I did not see the post for shopping the blue-apron sample people at the warehouse club for October. Did I just miss it (I hope) or are they gone?

Some were posted a couple of days ago. AFAIK, there are now fewer shops per month at each location.

LOL Do they really shop them? I remember laughing with some of these folks over a year ago about mystery shopping. I wasn't a shopper at the time, but knew about it. We used to talk about them when gossiping about some of the less superb workers. What a giggle that they are shopped!

Well some of those samplers I feel really bad for, I would hate it if some of them lost their jobs from getting a bad report, as they have already had a rough turn in life. I was demonstrating a karaoke mic in a warehouse club a few years back (yes, I had to sing in the middle of the electronics department, good thing I can carry a tune) and I got to know some of the women who did demo samples, as I would wander through on my break and stop to talk with them. One of them had lost her husband and couldn't afford to live on social security, another one had a decent desk job for many years but was a victim of age discrimination and got laid off before she needed to retire, replaced by someone younger of course. Another lady had her spine fused and wore a back brace, standing on her feet for hours handing out samples. She didn't smile much--she grimaced often because she was in pain, and she limped while wheeling her demo cart into the back.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Well some of those samplers I feel really bad for,...
And I knew an older woman who took this sort of job. She had to actually go somewhere and pick up the table each day and drag it from where ever it was to the store she was at that day. They would have let her keep it at her home but she lived in an apt and there was no way she could wrangle that table from her parking spot to her apt thru the hallways and elevators every day. The table transporting part of it was unpaid time for her. She quit that job quickly as it made no financial sense at all.

Oh, I adore most of them, too. Some of them were great supporters of mine through a difficult time. I also recall one man's very difficult journey. He was nice as could be to me. I went on a trip and came back to find out he'd been hit by a car and died. I know only the tiniest details about him, but I'll never forget him. There are some, though, who can be snooty and rude. I admit that I reported one of them once to the sampler manager and then to the store manager. The third time I said something, she suddenly changed her tune. I think she was given a last warning to smile even if she hated my guts or she was gonna be gone! She smiles now! lol

I have performed that type of work in several settings. Occasionally, it was a pleasure to interact with the public. If I do this in future and my back freezes, my face will freeze too, in a manner of speaking. If that happens, I will be unable to smile. I will not give a fig if you report me for not smiling at your command. I will quietly go away and as soon as my face is mobile I will belt out, "She works hard for the money, so you better treat her right..."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2015 12:05AM by Shop-et-al.

It was not just her smile, it was her attitude. Believe me, this woman was rude beyond rude. It began when she had a full cart display that did not involve any prep on her part except to keep the containers full. It was a non-cooking event. I took two of something and she practically slapped my hand and scolded me with, "You already had one." It got worse from there. For example, I heard her making crude remarks about me to other samplers in public even. Her immediate boss was not happy with her at all and the store manager was even more upset. I used to work in customer service. The golden rule was let the customer think you are laughing with them. You can laugh at them or whatever you want -- in your head, but you treat them with courtesy. This gal did not do that with me. She stared, glared, ignored, looked away, would not speak, did not say thank you, hello, hi, or do her job by explaining her product, even if asked. She was not well liked by her co-workers either because she was difficult anyway. Regardless, after that third mention to management, she changed her tune big time so I know she was told to get with the program now! She did. We actually had some lovely conversations afterward. I used to chuckle and told others that I didn't care if she hated me. When I was there, she was polite, told me about her products, and yes, she smiled. That is what the job required, so even if she was faking it, I was getting the courtesy that every customer deserves, so all was well with the sampler world after that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2015 12:24AM by Orrymain.

My favorite sampler (to date) never smiled and never gave anyone extra attention or extra samples. Everyone got one sample and was expected to move along and make room for others.

Some people did not like this policy. Others loved it. Her 'sales' numbers were consistently at the top or near the top of the charts. Something about her was... Credible? Fair? For whatever reason, people bought the products that she presented.

I don't know if there is room for this type of strong personality in today's sampling world. (On the other hand, if she were alive, she might create a niche for her unsmiling self.)

