Bad eyesight

November 14, 2017 07:55PM

When I do a shop, the instructions are always to get all employees names that you see (from nametag). My eyesight is bad & I can't read the nametags as the employee walks past. I need them to stand still (but you can't ask them). What do YOU do?

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November 14, 2017 08:10PM

I only request opportunities that I am capable of fufilling. If you can not read name tags then how can you make other more important observations?

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

November 14, 2017 08:23PM

I can read the nametags....but not if they are walking past me fast.

November 14, 2017 08:47PM

@nc wrote:

I can read the nametags....but not if they are walking past me fast.

Make an excuse for them to hesitate. Compliment their outfit or their eyes.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

November 14, 2017 09:03PM

@Tarantado wrote:

@nc wrote:

I can read the nametags....but not if they are walking past me fast.

Make an excuse for them to hesitate. Compliment their outfit or their eyes.

November 14, 2017 09:03PM

Yes...good idea...if they're not walking too fast.

November 14, 2017 09:04PM

I just state in the report that a name tag was worn but that the associate was moving too quickly for the tag to be read. I have never had any problem with that, since 2005.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

November 14, 2017 09:26PM

A lot of times the nametags are positioned so that you'd have to be inappropriately staring at someone's chest in order to read them. I just truthfully answer that.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

November 14, 2017 10:53PM

@Tarantado wrote:

Compliment their outfit or their eyes.

[/quote]

Not a good idea unless you want to be remembered or potentially treated differently from employees. Write you paid such compliments in your reports and you risk it being rejected.

November 14, 2017 11:31PM

@Catnap wrote:

Not a good idea unless you want to be remembered or potentially treated differently from employees. Write you paid such compliments in your reports and you risk it being rejected.

Why would you ever feel the need to comment in the report that you paid a compliment to get a person to stop long enough to catch the name on the tag??? Not ever necessary!!

November 14, 2017 11:38PM

Make up a freaking question and ask them that. Or just say that the employee was moving like a car hop on roller blades.

November 14, 2017 11:46PM

@guysmom wrote:

Why would you ever feel the need to comment in the report that you paid a compliment to get a person to stop long enough to catch the name on the tag??? Not ever necessary!!

As you know some assignments tell you to record all interactions with employees. And I am sure the employee would give an interesting reply.

November 14, 2017 11:47PM

Don’t wear your watch and ask them for the time. When they look down at their watch or smart phone to check the time you can look at their name tag unobserved. Of course you can’t do this with every employee in the store but it works for one or two.

November 15, 2017 02:04AM

@Catnap wrote:

@Tarantado wrote:

Compliment their outfit or their eyes.

Not a good idea unless you want to be remembered or potentially treated differently from employees. Write you paid such compliments in your reports and you risk it being rejected.[/quote]

November 15, 2017 02:05AM

You don't have to write it in the report, you know.

November 15, 2017 02:16AM

I often cannot read the name tag for a variety of reasons but most of the msc I work for are forgiving. Some even have a check off box for could not get name or something like that. I have had issues with parking jobs when the person is inside a booth and does not turn all the way towards me. This happens on other jobs as well when a name is requested for someone who I have a 5 second interaction with. And in my town there are many names not familiar to my American upbringing even though I have traveled a lot. The parking lots seem to be staffed by Ethiopians who have long names sometimes. And restaurant hosts from anywhere in the world do not have names I can even pronounce so trying to read a name with few vowels and very long or even say it to myself is sometimes impossible. Blaze names are on their hats, or supposed to be, written in chalk which is often rubbed partially off or they never turn their head. My solution for you is to work for companies that ask for a description if you cannot get a name. There are many of them.

November 15, 2017 03:01AM

@sandyf wrote:

I often cannot read the name tag for a variety of reasons but most of the msc I work for are forgiving. Some even have a check off box for could not get name or something like that. I have had issues with parking jobs when the person is inside a booth and does not turn all the way towards me. This happens on other jobs as well when a name is requested for someone who I have a 5 second interaction with. And in my town there are many names not familiar to my American upbringing even though I have traveled a lot. The parking lots seem to be staffed by Ethiopians who have long names sometimes. And restaurant hosts from anywhere in the world do not have names I can even pronounce so trying to read a name with few vowels and very long or even say it to myself is sometimes impossible. Blaze names are on their hats, or supposed to be, written in chalk which is often rubbed partially off or they never turn their head. My solution for you is to work for companies that ask for a description if you cannot get a name. There are many of them.

Yes, usually the MSCs do ask for a description if I cannot get the name.

November 15, 2017 04:03AM

So you know every business within a 50 mile radius and if you will be able to read a name tag?

I don't look at name tags when I'm not mystery shopping so it often comes as a surprise to me, Like the one a few weeks ago with tiny black font on a small gold badge. I've found tags from the same location can have different fonts with smaller ones being used for longer names. Then there are the temporary handwritten name tags and all the damn lanyards.

@isaiah58 wrote:

I only request opportunities that I am capable of fufilling. If you can not read name tags then how can you make other more important observations?

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

November 15, 2017 10:29AM

I had a dousy today. The name was, I kid you not," UFuk." I normally repeat the name when speaking to the employee, but I just couldn't. It was a revealed audit and I couldn't resist telling the guy he needed to be careful with that name in this country. He laughed and told me it meant, Horizon??? It was also not pronounced the way I would have pronounced it. LOL

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

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November 15, 2017 02:35PM

I was at a Ross store the other day, and the cashier had her name tag on upside down. I know she did it intentionally. I had to really stare at her tag to get the letters, but I did not say anything to her. I felt it was a supervisor's job to correct her behavior.

November 15, 2017 02:53PM

Many guidelines will allow a detailed description of the employee in lieu of a name. If the guidelines are silent on that point, check with your scheduler before you do the shop. I've had many shops where I cannot read the name tag because it's faded, long hair obscures it, or a sweater covers all but a partial view. I just did a shop the other day where the employee hung her reading glasses directly over the name tag covering all but the first few letters and another where is was a night time valet shop where it was simply too dark. As long as your reports states that the employee was wearing a name tag, the employee should get credit. You simply need to add a comment that you were unable to read the name tag because ...

November 15, 2017 03:32PM

Maybe I misunderstood the problem. There is a big difference between bad eyesight and hard to read nametags. There are remedies for bad eyesight we can control. I make sure that I have my eyeglasses on.

On many occasions I can not read a name tag, many if those situations were mentioned already. Small font, faded, poorly displayed... associates moving quickly and not facing forward.

Yet the OP clearly identifies Bad Eyesight as the primary issue. So, yes do not perform shops that having bad eyesight would be a problem. Avoid having to read nametags if that is a problem.

@LisaSTL wrote:

So you know every business within a 50 mile radius and if you will be able to read a name tag?

I don't look at name tags when I'm not mystery shopping so it often comes as a surprise to me, Like the one a few weeks ago with tiny black font on a small gold badge. I've found tags from the same location can have different fonts with smaller ones being used for longer names. Then there are the temporary handwritten name tags and all the damn lanyards.

@isaiah58 wrote:

I only request opportunities that I am capable of fufilling. If you can not read name tags then how can you make other more important observations?

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

November 15, 2017 03:57PM

Put description which works in place of name...many times my grocery shops have the employees name tag covered by apron or sweater. I write a good description which I text to myself and have never been called out on it. When your server takes your order they are NOT walking fast, check it out.....shouldn't be a problem.

Live consciously....

November 15, 2017 04:00PM

Remember, some shops actually want us to ask for names even if we can't read name tags or aren't wearing a name tag. So it all depends on your situation.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

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