As everyone knows, most companies these days do an online search to check out potential new employees.

I'm sure some MSC use this forum to gather intell. It is easy for them to understand who certain posters are.

1. Some people use names like, 'Damian of Montana'. How many Damians in Montana do mystery shopping I wonder!

2. Other people use their names and talk about their shopping area on a regular basis. And give other details like their age.

3. I have seen people's tag lines with comments like; "25 year old male looking for high class assignments in the area around the Ozarks.

4. Some posters give detailed information about their assignments and / or specific issues with MSC. Whether or not they name the firm involved, the poster is often easy to identify.

Now the MSC know who is writing certain comments. These 'identified' posters then:

1. Post abusive complaints about schedulers and / or MSC. The complaints often have no real merit.

2. Constantly get into flame wars.

3. Boast about how they 'game the system'. Eg. Inviting escorts to hotel rooms during hotel shops. Or it might not even be about mystery shopping but something like; "My cunning plan is to water down the Chivas Regal at my next social event to save cash."

I am sure some of these 'indentified posters' with questionable histories have been secretly blacklisted by MSC or at the very least banned from taking certain kinds of assignments.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2017 03:49AM by moosehoose.

Hmm... Am I in there somewhere? Let's see... Well, I am the boring old bag who, on good days or in kind light, can pass for younger. I am not the life of the forum party or any other bash. I tell people or indirectly about certain assignments, but I do not violate the ICAs. My life is best when I work in several different industries. I am waiting for outlandish dream shops to appear in my little part of the world. I would love to test the prototype shop for napping under assorted pleasant (for me) conditions. In fact, I could design that shop! What do you think, MSCs?

Shop-et-al,
I believe you are a borderline case so you haven't been blacklisted yet. That's the latest word on the street anyway.

I will not rest assured until I have done the napping shop. haha.

I know of shoppers who have been blacklisted. Some were discovered for reasons that you pose; others for doing things like taking a route of 30+ shops and flaking 20+ of them. You would be amazed at how many schedulers from different MSCs know each other! Some others have posted complaints (professionally or not) and fallen for the reply that says, "Just get in touch with me," from a potentially vindictive scheduler or owner. The problem is that there are also schedulers and owners who are really just trying to help resolve issues who make similar posts. So shoppers are left to trying to read the tea leaves (or comments by other shoppers on a forum) to try to figure out which of those posts to reply to and reveal enough so that the problem can be identified and resolved.

So far, I am the only shopper to share of self in this thread. I can be Exhibit A in the swirly, misty, dubiously polite inquiry into who is who and what is up and how far can we go before someone finally stops us.

*takes witness stand & oath; considers snarky implied questions; addresses judge and jury*

