Omgee, I provisionally disagree. I can think of exactly one time it's appropriate for a valet to remove an item from a customer's vehicle and it's happened to my mom.

She was at a casino where parking was divided only by a turnstile, so someone walking could go from regular to valet parking. Got out of the casino and her GPS was not in the car, and this was the response:

"You're Catherine, right? We have it for you up in the office. We don't like leaving things like GPS and laptops in sight because of the security risk."

They brought it down straightaway with no fuss.

Too bad your mom was not mystery-shopping them. They would have passed the test.

I'm glad that leaving money out is a requirement. It's better to fire a valet over stealing money during a shop than to have suspicion a valet is stealing and no way to prove it.

I get that we would want to find out if a velet is stealing but I understand the shoppers concern. I wouldn't want to be part of a possible entrapment suit either. I think they are putting the shopper at risk for getting sued by the employee.

But based on my research the shopper would be safe because they are not an entity of the government.


"Entrapment is a defense to criminal charges when it is established that the agent or official originated the idea of the crime and induced the accused to engage in it. If the crime was promoted by a private person who has no connection to the government, it is not entrapment. A person induced by a friend to sell drugs has no legal excuse when police are informed that the person has agreed to make the sale."

I got that off a legal website.

GonzoSam, thank you for posting this thread that has been quite informative. I am on your side on this issue.

Omgee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> squireparty Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I also wanted to state that this MSC I speak of
> > had a two day stay last year that featured
> trying
> > to entrap a valet employee into stealing some
> five
> > and ten dollar notes scattered about the front
> of
> > your car. Now this may be just an integrity
> check
> > to some but to me personally, I can see
> potential
> > legal issues here (?) and my instinct just
> says,
> > steer clear. (That shop did get taken though).
>
> This may be off-topic, but I wanted to ask: is the
> shopper expected to actively encourage the
> employee to steal the money? Or is the shopper
> just leaving the valuables in view? The former
> would be entrapment; the latter would not, in my
> opinion. Valet employees should not be taking
> anything from a customer's vehicle, ever, period.

I think it's just leaving valuables in very obvious view and I agree with you, valet employees should not be taking anything from a customer's vehicle. I just am not comfortable with this test and I wonder - bear in mind here that I am no legal expert and I am not trying to play one on this forum - if an employee were fired could they not litigate for entrapment somehow? I just don't know and I'm instinctively not comfortable with it but I'm glad others are willing to take this shop, more power to them!

I don't see how leaving a bill or two in your car could be considered entrapment. Temptation maybe. You are not encouraging them or even involved.

Thanks Pony!

I agree with the uncomfort of doing the shop and I don't think anyone should ever take a shop that makes them feel uncomfortable. For example I don't do the memory foam mattress shops anymore bcause it made me sick to my stomach to lead a salesperson to believe they were going to make a sale of that size. It's like a 10,000 sale and to behave like a real customer you are leading them to beleive that. I just cannot do it. My dad was a salesman and it hurts my soul. So, I don't take them.

But, as I posted earlier based on the definition of entrapment the shopper couldn't be charged or anything because they are not a government official or an agent of the government.

I've done hotel shops where I leave money in the car (valet), dropped money near a pile of clothes/shoes in the room (housekeeping) and money in the pocket for laundry (housekeeping & laundry service). I also agree it's not entrapment.

I was just thinking about signing up to CHC Solutions but I personally do no like their IC agreement. They are not requiring you to be solely exclusive with them HOWEVER, they are requiring you to maintain exclusivity in the event they work directly with a certain company who may also utilize another 3rd party mystery shopping company - to me this is simply overreaching, if another mystery shop company I am signed up with has a shop assignment of one of their clients why should I have to opt out. Then it further states in this section that for the term of the agreement and for a period of one year thereafter we are not to become employed by any mystery shopper company or another company that directly competes with them. I have a fine line of where I would agree to this sort of language but the consideration in this contract is not enough to agree to such overreaching language....I'm taking a pass at this one

I have to agree with the OP's concern about the manager's reaction to their question. It is easy to misunderstand anything said in an email due to the lack of tonal inflection. A more professional reaction would have been to politely question the implied tone, or disregard it and simply answer the question.
Upon reading the emails I do think the manager wanted an actual report. "Sample narrative" is a common term in this industry when asking for a sample of a shopper's work. The words this person used in both emails definitely sound like they wanted an actual report. I think if she wanted a sample narrative she would have used that explicit term.

We actually pay the highest in the industry and early to boot.

It only took you a year to find the post and respond?

Highest is debatable.
Unless you work for your competitors doubt you know for sure you are highest.

@mhoughton wrote:

We actually pay the highest in the industry and early to boot.

I've had companies ask for paragraph samples from jobs I did for other companies. I tell them I can only send an edited version that will not identify the MSC or business that was shopped. For a retsaurant, I will even change the name of the item...for example, Applebees had a Honey Pepper Chicken Mac and Cheese....the porspective MSC could recognize that menu item...so I would edit it to 'Grilled Chicken'

If someone just told me to send a sample, I would think they are expecting the full unedited sample.