While mystery shopping one day, I had a very bad experience at a ghetto McDonalds location. Let me tell you first off that this location has a lock on the bathroom because junkies and addicts would shoot up quite frequently inside. The only way to open it is to ask one of the cashiers to press a button in order to unlock it. This homeless guy, who sits near the bathroom, yells to the cashier that somebody needs to use the bathroom. So after waiting 15 minutes for my food, I sat down and began eating. The homeless guy sat near me and was explaining to me about the bathroom system. He then started talking about Jesus and Man. I didn't want to talk to this guy but I had to wait 15 minutes so I kindly just agreed with whatever the guy was saying. When I was finishing my meal the guy asked for some money to buy a fish fillet. I only had enough money for my second meal through the drive-thru and I explained to him that I didn't have enough money to give him. He assumed I had a credit/debit card on me and insisted I go to an atm to withdraw some money for him(I don't carry debit or credit card on me). He pointed out that I was driving a nice car and how greedy I was to not give me money. I decided to just give him my meal from the drive-thru, but even after I had given him the food, he didn't seem real happy(probably wanted the money instead). This shop had a decent bonus but that was my first and last McD shop at that location.

Mine was at a restaurant dinner at the bar top. Coincidentally, there was a MMA fight showing. I couldn't reschedule and I was craving the food anyways. Ordered my food and it was forgotten altogether. Finally, after 45 minutes of sipping on my tall beer, the bartender follows up and asks everyone at the bar top if they ordered any food. Even after that, it was another 15 minute wait... and the food presented was still disappointing. I still enjoyed the food though.

I had two shops at one bank location. One shop, I had to open an account; the other shop, I had to do an audit. The audit scenario fit in nicely with the account opening shop.

When I opened the checking account, the banker saw me as a dollar sign and not a person. She would ask the same questions over and over, not for clarification, but because she wasn't paying attention.

The last straw was when I told her that I didn't have time to meet with an investment banker. She actually said, "Sure! I will send him an mail and have him come in right now."

That was worse than the apartment shop with all the roaches.

This isn't the worst experience, more like the dumbest--and it was 100% "shopper error."

I had a shop scheduled for McD's at a location outside my normal range, so I allowed plenty of time to get there. It was easy to find--right off the highway exit. Did the walk-in first, got my food and was seated when I noticed the time stamp on my receipt. I had started the shop 7 minutes too early. To be sure I was paid, I decided to start again. I ordered another meal, got new timings, etc., and then I did the drive-through and left (after buying 3 meals). I drove less than 2 blocks and noticed another McD. I pulled over and checked the address and sure enough, that was the McD I was supposed to shop. I bought 5 meals that day and I'm not a big fan of McD food. (glad this is an anonymous forum)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2016 02:21PM by ChrisCooper.

The ones I really hate are where the salesperson will NOT let you leave. They'll do everything short of tying you to a chair at gunpoint. A couple of times I've been on a route and have to stick to a time schedule to fit all my shops in that day, and the guy is giving me the world's longest demonstration on things that I didn't even ask about and have nothing to do with the shop. He also insists on showing me all the trophies and awards he's gotten for being such an awesome salesperson. I'm thinking to myself, "I've been here an hour and a half for a fifteen dollar shop, and I haven't even started the report yet." While I'm walking to the door and saying I'm already late to pick up my wife, he's trying to put his hand on the door while he sets up an appointment for me to come back. I made up a fake email address and gave him a phone number with six digits. I expected him to get in the car with me, or throw himself on the windshield as I burned rubber out of the parking lot.

At a downtown gas station I was doing a mystery shop with a revealed audit. The associate was very curt during the mystery portion. When I inquired about a restroom he told me there was a portapotty outside that I could use. Of course the outside bathroom was disgusting and I was thinking how do I explain this in the report. When I entered to do the reveal there was a whole new attitude. The associate stated that of course they had a bathroom and insisted that I look at the pristine bathroom that was locked to the public. He then follows me around to every item asking "how are we doing"? Tells me he knew the "inspector" was coming today -blah, blah, blah. Then I have to hear about the homeless population and why they lock the public bathroom. In my mind I am thinking that I need to get outta there to do my next shop.

I was doing a bank shop with a Customer Service Rep. I let her explain to me all about the new checking account. I left the shop feeling easy, about 15 minutes. When I got into my car I looked up to see I was in the wrong bank. They were next door to each other. Signs were not so noticeable inside. At least I could go next door.

I once had to tell the manager of a car dealership if he didn't hand me my keys right now I was calling 911 and reporting them as stealing my car.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2016 05:03PM by bgriffin.

I had a motel shop for a certain msc. "Motel" is even too kind a word to use. It was one of those extended type of motels that you can rent by the week and they have kitchenettes. The place reeked of garlic and curry. Flickering lights in the hallway, cigarette burns on the bathtub and counter. The television was one of those old ones that have the antenna. The place was disgusting. No way would I sleep in the dirty sheets, so I actually left for the night after checking in (it was 15 miles from my house), What sucked was that I had to take photos of every negative item. I had over 80 photos! Then the msc dinged me because I could not get a good photo of the blond hair that was on the pillowcase.

