Might have inadvertently stumbed onto a shopper submitting fake photos..yikes!!!..

Hi all,

Not going to mention the msc in case they lurk here.

I'm shopping multilple shops for a new to me msc this week. First couple went okay reports included.

Or so I thought...

I get an email stating that the exterior photos dont match what a previous shopper has submitted.

I double checked my receipt a gazillion times to make sure the receipt address matches the report address..and they do

very strange

Has anything odd like this happened to you?

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2018 09:13AM by dawnhu.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

It’s nothing a Google Street View can’t confirm.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I did a storage shop over the summer. The employee had to be new because she missed so many metrics. I did my report. MSC told me that the employee didn't work there, according to the client. I told the MSC to request an updated employee list. I guess they did because I didn't hear any more on the matter.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Did a teller inquiry at a bank. The teller had a name plate with a complicated last name, but no name tag was worn. I memorized that name for my report. In addition, I asked her how to pronounce it. She obliged and told me its me its meaning in her homeland. Bank contested the report and claimed that no one of that name had ever worked there. I appealed, to no avail. About 18 months later I did a platform shop at the same branch. That teller, with the same name plate, was working.

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.

I had the same issue and resolved it by sending the picture directly to the scheduler. I asked them to download the picture and view the photo details. All my pictures are location and time stamp. They apologized, "when pictures are uploaded, the location stamp is not visible."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2018 01:42PM by sstazz.

This occurred for me with ath on two occasions. On each, and after far too much time on my end, they admitted I was right. I decided their shops were not worth it to me and have not accepted any work for them it over ten years.

It's a bit harsh to say another shopper submitted fake photos. He/she might have erred and uploaded photos from another shop. He/she might also have submitted an exterior photo taken from a different angle than yours.

I once took two exterior photos of a shop location from two different angles. One was a close up of the front entrance side of the business, showing the name of the business. The other was from farther away and showed two sides of the building, with the name of the business on each side.

I then got a request from the editor to upload an exterior photo. When I opened the SASSIE form, I saw that no exterior photo was there.

I was sure I had uploaded an exterior photo (or there would have been an "Oops" and I would not have been able to submit my report the first time). I don't know if there was a glitch and SASSIE stripped the photo or if the editor thought I uploaded a wrong/fake photo. I unloaded the second (farther away, different angle) photo, and the shop was accepted. I hope the editor/MSC didn't think I submitted a fake photo the first time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2018 07:24PM by SueGraftonFan.

Happened to me with Maritz. They questioned my photos after comparing them with those of another shopper. I stood my ground (though it was only one email response from me) and was paid.

I have has the this employee doesn’t work here when I have the name from the shop and a card.

I also had one declined because the bathroom photo did not match previous bathroom photos. I stayed on top of that and got it approved.

Liz

A menu board photo from the same place at two different angles had completely different backgrounds and foregrounds! But it was the same place!

A gas pump photo had what appeared to be the same building in the background on both sides. The store accross the street was exactly the same color/shape as the station's convenience store.

I did a gas station report and the validation process said the previous shopped stated there was no restaurant inside, and for me to check my answer. What an idiot or cheat that other shopper must have been, I thought, because there clearly was a restaurant inside busily serving plates to customers -- impossible to miss. Then I realized that idiot was me, because I was the previous shopper, lol.

I did check my old photos, and was relieved to find the restauant was a new addition. The same thing could happen to an exterior photo.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2018 07:27PM by mystery2me.

As others have said, the angle of the photo can make a difference. I shop a particular station often and take the exterior photo from the same spot. On one visit I decided to take the picture from a different angle and the the MSC said it was not the correct photo. I explained that it was the same station but taken from the other side of the lot. It was then accepted.

@SueGraftonFan wrote:

It's a bit harsh to say another shopper submitted fake photos. He/she might have erred and uploaded photos from another shop. He/she might also have submitted an exterior photo taken from a different angle than yours.

I once took two exterior photos of a shop location from two different angles. One was a close up of the front entrance side of the business, showing the name of the business. The other was from farther away and showed two sides of the building, with the name of the business on each side.

I then got a request from the editor to upload an exterior photo. When I opened the SASSIE form, I saw that no exterior photo was there.

I was sure I had uploaded an exterior photo (or there would have been an "Oops" and I would not have been able to submit my report the first time). I don't know if there was a glitch and SASSIE stripped the photo or if the editor thought I uploaded a wrong/fake photo. I unloaded the second (farther away, different angle) photo, and the shop was accepted. I hope the editor/MSC didn't think I submitted a fake photo the first time.

I've had a couple of recent shops where they said I didn't upload one photo or another. I agree with you, how was I able to submit the shop without having a required field, the photo completed? I just e-mailed all the photos I had of what they wanted and never heard anything more.

Before I posted..I emailed the msc back and told them the same thing. That I thought the shopper just took the photo from the other side of the lot..hence why the signs don't match.

After I sent the email, I knew I was at the right place and on the other side of the lot is a very busy 4 way red light street...so in my mind it would be close to impossible to get a good exterior photo from that side of the lot. Which is why my mind went to fake photos but you all are probably right..kudos to that shopper though..have no idea how they got decent pictures from that angle?

