these shops doesn't mean you're the one and only expert here. Some people are looking at it from another angle and seeing it from the perspective of loss prevention staff and police officers. Have you worked in either of those fields and can you comment from that point of view?

It'is irrelevant. Police officers and attorneys aren't qualified to make comments on these jobs without knowing the details. I ask again, has anyone here actually contacted and spoke to the people in charge of this project. If any of you take the time to do so, you will know that the fears are unfounded. I'm not asking anyone to believe me, I'm asking you guys to stop guessing and talk to the people who know. I can't say the details, there's that whole NDA thing going on.

@LJ wrote:

Jrossetti, you stated that there is zero chance that someone would be arrested and that is just wrong and reckless on your part. Looking over some of the other things you have posted on the Internet concerns me that you don't think things all the way through and I would hate for someone to blindly follow your advice.

Is it likely someone will be arrested doing the purse shops? Probably not. Possible absolutely. You think that because you don't know of anyone who has been arrested doing these, that it couldn't happen? By that reasoning, we must assume that because we know a lot about people who go out drinking and ride their bikes and have never been arrested for DUI that it couldn't happen. Likely? Probably not. Impossible? Nope.

No, as I have implied and insinuated, you should talk to the project managers for these because they are the reason I am telling you there is no risk of being arrested for these shops.

Telling people there is while not having even spoken to the company is reckless....

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

jrosetti, "going to an attorney or speaking to an attorney" was used in the general sense. I did not go to an attorney but another poster had mentioned that they had spoke to someone who was an attorney. I can imagine the law does not "twist and turn in many directions" so if one attorney advised not doing this type of shop, then I would likely heed that advice. but that's just me...

I strongly recommend you do the "insert item into the purse" integrity shops. If you need to be female, I am sure you can dress up and pull this off..... Please do at least 15 of these and report back to us, via home, jail, wherever you might be and let us know if you were ever arrested

I also spoke to the project manager (my girlfriend does assignments as well) and that is why I keep telling you guys there is NO risk of being arrested. This is not my opinion. This is just the truth. If any of you spent 15 of your minutes spent arguing with me on here about it and called the company and asked you could get the same information that I was able to divine.

Oh wait, I didn't, I just asked.

What is so difficult with just going and getting the actual information instead of all this guesswork. This is 2015. Pick up a phone and just call them. Don't take my word for it. Check yourself. Then report back to everyone else.

Nice side-step. I wasn't talking about police officers or attorneys commenting about these jobs. I asked if you considered the loss prevention officer or police officer's point of view when faced with a potential shoplifter. Do I need to explain in a different way to get my point across or do you want an example?

You're saying there is zero chance of a problem. 100% safe. That is not true. I don't know why you refuse to admit that sometimes things don't go as planned and that piece of paper that you seem to think is a magic get-out-of-jail-free card might not work.

@LJ wrote:

Nice side-step. I wasn't talking about police officers or attorneys commenting about these jobs. I asked if you considered the loss prevention officer or police officer's point of view when faced with a potential shoplifter. Do I need to explain in a different way to get my point across or do you want an example?

You're saying there is zero chance of a problem. 100% safe. That is not true. I don't know why you refuse to admit that sometimes things don't go as planned and that piece of paper that you seem to think is a magic get-out-of-jail-free card might not work.

I understand what you are saying, but how does that impact what I said? A loss prevention officer orf police officers point of view will never come into play on this job. There is a lot more in play than a simple piece of paper for a letter of authorization. It would be a lot simpler if one of you took the time to call the company. I am not allowed to give the details, but seriously. I'm sure on this one and it's verifiable. Just call the company.

Is there anyone else on this thread who's done these jobs or talked to the company who can reply to this? If I explained their process you wouldn't be having this discussion anymore and it sucks. I know I come across bluntly, but that doesn't make me any less right.

@jrossetti wrote:

No, as I have implied and insinuated, you should talk to the project managers for these because they are the reason I am telling you there is no risk of being arrested for these shops.

Telling people there is while not having even spoken to the company is reckless....

I fail to understand why you don't just TELL us why you think there is no risk of being arrested. You are not breaking an ICA by saying something like "the MSC gives you an ironclad LOA." Or "the MSC calls the local PD to give them a heads up that the shop attempt is about to be made." Or something to that nature. It seems you're more interested in arguing and telling people how stupid they are than you are actually having a discussion about why there may or may not be a risk.

And to be honest, I think you are probably right, you're just doing an incredibly poor job of making your points.

So, who is the MSC?

Custom Risk Solutions. Scheduled through Summit. According to the email you have an authorization letter from the VP!

IMO this is a stupid shop I would never do.

You know what I just found out?

Toggling doesn't work as well as I hoped.

Even if all the employees had supposedly been told about their "contest" you have to assume that every one of them got the information. You have to hope that one of them doesn't do something stupid anyway, like decide you're a for-real shoplifter this time, or just hates shoppers today. You also have count on the fact that there are no off-duty LPOs, SOs, LEOs or even citizen vigilantes who want to be a hero that day, follow you out of the store and tackle you.

As I stated before, likely? Maybe not? 100% sure those things or others won't happen? No, I can't be - and neither can you. I prefer to not take the shops. I wouldn't fault anyone who wanted to take them. However, it is ethically wrong to tell people that it is 100% safe.

@LJ wrote:

Even if all the employees had supposedly been told about their "contest" you have to assume that every one of them got the information. You have to hope that one of them doesn't do something stupid anyway, like decide you're a for-real shoplifter this time, or just hates shoppers today. You also have count on the fact that there are no off-duty LPOs, SOs, LEOs or even citizen vigilantes who want to be a hero that day, follow you out of the store and tackle you.

As I stated before, likely? Maybe not? 100% sure those things or others won't happen? No, I can't be - and neither can you. I prefer to not take the shops. I wouldn't fault anyone who wanted to take them. However, it is ethically wrong to tell people that it is 100% safe.

Can I nominate this for Post Of The Thread honors?
POTT
You can do the 420 shops!

I really wish someone would post what you are supposed to do after you have been rung up, both if they do find the wallet or if they don't find the wallet. What is the shopper supposed to do? Act flustered? Whip out the LOA? Say "Congratulations, you found the poke, you get a prize"? Pull the purse out at the door, open it and take the wallet back and say, "I don't know why this is in here"? Leave with both items and do a return of one or both of them a half hour later? Remain in the store and call the manager on the phone to report the result? I haven't seen these shops and I'm really curious how we're supposed to play this because the designated action would have a bearing on the risk factor.

@bgriffin wrote:

According to the email you have an authorization letter from the VP!

Cool. I might do the shop just to get Joe Biden's signature!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2015 04:41AM by elcarev68.

I am not even thinking about jail or something. I have a choice so I am clicking the toggle button, which I have not done for a while. And I refuse to consider this integrity shop. It's my choice!