Today was a first for me. I did 2 shops and had to report unethical employee behavior on each report. I've never once had to that before much less twice in one day.

The first shop was at a bank and an employee passed herself off as an investment advisor. Luckily for her, she did not provide any information other than what was available on their website. Where were the adults at this branch?

The second shop was valet parking. The shop required payment in cash, and it was obvious that the employee pocketed the money. (He said he wouldn't charge me full price. Asked for cash--he wouldn't have known I was paying in cash anyway. No receipt.) The kicker was that he handed me the keys so I could get the car myself. He's the valet and he made me get my own car. The irony was rich; I wasn't gonna argue. When the report asked for the name of the valet who retrieved the car, I entered "Me, ChrisCooper, the shopper." I gave myself high marks for timeliness, and said I was professionally dressed and friendly.

I'm sure it's happened to other shoppers. Care to tell your stories? I'm wondering is the MSCs will get back to me about either one of those shops?

I'd love to hear what the MSC has to say about your self-assessment in the valet shop. ;-)
To answer your question, no...I've encountered rude employees but not unethical ones.

I shopped a fast casual restaurant several months ago that required me to pay cash. The cashier rung up my purchase and, after she saw I was paying in cash, told me she would only charge me $20 for my $24.XX meal. So I handed her the cash....and then I asked her for a receipt, which then required her to put the transaction back into the cash register. After all was said and done, I got a call from the MSC's lost prevention department who was reviewing the footage of the transaction.

I once stood in a music store waiting for someone to help me while three employees played "air guitar" behind the counter area. I actually started to giggle as I walked slowly by while looking at them hoping one would address me. I had no such luck and had to wait the required 10 minutes or so before I could ask them for help. I would have loved to see their face when they read my report.

I had a bartender place my cash payment in the breast pocket of her shirt. I actually stayed an extra half hour to be sure I didn't miss it going to the register...but nope..stayed in her pocket. This was a targeted shop and I believe they suspected her of stealing. I never found out what happened to her. Up until that point all was going well. I was stunned to see it actually happen.

I had a shop at a gas station convenience store. I paid cash and forgot my receipt. When I returned for it, she could not find it.

I noted this in my report. My report was rejected.

Thanks for the responses. It was my first shop for each MSC. Neither one has contacted me yet. The employees' actions are fire-able offenses, so I'm guessing I'll hear from both at some point. As someone who is still reeling from 2008, the bank employee who impersonated a financial advisor particularly galls me. Yesterday's shops prove how valuable our job is.

I don't consider myself superstitious, but there was a full moon last night. Coincidence?

@ChrisCooper wrote:

Yesterday's shops prove how valuable our job is.

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking as I read all these posts!!!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2016 07:47PM by guysmom.

I was at a bank once and the employees obviously were ignoring me in the waiting area. After quite a while I walked up to an employee and asked if I was going to be helped soon. He said someone would. Finally a regular customer came in and sat by me. An employee immediately came over to help him. Luckily he said that I was there first. The employee said ok I will be with you shortly and he was because he went through the information (part of it only) so quickly with me that I barely had time to sit down with him. I was so mad - I put in my report that it was one of the worse shops I had ever done. Talk about rude employees.

@pegleg2000 I saw something similar happen at a bank shop recently and blasted the bank in my report. I was waiting in the lobby area and every now and then I could hear bank employees calling out a greeting to a customer and telling them to sit down, as opposed to standing in line to wait for a teller. After it happened a few times, I looked up and noticed that only white men were greeted and invited to sit down. Every. single. person. waiting in line was female and/or a person of color. OMG.

@ChrisCooper maybe it was the same bank. I am a female and the other customer was a white male.

Rude behavior: I once did a phone shop for a fruit basket place where the associate told me I should be shopping online instead of calling and asking a bunch of questions about what they had. She asked me (with an attitude) if I had internet access. When I said I did, she wouldn't answer any more questions, so I had to end the call.

Unethical behavior: I once caught a bartender stealing. It was at a sporting event, and I paid cash for a beer and told her to keep the change. I knew it was all bad as soon as she laid the money on top of the register without ringing anything up. She gave me the drink and I hid behind some other people to watch her. She stepped over to the side and slipped the money into her apron. I took pictures of her and the beverage cart, and gave a full description including her name. I never was asked for a follow-up or heard anything else about it, but we can all draw our own conclusions.

With the large amount of bar integrity I've done, including a few where you're basically openly inviting them to steal from you, this is the only time I ever caught someone actually doing it. I do think that most people are generally honest.

I had a parking lot shop. We drove past a huge sign that said "Flat Rate, $5". Pull up to the booth and the attendant says "Seven Dollars". I pointed out the sign said five. He then replies, "Okay, five dollars.". Didn't even attempt an excuse like "Oh, yeah, it's evening rate now" or something. I give him the $5 and put it all in the report. I assume he was pocketing the extra $2 but did not put that in the report- I let the company draw their own conclusions.

I did see an employee short change a customer when the customer was on her phone and not paying attention.

Valet Shop: I went to pick up my car from the valet and was expecting to pay about $15. Instead, the valet said that he parked it in a VIP spot and that he didn't need to charge me. I pointed at the rates sign and he admitted that he was supposed to charge me, but wouldn't. As I got into my vehicle, he held his hand out for a tip...

Valet Shop: I handed the cashier the amount I owed him. He went around the corner to the cash register (which I could not see) and brought back change. As he did, he told me that the change was the perfect amount for a tip.... I then asked for a receipt. He complained about the cash register being broken and that it was a nuisance to hand write receipts.