It is not a secret that I have improved over time and have found jobs which suit me more than others. Thus, I am not the same person or worker that I was when I began in this industry years ago. I feel great about this improvement and I appreciate my work more and more as time passes and I find new/interesting things to do. I hope that I have not boasted. I meant to encourage myself for making needed changes. I have made light of my general self in this thread because imho we should tread lightly when talking about others here. What harm could we knowingly or unwittingly do to another shopper if we did not think about our actions? There will be more about this at the end of the testimony. Truly, I neither know nor care how I am perceived, ranked, rated, labeled, or branded by tptb within or outside of this industry. I continue to receive more offers than I can fulfill. I have decided to work little in this industry next year because I want and need more personal time in 2018. But if it is true that there is a gossip chain, or shall we call it a heads up communications system, I need to stop and think about the potential outcomes for other shoppers. Have any shoppers been limited by a single or few less-than-ideal experiences? Has everyone involved come clean about their roles in the labeling and/or the events leading up to that? Really??? Does anyone even know who each person is in each contested situation? How many other shoppers may now be branded as better or worse than they actually are based upon old, wrong, incomplete, distorted, biased, protected, or otherwise inappropriate information? There is at least a trifecta of error and/or distortion. First, there is 100% shopper error. When a shopper is wrong, they are wrong. This is the stuff of a bad rep or at least some concern about a shopper. Error is also the stuff of humanity. When can a shopper be forgiven and when can a shopper be branded? Ever? Second, there is effective shopper PR campaigning in which shoppers play up successes and downplay failures; eventually, these shoppers may get a good and likely better than deserved reputation. These shoppers are sufficiently savvy to market themselves in this way and may succeed in perpetuating rosy images of mere humans who mystery shop. Third, there may be errors, inconsistencies, or misunderstandings within the shop production line in the MSC's realm. This category may include factors of client, culture, editing, and other non-shopper issues. Since virtually all experienced posters have mentioned that they have made errors, I no longer believe that there are any mystery shoppers who have been perfect since the beginnings of their shopping careers. *notices that judge and jurors have dozed off and concludes quickly* In conclusion, I wish only to apologize to any/all for errors of omission or commission that I may have made regarding other shoppers' personal and working selves. In case it is applicable, I forgive any/all for errors that they have made regarding my personal and working self. I understand that as independent contractors we are party only to our own contracted work. Our contracts limit us with regards to what we can or should say and do when attempting to assist other shoppers. Our base natures may have goaded us to be curious, to gossip, or otherwise to wander beyond the bounds of decency. If this has happened, we can stop ourselves here and now.

*leaves court room and goes out for breakfast*

TLDR! JK

eta: entertaining as well as educational!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2017 04:12PM by sestrahelena.

As Walesmaven has indicated, schedulers seem to be part of a mysterious web of intrigue.

I suppose they have lists like; "The top 10 PITA shoppers who I have blacklisted."

How would one know if they were secretly blacklisted?

@jgoodwin wrote:

How would one know if they were secretly blacklisted?

Haha! They wouldn't! But it is interesting when people take unnecessary risks which could lead to the loss of potentially lucrative work in the future.

I think RBG has blacklisted me but I swear to nothing. I had to flake on a ton of work -- well, I suppose I didn't have to, but life was insane for a while. I guess it still kinda is. RGB won't assign me anything. SinClair sorta made threats at me after I canceled a lot of their work and so I was deactivated after being told either go do a shop 6 hours away or be dropped.

On that note though, IntelliShop, MarketForce, BestMark, Ipsos, and The Source really stepped in for me and helped me out a ton while life was utter chaos and I appreciate those companies to worlds end!

Mountaincacher, it is good to hear about the positive outcomes too. Thanks for your input.

Life was a little crazy for a bit and multiple family emergencies happened within days and even hours of each other. Those two companies gave me a ton of flack for my emails and requests to cancel shops. The ones I give praise to were nothing but accommodating and I didn't even get any demerits for those guys!

Will there be a time limit on the nap shop? Or a bonus?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2017 03:46AM by sbobgal.

deactivated by MF



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2017 09:57AM by cdonnaj.

Yes, a scenario is a story supporting the reason that you might buy something. If you find that unethical this may be a very uncomfortable endeavor for you. And, no, when the bank (client) specifies the scenario/identity you are to assume for a loan application, there is nothing illegal or unethical about carrying that out. 99 % of those are NOT actual applications, btw, just inquiries. Detecting needed retraining is certainly not a nasty business; leaving problems undetected until a real customer's experience report of ILLEGAL discrimination gets the employee fired and/or the client fined millions of dollars is really a nasty alternative.

Maybe. Sort of. Who cares. I have some blacklisted myself. I'm not from the ones that have fair pay. One, In that every time I apply for an assignment as CI I get that email that says it's already been taken. However, I imagine it is because someone took the entire route. They can have it at $9 a piece. I only apply for the ones I'm going to be in the store anyway. If someone needs what will end up being $4 an hour with drive time, they can have it. I will stop applying for those. When that someone gets a job at Walmart or Circle K or a fast food job the company will want me to take them and then they will pay double.

