Conspiracy theorist here... The OP's "mystery shopper" knows, for some unknown reason, that OP is a mystery shopper. The clerk gets a heads up from the informant, or confederate, and does whatever they do when a known mystery shopper is in the vicinity. Or not.

mystery shopping lojacks

I'm in the market for a new bridge. How much?

@roflwofl wrote:

I have a bridge I can sell you. A person can say anything. It is not necessarily true. Do we tell the complete truth when mystery shopping? Threatening that you are a mystery shopper is the new big customer service lie. I have heard it many times from folks I know are not mystery shoppers.

Offensive story with racial overtones. I hope you do not write your reports that way,

As a lifelong self-employed businessman, I neither considered the OP's description to be racist nor offensive, merely factual. Were I the owner of an MSC, he/she would be the type of shopper I would prefer.

@shopperbob wrote:

As a lifelong self-employed businessman, I neither considered the OP's description to be racist nor offensive, merely factual. Were I the owner of an MSC, he/she would be the type of shopper I would prefer.

You missed the point entirely. There was absolutely no reason for the OP to include a description of the supposed shopper. It appears that the only motivation for doing so was to embellish his "horror story." If you owned an MSC and allowed shoppers to provide stereotypical descriptions, I guarantee that you would not be in business for long. Many MSCs tell shoppers not to state an assumed race, and I've never come across an MSC that accepts or encourages unflattering or negative descriptions.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2017 08:46PM by MSF.

While some MSCs require things like race, I have yet to deal with one that would find this line remotely acceptable, "rings on both hands that resembled brass knuckles."

@shopperbob wrote:

As a lifelong self-employed businessman, I neither considered the OP's description to be racist nor offensive, merely factual. Were I the owner of an MSC, he/she would be the type of shopper I would prefer.

So shopperbob, since you would appreciate this report as business owner, wouldn't this report be just as insightful without the race being mentioned? While trying not to get too high up on a soapbox, as a society it is high time we stop stereotyping and categorizing people based on the color of their skin. In England this story would have stated a "male customer". I try and try every day, as a father in a mixed race family, to remind and teach my children that race has very little consequence in the character of a person. I teach them there are two types of people in the world, good and bad. And that is it. Nothing else matters.

I have a mixed race family, and am proud to say my children have close and personal friends with at least six different ethnicities, and four different faiths from our own. And it was by their own choosing, not mine. We have become personal friends with the families of all our kids friends.

It is high time to realize we are all on this planet together. I have lived all over this planet, and one thing I can say for sure is that no matter where I lived, if found everyone had the same basic belief. To care and provide for their family, and try to make a good life for their children. And having lived and worked in the middle east for many years, I can say the same about that group of people as well. Some of the best and most generous folks, I have ever known. The extremists are not the majority.

Ok, I think I said my piece or peace. please. Sorry if I stood on my soapbox too long.

I am of the opinion that the person was not a mystery shopper, but hoping to get preferential treatment.

I'm not sure why so many are offended by the description of the person in the story. As far as I can tell, there is only one race, we are all humans. But, we have different characteristics, too. Saying someone has dark skin doesn't mean you are drawing a conclusion about them. Saying they have rings like brass knuckles, well, that could be seen as leading to a conclusion. Or, it could just be very descriptive. The reader can draw their own conclusions.

For example, the OP saw this as a very poor performance by a mystery shopper, and I saw it as someone who was trying to get preferential treatment. I drew a different conclusion.

even though forum members disagree in this thrwad i find it more insightful than neverending title threads.

Paul,

You have expressed an opinion that is both logical and admirable; I do not personally disagree with a single point in your concise response to my post, From a business standpoint, though, were I an MSC owner, the OP's objective and candid reporting is what I would seek.

@shopperbob wrote:

Paul,

You have expressed an opinion that is both logical and admirable; I do not personally disagree with a single point in your concise response to my post, From a business standpoint, though, were I an MSC owner, the OP's objective and candid reporting is what I would seek.

..

Bob, I respect your opinion. Thank you for respecting mine.

@JohnT wrote:

Today I met a mystery shopper while I was doing mystery shopping at the same store. How did I know he was a mystery shopper? Read on to find out!

So did you say, "The chicken sleeps alone?"

I don't know how my question got in with the quote but it is - So did you say, "The chicken sleeps alone?"

Sestrahelena, good recall!

With a memory like that, she should be a mystery shopper!

A dark shirt, dead giveaway that he's a terrible mystery shopper, eh?

I could be wrong, but my take is he needed to fund a card so he could make a purchase to do a shop that day. He was there as a customer, and she asked his occupation, and he told her.

He may not fit OP's idea of a mystery shopper, but if he can write a good report, why shouldn't he MS? It's honest work.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

[ Here's the video queued up to the exchange. MSC's lawyer is on left, the show's announcer is on the right. [youtu.be]

ChrisCooper

Would you have the link to the first 31 or so minutes of the show? I am interested in seeing the whole episode and see what was said.

Thanks

Never mind I found it!

Thanks for posting this.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2017 04:07AM by Wassim.

@Tarantado wrote:

Hence, why I'm not offended when that one MSC stated that the only requirement needed to be a shopper is to have a pulse ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tarantado, in my humble opinion I think the MSCA and the likes of such organizations should have a campaign to set the records straight and tell the people that this is an honorable, honest way of making legal wages. And it does in fact take more than a pulse to be a MSer. It takes putting up with all the "@&$?-;:@!?." that we put up with.

You know, I am still wondering at what point the OP met the "worst mystery shopper" or did the OP just observe the worst mystery shopper? Did the OP speak to him or just observe what happened? To me, if you met someone, it involved an exchange of words.

msca?
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate?

@LisaSTL wrote:

With a memory like that, she should be a mystery shopper!

If I could only remember important stuff that well!