What do you do when a report is returned and you're asked to answer questions not on the report?

I've been doing a restaurant shop for over a year. Almost all of my reports come back as 10. This time my report was sent back because the person reviewing the report asked me the names of employees clearing off tables or talking to guest at other tables. They do ask, "Did you see employees cleaning off tables?" Did you see employees talking to guest?" They never ask for their names. You are asked for the name of your greeter and server. Many times you see employees cleaning off table from across the room or chatting at another table. Many times that employee's back is to you. How would you handle this? Could they reject my report for this? If I have to name every employee clearing tables or talking to guest, the shops won't be worth doing.

To me, asking did you see employees clearing tables or talking to guest, is a general question. They want to know what other employees are doing...in general. They never ask for names.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2016 11:43PM by johnb974.

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I'd push back and specify that the guidelines do not ask for names of those employees. I would do it nicely. A lot of times the editors forget that something is not in the guidelines and only ask because they THOUGHT it was. If you point out that it's not in a nice way, you'll probably just get a "Thanks for clarifying. Was hoping you had this info but it's ok that you don't."

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I doubt your shop will be rejected if you did not get a name of a person you weren't required to. Perhaps you can just give a description of a person instead? Also, unless you have really great eyesight you probably wouldn't be able to see the name tag of someone a few tables away. I personally don't like it when I am asked additional questions that weren't on a shop. Makes me feel like I'm working more and not getting paid, but a if its a question or two well that's okay.

Yeah, I think I would contact my scheduler about that one. Seems pretty ridiculous to find out the names of bussers. Managers, servers, bartenders, or employees who you come into direct contact with makes sense, but bussers? Also, if it's not in the guidelines and it's not a question on the report, the reviewer should not be questioning you about it unless the guidelines were recently updated and you were unaware. But I agree, that seems really odd. What are you supposed to do, get up and walk across the room and ask the guy cleaning off the table what his name is? Might as well wear a sign that reads "I am a mystery shopper."

Like Natalie, I would respond with a description of the employees and state that they did not approach your table and were not close enough for you to read their name tags.

They asked me to name the employees.

I did send a message correcting my report. I told them in my area, no tables were cleared. I could not see the names of employees clearing tables across the room, and their backs are to me.

This would tick me off. Why would I look for the names of employees that the report guidelines didn't ask for?

Knowing me, I'd probably shoot off a reply something like this: "The report guidelines and the report do not ask for the names of the employees whose names you are asking for. Therefore, I did not look for them and do not have them. Can you show me where in the written materials these are required?"

Of course, I'd first pore over the materials to make sure I knew what I was talking about. And if they didn't call for the names, I wouldn't be nice or tactful.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Unless it was somebody I had a good relationship with, I would respond like BirdyC.

Sometimes I just think there are nit-picking editors that NEED to find something wrong with a report. My clutch shop that I do basically one every day M-F always, I get 10's on my report from every editor except one. Annoys the crap out of me, I know it;s the same editor cause I get an email telling me when my report was edited and I always get 10's but when this lady edits my report I always get a 9 with NO EXPLANATION as to why.

But it's the reviewer. Who has a good relationship with the editors, LOL? I used to be an editor for two different MSCs, and I none of the shoppers and I had any sort of relationship other than when I had questions (and I wasn't asking them for something that wasn't in the guidelines). Also, it's a shop that the OP had been doing for quite some time and no one else asked him for bussers' names. I do know that some MSCs have account managers who do it all, scheduling, editing, etc. but I think the majority of them have specific employees for specific roles.

Now I'm curious. I thought reviewer=editor. No? If they are separate jobs, then what does the reviewer do? Thx

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2016 12:49AM by ChrisCooper.

I find it hard to believe that the company I'm talking about has a separate editor & reviewer. My reports always have a score the moment after they're edited and in the beginning after I first started doing it I would get lower scores with feedback as to why. ex. "8/10 - nice report but please remember to capitalize the first letter of all brand names in your report". That sounds like an editor saying that to me

This is one of the questions: " If tables were used and vacated during your visit, were they bussed and/or re-set by any team member in a timely fashion? ".... "Yes, No or N/A".....no mention of asking for names. No boxes for listing names. They only ask "Yes, No or N/A"....this is the question they wanted me to list names. It's a Yes or No question.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2016 01:00AM by johnb974.

@johnb974 wrote:

This is one of the questions: " If tables were used and vacated during your visit, were they bussed and/or re-set by any team member in a timely fashion? ".... "Yes, No or N/A".....no mention of asking for names. No boxes for listing names. They only ask "Yes, No or N/A"....this is the question they wanted me to list names. It's a Yes or No question.

Instead of trying to give the editor an answer, I'd have just quoted the question from the survey verbatim, sent it back in response with, "As you see, the names aren't requested, and there's no place to put them."

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

But it's the reviewer. Who has a good relationship with the editors, LOL?

I took this to mean not that the reviewer and editor are two different people, but that the reviewer/editor is not someone a shopper normally has any real relationship with, unlike the relationships we do develop with schedulers and/or project managers....

