I am just curious if anyone feels they may have gotten anyone fired from your report. I had a shop several weeks ago that the manager stopped what she was doing to greet a friend and was dropping foul language...very unprofessional. My service was basically ignored because her and several of the crew were more into this individual. I reported the concrete evidence of what happened and what was said, but have yet to see that person working at the store since then (I go back for non shops and shops relatively frequent since I live nearby).

I feel bad when the service was absolutely horrible, but at the same time...we are there to find and report the facts of what is going on in the field.

I absolutely know of 1 I had fired and feel pretty certain another was.

Yes, I'm sure at least on of my reports likely got someone fired. I'm also sure some of my reports have at small roll in earning people bonuses, and promotions

I am pretty sure that one of the two times that an MSC requested a receipt from me, it was to document an employee who incorrectly exchanged an item and pocketed the cash. The store had video cameras, so I think that the receipt was just icing on the cake.

Like g1eagle, I am sure that my reports on some employees have resulted in commendations. Some banks display the customer service awards which customers get next to each teller position. Sometimes for "new" tellers I have even gotten their name from their award certificates.

Geez, I hope not.

At least 3 times that I can think of.
I had to sign a notarized statement and agree to testify in all cases.

Oh sad story!

SoCalMama Wrote:
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> At least 3 times that I can think of.
> I had to sign a notarized statement and agree to
> testify in all cases.


Mind explaining this?
At what point were you required to sign something notarized and what was in it for you to agree to testify?
This seems ridiculously extreme for what these jobs pay.

I don't get anyone fired They do it to themselves.

One of my very first shops was for an IHOP and the waiter went into the back and asked "where's the m-f-ing ice?" loud enough that I could hear it. Maybe I got him fired, maybe not, but I tell myself when these things happen that this is the reason why I MS.

I know for a fact that my report did remove 3 associates in one store.

Should you feel bad about it? NO. The poor service you received "could" have been a customer. When the associate gives awful service, just remember: that translates to other customers and if you owned that location, would YOU want your customers to be treated, the WAY they treated you that day?

That is what we are hired to do. To give the facts. As ugly as they can be, they NEED to be reported. That is what the Mystery Shopper Program is all about, with many of our clients.

Do you want the employee to suffer for their actions? No. Of course not. It is only up to us to "report the facts." That employee might receive extra training, counseling or a boot out the door. But whatever he/she receives, is determined by the client.

One more point: The employees receive pre-hire and on the job training. They KNOW what is expected of them. Do you think they "knew" that it was acceptable to ignore you that day? Or not greet you or make you not feel welcome? They KNOW what is expected of them and they CHOOSE to ignore how to treat their customers. That is why the client has put us in that location. The client wants to KNOW how his/her customers are being treated

If I own a business, I would like to know what was going on?

Good post.

I had to edit this:

Three times now, I was sent right behind another auditor. WE get checked on too it seems. I do my job fully and this person did not. Is he going to be deactivated because of me? He's doing this to himself.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2014 03:06PM by Canuck.

Hoju Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SoCalMama Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > At least 3 times that I can think of.
> > I had to sign a notarized statement and agree
> to
> > testify in all cases.
>
>
> Mind explaining this?
> At what point were you required to sign something
> notarized and what was in it for you to agree to
> testify?
> This seems ridiculously extreme for what these
> jobs pay.

$500 fee plus all expenses including airfare is my ridiculous fee.
After my report went through, before the person was fired was when I was asked to sign and notarize that my statements were true. It's pretty routine.

I occasionally do signal audit shops where the offending business owner can be fined up to $250k and up to 5 years in prison. On those, I provide a video as well as a notarized statement.

Wow James. You don't fool around, huh? Good for you!

One needs to understand, YOU didn't fire them. Their actions made it so they fired themselves. From working and managing in a retail establishment, mystery shopper's statements don't result in immediate termination for small and medium offenses.

You didn't greet a customer? I will coach you on that.
You didn't offer the large drink? I will coach you.
The restrooms were covered with human matter? The team will be coached.
The mystery shopper said you were mean and cursed? You will be written up.

Now if the mystery shopper said you scratched your butt, then handled their food, and I have you on camera, you're gone.

A mystery shopper will add evidence to an employee's case (both positive and negative).

Not sure about fired but I shopped a fast food location and boy it was something else. I've had bad times with them every shop. The was an unbelievable. Employees had friends standing with the door propped open, its the place where they bring it to your car not sure if I can say the name. The food was awful. Cold fries, questionable burger. I had ended up with food poisoning after the previous visit. Well the next time I was over on that side of town.... it was closed down. All the signs and logos down and building was up for sale. My husband both blames and thanks me! Doubt I had anything to do with it but he liked to think so All the employees working that day should have been fired. One was giving away drinks to her friends. Unless she was paying herself (after the way she was acting I highly doubt it) they walked away with a lot of free drinks.