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2018 02:10AM by dawnhu.

I recently got an email from ACL about an exterior photo not matching what a previous shopper's photo looked like, asking if it was from a different location (the receipt address matched so I found that odd). I had the report open on my phone when I took the pic. Probably just a different angle.

Dawnhu, I have taken ohotos of locations from across the street before by zooming in, so it can be done.

I had a reloadable VISA shop where the editor questioned the photo I submitted. It was at a large strip mall, where the street addr is posted on a sign at the street. The exterior shop photo I submitted only had the suite number and she wanted the street number in the same pic as the front of the store. I did eventually get paid, but it was NOT worth the few dollars and I will never waste my time on those types of shops again.

Question....if you see another shopper, is it o.k. to ask them and introduce yourself, has never happened, but with all the newer shoppers up here, wondering.

Live consciously....

Don't know that I would introduce myself (on the off chance that I was wrong), but I have shocked another shopper who wasn't as covert as she thought she was. "Say hi to YYY at XXX for me, will ya?" Her face said I got it right.

"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

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Question....if you see another shopper, is it o.k. to ask them and introduce yourself, has never happened, but with all the newer shoppers up here, wondering.

I would hate it if you did this to me unless we were both at a function for shoppers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2018 01:41AM by SueGraftonFan.

I would only do so if we were both conducting announced audits. You never really know who could overhear. Then you would both be outed and never able to shop the location again. If another shopper outed me at a location I could MS regularly, it would piss me off.

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.

I had this happen. Had a terrible time convincing the editor that the gas station had been torn down and rebuilt since the last shop even though my overall photo showed some construction fencing and equipment still on the premises. I provided the GPS coordinates from my photo and the GPS coordinates for the address, which matched, to no avail. Finally, a supervisor contacted corporate and they confirmed the station had been rebuilt.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2018 02:56PM by whiterosie.

@dawnhu wrote:

Before I posted..I emailed the msc back and told them the same thing. That I thought the shopper just took the photo from the other side of the lot..hence why the signs don't match.

After I sent the email, I knew I was at the right place and on the other side of the lot is a very busy 4 way red light street...so in my mind it would be close to impossible to get a good exterior photo from that side of the lot. Which is why my mind went to fake photos but you all are probably right..kudos to that shopper though..have no idea how they got decent pictures from that angle?

I've gone into the street or even across it in order to get a decent picture.

I had something similar with a Cinnabon shop. We were required to look for a specific sign, I stated where I looked and that there was none. The MSc wrote asking again where I looked as another shopper had submitted contrary. I was paid and did not hear back.

I agree with those of you getting ‘missing photo’ comments from editors when you can’t submit without the photos being there. So frustrating to have to upload same thing multiple times. And it would be nice if editors admitted they made a mistake once in awhile, like accidentally deleting a photo or two.

I had been doing revealed shops at a grocery store for MF. One month, i went there and saw and overheard another shopper talking to the store manager (as required) and I could see that the paperwork was the same as I would have had if i was doing the shop. HOWEVER she was explaining everything that she was not going to do because she knew it was always perfect. I was so tempted to say to her (out of sight of the manager) that I was out of rotation and often did the same shop. I decided to button my lip.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I used to do covert gas station shops for a large MSC. There is one here in a location where signage is restricted by municipality and there is not a certain sign they usually require. I had shopped that location multiple times. My photos and explanations showed there was not xx sign. A must've-been-new editor insisted there was a sign because "there is always xx sign." Back and forth multiple emails and she told me to go back and get the photo. Normally I would not have, but I had to run an errand right there, anyway (5 min away), so I snapped multiple photos from the intersection and pasted them into a panoramic. "Show me where the sign is, and I'll go get a picture of it," I stated. I copied the scheduler. My report was approved immediately, and I was copied by the scheduler explaining to the editor that this location indeed did not have that sign. SMH....

@LisaSTL wrote:

I would only do so if we were both conducting announced audits. You never really know who could overhear. Then you would both be outed and never able to shop the location again. If another shopper outed me at a location I could MS regularly, it would piss me off.

I actually had this exact thing happen. We were both doing a "what's your cheapest cigarettes?" shop, and the employee answered with both brands we were looking for. Worked out well and we seemed to be on a similar route, because I got another couple where the employee said "there was just a mystery shopper here." I described the lady I met and they confirmed it was the same.

I haven't had false photo happen, but I always take pic of outside of building showing address (just in case).
Remember how easy it is to become a shopper, many must be flakes...just sayin.....

Live consciously....

Most buildings in Los Angeles do not have addresses on them anymore...Hey every time I do a post office shop I look for the address on the building as it is one of the questions. I find the address, even on these government buildings, about 10 % of the time. It is annoying to me. There was another thread not long ago talking about places no longer having addresses because every one uses a GPS. Well not me. GPS does not always take you to the right exact location. I like to look out the window to see if I am at the right place.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Might have inadvertently stumbed onto a shopper submitting fake photos..yikes!!!..

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine