@spicy1 wrote:

They most certainly did not! You have been duped. Ask me how I know.

I’ve always wondered who ordered them, seems weird Walmart would even care enough to want to know. Who ordered them?

I am in Kentucky but I take pictures for jobs all the time in Target and Walmart and no one ever says anything.

@Megs7521 wrote:

@spicy1 wrote:

They most certainly did not! You have been duped. Ask me how I know.

I’ve always wondered who ordered them, seems weird Walmart would even care enough to want to know. Who ordered them?

How? How?

I dont know who ordeted them, probably Amazon's marketing team. I still occassionally do security work for Walmart, it wasnt them!

@spicy1 wrote:

They most certainly did not! You have been duped. Ask me how I know.

I'll bite. How do you know?

I guess I am just curious as to why a competitor of Walmart would want this information?

I thought that with all the new apps about comparing prices etc. was legal in any store. I take pictures of clothes and other items to send to my daughter and ask if she wants me to pick up an item. I don't get it. I understand not taking pictures of customers and employees. Does this vary state to state. I'm from Massachusetts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2017 05:06PM by shopper8.

.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2018 07:53PM by Megs7521.

@ctalbert wrote:

I am in Kentucky but I take pictures for jobs all the time in Target and Walmart and no one ever says anything.

Me too! I live between Hazard and Pikeville in a hollow, up another hollow where the roads aren't lined and there are no guard rails. You're from KY, so you probably understand the type of hollow I mean The kind where the state road doesn't even have you on the street scraping list on day number seven after a big snow

Sure, it's regional. There are stores in certain areas of California (and any state) that the home office never, ever looks at and those stores are as though they are not even a Walmart.

I do not understand the Field Agent and EasyShift assignments. Looks like a lot of hassle for very little. The stories of people being chased out of stores sounds nuts. For some of the pay I've seen, I wouldn't even get out of my car. I just don't get it.

I wondered if Amazon was behind some of the gigs. I did some well paying grocery shops just before Amazon took over the grocery store chain.

Honest question— why on earth would a company like amazon have any interest in whether or not the Walmart employees greet customers?

Better question - why on earth would a company like walmart have any interest in whether or not the Walmart employees greet customers?

This is in fact a new Walmart initiative. The Walmarts near me where these audits have been going on are super aggressive towards greeting you and wanting to assist. i asked one of the Dept Mgrs if customer service was a new hot button and they told me it was. She told me associates were being called out in a new secret shopper report. It wasn't too long ago that you were ignored in these same stores. Associates run up to you asking if you need assistance. That was never the culture around here prior to the audits.

@Wild Bill wrote:

That was never the culture around here prior to the audits.

And, unfortunately, it won't be once again after the audits are all done!

In response to SoCalMama's assertion that store security can hold someone while waiting for police- Store security can not detain anyone. That is kidnapping and a felony.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2017 10:11PM by Danger.

of course they can

@Danger wrote:

In response to SoCalMama's assertion that store security can hold someone while waiting for police- Store security can not detain anyone. That is kidnapping and a felony.

State laws vary, but it's almost always unwise to detain a shoplifter. Doing so could likely be prosecuted as false imprisonment according to the state law in which the shoplifting occurred.

Kidnapping generally requires non-consensual movement (asportation) of the alleged shoplifter with intent to commit some other nefarious objective.

The only state's laws regarding kidnapping that I know anything about is Arizona's. And only because my son-in-law used to be a Phoenix police officer and he told me some things. A few years ago, the Phoenix police department got into trouble essentially for calling a lot of crimes kidnapping, when they didn't fit any classical definition of kidnapping. He told me that they would write up something as kidnapping because it allowed them to detain suspects in a way that they weren't allowed to otherwise. I don't remember any details about this so don't ask. But I wonder if any other states have loosely defined kidnapping laws that would allow someone who is detained by a store detective to claim kidnapping. It seems unlikely, but I certainly don't know.

