I've noticed that several companies require specific amounts of time for their shops.....not that they are specified as "30 minutes or 15 minutes" but when you go to input the info, if you are a minute short, yet confident in your other info gathering, the report won't allow you to submit because of the time you spent or started or finished, etc...
What do you do then? fudge or email the scheduler?

I just make sure I on site at least as long as required, even if it means camping out in the restroom while the clock ticks.

yeah, in that case I do that too...I was thinking more along the lines of a small, lets say cell phone retailer, or kiosk and I got more than enough info for a valid shop (passing grade) but the time is still a minute or two short....

If you are worried about it make sure you pick up a flyer and step to the side as you head for the door and stand there reading the flyer for the remaining minute or two.

Thanks Flash...sometimes the simplest advice is the best advice


I love this forum...

YES! I wondered if anyone else sees some of those required time-on-site as excessive. I did a vitamin shop the other day that required 35 minutes in the store - - - and it was a VERY small store. I thought that time would never tick by .... I was running out of brochures to read, things to look at and questions to ask. And the associate was a real eager beaver - dollar signs in her eyes - she started stacking things up on the counter . . . I'm not sure if she really thought I'd just buy a couple hundred $s of stuff because she put it on the counter or if she was just hoping!

I find some of them are un-doable.

I understand why they want to set them, so someone doesn't just run in and out and couldn't possibly have gotten a real experience.

OTOH, it is limiting and sometimes ensures you will be caught. Sometimes the "store" is glorifed kiosk with a surly and disinterested teen as the employee. No REAL customer would hang out 20-30 minutes there. But we have to do. Then the nasty report gets given to them. Who else would they recall? That nosy one asking questions and expecting help! :-) Like the Starbuck's employee blog talks about MS'ers. Tee hee.

dee shops Wrote:
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> Like the Starbuck's employee
> blog talks about MS'ers. Tee hee.


LOL Speaking of the Starbuck's forum, I recently googled Starbuck's and MSing and found that forum. What names have they NOT called us!!! There are employees sharing advice on how to recognize an MSer. It was kind of funny and also a little educational. Now whenever I do a shop, I always remember what they said there and try to avoid doing something similar.

HEE HEE....guilty as charged!

When I was a Bucky, I actually hosted a small presentation on shoppers, expectations, how to spot them, etc. for all the managers in my district!! It wasnt meant to be rude toward the shopper, but a reminder of what needed to be done to pass. There is a LOT of money riding on those reports and getting 5 stars was BIG! We used to do mock shops on our neighboring stores to get an idea of what it looked like from a shoppers view.

Since I am a past employee, I can not MS them now, I definitely empathize with both sides. But consider the source...when you wake up at 3 am to go to work surrounded by 16 yr olds, there arent many topics you don't talk about...

dee shops Wrote:
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> OTOH, it is limiting and sometimes ensures you
> will be caught. Sometimes the "store" is glorifed
> kiosk with a surly and disinterested teen as the
> employee. No REAL customer would hang out 20-30
> minutes there. But we have to do.

There used to be a chocolate shop in the mall at a kiosk where you were supposed to be watching them make chocolate and all sorts of fascinating things that may happen in a store but sure don't happen at the kiosk. Because service was so fast at the kiosk and no other customers were ever around, that one truly stretched the credibility of being an ordinary customer. I would lurk, waiting around in plain sight in front of nearby stores and looking at my watch as if waiting for a friend. When a real customer finally stopped at the kiosk I would head over and start my timings, browsing an area with items large enough there was no need to worry about me being a shoplifter. The real customer would eat up part of my required time on site and then I could ask idle questions such as whether they made the fresh fruit chocolates on site. That would kill a few more minutes. I presented as somebody just passing time while waiting for that friend who never showed. Eventually I would make my required purchase and get the heck out of there. I seems to me that it was a 30 minute requirement at a kiosk not much bigger than my dining room table but it sure felt like forever and a day.

I usually browse. You can think of open-ended questions for almost any item in the store. Remember to ask how, when, what, or where? That will pass the time. Pick up items and read the directions or the ingredients. There are just a variety of things. If the business or store has a restroom, definitely hangout in there for a while too and you can critique your notes at that time. Although I sometimes wonder if they have hidden or 2-way cameras in there too, because of shoplifters. Be creative.