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I think you're all overthinking this. Why bother to get angry? Who cares if it's on the report or not? They want to know. Too bad. They can't know because you don't know the names. Why worry over how to craft a response? Just answer the question. "The dark-haired male employee in the red t-shirt was bussing tables but he was several tables from me and I could not see his name tag. One female employee with long black hair was talking to guests at some of the tables. When she walked past my table, her long hair hid her name tag."

If the editor comes back to say "no names, no pay," that's the time to argue. Right now the editor is just asking questions. Give him answers and don't worry about it.

I did mean editor = reviewer.

Why would you use two different words to refer to the same person in the same paragraph. Thats like if I filled out a mystery shop report and I was like. "The manager came over to our table to ask how everything was. When we got up to leave the boss cleared our table."

Personally, I wouldn't even give the description, probably. If I do the job according to the guidelines, they need to accept it as is. Again, this may differ if I have a good relationship with the person asking. I don't work for free. I agree to a job for a price. If they want to change the job, they can add to the price, too.

I agree.I only remember descriptions for people the guidelines and survey require them for. No way we can be expected to describe every employee we observe. The basics would be were the in proper uniform and acting properly.

@TeriW wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't even give the description, probably. If I do the job according to the guidelines, they need to accept it as is. Again, this may differ if I have a good relationship with the person asking. I don't work for free. I agree to a job for a price. If they want to change the job, they can add to the price, too.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I thought it was pretty obvious 1JJ, and I think it was to everyone else but you. It's quite common to use different words referring to the same person in the same paragraph.

@johnb974 wrote:

This is one of the questions: " If tables were used and vacated during your visit, were they bussed and/or re-set by any team member in a timely fashion? ".... "Yes, No or N/A".....no mention of asking for names. No boxes for listing names. They only ask "Yes, No or N/A"....this is the question they wanted me to list names. It's a Yes or No question.

I think I know exactly what shop you are referring to as I just did one this week and had a "reviewer" question the same exact question. The reviewer did not ask me for a name, but rather a clarification on this question as it pertains to a similar question in a different part of the report.

Perhaps they are focusing on this particular part of the shop or maybe this reviewer has a pet-peeve about this question?

I just explained my logic for the way I answered and did not hear back yet.

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

I personally would just answer as it was not required per the guidelines I did not get a name or description of the buser. Now what I personally want to say is quite different and may be more along the lines of-- Perhaps you should read the guidelines before asking questions that I would not have a reason to know the answer to.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

@1JJ wrote:

Sometimes I just think there are nit-picking editors that NEED to find something wrong with a report. My clutch shop that I do basically one every day M-F always, I get 10's on my report from every editor except one. Annoys the crap out of me, I know it;s the same editor cause I get an email telling me when my report was edited and I always get 10's but when this lady edits my report I always get a 9 with NO EXPLANATION as to why.

Are they trying to prove their value by reducing a perfectly good shop that should have been rated a 10 out of fear of job security? If everyone was able to perform shops without red ink, they could consolidate leaving someone without work.

@Jay C wrote:

I think you're all overthinking this. Why bother to get angry? Who cares if it's on the report or not? They want to know. Too bad. They can't know because you don't know the names. Why worry over how to craft a response? Just answer the question....

Shoppers wanting a 10 get upset because there are editors who will reduce your rating by two points because they had to make contract with the shopper. I had two shops from a strange MSC that asked me questions not on my instructions nor the report, this Editor wrote "Your grade was 8 because I had to ask you for additional information". I emailed them asking "How come my score was dropped because you wanted additional information not contained in the instructions or report"? My emails went unanswered, figured it was best to accept the 8 instead of pushing this further. There are Editors who dink our rating for reasons they will not or can not explain themselves.

I won't say anything more to them. I told them from the wording of the question, it's a yes or no answer. I cannot account for every employee clearing tables. I'll just have to wait and see how they score my report.

@TeriW wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't even give the description, probably.

I was thinking the same thing.... In fact, I probably wouldn't even remember the descriptions if it wasn't part of the survey. As you say, we get paid to make certain observations. If we're not asked to make other observations, we shouldn't have to spend more of our time reporting them. And certainly shouldn't be penalized for not getting a name or remembering a description.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

@GuyFawkes wrote:

I emailed them asking "How come my score was dropped because you wanted additional information not contained in the instructions or report"? My emails went unanswered, figured it was best to accept the 8 instead of pushing this further. There are Editors who dink our rating for reasons they will not or can not explain themselves.

Many MSCs don't allow their editors to respond directly to shoppers. I found this out when I dealt with a very difficult editor, who didn't respond to my e-mails. I went to the scheduler, who put me in touch with the project manager. The PM told me that editors for that company aren't allowed to respond to shoppers' e-mails. I'm guessing so as to avoid the kind of back and forth that these situations can spur. In my case, the PM did review the problems and did address the issues with the editor.

One company I worked with allowed editors to communicate directly with shoppers, but another one bans it. In fact, they won't even let you send comments to the editor! You have to direct any questions about editing to the schedulers.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

The problem is that there is often no way to know whether they can or cannot communicate with us. How is a shopper to know that a scheduler cannot reply to an email? We are just left hanging in that case.

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What do you do when a report is returned and you're asked to answer questions not on the report?

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