Most surveys are biased toward giving good reviews. For example, all "No" answers have to be explained. How do you explain something that didn't happen? So what happens after a bunch of these is you get worn down and tempted to just say "Yes" on the close ones.

I imagine so they do what they want or have to do but that's been dishonest

I have trained sales and marketing employees on how to use what is known as the Net Promoter Score. You can Google that term for more details. Basically, a customer score of 9 or 10 is assigned a value of +1 (promoter, which is a positive result). A customer score of 7 or 8 is assigned a score of zero (neutral, neither a promoter or a detractor). A customer score from zero to 6 is assigned a score of -1 (detractor, which is a negative event). Add all of the scores together and divide by the number of scores (i.e., find the average of the scores). A perfect Net Promoter Score is then a +1.0 and a perfectly bad Net Promoter score is -1.0 with the goal, of course, to be as close to perfectly good ( +1 ) as possible.

So, if you feel that someone has done a good job, and you think that a 6 or a 7 is a good score because in your mind it seems to be above average, in this system it doesn't help the person and in fact, it hurts them. Consider two scores of 7 and 10, which turn into Net Promoter Scores of 0 and +1. The sum is +1. the average is 0.5 which is not very good. There are many companies which use Net Promoter Scores. Jack Welsh at GE was the first to really popularize it. I know that Ford dealers, GM dealers, and Bank of America use it because the salespeople have been known to ask for a 9 or 10. I have explained the system to them on occasion. I have encountered it elsewhere as well. A scale which goes from 0 to 5 is the same, but only a 5 counts as a promoter, and it is even harder to get people to rate something as a perfect 5. But 0 to 10 allows people to give a 9 for almost perfect.

If you wonder why the scale is from zero to 10 and not from 1 to 10, a persistent problem with rating systems is people using the scale backward. Is a 1 the top, or the worst? A study was done that showed that there is no culture on earth where zero is the best, so it solves the problem of backward scoring.

I do know of two companies (there are certainly more) where zero is desireable, but that is the special case of industrial safety where the goal is Zero Incidents and Zero Injuries. That case is not covered by the Net Promoter Score.

@Bena wrote:

Regarding giving scores of '10'...
I used to give honest scores on my personal (not mystery shopping) surveys once upon a time. That was until I learnt how those scores affect employees. For some companies, I can't say all because I don't know, any score less than a '10' counts for zero. For example, if 5 catagories are scored and the employee receives five '9's, he might as well have received '1's or '2's from you. Only '10's count.

Since '10' is usually 'exceeds expectations' it would be extremely rare for me to give a '10' honestly as I expect excellent service but I am not about to screw over a great (or even good) employee by giving him an 8 or 9. I therefore give 10's to all if their service got the job done in a pleasant, efficient manner.

I also do not like the idea of taking a test I am supposed to fail.

Look up microworkers - the clients pay pennies to a few bucks just to write reviews/boost Google search/like on FB. Lots of international people from under developed parts takes these on in bulk. I trust no reviews anymore. I even saw someone in my hometown buying votes to have thier teen be athlete of the week in the area's newspaper.

@Morledzep My boyfriend works for a dealership previously as a service tech and now as a service adviser. The last person to handle the customer (in most cases, the adviser) is responsible for all of the people before them in their survery system, so he can give the best service ever, but if someone arrived there angry or displeased, it doesn't matter. He got told a few months ago that if he didn't pick up his CSE scores, they'd demote him back to service tech. He was the highest billing person in the office but he pulled his scores up and last month got the highest on the CSE. The surverys are the worst and corporate will never get the true story by continuing to do them.

My biggest ethical dilemma was shopping a seasonal store, one of those costume places that pop up two months before Halloween. The task was to evaluate the store for organization, cleanliness, interact with an employee, the usual requests. But for the checkout, they had an unusual parameter. They wanted me to make a purchase that was less than $10, give the cashier a ten dollar bill, and then try to leave without waiting for change, to see what they'd do.

That particular request was not visible until I had accepted the shop.

Yes that's really what it says. I.did this shop and I couldn't do that at the end either. They still paid me but gave me a lower score than I normally get. They present this shop as just taking a test and failing it. There's a lot more to it than that. At one point, you have to raise your hand and go to the restroom when you've only been in there for 40 minutes. If that's not a dead giveaway, then I don't know what else is. I felt like an idiot. I can see why they have trouble getting anybody sign up for the shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2019 10:50PM by iblori.

I do several integrity shops, including the 'failing the exam'. I have no issue with these as it is not my integrity being tested but that of the employee. As for purposely failing an exam, well the ones I've taken I couldn't pass if I tried. It is usually the math portion that kills me. It is reasonably easy for me to go to the proctor and ask if they have any ideas how I can get passed that portion of the exam, not actually asking for them to cheat but just vaguely giving them the idea that I would be open to trading cash for pass.

For the record, I have yet to have a proctor take the bait so it is good to know the company will know they have honest employees.

Don't you think there should always be a "verified Purchase" with those Amazon reviews? It seems to me that would be a good way of keeping them more honest.

