Or cutting back severely, just taking a shop here and there a few times a year. I will not name the names of the MSC or any individuals/organizations involved - this is not that kind of post. I more want to just post to you'all what you can find yourself facing as a mystery shopper and what I recently faced.

Last Wednesday, I arrived on the campus of a local private university to do a mystery shop of a food outlet at the Student Union. Part of this shop is the requirement to check in with Campus Security - which is certainly reasonable given the number of school shootings over the past decade. There is also a requirement that I did not meet - let me admit this here and now - to print out some kind of letter regarding your visit. I did not keep up with this shop change - once again, admitting this here and now - as the last time I did this shop and checked in with security, I was able to show on my smartphone that I had been assigned this shop. At any rate, I did not have the letter.

I interacted with the Campus Security Manager, who was very hostile, aggressive, and in my face - completely on an overbearing power trip. It's fine that I was denied entry to campus and am out the $13 and a reimbursed meal - such is not going to end my world. What does matter here is that while I was not in fear of my life - that would be going too far - I was in fear of an unlawful arrest, and/or physical harm for no legal reason. I booked and left campus quickly in a great deal of fear. So, many people would let it go here. I could not, as I understand that the next mystery shopper is vulnerable to unlawful arrest and/or illegal physical harm by this Security Manager if I do nothing and I refuse to be complicit in such evil.

So I did something that will alienate many people here and that's your right, I don't hold this against you but I don't agree with you, either. I broke my anonymity as I could not live with myself leaving the next mystery shopper vulnerable to this unstable, loose cannon Security Manager. I could easily see a mystery shopper who did not leave quickly in fear as I did but rather attempted to explain that this was all legit being unlawfully arrested or physically assaulted by the Security Manager.

Getting to the point, I spent several hours calling between a Special Events Officer on Campus, The Department of Public Safety on Campus, the owner of the Mystery Shop Company (who I credit with taking this seriously and handling this well, kudos to this one person!), and the University President's Office. I stressed all along the way on recorded lines (and I was recording, too, naturally as I live in a one party state and such is legal here) that I was not after money, that I was only protecting the next innocent mystery shopper, someone I'm likely never to meet or be thanked by, and that were I in Nazi Era Germany I'd be hiding Jews at the risk of my own life (this last stated to give an idea of the type of mentality before them).

Long and short of the story is that I did get resolution - though I broke anonymity all over the place (and will pay any consequence therefore to protect the next innocent person from this Security Manager) the shop has been restructured in such a way that no interaction with Campus Security will be necessary going forward. So the issue I encountered has been addressed, and since I'm not seeking any money as I made repeatedly clear numerous times, I'm happy to cease my activism and this here is all I was seeking and is enough. I did call the President's Office, stating the though I'm an outsider, and therefore have no power in HR issues, something needs to be done about the Campus Security Manager as the next person might be money motivated and not willing to be bought off by a policy change alone. I recommended squelching his/her power and monitoring for a period of a couple of years to protect the university from multi million dollar lawsuits. I also stressed that we are in a one party state and that this Security Manager is extremely vulnerable to smartphone video and audio.

As I said, I am an outsider and my above recommendation will likely be ignored. I've done what I can and I've managed to get things restructured so this will not happen again - at least mystery shoppers will not have to interact with Campus Security going forward. So now likely there will be fewer shops for me - perhaps I have already been blacklisted. It's worth it to me to protect the next person - had I done nothing and let this sit I'd be just as guilty as the Campus Security Manager is. So I've made my choice and I can live with it. If I'm done mystery shopping, so be it. If anyone is interested I'd be glad to come back in a few months and post if I'm getting shops or not.....let me know in comments and if anyone is interested, I'll be glad to follow through.

Lastly, I post this here mostly to let you'all know this is the risk you may be taking when you take a shop - if you have morals and ethics and they are important to you, you could find yourself in a similar situation. I chose moral and ethics for the win.....at least I can live with myself even if this sideline dries up for me now since I have morals and ethics and am not afraid to address situations such as this with them.

