When I went to a restaurant, I had made a reservation because it's always crowded and I didn't want to wait. I told the hostess that I had a reservation and in the corner of my eye, I saw my name and written beside it, 'VIP, mystery shopper?' I thought, oh, oh, I'll never be able to come here again and I was sad because it has a test kitchen and always has different items to try.
But despite the warning given in the reservation book, my service was not any better. In fact, it wasn't that good. Whenever I've thought that the staff has suspected me of being a mystery shopper, I rationalized that if they know, the service will be better but that has not been the case.
I went to that same location on Friday and made my guest make the reservation so at least they wouldn't guess from my name. This time, the service was excellent. It was different staff this time, though I had encountered one of the managers before.
And if I am conspicuous when I am taking pictures and a server says something, I tell them I am an ardent 'Yelp'er or have a food blog! They accept that explanation.