Is there a thread for inviting other mystery shoppers to be a guest for a dining evaluation?

Hello, I'm new to this forum but have been a long time mystery shopper. I occasionally travel for work and try to fit in an evaluation if I have time. The evaluations are for dining at high end hotels. Sometimes one diner is ok, but sometimes they require two people for lunch or dinner. I would never ask colleagues to join me when I do an evaluation during a business trip somI don't apply for evaluations that require two diners. But, sometimes it's a shame not to apply for the evaluation just because it requires two people. Is there a thread where I could invite other mystery shoppers to be my guest? Evaluations are usually for high end restaurants located in major cities such as LA, NY, and London.

Thanks!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2015 10:02AM by _shopper.

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That would be fun!

What a great idea. But like everything I can see problems with it being this is a public forum. You would like to think that only legitimate shoppers would post needing guests, and legitimate posters would reply, but ...
OTOH: What a great idea for someone to take on as a project. It would involve forum members having to give up their anonymity to the person in charge so that their credential could be checked. I would take time and commitment. It might be expanded to a bigger project to include shoppers not involved in this forum. It might be a project that would be more suited to a group like the IMSC. Or maybe one of the scheduling companies could start such a register... Well now my mind is running away from me, better reel it in, but I still think this is a great idea for someone to take on.

One potential drawback is that the guest shopper could not shop the location him or herself. But, it would be a great way to get a second diner and meet shoppers. You'd have to know you had someone to go with you before you accepted the shop, though.

If you use the search feature on this Forum and use the city name as the key word you can often find shoppers who indicate that they are in or cover that city.

A travel community I use posts lots of meetups, including airport lounge meetups, let's all meet in a random far away city, etc. It's all fairly self-monitored. However, that forum also has restrictions on how long you have to be a forum member and how many posts before you can post in some of the categories/sub-forums. Something like that could add some filter on the potential drama, if the meetup/need a guest forum was limited for viewing and posting to more established members.

Then it's up to the individuals if they pursue any type of interaction outside of the forum with those who post. From the travel site, i have met up with established posters for drinks when they were in my city to chat about dorky travel stuff.

I would be amenable to meeting up with shoppers as well, but as with anything, you need to trust your instincts... The fact that this is a first time poster feels suspect to me. And it listed really high end cities and then was edited the post to remove Hong Kong without an explanation. So for me, I would pass on this particular post, even though I am currently on business in London.

I think that this might be a good opportunity to ask Jacob to create a shopper meet up section, where we could have one thread for each area/city.

I travel often in the course of mystery shopping to all of the named cities, including Hong Kong, and often require dinner guests, so I don't see it as an unusual request. Luckily I have friends in most major cities but I can also say from experience that other shoppers make MUCH better guests, as they will tend to follow the guidelines you give them!

And the guest would get the free meal without having to write a report.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I think that this might be a good opportunity to ask Jacob to create a shopper meet up section, where we could have one thread for each area/city.

I travel often in the course of mystery shopping to all of the named cities, including Hong Kong, and often require dinner guests, so I don't see it as an unusual request. Luckily I have friends in most major cities but I can also say from experience that other shoppers make MUCH better guests, as they will tend to follow the guidelines you give them!

Feel free to call me when the GF is busy....

ETA: for So Cal, not Hong Kong!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2015 04:59PM by SoCalMama.

In response to the comment above, if both are shoppers and one goes as the guest, does that prohibit the other from shopping that same place until the rotation time passes? or if husband and wife are both shoppers, same situation? TIA for the info.

@ksilver22 wrote:

In response to the comment above, if both are shoppers and one goes as the guest, does that prohibit the other from shopping that same place until the rotation time passes?

That's going to vary by company. I know some that specifically state that you and your guest may not have been on a shop within a certain rotation. You just have to know the rules for that particular assignment.

Thanks SteveSoCal!