Anyone read all of this? Thank You for the respect to do so. I have yet to mention MSC or the University and I'd rather not though I do believe the MSC owner deserves some public kudos for being decent about things. The sense I got from him/her (I'd rather not even give out gender) is that they'd rather not have the public kudos so I'm respecting that. And also, I'd like to state that I am very grateful that I did not have to get local media involved, I was going to wait until Monday afternoon to do so as the President's Office of this University did say they'd be back to me by Monday afternoon. So at least I didn't have to amp things up to protect the next innocent person from Campus Security.

And should anyone wonder, what's the big deal with protecting yourself from Campus Security - an unlawful arrest on their part will ruin your life in the sense of facing employment and housing discrimination the rest of your life, and you likely will not be able to claim political asylum nor immigrate to one of the better countries to start over somewhere better. IT'S A HUGE DEAL WHAT I ESCAPED - it really is.

One bit of advice: I'd avoid any shop going forward with either a University setting or a security component. Too many power trippers out there, too little regard for human rights and the rule of law, too much risk for such little if any real gain. Be safe everyone, and if you don't agree with my actions, that's cool. I hold this against no one - we all have to live with ourselves that way that we see fit as I did here.

Safe shopping! Squireparty

Squire states:

There is also a requirement that I did not meet - let me admit this here and now - to print out some kind of letter regarding your visit. I did not keep up with this shop change - once again, admitting this here and now - as the last time I did this shop and checked in with security, I was able to show on my smartphone that I had been assigned this shop. At any rate, I did not have the letter.

Bob's comment:

That says it all. I compliment Squire for his/her candor.

@shopperbob wrote:

Squire states:

There is also a requirement that I did not meet - let me admit this here and now - to print out some kind of letter regarding your visit. I did not keep up with this shop change - once again, admitting this here and now - as the last time I did this shop and checked in with security, I was able to show on my smartphone that I had been assigned this shop. At any rate, I did not have the letter.

Bob's comment:

That says it all. I compliment Squire for his/her candor.

LOL it's his candor as I am male. Thank Your for your civil reply. Squireparty

I have seen a shop very similar to this (possibly the same one?) and have contemplated signing up for it. My gut told me this sounded like too much of a hassle to get on campus, so I always avoided it. Thank you for posting this and I am glad the MSC was able to make necessary changes for any future shoppers.

@Lauraphx wrote:

I have seen a shop very similar to this (possibly the same one?) and have contemplated signing up for it. My gut told me this sounded like too much of a hassle to get on campus, so I always avoided it. Thank you for posting this and I am glad the MSC was able to make necessary changes for any future shoppers.

Laurainphx....Thank You. I am in Phoenix, also - I will give this much away as regulars here know this about me and have for some time, anyway, and it sounds like you were able to pinpoint the shop based on this. Thank You for not mentioning the institution nor the MSC involved.....I'm not out to retaliate, and I Thank You very much as you seem to understand the motivation(s) behind my actions/behavior. Safe shopping to you! Squireparty

That'a a lot of drama for a food court shop. Just sayin'

@squireparty wrote:

that I was only protecting the next innocent mystery shopper, someone I'm likely never to meet or be thanked by, and that were I in Nazi Era Germany I'd be hiding Jews at the risk of my own life (this last stated to give an idea of the type of mentality before them).

This is over the top disgusting. When you have relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust, feel free to use such a comparison.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2019 07:53PM by SoCalMama.

@SoCalMama wrote:

That'a a lot of drama for a food court shop. Just sayin'

LOL I will not disagree with you. My motivation was solely to protect the next person from this Campus Security Manager and not money - not that you ever stated such was my motivation, to be fair and clear - I just wanted to reiterate why I broke a cardinal sin of mystery shopping and smashed my anonymity as a shopper. Squireparty

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2019 07:52PM by squireparty.

