We should ALL be proud of ourselves here. Mystery Shopping takes a special talent! People who are actually successful at this, as well as merchandisers, would be considered the "cream of the crop" in corporate America.
(Some) Qualities/Skills that we have, that most employers have a hard time finding:
Resourceful
Excellent researchers
Superb writing skills
Dependable
Detail oriented
Attention to detail
Excellent time-management
Highly ethical
Go-getters (will get the job done no matter what)
Uphold the highest integrity to our positions
Maintain discretion
Excellent leaders
Loyal
Great follow-up skills
Ability to communicate effectively (verbal or written)
Demonstrate good judgment
Intermediate computer skills
Efficient technology skills (copier, fax, scanner, camera, etc.)
Maintain calendar and schedule
Project management
EXTREMELY hard worker
You get the point! And there's much more. But I just want to point out (based on some of the posts I'm reading in this thread), BESIDES YOURSELF, who else do YOU really personally know has the patience, intelligence, and integrity to do what we do?
I told ONE person ONE time about mystery shopping. I even gave her a 40 page print out of all the companies (mystery shop and merchandising) that I know with all their contact information. I sat down with her and told her to apply to 5 companies at a time. I even volunteered to go on her first assignment with her and help WRITE her first report. Do you think she did it??? NO! I stopped wasting my time because most people don't even have the intelligence to even comprehend what we do. Trying to explain to a person that they just save a certain amount of money on an oil change or groceries or whatever is a useless point. If they aren't getting a paycheck every Friday or every other Thursday, they just don't seem to understand.
As far as the OP, I believed someone mentioned playing dumb. That's exactly what I would do. I would act as if I didn't know what he was talking about and really start keeping my distance. Another thing, since most people don't understand what we do and they start with MSing is a scam, I just agree with them and tell them YEP, a whole lot of companies out there are scams and you just have to be careful. I'm too busy trying to get assignments and complete reports to go into all of it with them.