@MFJohnston wrote:
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
@1cent wrote:
I guess your wife and family could be living elsewhere? You were working in Europe and she's not a US citizen yet so you came to re-establish residency while everything gets processed.
That is kind of an elaborate story. Might as well put her in a coma.
@MFJohnston wrote:
I specifically had to say that my wife and I both lived in a specific area of town - about thirty minutes away. Really, the scenario was set up to be a bit of a trap.
@1cent wrote:
I guess your wife and family could be living elsewhere? You were working in Europe and she's not a US citizen yet so you came to re-establish residency while everything gets processed.
That is kind of an elaborate story. Might as well put her in a coma.
@walesmaven wrote:
MFJ,
Several observations:
Wearing a wedding ring, a solo shopper may well be recently widowed and needing a home for self and x number of children.
Or, I just got off a plane from England. Spouse stayed behind to sell house there; I am tasked with buying house in US to be ready when spouse arrives in x weeks. . We did it the opposite way when we moved to England for spouse's job; so this time it is my turn to pick the house and spouses turn to sell that house.
Real estate agents are RIGOROUSLY trained not to try to close unless all decision makers are present. That client did everyone a dis-service, including themselves.
(I am such a ham!)
@MFJohnston wrote:
Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.
On site, I did everything I could to insist that my wife "good" with the house, that she had seen it online and I had the "go-ahead" if I liked it (which, of course, I did.) The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc." I did what I could without blowing my cover, but the client did not get his desired price negotiation.
Apparently the MSC had had the same discussion with the client about the scenario and had warned the client that this was likely to happen, but the client knew what s/he wanted. So... I got paid and the MSC got to have another discussion with the client about the scenario.
It's frustrating, but not uncommon, for a client to either not truly understand the customer-interface aspect of their own business or to assign folks to create contracts with mystery shopping companies who don't. It's also common for clients not to understand what is and is not reasonable for a mystery shopper to do, especially without blowing their cover.
My favorite will always be the scenario for the one shop I have had rejected: It was a parking shop where I needed to get a photograph of all valets that helped me and the cashier. Plus, I needed to get the cashier to personally sign my receipt.
Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
@MFJohnston wrote:
Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
@walesmaven wrote:
Sometimes the clients get crazy and will not listen to the MSC about what to expect for what they are willing to pay. And, that drives the schedulers as crazy as it drives us!
@MFJohnston wrote:
Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.
@MFJohnston wrote:
Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
@MFJohnston wrote:
Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.
On site, I did everything I could to insist that my wife "good" with the house, that she had seen it online and I had the "go-ahead" if I liked it (which, of course, I did.) The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc." I did what I could without blowing my cover, but the client did not get his desired price negotiation.
Apparently the MSC had had the same discussion with the client about the scenario and had warned the client that this was likely to happen, but the client knew what s/he wanted. So... I got paid and the MSC got to have another discussion with the client about the scenario.
It's frustrating, but not uncommon, for a client to either not truly understand the customer-interface aspect of their own business or to assign folks to create contracts with mystery shopping companies who don't. It's also common for clients not to understand what is and is not reasonable for a mystery shopper to do, especially without blowing their cover.
My favorite will always be the scenario for the one shop I have had rejected: It was a parking shop where I needed to get a photograph of all valets that helped me and the cashier. Plus, I needed to get the cashier to personally sign my receipt.
Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
@oteixeira wrote:
I took a grocery store once that paid 13 plus a 5 dollar purchase. I got it bonused really well (I thought), basically taking my total comp to almost $40, after I was done I walked out knowing it was not worth it even for that. They called me back the next month to do it again, and I honestly explained to them that it wasn't worth it for me with an explanation of why, and the scheduler said they knew, I was not the only one to complain, and they had relayed it to the client already (before my call happened). Basically, clients be crazy yo! Sometimes, it's not the MSC, or the scheduler, and it was nice to have a very sane, and calm conversation where we could both admit that to each other.
@MFJohnston wrote:
The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc."
@sueac101 wrote:
@MFJohnston wrote:
Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."
You could say" Every time that I have parked on the street my car was hit by another vehicle."
@dreemin wrote:
Can I ask why it wasn't worth it being $40? I'm pretty sure I have completed many of these stores.
@oteixeira wrote:
I took a grocery store once that paid 13 plus a 5 dollar purchase. I got it bonused really well (I thought), basically taking my total comp to almost $40, after I was done I walked out knowing it was not worth it even for that. They called me back the next month to do it again, and I honestly explained to them that it wasn't worth it for me with an explanation of why, and the scheduler said they knew, I was not the only one to complain, and they had relayed it to the client already (before my call happened). Basically, clients be crazy yo! Sometimes, it's not the MSC, or the scheduler, and it was nice to have a very sane, and calm conversation where we could both admit that to each other.