Restroom a giveaway?

Shop guidelines say "Do not ask the salesperson with whom you interact where the restroom is! This is a dead giveaway that you are a secret shopper." and so I say really?

Because when I was a vendor years ago waiting for customers to approach and ask about my product, I could have sworn I was shopped 10 times a day based on that accusation.

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Asking for the bathroom is a shopper giveaway, but taking a bunch of pictures inside the location is not...go figure.

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

And asking for a receipt for a bottle of water also is not???

@pegleg2000 wrote:

And asking for a receipt for a bottle of water also is not???

It shouldn't be. I collect receipts for personal tracking and it's required for per diem in many cases for reimbursement for people traveling for work or working as self-employed.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I recently saw that rule in some shop instructions and had to laugh. If asking about the restroom is a shopper giveaway, then I must have been implying I was a shopper LONG before I actually started!

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

And if you think a small $$ receipt is a giveaway...I worked for a while in the accounting dept. I was the one who took in all the receipts for travel and food reimbursement. Most of the employees who traveled maxed out their daily limit by eating in fancy places, evidently taking a few others with them for dining that they claimed were for business meetings. I am pretty sure most were not business meetings. But one of the higher ups gave me receipts each time for things like a bottle of water here, a yogurt there and a small sandwich picked up at the airport for dinner in the hotel. I really admired that guy. I thought he should definitely have asked for more but should he not get his expenses reimbursed even though they were small? And then there are times when the boss asks the lower level person to run out and get them a coffee or water. That person needs to be reimbursed. They do not earn enough to be buying the boss snacks every day.

I don't think anyone is implying those people shouldn't be reimbursed. I just hadn't thought about that type of situation.

@sandyf wrote:

And if you think a small $$ receipt is a giveaway...I worked for a while in the accounting dept. I was the one who took in all the receipts for travel and food reimbursement. Most of the employees who traveled maxed out their daily limit by eating in fancy places, evidently taking a few others with them for dining that they claimed were for business meetings. I am pretty sure most were not business meetings. But one of the higher ups gave me receipts each time for things like a bottle of water here, a yogurt there and a small sandwich picked up at the airport for dinner in the hotel. I really admired that guy. I thought he should definitely have asked for more but should he not get his expenses reimbursed even though they were small? And then there are times when the boss asks the lower level person to run out and get them a coffee or water. That person needs to be reimbursed. They do not earn enough to be buying the boss snacks every day.

It depends on the area and what the general behaviors of a customers are. If most customers who shop at that specific business doesn't ask to use their restroom or a receipt then someone asking for one would stand out.

I live in a high metropolitan area that has a mass transportation system. Hardly anyone here takes a receipt from the transit vending machines. Once conducting a bus evaluation, the requirements were to ask for a receipt for the bus, noting receipts were needed for reimbursement. I know that the bus drivers do not have receipts. Against my better judgement I asked the driver for a receipt. He looked at me as if I used profanity then said there were no receipts. I felt super silly but kept in character; I told him I was from Canada and wanted the receipt as a souvenir. He accepted my reasoning and gave a partial smile.

I have always said that my boss is anal and he wants to make sure I am not claiming a beer at the local strip joint.

Visiting the restroom and making a small purchase is required in the gas stations I do.I think buying a $1.00 item and requesting a receipt is a dead giveaway. Asking if a restroom is available is not, IMO. However, one brand wants a picture of a restroom while another needs both men's and women's, if available. Both restroom pictures will certainly draw attention. So will holding the door open and taking a picture while standing outside so that the toilet and sink can be captured in the photo. Fortunately, these are not pure mystery shops and at some point an LOA reveals the shopper.

I always ask for a receipt even when not mystery shopping. And I agree that most do not anymore. The shop floors are so clean now that no one seems to want receipts any longer. But alas they probably think I am shopper no matter where I go shop or not asking for receipts all the time!

@Aquiest wrote:

Shop guidelines say "Do not ask the salesperson with whom you interact where the restroom is! This is a dead giveaway that you are a secret shopper." and so I say really?

Because when I was a vendor years ago waiting for customers to approach and ask about my product, I could have sworn I was shopped 10 times a day based on that accusation.

Is this the electronics client for Intellishop? Because I shopped at one of those about 3 weeks ago and my instructions were just like that, for god sakes don't ask where the bathroom is! LOL

(Luckily no issue because a) my assigned department turned out to be adjacent to the men's room and b) the sales staff was ignoring me like a champ, I was able to evaluate the restroom before coming back in to the display area and tackling one of the sales reps to get the shop going.)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2020 11:21AM by KokoBWare.

This is a test to see if my log-in has worked.

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.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Asking for the bathroom is a shopper giveaway, but taking a bunch of pictures inside the location is not...go figure.

Be sure to ask everyone their name but don’t let them identify you as a mystery shopper.

@KokoBWare wrote:

Is this the electronics client for Intellishop?

Yep. you nailed it.

Yes! Yes!

Everyone needs to use the restroom every now and then, but no one really needs the name of the stockperson who pointed directions.

@eyelove2shop wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

And if you think a small $$ receipt is a giveaway...one of the higher ups gave me receipts each time for things like a bottle of water here, a yogurt there and a small sandwich picked up at the airport for dinner in the hotel. I really admired that guy..

It depends on the area and what the general behaviors of a customers are. If most customers who shop at that specific business doesn't ask to use their restroom or a receipt then someone asking for one would stand out.

I live in a high metropolitan area. When I was in college I was temping in a major research center for one of the directors. The guy was even giving me the receipts for the $0.25 toll, anything he could to be reimbursed, and he was making $350K decades ago! My husband who was not making nearly even close that amount, he was embarrassed to even submit the coffee receipt for work trips when he was entitled to because he was worried they would think he is cheap.

yes my experience was in the San Francisco Bay area, not some rural place but long ago. Even today I ask for receipts in Los Angeles, certainly not a rural or even suburban location. I can see asking for a receipt anywhere with a cashier and a register but those unusual places where there is no paper around like perhaps a cart would throw up not suspicion in my mind but annoyance.
The good thing about being older or with young children is that they just think you are some cranky old person even if you are 45 and the clerk is 17. People with young children always need bathrooms. Maybe those bathroom shops should allow the shoppers to bring their kids along! or their grandma or grandpa.

If asking the location of the restroom is a dead giveaway that you're a mystery shopper, then everyone that can't find the bathroom is suspect! I can just see me wandering around looking for the restroom only to have an employee ask if they can help me find something. Me: "I'm looking for something but I can't tell you what it is or ask you where it's at." *rolls my eyes* LOL

MSPA Silver Certified Shopper Since 2002
Shopping Area: Pacific Northwest & BC

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2020 03:33PM by Miswinston.

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