The financial assignment I mentioned above clearly stated to give a false amount for income, on an actual loan application. The assignment was not just a scenario or inquiry. So I actually came across the 1% that does ask for actual application. The MSC that posted the assignment starts with an I.Unusual name but I've noticed the company mentioned here before. As for the scenario assignments the milder ones in which I'm an unbiased observer and don't need to concoct a story those are fine. I am uncomfortable though with the scenarios that are far from the truth. So that is a simple fix, I just won't apply for those type assignments. I haven't done an assignment that included weeding out illegal discrimination that I'm aware of. Bottom line is, there is a limit to how far I'll go for the almighty dollar

Thank you for the reply.

If you have done ANY platform banking shops, apartments, new homes, to mention just a few, you have done shops seeking to detect employees whose subtle discriminatory practices could land the client in HUGE legal and financial problems. Those employees need retraining.

I know the shop that you refer to as the exception. The client is, indeed, looking for discrimination there; they have different gender/race/ethnic group shoppers doing a ton of those because they are on alert for different treatment of applicants with the same incomes and similar credit scores but different personal characteristics. That si a HUGE financial exposure for the client and they are hoping to find the problems and resolve them before they end up in court. Such "testing" as it is known has stood up in court cases as the only way to detect those kinds of problems. It is common practice in the housing/real estate and mortgage industries, where you would be stunned by the incidence of discrimination. (Disclosure: I sold residential real estate, as a buyers' rep, for 19 years and had to be very careful to be sure that my qualified buyers, of all backgrounds, were treated fairly. In addition, I have done a ton of such "testing" shops. The problems found should keep a lot of client's executives and attorneys awake at night!

Thank you for the information. It's very interesting.

I have done a mortgage inquiry shop where I had to pretend or "lie" about my details. I am so glad I did because it exposed a HUGE problem with the mortgage banker. He had a broken hand and so he was having people write their information on a tablet. When I added my fake name I saw the names of PEOPLE I KNEW. Yeah, that's a problem. This same bank in my small town is getting shopped a couple of times a week with different demographics. I know that my young DIL can't get anyone to help her (she's 21) when she has tried to mystery shop there. I believe there is a reason that this branch is getting hit with highly bonused last minute shops.

Lying or acting is really the question...finding out important info. is the goal.
edited to add: Secretly Blacklisted (such strong words). I was de-activated by MF, no great loss, and I de-activated from Cirrus...no great loss....if it were secret, how would you know......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2017 08:41PM by Irene_L.A..

Me? Secretly blacklisted? No. I was deactivated twice. Neither company has anything that I want to do anyway.

I do know of a few posters here that will never get any work from a few select companies. Act BSC and get deactivated or blacklisted. It happens.

Pray tell, who are they oh great Oz'ette one? Have they crossed you?

Fight, fight, fight! Somebody must have messed with your cayenne, again.

OP, there are blacklisted mystery shoppers. They are the type who shop lift, or use fake IDs, or have committed other crimes against humanity...err...schedulers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2017 09:33AM by Ferrett P.I..

Who doesn't appreciate snooty hypocrisy, veiled as an omniscient threat for breakfast?

Moosehoose has now been proven correct in his assertion, especially on this forum.

Be careful, more careful than I, not to reveal your true identity or any part of it, on this forum. There are eyes, not only watching, but willing to give you up so they look good compared to you.

Can you imagine that conversation? Two, three, four or more people standing around a computer, reading the words on this forum and making actual decisions about the true nature of someone based on quips and quirks of momentary thought about work-arounds because the fountain drink machine is out of order or some such thing.

Having three sisters and three daughters, it's not hard to recognize. (More information for the information seekers). As one forum member said, which is worse? To be open about how you feel and stand up for your rights or to be the one influencing someone by talking smack about the one telling the truth and standing up for their rights?

Got blacklisted by a scheduler for a post on the other board where I used my real name. It was a factual, truthful post. So I don't use my real name here. Surprised at some of the posters that do.