FNG, Mickey M, Forest Gump, IForgotMyNametag, Romeo Romeo, etc. Sometimes it's hard to know if they're joking or not. Are they pranking me?

If I need someone's name I pretend I think I know them. I look at them quizzically and say, "are you John's friend Nathan?" or whatever. And then they say no, and I say, "Well, I swear I know you. Did you use to live on X street?" Or at restaurants that want you to get a server, manager, and bartender name, I hop over to host and ask them for the names I still need. IF they say, "Why, was there a problem?" I say, "No, I'm just trying to figure out if I know him/her or not. Do you know if they live near the Target on France?" Because I would never ask someone for their name at any type of store/business in real life, it feels really unnatural to me to ask directly. And I never want to be suspected of a being a shopper. Given the crap service I usually get, I'm pretty sure no one has ever figured it out.

The one thing I do (whether they ask for a description or not) is I write down a full description "in case" I get the report sent back because the person had someone else's name tag on. I figure it covers all my bases and I will hopefully be paid if someone "borrows" someone else's name tag.

@rothers27 wrote:

If I need someone's name I pretend I think I know them. I look at them quizzically and say, "are you John's friend Nathan?" or whatever. And then they say no, and I say, "Well, I swear I know you. Did you use to live on X street?" Or at restaurants that want you to get a server, manager, and bartender name, I hop over to host and ask them for the names I still need. IF they say, "Why, was there a problem?" I say, "No, I'm just trying to figure out if I know him/her or not. Do you know if they live near the Target on France?" Because I would never ask someone for their name at any type of store/business in real life, it feels really unnatural to me to ask directly. And I never want to be suspected of a being a shopper. Given the crap service I usually get, I'm pretty sure no one has ever figured it out.

I hate to break it to you, but you are way more obvious by asking odd questions than you are simply asking them their name. If it's uncomfortable just say "you've been helpful, what's your name?" Or just say "thanks for your help, what's your name again?" None of those are odd. Asking if someone is Sam that lives on France is odd. Nobody does that and if someone did it to me I would say no and feel uncomfortable. I would not give my name as a response to that either. That would make you much more memorable.

@bgriffin wrote:

@rothers27 wrote:

If I need someone's name I pretend I think I know them. I look at them quizzically and say, "are you John's friend Nathan?" or whatever. And then they say no, and I say, "Well, I swear I know you. Did you use to live on X street?" Or at restaurants that want you to get a server, manager, and bartender name, I hop over to host and ask them for the names I still need. IF they say, "Why, was there a problem?" I say, "No, I'm just trying to figure out if I know him/her or not. Do you know if they live near the Target on France?" Because I would never ask someone for their name at any type of store/business in real life, it feels really unnatural to me to ask directly. And I never want to be suspected of a being a shopper. Given the crap service I usually get, I'm pretty sure no one has ever figured it out.

I hate to break it to you, but you are way more obvious by asking odd questions than you are simply asking them their name. If it's uncomfortable just say "you've been helpful, what's your name?" Or just say "thanks for your help, what's your name again?" None of those are odd. Asking if someone is Sam that lives on France is odd. Nobody does that and if someone did it to me I would say no and feel uncomfortable. I would not give my name as a response to that either. That would make you much more memorable.

For the types of shops I do, and for my normal interactions with people, I'd never say to someone, "you've been so helpful, what is your name?" that would be very uncomfortable to me, especially if the person whose name I need isn't very helpful or nice. It works for me, everyone has their own approach!

For me, I always use a direct approach, but I have already built the foundation by the time I get to the end of the transaction even though I despise small talk...so in the scenario I probably would have said something like oh, it looks like you guys are so busy today or slow today, depending on what the situation is, from there you can kind of gauge if you can go further into the conversation with chat about the weather etc; after that once the teller seems a bit more relaxed I will usually compliment a female about jewelry she has on, and ask her where she got it so i can get something similar myself. For guys, I do struggle a bit more,to make it not awkward, so in this case if the teller was wearing a watch, I would compliment on that and then ask him where he got it so I can get one for my boyfriend. Then at the end, when they've handed me the receipt or the deposit slip, if I haven't got a name by then, when I'm putting the slip away in my purse, I would say, "What was your name again, I didn't catch it before....this really works alot of the time, because let's be honest most of us, even though we are at work really don't want to work, even if it means 3-5 minutes of small talk with a stranger.

I know this won't work for everybody, but it is what works for me the majority of the time..

I know in this scenario, the teller might have still refused, so not really sure how I would have handled that



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2018 02:27AM by dawnhu.

That the teller didn't just say their name is very odd. Hopefully, this teller will loose their job. Why would anyone want to bank where a teller is afraid to give their name. The only thing you could have done, and I've done that before, is to call the bank, ask for the manager and ask the manager for the teller's name.

And that the shopping company had your receipt and then asked if you went to the correct bank is just off the wall.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2018 03:42AM by JerseyGirlShopper.

In this situation, I would have called the bank later and asked what his name was, especially if my, "Are you Nathan, from 'random town'? didn't work. I've never done a bank though, although the tellers at my real-life bank are super friendly and would jump at the opportunity to use their business card. I would definitely put it in the report that the teller refused to provide his name and therefore, I was only able to get a description and/or had to call the bank later and ask a manager what his name was. When I have trouble getting a required part of an assignment done, I always explain why, and describe the effort I went through to get the information. I absolutely HATE when I get an email later for clarification on something.

I did a Papa Johns shop the other day, and I got an email asking me to upload clearer pictures. I emailed the person all 20 of the photos I took. The pizza looked that way! It's not the camera! If I ever do a shop again for them, I'm going to explain, in detail, that pizza wasn't distinguishable in person, and as such, the pictures aren't. Or else order a pepperoni only pizza. Pepperoni is easy to distinguish. Tomatoes and mushrooms apparently, not so much. If you can't tell there is tomato and mushroom on it from a foot away with your own eyes, of course at the 90 degree angle, all 4-corners of the box showing frame you won't. AHG.

I digress.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2018 08:18AM by rothers27.

Recently, I did a highly bonused shop at a retail location where associates do not wear name tags. The report required me to get the names of the associate who assisted me and the cashier. The associate who assisted me showed me where an item was, then immediately left and did not return to the floor during my visit. I did not get the opportunity to ask a follow-up question, much less ask for a name. The cashier interaction took all of 30 seconds, and the cashier was a young, attractive female (I am not any of those things). I had no plausible reason to ask her for her name as a part of the interaction without being suspected of being a shopper - or someone with bad motives, if you know what I mean.

I explained all of this in detail in my report, believing that I would not be paid for this report, but it was accepted without question. Moral - do your best and be thorough in your report. If you should be paid and are not, then that MSC finds itself on your 10-foot pole list..

UPDATE:.The MSC has rejected the report. I willl be terminating my IC agreement.

This is terrible news. Please tell me the name of the company so that I do not work for them as I can not afford to have my work rejected for something way beyond my control.

That's awful, janalou! You did all you could do. Shame on that MSC!!

They are sticking by their guns about the name. I was offered a re-shop on it. NFW.

That happened at crappy credit union a few months back. I referred to the teller by the name on her name tag. She said she forgot her name tag and was wearing someone elses.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

They do. But I would guess this is far more likely at a casual eatery or a convenience store, not at a bank.

@mjt9598 wrote:

Sometimes employees wear other people's name tags when they forget theirs.

That SUCKS! Which MSC!

@janalou wrote:

UPDATE:.The MSC has rejected the report. I willl be terminating my IC agreement.