I suggested something like this last week to a new lad/lass who was nervous about hotel work. It's a great way for people who might be unfamiliar with a particular MSC's custom to have a strong foundation. Hell, it's how I jumped the line at Coyle, I was recommended and told them I intended to take the experienced evaluator on my first couple of assignments. I also just joined another embedded program that makes this mandatory; I'll be having field training days with somebody else on the roster before they let me loose on the country.

If the industry were ever to leave a nascent, wild west state that it's been in for basically its entire existence, that would be a strong start.

Well, I'm in Chicago and I love food!!! I will happily assist!

Two words...Craigslist Killer.

My areas are in my sig! I'm a young'n and can cover those pesky 21-29 shopper / guest age requirements

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

Those two person shops are tricky especially when the other person flakes and you have to cancel your assignment. I wish we could just bring robots sometimes. Maybe the staff won't notice.

@miguksaram wrote:

Those two person shops are tricky especially when the other person flakes and you have to cancel your assignment. I wish we could just bring robots sometimes. Maybe the staff won't notice.

It probably wouldn't even be in the top 10 weirdest things they saw that week!

Shopper in California's Bay Area

So many "variables" here:

1. This is a new poster that you really don't know.

2. The summation (from some) is that this shopper is going to pay for your dinner. While this may be well and true, I don't see the shopper saying they will. And if the shopper "does" pay for your dinner, what might be expected? How does this work for that shopper's bottom line?

3. This shopper might not show up for dinner with you, if you agree to meet the shopper at ABC dinner house, so what if this shopper does not show?

4. While this sounds fun to some, I would find it "uncomfortable" to dine with someone I did not know. You are helping the shopper but this is not something I would do. I would get to know the person first.

5. Now a "group" meet, yes. Like a bunch of shoppers familiar with one another, agree to meet at XYZ dinner house and they all show up to meet one another. This I would do. It feels more comfortable to me. Like some of the long timers here

I remember going on a date with a man for dinner that I had not met prior. It was the most "uncomfortable" thing and I wanted to crawl under a table. This is not someone I would have eaten dinner with, if you know what I am saying...

Hello, thank you for all the wonderful responses! I searched for the city in the forum, but no luck. Most shoppers seem to be from USA and Canada and I was hoping to find someone living in, or traveling to EU. The hotel is in Europe and was hoping to try my luck to find someone to join me for a lunch evaluation. I'll address your comments shortly!

Yes, it would be! Although my husband occasionally joins me for dinner evaluations, he really doesn't like it and would rather pay. I' re gone with friends and they' ex enjoyed it. But it's always more fun, and easier with someone who knows about MS!

@sbobgal wrote:

That would be fun!

@barbage wrote:

What a great idea. But like everything I can see problems with it being this is a public forum. You would like to think that only legitimate shoppers would post needing guests, and legitimate posters would reply, but ...
OTOH: What a great idea for someone to take on as a project. It would involve forum members having to give up their anonymity to the person in charge so that their credential could be checked. I would take time and commitment. It might be expanded to a bigger project to include shoppers not involved in this forum. It might be a project that would be more suited to a group like the IMSC. Or maybe one of the scheduling companies could start such a register... Well now my mind is running away from me, better reel it in, but I still think this is a great idea for someone to take on.

Yes, ideally shoppers and guests could trust each other! I was thinking of just a simple thread where people can post dates and location. And if another MS is there, they can PM the OP. Thanks for the ideas!

@christinereed wrote:

One potential drawback is that the guest shopper could not shop the location him or herself. But, it would be a great way to get a second diner and meet shoppers. You'd have to know you had someone to go with you before you accepted the shop, though.

I' not sure the answer to this. It's assuming that shopper and guest have the same MSC. Sometimes, I see shops and want to try it but don't have time to write the evaluation so I am also happy to be someone' suggest

@elcarev68 wrote:

If you use the search feature on this Forum and use the city name as the key word you can often find shoppers who indicate that they are in or cover that city.

Thank you for the suggestion! I searched the city, but it is in Europe so no luck. Was hoping to see if another MS would be traveling there.