Thank you, and not my place to call out the parties involved i'm glad that situation didn't escalate because it sounds like it was very close to doing so. Good luck to you moving forward!

Squire,
I doubt that you will be blacklisted. Any MSC that would contemplate that is one I would not want to work with. I think that you did the right thing. Moreover, the fact that the client and MSC have restructured the shop to avoid a required contact with campus security is, to me, evidence that neither has animus towards you or your behavior.

This is the sort of "drama" that does need to be aired, IMHO.

@Lauraphx wrote:

Thank you, and not my place to call out the parties involved i'm glad that situation didn't escalate because it sounds like it was very close to doing so. Good luck to you moving forward!

'Thank You, Lauraphx. Appreciate your comment very much I do. Squireparty

@SoCalMama wrote:

That'a a lot of drama for a food court shop. Just sayin'

@squireparty wrote:

that I was only protecting the next innocent mystery shopper, someone I'm likely never to meet or be thanked by, and that were I in Nazi Era Germany I'd be hiding Jews at the risk of my own life (this last stated to give an idea of the type of mentality before them).

This is over the top disgusting. When you have relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust, feel free to use such a comparison.

Murdered no, but I do have relatives since passed that hid in Austria during the Holocaust - not Jewish but political undesirables - so I feel free to somewhat use the comparison, though I will also grant that it's not 100 percent the same thing. And I would have hid people to save lives at the risk of my own life. Not that this is relevant to this shop issue but I did witness white on white police brutality when I was 8 years old the Summer of 1975 in rural New Hampshire - with nothing at all happening to the police officer involved who I understand retired on a full pension in the 80's and moved to Puerto Rico. My point is that perhaps due to this and due to the fact that I luckily saw the very dark side of America so young, I'm able to stand up for the rights of others? Who knows, maybe it's a genetic thing, I don't know. But I seem to have been blessed slashed cursed with this ability. We all have our crosses to bear I guess. Here I mean only to inform other shoppers what's out there and my one takeway for others that I'd like to leave - avoid shops with University settings and/or security components. Safe shopping! Squireparty

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2019 08:09PM by squireparty.

@walesmaven wrote:

Squire,
I doubt that you will be blacklisted. Any MSC that would contemplate that is one I would not want to work with. I think that you did the right thing. Moreover, the fact that the client and MSC have restructured the shop to avoid a required contact with campus security is, to me, evidence that neither has animus towards you or your behavior.

This is the sort of "drama" that does need to be aired, IMHO.

Thank You, Walesmaven. For your kind words and for your apparent understanding of why I did this. We'll see how this impacts me going forward. If it does, this is a sideline for me, not FT, so it's not a crisis if it does but there are MSCs I will miss and shops I will miss. We'll see and thanks again! for your kind words. Squireparty

squire, while I truly applaud and thank you for your actions and the lengths you went to to seek justice, I don't think you should let one a-hole ruin mystery shopping for you.

Just a note from the scheduling company (without naming names of MSP or end client also), we have scheduled 2 shops a month at that location and have NEVER had this issue, because all previous shoppers printed out the authorization letter and took it in with them when they went. This MSP is super upset that this happened to you and called me personally to talk to me about it. My scheduling account manager was also apologetic and nice to you. You ARE being paid (I know this is not about money to you). It was a very unfortunate event that would not have happened had you printed out the letter and taken it with you. You are not blacklisted from KSS or any of our MSPs, even though you failed to complete the shop per the guidelines. We are all sorry this happened to you, because we agree that it was inappropriate and wrong and it is being addressed with the end client.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

squire, while I truly applaud and thank you for your actions and the lengths you went to to seek justice, I don't think you should let one a-hole ruin mystery shopping for you.

Thank Your for your reply, HonnyBrown. As I've said ,we'll see. I've been mystery shopping since 2010, though not anywhere near FT these days, and this is the first time I've ever run across anything quite like this.....never until now have I felt or been compelled to act/behave in such a way due to anything I've encountered during the course of a shop, even those few shops that have went way south for me. So I don't know what to expect, could be nothing (?) I really don't know. Certainly I have smashed my anonymity, which of course is a no-no taught to us in what passes for Mystery Shopper 101 and I freely admit that I did indeed do this and I made that choice of my own free will. For the reasons that I have stated in my novel length post above.

Once again, we'll see how this plays out going forward. Squireparty

Too long amd dramatic post. I am not sure if I got the point. To protect next mystery shopper...?! I understandshop guidelines were not followed. The letter was part of the guidelines for a reason. I have done movie theater shops and, to enter the theater, I needed a letter....

@Lorri Kern KSS wrote:

Just a note from the scheduling company (without naming names of MSP or end client also), we have scheduled 2 shops a month at that location and have NEVER had this issue, because all previous shoppers printed out the authorization letter and took it in with them when they went. This MSP is super upset that this happened to you and called me personally to talk to me about it. My scheduling account manager was also apologetic and nice to you. You ARE being paid (I know this is not about money to you). It was a very unfortunate event that would not have happened had you printed out the letter and taken it with you. You are not blacklisted from KSS or any of our MSPs, even though you failed to complete the shop per the guidelines. We are all sorry this happened to you, because we agree that it was inappropriate and wrong and it is being addressed with the end client.

Lori, Thank You.

I very much respect you for stepping in here and posting as you did. It is true that I did not have the letter - fessing up to this right here and now. And yes, the MSC owner was very decent, I mean very decent about everything and worked with the one Campus Security person at the Office of Public Safety on Campus to achieve resolution. There were indeed parties involved who took this seriously and worked for resolution, you are very much right in stating so.

If you choose to pay me I will not fight you but as I stated to the MSC owner, my solution is to take the money to a local food bank or perhaps cash the check and buy canned goods with it for a food bank. At least this is a positive, constructive way to handle this, at least in my mind. And I would like to state that as I stated to the MSC owner, who I don't in any way shape or form hold accountable for this incident - I don't hold KSS accountable, either. How could KSS or the MSC know this was going to happen? There is no sane way I could hold anyone accountable here beyond the Campus Security Manager. And I very much, and I mean very much, respect you for understanding that money is not the goal here.

Kudos to you for your post and your understanding! I will then look forward to taking/applying for KSS shops going forward.

Sincerely,

Squireparty
Phoenix, AZ

@squireparty wrote:

@Lorri Kern KSS wrote:

Just a note from the scheduling company (without naming names of MSP or end client also), we have scheduled 2 shops a month at that location and have NEVER had this issue, because all previous shoppers printed out the authorization letter and took it in with them when they went. This MSP is super upset that this happened to you and called me personally to talk to me about it. My scheduling account manager was also apologetic and nice to you. You ARE being paid (I know this is not about money to you). It was a very unfortunate event that would not have happened had you printed out the letter and taken it with you. You are not blacklisted from KSS or any of our MSPs, even though you failed to complete the shop per the guidelines. We are all sorry this happened to you, because we agree that it was inappropriate and wrong and it is being addressed with the end client.

Lori, Thank You.

I very much respect you for stepping in here and posting as you did. It is true that I did not have the letter - fessing up to this right here and now. And yes, the MSC owner was very decent, I mean very decent about everything and worked with the one Campus Security person at the Office of Public Safety on Campus to achieve resolution. There were indeed parties involved who took this seriously and worked for resolution, you are very much right in stating so.

