New to mystery shopping...had a question on Market Force...

I am new to the whole mystery shopping experience. I was interested in doing some fastfood places but I was wondering...why would instructions specify that you have to be alone? What is the purpose for that? Ideas??

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Often the managers are rewarded with financial gains if the stores meet certain target standards set by the corporate headquarters. In ff this will include having the food come out to a specific quality standard in a specific timeframe.
As $ rest on the line with some of these shops, companies are trying to have a quantifiable standard to measure everyone against. That is why they want to ensure as much as they can that the scenarios are substantially the same. If one person comes in a with a group of 5 friends, another comes in with a set of toddlers, and another comes in by themselves, the others involved might create variables that are different than the single customer would have. Therefore they control the who and the what as much as they can.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
In addition another person on a shop may serve as a distraction from actually doing the full evaluation.

Luckily not all fast food shops have a specific purchase requirement (require you purchase your choice of burger, fries and drink rather than "Order the ___ burger combo meal"winking smiley and not all of them require you go alone. I do one tomorrow that I will take along my dearly beloved. His meal will not be paid, but the portions are so huge that he will mostly share mine.
Flash Wrote:
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> In addition another person on a shop may serve as
> a distraction from actually doing the full
> evaluation.
>
> Luckily not all fast food shops have a specific
> purchase requirement (require you purchase your
> choice of burger, fries and drink rather than
> "Order the ___ burger combo meal"winking smiley and not all of
> them require you go alone. I do one tomorrow that
> I will take along my dearly beloved. His meal
> will not be paid, but the portions are so huge
> that he will mostly share mine.

Yes, the distraction is what I was trying to get to, but not effectively, I guess! :-)

In my neck of the woods, the FF shops all require specific purchases, but depending on what they are shopping it for, I can sometimes have others with me. Flash lives near an apparently wonderful chain known for good food that we don't have here, but I wish we did...

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In addition another person on a shop may serve as
> a distraction from actually doing the full
> evaluation.
>
>

I agreee with Flash, if you're told to time something to the exact second and you're busy chasing a screaming three year old though the restaurant then you're not going to be able to do your evaluation the way you need to. By the same token, an employee may spend minutes cooing at little baby Heliotrope in his stroller while letting the latte machine run amok. Regular customers may permit such things but it's not up to the shopper to contribute to the bedlam.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain
Believe me, you will want to be alone for that particular FF shop. Particularly as you are trying to discreetly time everything without having your digital timing device suddenly erase the job, and figuring out how you will disguise yourself enough that the drive thru employee will not recognize you when you go inside and they are trying to get fries right next to where you are ordering a second full meal.

You only need one friend for that shop.. Pepto Bismal.
There are hundreds of mystery shopping providers. The trick is to find out which provider represents the place you're interested in shopping. Mystery shoppers are not allowed to provide the name of who shops whom as it violates the contract we sign. Sometimes, we get/give hints that can be helpful. Reading and researching the different sections of this forum would be beneficial.
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