@anneshop wrote:

A travel community I use posts lots of meetups, including airport lounge meetups, let's all meet in a random far away city, etc. It's all fairly self-monitored. However, that forum also has restrictions on how long you have to be a forum member and how many posts before you can post in some of the categories/sub-forums. Something like that could add some filter on the potential drama, if the meetup/need a guest forum was limited for viewing and posting to more established members.

Then it's up to the individuals if they pursue any type of interaction outside of the forum with those who post. From the travel site, i have met up with established posters for drinks when they were in my city to chat about dorky travel stuff.

I would be amenable to meeting up with shoppers as well, but as with anything, you need to trust your instincts... The fact that this is a first time poster feels suspect to me. And it listed really high end cities and then was edited the post to remove Hong Kong without an explanation. So for me, I would pass on this particular post, even though I am currently on business in London.

Thanks for the response! First time poster (female) mainly because I just do MS as a hobby. Traveling to London for work and wanted to do a five-star hotel dining evaluation but it needed a guest. And I also have to trust my instinct, so only doing an evaluation for lunch (daytime) not dinner. And in a public space like the hotel dining room. I removed Hong Kong because although there are evaluations there, I'm not traveling there for work anytime soon so didn't want anyone to think that I would be doing evaluations there.

Hope this answered your concerns!

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I think that this might be a good opportunity to ask Jacob to create a shopper meet up section, where we could have one thread for each area/city.

I travel often in the course of mystery shopping to all of the named cities, including Hong Kong, and often require dinner guests, so I don't see it as an unusual request. Luckily I have friends in most major cities but I can also say from experience that other shoppers make MUCH better guests, as they will tend to follow the guidelines you give them!

Hi! Thank you for the comment. Who is Jacob?

And yes, friends in those cities are also nice to bring as guests. But as you say, it is much better to bring other shoppers. When visiting other cities, I like to spend time with friends catching up rather than noting when the first course arrived or what time I went to the bathroom! But I guess, I want the whole cake because I want to catch up with friends but also do some evaluations on the side with non-friends!

Thanks for the note, maybe we've run into each other in HK's LKF. I used to live in HK for work and it is such a small city so every ex-pat seems to know each other and knows someone who knows them, hah.

@sbobgal wrote:

And the guest would get the free meal without having to write a report.

Exactly

. And shopper will have someone who understands the situation rather than a nervous friend who has never done MS before.

@ksilver22 wrote:

In response to the comment above, if both are shoppers and one goes as the guest, does that prohibit the other from shopping that same place until the rotation time passes? or if husband and wife are both shoppers, same situation? TIA for the info.

I'm not sure, I've never been in that situation. I've done evaluations for hotels and MSCs usually prefer that I perform the evaluation once a month rather than multiple times a month for the same hotel.

@Fastjack wrote:

I suggested something like this last week to a new lad/lass who was nervous about hotel work. It's a great way for people who might be unfamiliar with a particular MSC's custom to have a strong foundation. Hell, it's how I jumped the line at Coyle, I was recommended and told them I intended to take the experienced evaluator on my first couple of assignments. I also just joined another embedded program that makes this mandatory; I'll be having field training days with somebody else on the roster before they let me loose on the country.

If the industry were ever to leave a nascent, wild west state that it's been in for basically its entire existence, that would be a strong start.

Field training sounds like a great idea! To be honest, although there is an online community, it would occasionally be nice to meet shoppers IRL to commiserate or just have coffee together and share knowledge. Definitely understand that shoppers also use MSCs as a source of income so want to protect their shopping base, but I always enjoyed the sense of community - online and offline. And in the long run, it actually benefits everyone.

But field training is definitely a great idea. Not sure if most MSCs will do this since the market is competitive and they will need to watch their costs. And also it's a supplier's market out there - unfortunately, MSCs have their pick of shoppers and if someone is not up to par, they have someone else next in line.

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