Bar: The bartender did not give any cash-paying customers a check. Instead, he verbally gave the prices - which seemed rather steep. He also did not provide receipts, so patrons tended to pay the high price and leave cash tips. When I requested a receipt for the food I ordered (there was no check), I noticed that the prince had included an 18% gratuity - which turned out to be added to all orders. So, patrons were being charged an 18% gratuity and then leaving tips, unaware that they were double-tipping.

Apartment shop: Talking to the target and trying to make an appointment during what I know to be his office hours (provided by the client). How about 4:00PM Friday? "No, I have another meeting." How about 5:00? "No, I have a different tour." How about Saturday morning? "No, I have a staff meeting all morning." How about Saturday afternoon, "No, I have a community social." When can you meet? "I don't know." If you have vacancies, there must be some way to come by and take a tour? "How about Tuesday next week at 5:00?" Agreed.... I arrive at 4:50 and see a sign on the door, "Sorry we missed you. We will return at 6:00."

Well, I heard from the MSC for the bank shop and they will not pay for the shop because I didn't shop the right person. The "right person" is the investment adviser, who the employee led me to believe she was. I made an appointment for X:00 to speak with the investment adviser about Y Product. At X:00 the bank employee informed me that she could answer my questions regarding Y Product. She knew the time to expect me and the product I was looking for. I considered that a match. The employee led me to a private office and sat behind the desk and logged in to the computer and proceeded to talk to me about Y Product. When I asked for a business card, I was given someone else's card and that was when I realized this person wasn't the investment adviser.

I completed the shop and wrote the report in good faith. The MSC says nope--it's the shopper's job to know you are talking to the right person. I certainly see and understand that point; however, if I asked for confirmation that the employee was who she claimed to be, wouldn't that have tipped me off as being the shopper?

The situation, imho, boils down to not seeing the forest for the trees. I'm saying that the employee is misleading customers by using implied authority that the customers cannot be aware of. The MSC says, Exactly! It's your job to see through the shenanigans and find and shop the right person. You shopped the wrong person and your report can't be used.

Normally I ask for a business card during my discussion with the target, so that it comes up naturally in conversation, but I guess the lesson learned here is to get the business card up front and confirm the person's credentials before going any further.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2016 06:21PM by ChrisCooper.

This is so shortsighted of the MSC. I would say they are not acting in good faith by keeping their client in the dark about the employee's egregious behavior. Isn't the separation of investment banking from regular banking a law and can't the bank receive a hefty penalty?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2016 06:48PM by LisaSTL.

@LisaSTL, I feel that the client should made aware of what happened, too. However, the employee didn't violate any laws because she restricted herself to non-volatile investments. Had she mentioned stocks or bonds, then she would have violated the law.

Glad I found out on my first shop what this MSC is like. Although I will say that the editor's response time was immediate. I didn't like her answers, but I got them quickly!

Edit: I am using the term investment adviser generically because the title is specific to this bank.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2016 07:02PM by ChrisCooper.

Your 2008 shop may be why they are audited now. Thanks for that; I do a lot of those shops!

@ChrisCooper wrote:

Thanks for the responses. It was my first shop for each MSC. Neither one has contacted me yet. The employees' actions are fire-able offenses, so I'm guessing I'll hear from both at some point. As someone who is still reeling from 2008, the bank employee who impersonated a financial advisor particularly galls me. Yesterday's shops prove how valuable our job is.

I don't consider myself superstitious, but there was a full moon last night. Coincidence?

ChrisCooper, I think you should be paid for the shop. You did everything that any normal person would do, and you had absolutely no way of knowing she was not the investment advisor until the end. Especially since you had an appointment; why wouldn't you assume that the person who greeted you and took you into an office was the right person?

Often, shop instructions tell you not to ask for a business card until the end, to see if the employee offers one. And I think that unless a card is offered upfront, which a few bank employees will do, it would be weird to ask for one before the interaction is winding up.

Hey, MSCs, we're mystery shoppers, not psychics.

@birdyc,i think i should be paid, too, and have told the MSC so. The ball is in their court now. If they decide to pay me, I'll update this thread, but the MSC seems entrenched in their myopic view.

Since I have no prior relationship with them, it's easy for me to walk away.

I did an investment shop once and the adviser told me where I could get better rates. And it wasn't his firm.

I did a cinnamon roll shop and watched the employees run around the food court playing tag while customers waited in line to be served.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2016 01:41AM by kalfini.

Valet shop on Thursday - Valet was wearing an "Original Gangster" t-shirt. I was very reluctant to give him my keys.

I did a credit card shop at a bank where the employee made up the percentages that would be used for cash back. He then actually printed out for me a fictitious chart he made up to help me understand how much cash I would get when I redeemed different numbers of points. His imaginary card would have been a great deal. It was interesting, however, that when I read the paperwork he gave me to take home, the written amounts did not match what he told me. When I called the bank the next day, he insisted his verbal information was correct. I later got a branch manager to cancel the card.

I did a loss prevention and the Bartender pocketed the tip, should have gone in the tip jar, not his pocket.
They have camera's, so I'm sure checked me out. I felt bad, but told my story and don't know the end of it,
This happened a long time ago. I wonder if he got fired, I know this MSC doesn't do that restaurant anymore.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2016 08:44PM by Irene_L.A..

Update: The MSC said they will pay for the bank shop. There was no explanation, just a short message that the report was finalized and I would be paid.