I did my first one under the new program. I used to do a lot of these shops but quit for several reasons, not the least of which is that TS called me one day and basically said I was being too harsh on the employees.
You see, each month I did quite a few of the high-end stores but twice as many of the low end stores. I was always very positive about the high-end stores but generally rated the low-end stores pretty harshly. Sorry, but the stores smelled like maggoty meat, there were feces and urine where there should not have been, the employees were rude, you had to walk over drunks in the parking lot, fist fights in the store, panhandlers, truly insane and threatening people, and the stores were always dirty, stinky, and not fully stocked. So, statiscally, overall my ratings were low in comparison to other shoppers who were not necessarily shopping the stores or even the same chain.
TS basically said I had to be kinder and gentler even if it was not honest. That combined with a couple other things and I pretty much quit doing them. But I shop areas and stores no one else wants so they were always begging me to do them. I rarely gave in.
But today I broke down and did one. These are so much easier!! Plus I liked being able to discuss atmosphere without getting my hand slapped.
I'm sure if I continue to do these, my stats will still be lower if I fill out the report honestly because there are no worse grocery stores than the ones I shop. But at least for the short term, management will be getting an honest evaulation as to why normal people won't step foot inside these stores. Hopefully, TS allows my comments to go through without deleting the negative stuff.