If you choose to pay me I will not fight you but as I stated to the MSC owner, my solution is to take the money to a local food bank or perhaps cash the check and buy canned goods with it for a food bank. At least this is a positive, constructive way to handle this, at least in my mind. And I would like to state that as I stated to the MSC owner, who I don't in any way shape or form hold accountable for this incident - I don't hold KSS accountable, either. How could KSS or the MSC know this was going to happen? There is no sane way I could hold anyone accountable here beyond the Campus Security Manager. And I very much, and I mean very much, respect you for understanding that money is not the goal here.

Kudos to you for your post and your understanding! I will then look forward to taking/applying for KSS shops going forward. Edited this post to come back and add that your scheduler was entirely decent regarding all of this too. I have no complaints nor issues with either KSS nor the involved MSC to be perfectly clear.

Sincerely,

Squireparty
Phoenix, AZ

@MikiNV wrote:

Too long amd dramatic post. I am not sure if I got the point. To protect next mystery shopper...?! I understandshop guidelines were not followed. The letter was part of the guidelines for a reason. I have done movie theater shops and, to enter the theater, I needed a letter....

The problem was the risk of an unlawful arrest or illegal physical altercation by this over the top Campus Security Manager. We all get to perceive things and events as we wish.....I grant you this here and now. In my world, just to be clear, an unlawful arrest that would haunt me the rest of my life (or the next shopper the rest of their life) via causing both employment and housing discrimination for no legal reason, coupled with an inability to immigrate to one of the better countries to start over, IS A UNAPOLOGETICALLY BIG DEAL. I see no way around that, but that's just me. And I did leave campus with no legal baggage or physical harm having taken place - this much is true and I state that here and now. However, had I not done what I did, it's possible that a future shopper would not be so lucky. I can't live with myself if I don't do something. I hope I've made my stance clear? Squireparty

Immigrate to one of the better countries to start over?! I have lived (and worked in three) in four different coutries, migrated once, was a refuge. You are in the best place in the world. Adjuat your attitude before you get in real trouble. If this happened to you on college campus, I would stay away from rougher places.
You did not follow the guidelines and you reveled yourself as a shopper, and you want to help other shoppers!? Once I stoped by a cop, I was not happy at all; he told me to remain where I was and stay calm, and if not, he would tase me. I swallowed my pride and stayed calm. It all finished fine.

Megalomania?

@MikiNV wrote:

Immigrate to one of the better countries to start over?! I have lived (and worked in three) in four different coutries, migrated once, was a refuge. You are in the best place in the world. Adjuat your attitude before you get in real trouble. If this happened to you on college campus, I would stay away from rougher places.
You did not follow the guidelines and you reveled yourself as a shopper, and you want to help other shoppers!? Once I stoped by a cop, I was not happy at all; he told me to remain where I was and stay calm, and if not, he would tase me. I swallowed my pride and stayed calm. It all finished fine.

Certainly you have every right to see this situation as you wish and to disagree with me. As it stands, I will wish you a good afternoon and I agree to disagree with you. May your shops go well in the New Year. Squireparty

Came back to add - the bit about immigrating - the logic here is that if you are unlawfully arrested and are facing a lifetime of housing and employment discrimination as a result thereof, what sane person would wish to stay in such a country, under these circumstances? My first instinct would be to flee - my point is that an unlawful arrest cuts off this option for you. This is why I bring this up in case anyone is wondering, and perhaps I should have made this much more clear as it is a bit controversial, I get that. So there's my rationale/logic regarding the out immigration issue.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2019 09:14PM by squireparty.

1. i love college campuses! The one near me is small, accessible even for outsiders, and a treat for me. Some of you might enjoy visiting it. There are a few assignments on campus, and a few more jobs off campus. When I did an on-campus shop, it was in another state, and at a campus that I visited more when I was a student and using libraries more than internet.

2. Being honest was the only way to go, imho.

3. Should you stop all mystery shopping because of one incident? I dunno... I believe that the truth will set you free and that a ms-ers freedom does not automatically mean being relieved of mystery shopping duties...

