Also, and I don't know that I should really have given a damn about this, but I felt anxious / nervous about being called out as a cheater given the location. This exam center is in my hometown, where many old friends and acquaintances live. I moved back to the area almost two years ago after having lived in Atlanta for 12 years. Atlanta is kind of a strange beast...I didn't know many people in my immediate area. And many people live very far away from where they work. When out running errands, shopping, etc., it seems like I rarely ran into people I knew or had previously encountered, so I'd never feel anxiety about potentially seeing folks at establishments where I'd mystery shopped. Here in Fort Lauderdale, I had already run into a banker where I'd mystery shopped when out at a bicycle shop a few months later. He spotted me when I was getting out of my car to get a tire fixed. "Hey, you make up your mind about bringing your IRA over to us?" Uhhhh....

And at one local bank, the person who handled my inquiry was someone who attended the same high school I did, and our time there overlapped a bit. We didn't know each other at the time - or, at least, I don't remember us ever really speaking - but after she asked a few questions about my background and we figured out we attended DBHS at the same time, I definitely remembered her face and name. She couldn't seem to place me, even asking about a brother or sister of mine (I'm an only child).

Anywho, I admit I felt a good bit of anxiety on multiple levels, but mainly 'cause of the slight chance that at some point in the future some employee or fellow test taker who saw me attempting to cheat may be at the same function / party / what have you as me and whisper to friends, "OMG, that guy over there in the Gators shirt...I caught / saw him cheating at our test center...". Yeah, I know, I'm sure they're supposed to be professional about that kinda stuff and not tell anyone outside the company, but they're human.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2015 06:49PM by retrodaddy.

Too bad the piece of paper can't say, "Congratulations on your vigilance! You have just busted your Mystery Shopper! "

@Flash wrote:

Too bad the piece of paper can't say, "Congratulations on your vigilance! You have just busted your Mystery Shopper! "

That would be gold.

I was hoping they'd comment on my good choice of beer or the healthiness of my grocery items, but that didn't happen.

Good for you, Retrodaddy. That's the type of devil-may-care attitude you need to have for this type of shop. I wish I could be more like that. My mother raised me on guilt. God forbid I ever get picked up and interrogated for something - I'd probably confess. I was scared to death I'd fail a polygraph even though I was telling the truth!

@LJ wrote:

Good for you, Retrodaddy. That's the type of devil-may-care attitude you need to have for this type of shop. I wish I could be more like that. My mother raised me on guilt. God forbid I ever get picked up and interrogated for something - I'd probably confess. I was scared to death I'd fail a polygraph even though I was telling the truth!

Having done the shop before the cheating aspect was added helped a lot. No way I would have done the cheating scenario as my first testing center shop. At least, I think there's no way I would have done it. Never say never.

I've done about 12 of these shops. It was downright restful before they added the cheating element The shops paid well, and the forms were easy to fill out. I always let my imagination run wild on the essay part, which was fun. I also passed the real estate investment test, twice. Shoching how easy that one was. Don't ask how I did on the GMAT. (I was told there would be no math!) ;-) . But the trying to pull a fast one of the staff makes me reluctant to do these again.

Thank You!, it hurts me down to my core when I have to create scenarios. Yep, it's role playing; but at the end of the day I believe a lie is a lie.

One of my scheduler's asks regularly if I can do certain shops for her. Bless her heart, she assigns a couple, even when I tell her it will not be a good idea. We work on the theory practice makes it better. Luckily, I've pulled them off. But, I never feel good at the end of the day. She knows that lying actually makes me physically sick. Love her, because she's there at the end of the day and calls so I don't spend the entire night in the bathroom.

Why do I volunteer to do these shops? Well they pay fairly well and in theory I'll figure out how not to lose my lunch...eventually.

The good part,..I'm not gaining any weight from nasty road trip food.

I would love to do this kind of shop but I've not heard of any in my area. If they paid well enough, I'd certainly go for it. If I can 'act' as a certain customer in other shop scenarios I can certainly do the same for this one. In my day when I was taking university, grad school and professional financial exams, the invigilators were terrible! I saw other test takers cheating all the time! I even complained once that I saw other students cheating to no avail. I can see why they'd have shops to try to evaluate them.

To those of you who say that you can't lie. Think about it...you probably lie a lot more than you think. For example, when somebody asks you how their new haircut looks, or their new outfit or how the meal was. Or somebody asks you if you like the gift they gave you. Unless you are an insensitive person who always tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, you lie to make people feel better. Every one of us that does mystery shops lies to some extent.

sportsed1, I'm fairly certain the real estate investment exam was the one I took for my first few shops, and I scored a 61 even though I Christmas treed most of the last fourth or so of the exam. Most of the questions could be figured out just by using context of the question. I was surprised how easy it was.

The test for the cheating scenario was the GMAT. I thought I was doing fairly well until busted for my shenanigans.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2015 12:14PM by retrodaddy.

You're right! Lying makes me physically ill, but yes I have. My problem really stems from the fact I can't keep a good lie going. A really good friend in college knew every single lie since her early teens. I thought it was amazing until I saw her GPA. Had she spent more time remembering what she was studying than the lies of over 6 years she probably would've graduated with a perfect 4.0.

