I hate negative reports. The manager of a restaurant I shopped contacted me direct, with the permission of the mystery shopping company. Sad to say, I have not seen that waiter since.

Negative reports are part of the trade. Shoppers are paid to be objective and honest. Details in a negative report are vital. Without naming the client, I have had to submit three negative reports in the last month when an employee failed to follow an essential safety procedure that is critical to the client. There is no doubt in my mind that those three employees will be disciplined. That's not my problem. I followed the guidelines and delivered the factual information that the client paid for.

I've done my share of negative reports as well. Our job is to report what we see. The facts and nothing more. I did a cellular shop where the employee was using his phone the whole time and flirted with me. I was obviously pregnant at the time. He was a total pig. I had so much to say that I sent the MSC an email with additional details about my experience.

I also had an employee try to convince me to go to another restaurant, and then overcharge me for my beverage.

I also did a restaurant shop at the same location for several months. The location was always filthy. I don't know why they hired me if they weren't going to make changes based on my report. I eventually stopped doing that shop because I was tired of saying the same thing over and over.

I have had similar problems with editors--especially on negative reports--demanding clarification of "no" answers that were explained in the first write-up. One MSC in the fine dining area is particularly bad about that.

@Tucketgirl wrote:

I had to do a not so good report for a restaurant, it was a narrative and for some reason after the negative report on the service and food, both of which was awful, they were more concerned about the money and the tip and the change they gave, so I guess that particular report and shop was focused on the integrity of the place and server, not so much the food or service. The integrity was spot on! the rest... not so much

Yes! we are not worried about the quality of the food just that we are not ripping the customer off by short changing them or by short changing the store.

I also just wrote my first negative report last Thursday. It was for a high end fashion house, and they forced me to deal with a new, unsupervised trainee even though I was the only customer in the store, and there were at least three other regular employees available. I felt like the trainee was just hung out to dry; she couldn't help me make choices, knew no history of the brand, etc. I felt terrible writing a report and singling her out when she obviously just needed more training (I figured she was new because she had no name tag or business card). I tried to be factual in my report (I've never had a report rejected), but I also tried to stress the fact that there were other, available sales advisors who offered no help or support. I left the store feeling badly for the trainee, but also angry that the regular staff didn't feel I was worthy of their time. I wished I'd had a spare $2000 on me so I could have made a purchase from the trainee, just to make a point.

@cynicaldog wrote:

I felt like the trainee was just hung out to dry; she couldn't help me make choices, knew no history of the brand, etc. I felt terrible writing a report and singling her out when she obviously just needed more training (I figured she was new because she had no name tag or business card). I tried to be factual in my report (I've never had a report rejected), but I also tried to stress the fact that there were other, available sales advisors who offered no help or support. .

It sounds to me like your report may be a big favor to the trainee. It will point out that she needs training, and she may well get the training she needs. It will also make it clear that, although relatively untrained, the trainee was the employee who stepped up and offered assistance and tried her best. I hope you also had the opportunity to point out the things she did right even lacking training.

I have done many upscale clothing shops and think it unfair to have a trainee alone help you. I hope you wrote that in the report. My evaluations have always been with experienced associates or an experienced training a new comer but never leaving her alone. They need to know the brand and some history behind it. I feel bad for the trainee.

Our job like someone said is to report that facts of what we experience. I also try to add something good if I can with a negative report. It true to the facts and helps softened a bad reporrt. Like one time I had to use the public bathroom at a cpartment complex office and had to report the john full stick up , it would not flash. But the lady did give me a good overview of the apartment we wented and looked at.

I can relate to the dirty bathroom at a gas station! One I did the other day made me cringe just being in there. For this shop I had to take pictures. I hope the editors like those photos, AAGH!! The thought of it made me cringe for the rest of the day. If I did realy have to go, I would have preferred to pee my pants!

I did a hotel once that had dust bunnies hanging from the vent in the bathroom. There were small pieces of old pizza under the bed. The dust on top of the light bulbs in the lamps would have shorted them out, if they'd been good bulbs at the start. I had no difficulty finding a "problem" for the hotel to solve for me while I was there! I needed new light bulbs that worked! There were greasy finger prints on the microwave and a sticky red spill on the desk top. I took photos of everything and included them in the report. They required 7 photos - they got 47, LOL!

Detail and proof are needed for negative reports so the manager being shopped can't say, "She's just making this up." On the other hand, shopping the same location time after time and seeing it get cleaner month by month, gives me a really good feeling, like I'm doing something for the community as a whole.

Yes I can do that did couple jobs like that before inspection

I could do it no problem

I shopped a fast food restaurant that was so dirty I would not have eaten there if I hadn't had to do so in order to do the shop. That is what I put in my report - along with relevant details.

@Traveliz wrote:

@adamaimeemom wrote:

It is unfortunate but the management at the store will likely not see the report because it was a competitor shop. I hope that the store that asked for the shop takes note of what bad customer service is and makes sure it does not happen in their stores.

I wondered if it was one of those and yes I likely know where of you speak! Well the competitor will at least feel good about what they are doing.

Liz

I had to write a very negative grocery competitor report. When asked a knowledge question about catering, the person said basically, "Don't order online. We never check it." That had to make the competitor delighted since they were the ones paying for the shop.

I had a shop where the exact timing- and my timing was exact ( not the arches place)- was not within the acceptable range and I was questioned repeatedly and asked to confirm the times and then was told that "they do have video which they will watch," I said that was great and would confirm what I had reported. Never heard another thing and was paid. Guess they wanted or expected me to change the times.

I try to be totally objective if I have to write a negative report. I just present the facts without emotion and let the reader reach their own conclusions. I try to include time stamps, quotes, and actions. If something is dirty I take a photo in case it is needed. Usually someone isn't 100% awful so I try to present what positive facts there are as well.