I'm an Elite Yelp reviewer. I will NEVER write a fake review. I've been asked by businesses to remove my review after they "invite" me back for another experience. I refuse to do that as well.

When I've had people from the telephone or cable company in my home to install or repair, there's inevitably a survey call after they've left. The score range is 1 to 10. Once a cable installer told me not to try to give him a "10" if I appreciated the service, but to give him a "9" on the phone survey instead. His reason? Some people hit the "1" key, then try to hit the "0" key to make a "10," but the system burps and only accepts the "1." The system reads that as the worst possible score and he's penalized. By hitting the "9" it guarantees him a good score.

That's not the same as a mystery shop, where we're entering data, but I thought it was interesting. Since he told me that I always give a "9" score on a telephone survey if I appreciate whatever service was offered/peformed.

@Bena wrote:

Regarding giving scores of '10'...
I used to give honest scores on my personal (not mystery shopping) surveys once upon a time. That was until I learnt how those scores affect employees. For some companies, I can't say all because I don't know, any score less than a '10' counts for zero. For example, if 5 catagories are scored and the employee receives five '9's, he might as well have received '1's or '2's from you. Only '10's count.

Since '10' is usually 'exceeds expectations' it would be extremely rare for me to give a '10' honestly as I expect excellent service but I am not about to screw over a great (or even good) employee by giving him an 8 or 9. I therefore give 10's to all if their service got the job done in a pleasant, efficient manner.

Did you complain to the BBB or MSPA? I'd take some action against this company.

@Wcdirect wrote:

I was doing a car dealership sales evaluation and the salesperson would not give me a printed quote. I told my scheduler about this and he told me that I must get the quote by any means or I will not get paid. When I told him I could not get it after three phone calls and a return trip he became condescending and just plain mean. I wish I could print his name and company so you all can be aware. In the end he still did not pay me.

Alas, the BBB has no reason to care about this. They generally decline to get involved in mystery shopper issues in any way. The BBB exists to try to resolve consumer (as in, someone who actually buys something) issues. And the MSPA is a trade organization that represents the MSCs who pay their dues. The MSPA frankly does not care if a scheduler is mean to a shopper.

This particular schedule is notorious for this shop. He (I think it is a he) will not accept any excuse for the absence of a written quote, and often requires the shopper to return several times to negotiate hard. This single scheduler is the reason why an increasing number of auto mystery shop descriptions say, "No negotiation required." Wcdirect really does not have to print his name, we know who he is. And for those of you who don't, my advice is to steer clear of auto mystery shops that required negotiation. Even getting a written quote (without negotiation) to take with me can be hard at tines, but these days I whip out my phone and take a photo of whatever scrap of paper they show me before they have a chance to object.

@Susan L. wrote:

Did you complain to the BBB or MSPA? I'd take some action against this company.

@Wcdirect wrote:

I was doing a car dealership sales evaluation and the salesperson would not give me a printed quote. I told my scheduler about this and he told me that I must get the quote by any means or I will not get paid. When I told him I could not get it after three phone calls and a return trip he became condescending and just plain mean. I wish I could print his name and company so you all can be aware. In the end he still did not pay me.

I'd never do a fake review.
And I really don't trust review sites much anymore. I used to be very active on Yelp. I had a lot of feedback on my reviews, until one day I gave a 2-star review to a place that had close to 5-stars. No feedback on that review though I knew it was there. But I found out checking Yelp on a friend's account, Yelp's software decided to list it as a non-recommended review. This place had about 60 reviews highlighted, almost all of which were 4 or 5 stars. 48 non-recommended reviews, only one was higher than 3 stars.
Yelp is still being conned by savvy business owner: There is a restaurant here that opened in September of last year. It has 7 pages worth of reviews already and 144 non-recommended reviews. Among the 7 pages, there are a few 1 and 2 stars, but it's mainly 5 stars, from people who don't live anywhere close. The non-recommended reviews a lot of 3 and unders, by a lot of people who live in the area.
I'm not anti-Yelp, but when I do use it now I learn to read the non-recommended reviews as well.

I was not able to see the points but in the email where they confirm the cancellation they said no points were deducted.

@kathierost wrote:

Don't you think there should always be a "verified Purchase" with those Amazon reviews? It seems to me that would be a good way of keeping them more honest.

I don't even trust the verified purchase reviews. On the Gigwalk type apps there are jobs to buy a product and review it giving it a good review. Even though it looks like you bought the product, you are reimbursed and paid for the review.

I had a postal shop I declined because it involved giving some misinformation to a postal cleck. Questioned the ethics of that shop. I have a friend who is a postal inspector, did not want to get involved in that can of worms.

These shops have been done for years. They are done FOR and BY the USPS. USPS is the client. There is nothing unethical about it. It is used for training and assessment purposes. Nothing that should not be shipped is shipped as a result of these shops. The clerk is supposed to say no, and then you buy some stamps, and then you leave. If they take the package, it contains something innocuous, and the USPS knows who needs more training.

@David Hoppe wrote:

I had a postal shop I declined because it involved giving some misinformation to a postal cleck. Questioned the ethics of that shop. I have a friend who is a postal inspector, did not want to get involved in that can of worms.