I imagine it could be how management wants them to be, too. This particular store had no objections to customers taking more of something or, in this case, taking two different options. They have many customers who keep coming back for more. The samplers have told me it's their job to keep the customers happy. They are there to sell the product, not police customers on how many of whatever they take. The exception is when we're talking about cooking items. It can take a long time to cook some things and it would be inappropriate to let a few people take multiples. That's not fair at all. But when we're talking non-cooking items that are there in abundance, let the customers have at it. The only worker I knew to ever take issue with it was this one lady and per management, she was out of line. If it's up to the store, I'd say this store had the right idea. :}

I had one shop where the sampler manager told the sampler to not "Push the product so much. We only have 3 cases laft and the rate you're selling it, we will run out before the store closes." That quote went into the report. The next time I was there they had a different sampler manager.

One thing that has not been mentioned directly is style. It might not be true that some formula of smile plus this or that mandate will produce the desired outcome. Over the years, managers have told me in various words that some people should have some leeway to 'do what only they can do' and get the desired results. Some people have distinct style or flair (not necessarily in fashion) and will amaze and delight-- as long as no one squelches them.

If you sample any samplers this year, please let us know what the culture and climate of sampling are now.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2015 02:39PM by Shop-et-al.

I had a sampler (much older male) tell me I shouldn't try a sample because I was pregnant and women these days think it's an excuse to eat and eat.

Uhhhh... Thanks for the medical and diet advice? I wasn't shopping him or anything, but it left me irked!

Also JASFLAMT- the same could be said about anyone workings anywhere. We all have hiccups in our lives. If no one was reprimanded because of shop reports, what would be the point? Get to know anyone and chances are, they need their job. Not just those in certain industries.

I avoid evaluating people who are the most needy. Most of the people who are doing the sampling are older people who have had a rough go of it already and I am not going to be the one to add to their troubles. The same goes for when I have to do a grocery store audit and have to evaluate the bagger--when I go to the checkout, I avoid the lane where the special needs guy at my grocery store is bagging so that I don't have to evaluate him. He generally doesn't get it right and I don't anyone to come down on him. Even if he doesn't lose his job, he doesn't need the hassle of someone being critical to him when he has already had enough tough blows in life. Maybe the teenaged boy I end up evaluating needs his job too, but chances are he is going to recover a little better for whatever the outcome is when he doesn't perform up to their standards. He has a chance to move forward and advance in life, where the aforementioned special needs guy really doesn't have many options. Same thing with the older sampler people. Most of them just don't have any other options career-wise.

How many of your older persons need careers, anyway? Surely some of them have completed their careers and don't even need these jobs.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

My favorite sampler (to date) never smiled and never gave anyone extra attention or extra samples. Everyone got one sample and was expected to move along and make room for others.

Some people did not like this policy. Others loved it. Her 'sales' numbers were consistently at the top or near the top of the charts. Something about her was... Credible? Fair? For whatever reason, people bought the products that she presented.

I don't know if there is room for this type of strong personality in today's sampling world. (On the other hand, if she were alive, she might create a niche for her unsmiling self.)

Soup Nazi style. Sometimes those people just have something that keeps us coming back. I have no idea what it is.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

How many of your older persons need careers, anyway? Surely some of them have completed their careers and don't even need these jobs.

Considering that the national average savings for retirement is around $25-30k, probably most of them.

I do those on a fairly regular basis and they do not get fired from bad reports. I have turned in reports where the Advisor did nothing, absolutely no interaction with members. Six months later, he is still working and giving out product information and made attempts at eye contact. I believe they get training instead of getting fired.

That's odd. I know it was a big deal when that (selling a product out) happened around here. It meant the employee had done a super job. In fact, a lot of them were given better opportunities for being the big sellers.

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

I had one shop where the sampler manager told the sampler to not "Push the product so much. We only have 3 cases laft and the rate you're selling it, we will run out before the store closes." That quote went into the report. The next time I was there they had a different sampler manager.

And some are just trying to get by. One of the sampler guys I got to know was, as you say, a retired person doing this part time to get out of the house and get a few bucks. However, one of the older gals was struggling with health issues, a disabled husband, and all kinds of financial issues. This job keeps them in their house. Or the guy I mentioned in an earlier post who actually became homeless during the time I was going to the store a lot. He was showering and dressing at the Y and sometimes at a friend's house. Unless you get to know the sampler people, you can't judge why they are there. It's like the rest of us in that we all have our own story and the truth is that just as we all mystery shop for our own reasons, we all have our own histories, some more desperate than hours. Judging why someone is there can be as bad as judging any of us for what we do.

