I've been seeing a video shop at a car dealer in Tampa. How can this be? Isn't Florida still a two-party state?

One can still do video shops in Florida, I was there two weeks ago doing a week's worth of new home shops. I totally want to move to Celebration but that's a bit off topic. As long as the client has signed waivers by the employees then you're good to go.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 03:21AM by bgriffin.

Thanks, bgriffin. Good luck with your move to Celebration.

The not very big 3 bedroom I looked at was around $550k. That's a bit steep for me, I think I'll pass.

There was a job opening in Celebration in my day job profession, and I seriously considered moving there. It seemed really cool. I have been looking for jobs in Florida because the person I was dating moved to Tampa, and I didn't like long distance, but now we are broken up. So, I guess I will hold off on the move just now.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 03:38AM by Sunshine11.

If these are the Sinclair shops, I would like to offer a few words of warning as I did those were part of my first ever route shop:

1-Verify with Sinclair that the client does have signed waivers from the employees stating that they realize that they may be subject to audio recording at work. The signed waiver is your protection in a two party state.

2-Those dealers are extremely competitive. Have a spare key made for your car and, if the shop requires that you allow the dealer to evaluate your car for trade-in, give them the spare key. I had one instance on one of these shops where I had to take my phone and start to dial 911. The salesperson asked what I was doing and I told him that, since he wasn't returning my keys, I was calling the local police and I intended to charge the dealership with false imprisonment. I did get paid for that shop.

3-If your car has valet keys, make a copy of that key and use that as the key you give to the dealer. Lock your trunk and keep your paperwork in the trunk. The valet key will not open the trunk. My first shop on the route I didn't give them the valet key and they had gone through my trunk. I didn't think much about it until the shop was declined because they knew I was the shopper. When I'm on car routes now, and there is the requirement for the car to be evaluated for trade, I always keep the paperwork in the locked trunk. I'm always some type of salesman now when I do those shops. They want to see the trunk, I tell them, "Sorry but there is proprietary company information in there and I can't let you see it."

4-Going back to #2, the dealers are extremely competitive. They aren't going to want to let you leave without making the sale and it's very hard to get a written copy of the pricing to take with you. Read the pricing, interest rates, length of the loan, and the monthly payment out loud, that way you have the information for the report on the audio track of your shop.

Thanks for your excellent (as always) insight. I'm not planning to get into video shopping but was just so surprised to see one offered here.

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

If these are the Sinclair shops, I would like to offer a few words of warning as I did those were part of my first ever route shop:

1-Verify with Sinclair that the client does have signed waivers from the employees stating that they realize that they may be subject to audio recording at work. The signed waiver is your protection in a two party state.

2-Those dealers are extremely competitive. Have a spare key made for your car and, if the shop requires that you allow the dealer to evaluate your car for trade-in, give them the spare key. I had one instance on one of these shops where I had to take my phone and start to dial 911. The salesperson asked what I was doing and I told him that, since he wasn't returning my keys, I was calling the local police and I intended to charge the dealership with false imprisonment. I did get paid for that shop.

3-If your car has valet keys, make a copy of that key and use that as the key you give to the dealer. Lock your trunk and keep your paperwork in the trunk. The valet key will not open the trunk. My first shop on the route I didn't give them the valet key and they had gone through my trunk. I didn't think much about it until the shop was declined because they knew I was the shopper. When I'm on car routes now, and there is the requirement for the car to be evaluated for trade, I always keep the paperwork in the locked trunk. I'm always some type of salesman now when I do those shops. They want to see the trunk, I tell them, "Sorry but there is proprietary company information in there and I can't let you see it."

4-Going back to #2, the dealers are extremely competitive. They aren't going to want to let you leave without making the sale and it's very hard to get a written copy of the pricing to take with you. Read the pricing, interest rates, length of the loan, and the monthly payment out loud, that way you have the information for the report on the audio track of your shop.

And the advice about asking if the client has signed waivers should be Standard Operating Procedure for shoppers in any two party state. And keep that email. I actually print it out, with headers then scan it. The scanned image goes in my "Receipt" folder on the computer. That way, if I lose the email, I still have a copy just in case there is ever a question regarding the legality of the recording. That email protects me as I'm then working in "good faith" based on the information from the MSC.

I don't know how well that would hold up in court, if it ever came to that, but I assume that it would transfer the responsibility to the MSC.

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

And the advice about asking if the client has signed waivers should be Standard Operating Procedure for shoppers in any two party state. And keep that email. I actually print it out, with headers then scan it. The scanned image goes in my "Receipt" folder on the computer. That way, if I lose the email, I still have a copy just in case there is ever a question regarding the legality of the recording. That email protects me as I'm then working in "good faith" based on the information from the MSC.

I don't know how well that would hold up in court, if it ever came to that, but I assume that it would transfer the responsibility to the MSC.

I think it would be adequate to shield the shopper from prosecution because it shows they have no intent to violate the law and they took the industry standard approach to insuring the other party(ies) have consented to the recording.

@cvb42jeb
For details on when recording is legal in two party states, please see the fourth thread in the New Mystery Shopers area here. There is a reference there toasite that keeps track of just those state laws and regulations for use by reporters and others who need to understand the rules.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 10:45PM by walesmaven.

Just an FYI to anyone who references that thread mentioned above (it's now the 4th one down). It's a great post but the actual site to go to is not mentioned by name and there is no website link. I flagged the post once asking if a link could be added but it's not there yet - I just checked. Below is a quote talking about the site:

"As you might imagine, news reporters have to keep up with these laws, so there is a special site that reports on audio recording laws. The site is maintained by a legal team, so many of us rely on it."

I doubt assurance from an MSC that waivers have been signed would be a legal defense. Sounds a bit like contracting away liability. Honestly, I don't worry about it and have never even asked. I might be living dangerously but how many long time video shoppers have ever been accused of illegally recording on a video shop?

kimmiemae, Thanks. I don't know how/when the reference was deleted. I will look into it soon. Also, I caught that additions to the "sticky list" have moved that post down a cople of notches and edited my post.