DILEMMA: Same employees are shopped over and over.

So what happens when the same employees get shopped over and over month after month and I don't intend it to turn out this way???

This is why some clients should have shop hours rotated. One retailer near me is only shopped from late afternoon until closing. This makes no sense to me..but I respectfully abide by it anyway..

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I know what you mean, and have wondered the same thing. Especially in smaller shops, there might only be a couple of employees and chances are you will get the same one each time, while I know others would look over the results and wonder how they are doing.
Of course on many of the shops I do, the reporting of associate name and description is more a verification that I was there because I suspect they don't care much about the customer service. Franchises often are more concerned that their products are uniformly priced as required, locations are being maintained according to brand image, extra items are not being offered to compete with franchise items and purchases are going through the register properly to make certain the franchiser is not being cheated out of their percentage. Tomorrow I make a substantial purchase for a service in cash. I am allowed to accept any kind of receipt. Since it is a franchise the guy better run it through his monitored register or he may be out of business pretty fast.
I hear you, Arch. When shops get to the point where I feel obvious as a shopper, I'll mix things up a bit. Pop in and out, purchase or not, while not shopping the location. Or, I'll impose my own rotation when it feels uncomfortably close.

As for the late afternoon to closing shift, I'd venture to say that's when most of the problems occur. Whether the problems are related to customer service, theft or overall appearance, all roads lead back to properly trained and hired employees.

Flash, your shop sounds like an integrity shop?
I suspect it is even though there is nothing in the instructions that states that. They are very specific about paying cash and it is at a franchise that would be very easy to bypass the register as it is not unusual to receive a hand written receipt for work.
I wonder why the fast casual restaurant that sends mystery shoppers to every location they have twice a week (there are articles about this) doesn't require cash.

Also, do the companies care if the same shoppers shop their stores over and over again? I kind of wonder if they even know. I have done one restaurant about 15 times in 6 months.
I feel this way about some of the cell phone shops where there seem to be only a few employees. I don't know whether to pretend to be a first time visitor or say I am back for more information. The latter probably violates the shop rules.
Some of those things you really need to play by ear. I have been greeted by my alias from a shop 3 months before at a cell phone place and had no choice but to turn it into a 'more information and do you have any new special deals?' A casual dining we do does not limit the number of guests, just the amount of the reimbursement. When I show up by myself a couple of locations ask where my husband is. One location I mentioned that it was Poker Night. Now when he does not accompany me there I am greeted with "It must be Poker Night!" I am working on the assumption that they have not identified me as the shopper because many others are getting similar kinds of personal greetings and everybody is getting the same good service. If I felt they treated me differently than other customers I would be concerned. The company I do these for has at least a modest rotation, though I have been called to cover a location I visited only 3 days before and paid a bonus to do it.
I do my restaurant over and over, and skipped this month to do other locations. I think shoppers do frequent the same stores and restaurants over and over, so, don't know if it really is that big a problem. I shopped at Macy's long before doing this, and got to know a salesperson well. I think they are used to the same contented shoppers that know they will find their style, size, etc. at the same store. Phone stores and the like, well, they should have a rotation or move you aroung.

Live consciously....
I'm in the same boat. I have a few shops where the employees think I'm a total boob - or have Alzheimer's.
Month after month, I ask the same questions regarding the same products, and since most retailers have cut employees to skeleton-like crews, I get the same employees.
These particular MSC's don't care - they're just happy the shop is done on time and correctly.
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On a related note, the funniest thing just happened at my local grocery store; my go to store, which I do not shop.

I'm at the checkout and while I'm emptying my cart, two very young cashiers start discussing being shopped, their scores, and their thoughts regarding the shopper.
I couldn't believe they had this conversation right in front of me --

The conversation went something like....I got shopped today, last month she gave me a 10. The 2nd cashier said that she was shopped yesterday, and she too gets 10 from that shopper. They went on to say how dumb it was, that they knew the shoppers, and just work it so they get 10's. According to them, it was easy to spot a shopper.

I swear, it took everything to keep me from asking how they spot a shopper, and which company shops them --

Ironic that I shop every other grocery chain in the area, and have never come across this one --maybe it's for the best, but it would be fun to shop them after over hearing their conversation.
I understand that there are some chains who hire their own shoppers on an employee basis. If you have not seen the shops, that may be what is happening in this situation. Of course the employee shopper is going to become a much more familiar fixture than an IC who only gets the shop in rotation.
Flash, as I have posted elsewhere, USPS does exactly that--they use both employees and of course MSCs to do the same assignments. One difference is that mistakes observed and documented during an employee shop are taken somewhat more seriously.
I can certainly see validity in having businesses shopped from within in addition to by ICs. An employee is likely to know with more precision whether the associate is sticking to the letter of the guidelines while an IC is better to evaluate where corporate culture grates on the public.
I was to the "how many times can I get away with shopping for a computer for myself at a big box electronic store" stage when Bestmark came out with some new shops at the same store finally for other items that are easier and take less time for the same money. Still only ten bux but the shop was quick and the report quicker. I was going to avoid those stores for about a year until they had some fresh blood. lol
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