Just my two cents.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

How many of your older persons need careers, anyway? Surely some of them have completed their careers and don't even need these jobs.

I could never never never take a job being a sampler. I have watched at BJs where people hoard over the freebies, and come back time and again, while other customers who are polite and waiting in line don't get any. Why, just the other day they were sampling coffee and had available cream and sugar for customers. The young chick in front of me grabbed the entire supply of sugar from the cup, less two of them. The nice sampler lady asked her to please not take so many, and girlie walked away saying, 'hey, I like my coffee SWEET'.

Ach, I would not be able to stand it! lol!

I do demos and i have evaluated deomstrators. The last two people I evaluated one did not show up at all and one came in and set up the table and did not return for the hour or so I was in the store. On the other hand, one of my mystery shoppers turned up at a time the demo was over and I was starting to clean up. I have also been warned that I would be mystery shopped and the person never showed. I started to do them to get away from my stepchild who as a 33 year old adult was living with me and my husband along with her daughter whom she thought I should take care of if I wasn't working(she had no job). I still do them at times to get out of the house.

@Chix wrote:

I could never never never take a job being a sampler. I have watched at BJs where people hoard over the freebies, and come back time and again, while other customers who are polite and waiting in line don't get any. Why, just the other day they were sampling coffee and had available cream and sugar for customers. The young chick in front of me grabbed the entire supply of sugar from the cup, less two of them. The nice sampler lady asked her to please not take so many, and girlie walked away saying, 'hey, I like my coffee SWEET'.

Ach, I would not be able to stand it! lol!

I was a coffee shop manager at one time. We had a customer who would take all the sugars. I finally caught them and made them put all the sugars in their coffee. They complained to corporate. When I explained how much they were costing us a month in sugar, corporate saw things my way and disinvited the customer from coming into any of our stores.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but any product in those individual packaging is 4 to 5 times more expensive than in a grocery store. In the above case, I calculated that the sugar in the individual packaging was costing about $4 per pound and she was taking the equivalent of 3-4 pounds a month.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2015 12:06PM by GMooneyhan MBSC.

This project was moved in house on September 30th, and it's my understanding that they will be using W2 employee shoppers for it going forward (at last that was their reason for pulling it in).

If you can, please let us know what MSC is offering these shops. We only have Sams Club here.

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

I was a coffee shop manager at one time. We had a customer who would take all the sugars. I finally caught them and made them put all the sugars in their coffee. They complained to corporate. When I explained how much they were costing us a month in sugar, corporate saw things my way and disinvited the customer from coming into any of our stores.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but any product in those individual packaging is 4 to 5 times more expensive than in a grocery store. In the above case, I calculated that the sugar in the individual packaging was costing about $4 per pound and she was taking the equivalent of 3-4 pounds a month.

I drink my iced and hot teas extremely sweet. I usually use Splenda. For a large iced tea I need about 15-20 packets depending on the size of the cup. I had one place I went through the drive through regularly. The employees had access to a bulk dispenser and always just handed it to me to put in my tea and give back. One day there was a manager at the window and she refuses. She also refused to give me more than two packets. One of the employees told her that I always got it very sweet and she gave me the packets but insisted I open them, pour in the drink, and drink some. So I did. Shut her up for good. She never had a problem giving me packets or the bulk dispenser again.

Fyrekittyn, I understand that some people like their drinks very sweet, and with a cold drink, more sugar has to be added than usual because it is so hard to get the sugar to dissolve. This was a case where the customer was taking sugar for their own use, in other words, since it was "free" they would take it and use it for all their needs instead of buying sugar. I may not have made that clear in the original post.

I understand. It's one thing to sweeten the drink you bought from the establishment. It's another to steal from the establishment to use at home.

When I shopped the domonstrators I had to note if they described the product so now when one bores me with minute details of the chia seeds, blah blah blah I know why but it doesn't make me like the prodcut any better.