@Danger wrote:

In response to SoCalMama's assertion that store security can hold someone while waiting for police- Store security can not detain anyone. That is kidnapping and a felony.

hahahahahahaha try swiping something in Target and let me know how it turns out. I have been present in the booking room while the person was handcuffed to the bench. Happens every single day. I have personally witnessed dozens of apprehensions. Funniest thing ever is some druggie shoplifter screaming, "You can't touch me." Pretty sure they can and do. You are dilusional.

Sure, Wal-mart does not allow any Vendor/Merchandiser Companies to do any work in their stores except those who have negotiated a deal and have signed legal paperwork to be ultimately responsible for the behavior of their employees and Field Agent and other "App" based companies have not negotiated deals and nevertheless Walmart is using those companies to do "Online orders for Grocery pickups" and they are only paying 50% of your costs.......... NOT!

Wal-mart pays the full cost of all negotiated contracts. You know that Walmart pays the full .55 cents per mile for travel as well as pays you your hourly rate even when traveling 5 miles to help out at another store, right?!

Don't be fooled into believing that Wal-mart has given anyone permission to take pictures of their store Associates, without their consent, especially the front-end Associates.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2017 01:26PM by spicy1.

Did you folks know that Field Agent has a blog: Endcaps and Insights? Check this out [blog.fieldagent.net]

$4. That's what Field Agent is paying for what they are calling a "Walmart customer service" audit. So, someone is willing to go into a Walmart, do all of the things this purported audit is asking you to do including taking pictures of front-end Associates, without expressed or implied permission, all of which is obviously against Wal-mart's policies for FOUR DOLLARS? Now, THAT is a new low for any industry! That someone is willing to risk being jailed for $4 is beyond my comprehension. You really have to applaud someone using their PhD to convince thousands of people to break Wal-mart's policies and risk their freedom for $4 and convince them, without expressing or even implying, that Wal-mart has ordered these "audits".

I thought it was against the rules to reveal clients of mystery shopping companies?

And no personal insults?

This is not a mystery shop and it CERTAINLY is not a mystery shopping company!

Sure seems to be. Both.

Field Agent : Need a Simpler, Faster Take on Mystery Shopping?

[www.fieldagent.net]

This is a crowd sourcing app company. They can call themselves Santa Claus's Reindeer keepers if they want.

Easy shift requires at least 3 photos of one product from various distances, and their questions are in the range of 50+. It’s obvious what you’re doing and that’s why I stopped working for them year ago or so. Their pay scale is ridiculously low.

I just don’t understand why ANY company would care about Walmart employees saying hello to a customer or not. Like what is beneficial that anyone would pay to find this info out?

That! That, because part of the report asks about customer service, the conclusion is that this is about customer service. That anyone thinks Citi's questions about customer service has anything to do with the report, besides the Associate actually mentioning the card and it's benefits is true and amazing. People, even ordinary people, can make money with blogs and a following!

@Megs7521 wrote:

I just don’t understand why ANY company would care about Walmart employees saying hello to a customer or not. Like what is beneficial that anyone would pay to find this info out?

It could be similar to the reasoning behind rival grocery store audits. I used to do grocery store audits where customer service was the primary concern - go to each department, did the employee greet you, blah. blah, blah. The store in question is, to this day, not known for great customer service. Their rival has an established reputation as being customer centric. Occasionally, a shop at the rival store would be posted with the same questions. I think the ordering store is trying to change their image and make sure that the need is still relevant.

In the case of the discussed Walmart scenario, I personally believe that it is Walmart ordering these visits. I, too, have noticed the placement of very friendly folks at the entrance to my local stores and cashiers with better attitudes. It is sadly, kind of shocking to be greeted so warmly at Walmart.

I wasn't aware of the no photo policies at target and walmart so I am grateful for this thread. I used to do an audit at target where I had to take many pictures discreetly. I hated that project. Targets I have been to always have employees readily available in every department.

I completed a project yesterday at Walmart where I was instructed by the MSC not to submit my LOA when I went to the store but only present it if I am questioned. I took many pictures and used an app to scan products. Next time I will log into the vendor book to cover myself.