@adamaimeemom wrote:

In Peoria

As in, Illinois? Or Arizona? If Peoria, IL, no need to explain... Goes with the territory! Lol jk

I've been on a shop at an adult 21+ store and had money from my wallet, which I dropped from my pocket accidentally, stolen by an employee.

The lady was ringing up my purchase and giving me this sad-bad luck story with a bunch of personal details and I thought, "Why is she telling me this?! I've never met you!" Then, when I go to pay, my wallet isn't in my pocket. Said employee brings my wallet from under the counter and informs me that she found it on the floor. Prior to going on this shop, I took out cash from the ATM, so I knew exactly how much cash I had... My wallet was missing $50 and there was only one place where my wallet wasn't in my sight. Needlesstosay, I never saw the lady working there again.

The other negative was somone who failed to card me for alcohol at a sit-down restaurant. I was over 21, but under 30, which is their criteria.

My reports are mostly good, now and then like when the pretzel guy's pants were literally falling off and I could see the tat on his tush....he wasn't wearing gloves, and believe me that was one pretzel i wasn't looking forward to eating. Still have picture in my mind.....

I did a kitchen gadget store where the one associate on the floor NEVER approached me. I wandered the aisles for 5 minutes, sought him out to ask the required question, then walked around for another 10 minutes before I checked out. When it was time to write the report I laid everything out in great detail and never got any follow up questions.

My friend and I went to a restaurant for a shop. We were seated in an area that did not have a waitress! After 10 minutes we got up and asked the hostess why we weren't being waited on? The shop was downhill from there. The service was fast once we got a waitress, but the food was awful. It took 5 minutes to get a check. It really made us not want to go back and we had previously liked the restaurant.

@cynicaldog wrote:

I also just wrote my first negative report last Thursday. Not fun

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2018 05:27AM by FrostyBubbles.

I haven't had to write a negative report yet. I'm not looking forward to the day that I do. So far there have only been one or two negatives mixed in with a positive report.

I had a bad experience at one of my favorite restaurants. The host was hella rude and aloof. There was two in my party and they sat us at a booth for 6. I asked to be moved to a smaller booth for more intimacy. The host took me to another seat but there was debris on the floor and table so I asked to be seated somewhere else. She then sat me at a table I found satisfactory but never sent a server to my table. I was seated at 8:02 and the server didn't make their way to my table until 8:34 after I walked up to the host stand to inquire about the wait. The manager happened to be present during our interaction and apologize profusely. He looked for the place note they are supposed to leave on the table so the servers knows a guest needs to be greeted and there wasn't one. He looked under the table to see if it feel but I told him she didn't put one on the table.

The first server who helped us was fab but they switched servers on us and the second was was a PITA. Thankfully, the first server still checked out us and made sure we were good. The manager really took ownership and gave me a $50 gift-card, comped our dessert and appetizer.

I have two incidents that really stand out for me.
1. We ran out of gas on a test drive. This was really irritating and turned into the longest test drive I had ever taken. Now, I always check the gas gauge before we pull out of the dealership.
2. I was working a very high end clothing store. I had been instructed to please not overdress & just wear pants & a dress shirt. This store was located in an area that has a lot of tourist traffic. The store has a limited amount of clothing on display. You do not take if off the hangar but ask the associate if they have it in your size. Remember the show Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts? Well, that is exactly what happened to me. The three associates looked right through me. They never stopped to assist me. When I approached two of the associates for assistance, they again acted as if I didn't exist. They ignored me and walked away. I was in my fifties when this happened and did not look out of place in the store. The store has cameras that backed up what I had said in my report. When I again was assigned to this store, they remembered me. And again, just like in Pretty Woman, it was major suck up. I had two associates assisting me in the dressing room and I was treated like royalty and offered a glass of wine. This is the reason for mystery shops. I know a lot of very wealthy people in the area I live. Usually, they dress like you and I. It is the newly rich that only dress to impress.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2017 03:02PM by Texans.

Yeah...I did a furniture store once where I was supposed to get help from an associate, note their name and appearance, write about their sales pitch, the usual etc... The first person to approach me left me for another customer within 2 minutes, the next associate left me before I could get their name and never returned with the information I had asked for, and the third associate never even actually pitched me (like, there was this long awkward silence as I waited for her to say anything to me). Then the first associate just poked their head in and told me to buy the cheaper one and left again (very weird). All the while, the whole showroom smelled like weed! It was seriously crazy. I felt a little bad because people were totally going to get in trouble after that one, but at the same time, we help future customers by bringing these things to attention.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2017 04:24PM by carmenirene.

I have had to write a few negative reports over the years and have never had one rejected. I hate it when I get bad service because I know that I will have to justify every single negative and that takes so much longer to write the report. I also bend over backwards trying to find positive things to say in the same report as well so that it doesn't come across as all negative.

I hate negative reports it seems like every time I do one it ends up they have found one little thing wrong with it so it gets rejected. The last one I did I waited on the employee for over 2 minutes to tell me he would be right with me. I put the correct time in and they said I was 1 second off on my timing so I didn't get paid for it.

I would like to think we make a difference. This week, I went to a burger place where I have done MANY shops in the five years I have been mystery shopping. They almost always get a perfect score from me, and I've begun to wonder if the MSC isn't getting suspicious that I'm being paid off with all these 10/10 reports from me. Wouldn't you know it, this week, they gave me a burger with a wet, nasty bun, and I marked off for it. I think the toppings--lettuce, tomatoes, pickles--leaked moisture onto the bottom bun. Whatever happened, it was gross, and I took off a point for it. Was I being too harsh? I still ate the whole burger, but the mushy bun spoiled the experience. What would you have done?