Now, I would love to do the shop if it was the GMAT or the CPA exams. It would be special to see how far I would last. Probably wouldn't get scored. But what a thought taking an exam, I don't have to pass. Might actually get through the first day without losing my lunch.

We do lie. Good point there.

For me, it was two things.

1. I dislike the notion of the failure outcome. Even if I passed some test, the pass would be considered failure. I am improving! I like passing, winning, improving, etc. Because of this I was not eager to perform the task.

2. There probably would be a scheduling conflict. Because of this I could not sign up for the task.

This one will be on my 10 foot pole list. I have no problem lying on many shops ("I'm looking for a new smartphone," "What's the difference between angus and regular beef?" etc). I do have a problem getting caught cheating and trying to explain that to the person who caught me. I also have a problem asking the instructor, "So, what can I do to pass this test *Wink* *Wink*."

This shop is being offered again for more pay (was $30, now $45), but it's in Miami. Don't feel like driving down there for this one, but if they bump it up again another $15 I could be in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2015 05:25PM by retrodaddy.

I've done a few of these at three different testing centers, never the same test twice. I think I had the LSAT, a microsoft tech certification exam (which was easy for me to fail) and GREs. I stopped taking these shops because of the sheer tedium of taking a test on a topic you know nothing about and the sympathy/condescension of the staff after failing.. In real life I do quite well at tests and it made me miserable to intentionally do badly. At the centers I went to, you couldn't get anything in to cheat with. I turned out my pockets and actually had to get an exception to take my asthma inhaler in with me..

You can't be sure which test you'll get, but you do get an immediate score at the testing center

What happens if at the end of the test you happen to pass? If you really know nothing about a subject and chose randomly, it could happen.

I have done a couple of these, both times I lied about what was in it (actually a bag of rice taped down). Both times they accepted the package with the 'banned' item.

I did a few of those tests and I remember one where the topic was so familiar, I actually started answering the questions. Then I remembered I had to fail it so I stopped and raised my hand to go to the washroom. Ok, I told myself, calm down. I came back and continued with the test. But as per instructions, I had to raise my hand again. When queried, I had to say I was not feeling well. Thank God it was all true. Anxiety was killing me. I had to ask permission to go home because I was sick. Funny thing was I was not acting. I really felt sick. As soon as I came out of the room, I was cured! Shaking but cured! I went shopping, real, actual shopping.

I had to take one of these tests for real when I obtained my certification years ago. As previously stated before, everything had to be placed in a locker and we were told to empy our pockets, which I did. At the time, I frequently kept my cell phone in my bra and as you've guessed, I forgot to take it out. A cell phone in the exam room would have disqualified me from the 4 hour exam and I would have lost the $250 fee. Yes the phone went off. Lucky for me it was on vibrate. Every time it hummed, I started patting my leg, as if it was going to sleep. The exam room was not crowded and the person watching over us at a desk behind a glass wall. Besides the axiety associated with trying to pass a job related exam, I was besides myself. When done, I thought that I had NOT passed, so when the system came back with the words YOU PASSED acrossed the screen, I gathered my things quickly. I thought I had better get out quickly before they realized that they made a mistake. Before I could leave, the moderator stopped me to congratulate me and give me my certificate. I just knew my phone was going to hum and give me away. It didn't and I ran. I guess I've been a dunce for a long time!

I have done these shops in the past but when they wanted me to try to sneak notes in, I drew the line. Images of poluce interrogations were dancing in my head. No thanks.

I'm doing this exact scenario this Monday! I was planning on putting a wadded up straw paper in my bra and fish it out during the exam. I can tell them I kept feeling something scratching me and I didn't know it was there. Must have fallen into my shirt somehow. Yeah. Like that would happen. But still, it's as good as I can come up with.

Grocery receipt in your shoe. 'Must have fallen off the dresser into my shoe. I wondered what felt weird there.'

The plan is to get busted. They want to know are they doing their job...that of catching cheates. I did it and got 'caught' No big thing.

I am reluctant to do it because I will be taking a variety of teacher certification tests in the next few years, and I can't help but feel like I would end up on some kind of blacklist...

I just did one of these today. Normally these shops are a breeze, but the cheating element adds a whole new level. I was so nervous today I had to laugh at myself. I was all prepared for the walk of shame after the proctor caught me cheating. The kicker was the proctor never spotted me taking out and using my "notes" even though I thought I was so obvious about it. I guess she'll be going to proctor prison now.

I wondered that they didn't see anything amiss on the videos they watch of what's going on inside the test room. I definitely don't want a movie of my shenanigans.

Interesting. I'm really surprised no one saw you.

Oh, Suck it up. You're a professional..or at least you get paid for this. Quick your whining and go to work.

@retrodaddy wrote:

My scenario called specifically for me to bring in a piece of paper slipped into the underside of my tie, leaving a bit of the paper exposed.

I've done several of these shop usually every rotation. This is a new requirement, the cheating part, never had the bride requirement. My proctor spotted the receipt before I entered and asked me to place it in the locker. Easy $60.00 with bonus.