Until your post I was thinking there had never been any one shop bad enough. However, there was a FF store I video shopped as part of a route. After more than a year of them scoring poorly the client simply asked us to skip that store for a couple of months. Out of curiosity I drove by the second month and found them closed and already debranded. It was the only time I've felt bad for any employees and only felt bad for two of them. They were the only two who ever were friendly and trying to take care of customers. One was an assistant manager and the other technically worked in the kitchen yet would come up to the counter when the rest of the staff was screwing everything up and being general a-holes. One month my wait was 25 minutes at a place whose standards are under 3 1/2 minutes. The audio also picked up all the other customers who kept walking up to the counter complaining.

I'm okay with doing a shop where someone "probably" got fired, but I did do one at a TGIF where after not having been carded, I had to go to the manager, give him a form, and I knew that it was grounds for immediate termination. That bothered me- I like keeping my cognitive dissonance.

The OP asks the wrong question I think.

Reporting observations gets no one fired. It gives management information to evaluate the performance of their employees. If you think that the employee that got caught stealing or cursing or not smiling was fired because of your report, you are wrong. If they got fired it was for their performance.

A more proper question might be, "Have you ever reported conduct that if it reported to you as a business owner would jeopardize someone's job?"

That answer is yes. I observed and reported someone talking to a friend about, "Being out of here." Yes, he was talking about leaving that job and getting another one while he should have been on the floor greeting the shopper per company standards.

Sure, I reported a retail store's employees being engaged in a race around the store and how it compromised service.

Many times, I reported a number of observations that added up to significantly substandard service.

When an employee shouted, "@#$%&" to a customer in a voice loud enough for the whole store to hear, I reported it.

Did any of these people get fired? Maybe. Some I felt a little sorry for. Others I hoped did get shown the door. But they could have been coached, retrained, transferred, or otherwise retained because they were the owner's family. Who knows?

The bottom line is you never know. You don't even really know if they read your reports. You hope they do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2014 04:29AM by vlade5394.

probably, but he was in the wrong line of work, completely unsuited to the job requirements

I hope I have. There was a car salesperson who was the most sexist person I have EVER met. And Jew jokes on top of that! (I'm not Jewish but I'm of Jewish heritage). I reported every detail and hope he did get fired.

I did an apartment job where the building manager hit on me and asked if I wanted to go out. When I reminded him that I was moving in with my boyfriend, he told me that it wasn't true, since the number that popped up when I called was the same number the last mystery shopper called from. The management company asked that I meet with someone at their offices. I was paid and given a free lunch while they recorded what happened. I've called back, blocked of course, and a woman is now answering. he was the only person working there, as it was a small building, so i'm positive they fired him.

I did a fast casual once where the employees were standing in the dining area playing basket ball witht he trash bin in the kitchen area and tin foil they used to wrap burgers. After that I notice they added a line for horseplay in the employee professionalism question.

I'm hopeful I never got anyone fired, but if I did I don't have regrets. They should have been doing their job when I was doing my job.

AnonymousGirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did an apartment job where the building manager
> hit on me and asked if I wanted to go out. When I
> reminded him that I was moving in with my
> boyfriend, he told me that it wasn't true, since
> the number that popped up when I called was the
> same number the last mystery shopper called from.
> The management company asked that I meet with
> someone at their offices. I was paid and given a
> free lunch while they recorded what happened. I've
> called back, blocked of course, and a woman is now
> answering. he was the only person working there,
> as it was a small building, so i'm positive they
> fired him.


Wow. If he knew the # was from a shopper, he deserved to be canned. Just pain dumb.

I've known the number the mystery shoppers used to call when I worked in Storage. I was always on my best behavior, although I was also a mystery shopper so I knew when they were coming anyways (within a week), and would remind my staff at the beginning of every month a mystery shopper would be in the door at any time.

We always did well when shopped, but then we always tried to be professional when -ANY- Customer was around. My staff new I randomly would watch the DVR to see what they were doing.

But I never called anyone on being a mystery shopper. That's plain silly, even when I pretty much figured out exactly who they were, sometimes before they even got in the door. I try very hard to not have those same tells.

A friend of mine is a waitress in a national sit-down chain which is shopped. She insists that they have known the mystery shoppers for years, and when they come in, they make absolutely sure that they hit all of the points. She thought it was totally wacky that people would try to "out" a mystery shopper. Much better to get a perfect score in every category. "Outing" a mystery shopper does not stop mystery shopping from occuring, it just means that someone else is going to show up next month and you are unlikely (at least for a few visits) to be able to figure out who they are. Yes, there are some scenarios that seem so strange that we think they identify us immediately, but with hundreds or thousands of customers, odd scenarios are going to crop up naturally once in awhile. And if you think you know that the little old lady is a mystery shopper, and she turns out to be a little old lady who is not a mystery shopper, what did you loose by making sure that you hit all the points?

I know that I'VE been fired by a certain MSC for providing negative shops.

I think it's sad that it takes a "mystery shopper" for employees to "hit all the marks" and be "on point" when they should be doing that "naturally" and for every customer...