4. Small diatribe about a previously mentioned factor. Stop reading now, if this is preferred... In my little part of the world, a mentally ill person was killed in November by a law enforcement officer. November is, among other things, Holocaust month. Comments by various persons in the area do make it sound like our local mentally ill do nothing but clutter the jails, and therefore, they should not exist. Some people have expressed that they believe more money for mental health will solve this. They fail to recognize that what happened to a mentally ill person during Holocaust month sparks memory of the hideous and insidious mindsets behind the infamous showers and other mercy killings of the mentally ill and disabled. What could be wrong with training law enforcement personnel how to deal with ill persons? The first lesson? If they do not present a clear or immediate danger to anyone, leave them alone!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

5. I have only two assignments this month. I have reduced my shopping, etc. greatly because I added other work. This is not an example or suggestion for anyone else. It was just an answer to a question.

@SueGraftonFan wrote:

Megalomania?

Honestly, I didn't know what this word meant so I googled it. Ouch. Certainly you are free to view the world as you see fit, and it's not for me to state that your take is not valid. That said, in my world, standing up for the rights of others does not equal megalomania. Trying to prevent an overbearing, obviously having little regard for the rules of law Security Manager from arresting myself or a future shopper, trying to prevent this individual from crossing the line into a completely unwarranted physical altercation and all the nastiness and time consuming lawsuits that would of course follow - this is something that is neighborly and good in my world and by the standards by which I was raised. Your mileage may vary and I get that. I will end by saying that I calmly agree to disagree with your diagnosis, if that is in fact what your post was(?) Safe shopping in 2019 to you, Squireparty

Such an unnecesary and useless post. I see another post that you posted and it also makes no sense. Read the guidelines. Period.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

1. i love college campuses! The one near me is small, accessible even for outsiders, and a treat for me. Some of you might enjoy visiting it. There are a few assignments on campus, and a few more jobs off campus. When I did an on-campus shop, it was in another state, and at a campus that I visited more when I was a student and using libraries more than internet.

2. Being honest was the only way to go, imho.

3. Should you stop all mystery shopping because of one incident? I dunno... I believe that the truth will set you free and that a ms-ers freedom does not automatically mean being relieved of mystery shopping duties...

4. Small diatribe about a previously mentioned factor. Stop reading now, if this is preferred... In my little part of the world, a mentally ill person was killed in November by a law enforcement officer. November is, among other things, Holocaust month. Comments by various persons in the area do make it sound like our local mentally ill do nothing but clutter the jails, and therefore, they should not exist. Some people have expressed that they believe more money for mental health will solve this. They fail to recognize that what happened to a mentally ill person during Holocaust month sparks memory of the hideous and insidious mindsets behind the infamous showers and other mercy killings of the mentally ill and disabled. What could be wrong with training law enforcement personnel how to deal with ill persons? The first lesson? If they do not present a clear or immediate danger to anyone, leave them alone!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

5. I have only two assignments this month. I have reduced my shopping, etc. greatly because I added other work. This is not an example or suggestion for anyone else. It was just an answer to a question.

I agree with #4, Shop-et-al, especially your last sentence. I'd like to also state something I have yet to post in regards to this issue. The campus involved is not in the best part of Phoenix.....the presence of security on campus in and of itself is a good thing - even I would agree with this. And the need to have a mystery shopper check in with Security? Also a good thing. What went wrong here is that Campus Security Manager took things a bit too far - true, he could not know that even though I was obviously bathed, not homeless, and though not dressed like a CEO I was presentable and that I represented no threat - he escalated too fast and went too far too fast. This could have easily ended out having a very different ending, and I believe mystery shoppers need to evaluate the components of a shop (I didn't always do this before, truth be told, especially if a shop is close by and/or pays well. Live and learn) to gauge potential risk. Yes, this situation really was that bad. Thankfully, as I've already stated, there is no legal baggage on my plate nor physical harm on my plate from this experience. There's something to be very grateful for right there. And who knows? Perhaps some deescalation practices will be taking place now? I wouldn't count on it but it's possible. And at least this shop story ended out on a happy note with the shop being restructured. Things could have ended very differently. Gotta say I'm grateful to be sitting here in front of my laptop and not in a jail cell for no reason and not in ER or a hospital bed for no reason.