Did I mention that this was reimbursement-only? The shop from Hell.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2016 04:46PM by DareWright.

There is no possible way in hell I would do a reimbursement only shop for one of those.

@bgriffin wrote:

There is no possible way in hell I would do a reimbursement only shop for one of those.

I know, right? That was when I had just started shopping. It was for ACL, and I thought it would be a good way to get my foot in the door. Never again! It was in a nice part of town, which threw me for a loop. I now know better!

At least you got paid for your hotel stay. I did one for the company that went out of business and never got reimbursed! Live and learn! The place was nasty and I got to pay out of pocket to enjoy it for the night.

Worst experiences? Like when a gas station owner threatened to shoot me? Or ducking flying bullets when having to take an outside overall photo? Or when one wouldn't let me leave his station until every negative had been fixed? Or when I ended up wearing the powdered asbestos fallout of a garbage truck while shopping a landfill? Or when I found a dead body in the bushes? Or losing my wedding ring down a sink drain at a restaurant and having to take their plumbing apart myself? Or having to out-run a meter-maid who was about to ticket my car? Little things like that?

@ShopSouthTexas wrote:

At least you got paid for your hotel stay. I did one for the company that went out of business and never got reimbursed! Live and learn! The place was nasty and I got to pay out of pocket to enjoy it for the night.

If you're referring to Freeman, I did one for them that was just as bad. Blood on the bedspread, gobs of hair in the sink. It was so bad and unfortunately I was on a route and pretty much had to spend the night there. I slept with layers of clothes on, and on top of the bedding. That was the one and only Freeman shop I did, and I contacted them when I hadn't received payment. I was absolutely shocked that I received payment one week later. It was a fluke.

Cettie, I love it when you shop!

@Cettie wrote:

Worst experiences? Like when a gas station owner threatened to shoot me? Or ducking flying bullets when having to take an outside overall photo? Or when one wouldn't let me leave his station until every negative had been fixed? Or when I ended up wearing the powdered asbestos fallout of a garbage truck while shopping a landfill? Or when I found a dead body in the bushes? Or losing my wedding ring down a sink drain at a restaurant and having to take their plumbing apart myself? Or having to out-run a meter-maid who was about to ticket my car? Little things like that?

@DareWright wrote:

I had a motel shop for a certain msc. "Motel" is even too kind a word to use. It was one of those extended type of motels that you can rent by the week and they have kitchenettes. The place reeked of garlic and curry. Flickering lights in the hallway, cigarette burns on the bathtub and counter. The television was one of those old ones that have the antenna. The place was disgusting. No way would I sleep in the dirty sheets, so I actually left for the night after checking in (it was 15 miles from my house), What sucked was that I had to take photos of every negative item. I had over 80 photos! Then the msc dinged me because I could not get a good photo of the blond hair that was on the pillowcase.

Did I mention that this was reimbursement-only? The shop from Hell.

"The place reeked of garlic and curry. Flickering lights in the hallway, cigarette burns on the bathtub and counter."

It sounds almost romantic!

Yes, them... I got paid for two. Then I fell for the owner's plea and did one more, hoping to help so that in return I would receive lodging opportunities for my family while on vacation. This was years back when I hadn't learned of other hotel companies I could shop... Oh to be able to go back in time. Freeman did lead to a new and better opportunity in some way however. So there was a reason for that blunder!

I just put a call into my scheduler. I just completed a shop that I can't even put into words. The people were nice enough and there was no structure damage.. but the store itself... just....wow. Things are everywhere, there are items all out in the floor, the clothing department had clothes tossed on the floor, slung on the rack, very little organization etc. The shelving was dusty, lots of smudge and dirt. When you are trying to fit in a yes/no answer on some of these, its almost impossible. Plus, I think I got to distracted and didn't do something I think I was suppose to so I may not even get paid at all. I understand this store has a high volume of customers and they can't be chased down and cleaned up after - but .. seriously.. I don't know that the store could get in that condition in one day. Do they clean after hours? I can write the narrative.. but the yes/no answers would be tough. I'll see what the scheduler has to say.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2016 10:51PM by schylarsok.

Cetties are the best!

Oh my goodness...after hearing all of those, I will never complain again!

I had a furniture store shop that required me to stay there interacting with the salesman for a minimum of twenty minutes. I guess the guy wanted to go to lunch or something, because he answered questions as briefly as possible, made no attempt to sell me anything, wasn't interested, and I struggled to think up enough questions to ask to meet the required twenty minutes. And I said so in the report, too.

I have had a couple of bad experiences my first one was a gas station off the toll way. It was a mystery and audit type shop and I got out of my car and pumped my gas all the while a homeless man stood there just staring at me standing next to the pump. I didn't make eye contact and ran inside to find out this was the worst station I have ever seen, it was as dark as a cave. I always say, you tell the type of neighborhood you in by the bullet proof spinner you have to place your money in pay the cashier. When I exited the building the homeless guy said "lady you in the wrong neighborhood," I decided safety before money and dumped and ran for the hills. I will never go back there again.
My second experience was at a gas station I had a man tell me that he couldn't have me do the audit because I was a women and I wasn't dressed properly for his religion. I had a pair of dress slacks, a blouse and a blazer on and he actually said so loudly that the whole store could hear that I was dressed like a @#$%&. I completed the outside audit anyways and nitpicked everything I could find and never went back.

Working for the defunct, sleazy msc, Channelwatch and having to threaten them by phone to be paid.

Ha ha here in the uk that happens I reckon when you have been rumbled.And it is annoying when you got abfew visits and some of them drag messes up the day

My experience wasn't necessarily as "bad" as it was "embarrassing" and "hilarious". I was doing a purchase mystery shop at a cosmetics counter where the requirement was to get the associate's name. To give a bit of background, I am of Scandinavian descent so have very fair skin and blonde hair. I interacted with an associate of Middle East descent. She wore a name tag but it was an uncommon name to me, so I was repeating her name over and over in my mind, so I would remember it when I got to an area where I could pull out a piece of paper to write it down. I made my purchase on a credit card. When I signed the receipt she looked at me and said "you have the same name as me". I thought "WHAT???" She did not look anything like me, and her Middle East name was not at all common to me, let alone the same. When I looked at the signature on the credit card, I had signed her name. I was so focused on remembering her name that when I signed the credit card form, I signed her name. Normally I am pretty quick witted and can come back with something to cover, but this time I had nothing to say or do, other than to walk away and beat myself up, asking myself, "how stupid could you be"?????

How did you explain that the name on the receipt did not match the name on your credit card?

Good times. I did one for freeman that was a debranded one. I got paid after 4 months. Lucky I never did any more for them. now for my war stories
I did a gas station one which was one of those part mystery then reveal audit ones. Well there was a single pump that was turn crank numbers old style as in the 30's. There was a id sign. The store and bathroom were clean. But when I went for the reveal just a letter that the msc gives you. The owner ask wheres my id and why I don't have mobil ID. He said you not allowed to do audit and tells me to leave. No problem I will just report it. Well even on denied they have dumb requiremnet which i have to capture pic of storefront with address. To do audit I would have needed only 2 other pics the ID sign and the gas pump which the owner pumped my gas intitially cause it is not self pump. Well I take the one pic required for denied audit on way back to car and owner runs out You get off my property or I kill you. I left reported it all and got paid.
Then todays was Auntie Annes. 2 locations both I had to shop in same mall. Did one fine no problems. Second one no one working it with a cardboard sign be right back. There was samples out on the counter. I waited 10 minutes no one came back. I took time date stamp photo of location and left. Then report repeating same answer throughout copy paste paste paste x 20.
Oldslady
Did you tell the jackass that your religion does not allow men to have anything negative on audits at gas stations and if they do then they are hung in the town square.

This is the most embarrassing shop I have done in the six years of shopping so far: Made it clear across town (6th largest city in the USA) and enjoyed a casual sit down lunch at a diner. After the meal, I realized my cash, debit cards and ID were not in my pocket. After going to the car and not finding them there, I realized they were left at home. Went back inside and told the manager. He said he would have to call the police. I still had the aluminum cans in the back of the pick up, since I did not have enough time to cash them in and still be on time for the lunch shop. I said, "I have cans!" He said, "We don't take cans!" I explained that I could go cash them in and come back with the money. He made me leave something of value before allowing me to go do that. I never felt so naked or lost without my cell phone, since I seldom go anywhere without it. By the time I got back, paid the bill and got the receipt, it was way to late to stay within the guidelines for the time frame. I did not figure I would get paid for it. To my utter horror, I also got deactivated for the error. After two more years, I am finally trying to get back into that companies good graces.

I'm a big fan of revealed audits. I don't mind giving a brief summary of my findings at the end of a report. But I can't stand 1. when I get a manager asking me every once in awhile how things are going 2. thinks that if they fix an issue I found I should take it off the report 3. tries to make me feel bad for them.

audits are not subjective its not like I can be like I rank my experience an 8 or 9 out of 10. For the questions I'm asked it's very simple either they are that way or they are not that way....there is no in between there and I'm not going to lie on my report cause you want me to feel bad for you....if anything that makes me want to lie tha things were worse then they are actually! (though I've never done that).

Honestly every time I walk into a revealed audit I go in rooting for the store I'm auditing as I do the audit. Mostly cause I'm a positive person but also selfishly because if mostly everything is good my report goes faster.....but when a manager starts being pesky like that it makes me start to root against a store. Not that there's anything I can do about it, like I said either something is a certain way or its not there is no in between. The only difference is either if something is good either I'm going "yes good job" in my head or "damnit, I wish I could count that off". lol

That's the only difference lol. And like I said I always root for the store and I always hope to root for the store I hate rooting against them cause the manager is annoying

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2016 07:29AM by 1JJ.

ChrisBaley:
Well what were you going to do drive to ca to return the cans. Phoenix is the 6th largest in pop and land area. they don't have a bottle return in AZ as I used to live there.