Happy shopping to you in 2019, btw! Squireparty

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2019 09:31PM by squireparty.

It sounds like something quite egregious happened to you, based on your original post (which was a bit hard to follow - but I assume that is because of the amount of emotional stress this event caused you, coupled with the fact that you did not want to give any specifics out of respect for the process and the MSC). This is backed up by the fact that KSS has publicly stated that what happened to you was wrong, and you are going to be paid (even though you did not complete the shop).

I'm very sorry that happened to you - I don't know what it is, but based on the emphatic nature of your words, it clearly was a big deal. As far as giving up MS because of the actions/experience on one shop - I would urge you to reconsider. Assuming you otherwise enjoy MS and/or it works for you - maybe just take some time away, and don't cut off the nose to spite the face? There are millions of people in this world that we could interact with on a day to day basis. There are 0.0001% that are bad/horrible people of the type that might create this sort of situation. In order to create a situation where you are 100% guaranteed to never have this sort of experience, you would not be able to interact with anyone, at any time, and think of the glorious experiences you might miss out on! That said, I would probably skip shops requiring campus visits in the future...

@MikiNV wrote:

Such an unnecesary and useless post. I see another post that you posted and it also makes no sense. Read the guidelines. Period.

Once again, I agree to disagree. I see a great deal of value in my post(s) regarding this experience. There are those who would consider such a threatening situation something to be alarmed about and to warn others about. And there are those would look the other way and accept it. I choose the former for $500 were Alex Trebek in our audience. Squireparty

@MickeyB wrote:

It sounds like something quite egregious happened to you, based on your original post (which was a bit hard to follow - but I assume that is because of the amount of emotional stress this event caused you, coupled with the fact that you did not want to give any specifics out of respect for the process and the MSC). This is backed up by the fact that KSS has publicly stated that what happened to you was wrong, and you are going to be paid (even though you did not complete the shop).

I'm very sorry that happened to you - I don't know what it is, but based on the emphatic nature of your words, it clearly was a big deal. As far as giving up MS because of the actions/experience on one shop - I would urge you to reconsider. Assuming you otherwise enjoy MS and/or it works for you - maybe just take some time away, and don't cut off the nose to spite the face? There are millions of people in this world that we could interact with on a day to day basis. There are 0.0001% that are bad/horrible people of the type that might create this sort of situation. In order to create a situation where you are 100% guaranteed to never have this sort of experience, you would not be able to interact with anyone, at any time, and think of the glorious experiences you might miss out on! That said, I would probably skip shops requiring campus visits in the future...

Thank You, MickeyB. Your post comes across as both sane and reasonable and I agree with what you have posted and about the .0001% (though I believe the number is higher than that). Regardless, I get your point and I agree with you. LOL and yes indeed I will be avoiding campus visits in the future. Good solid advice there. Squireparty

SquireParty, I too applaud you for taking these steps to make sure things are safe for future shoppers and anyone who has to come into contact with the particular security personnel you encountered.
In my experience many companies/government agencies have in recent years become very sensitive to those who perceive their status as a "guard" or "police person" as a ticket to abuse and lord it over the many innocent and/or guilty people they come into contact with indiscriminately. I have reported in the past issues where I felt endangered by some one who has stopped me and after reporting felt that all that happened was the old boy (or girl) network stepped in to cover for and protect their sister or brother. These days there have been so many lawsuits about this type of behavior I find the big brass you contact will at the very least listen to you. But still most people would just walk away and not try to fix things. We as mystery shoppers are fixers..that is why we are there in addition to earning money. You have taken this mission to the highest level. Thank you.