Weird and/or Crazy shops

So for fun I thought we could start a thread on Weird and/or crazy shops we have done. I am looking for not your typical shops but if you have a weird story about a shop that is fine too. Here are a few I have done or seen to get started.

Weird Shops

Getting a PO Box to collect mail from baby companies.
Measuring your toilet water
Collecting insurance quotes and evaluating the process
Checking your own mail and reporting what you received each day.
Fast Food Menu Pics no purchase
Casual Dine in Restaurant menu pics again no purchase
Professional testing Centers following procedures -- not weird anymore
Tuxedo Junction wedding role play
Evaluating showers at Truck stop Travel Center compare and contrast yes actually paying for and pretending to take.

Weird things on a shop

The owner did not want audit and says "Get of my property or I kill ya" (Gas Station Audit for Mobil) station had only one really old pump that the numbers manually turned.

Getting ignored and no customer service from the 3 teenage employees working a Spencers who only cared to chat with each other and not work. I was lucky to get cashed out for my required purchase. My only bad report for Spencers of which I did many shops for.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

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I remember doing the picture only of drive thru menu boards at FF's.
I used to make good money in a day doing them, as I would get all the ones that were next door or a couple doors down from each other.

Receiving a bouquet of flowers and photographing it every day for a week.
Reporting when the weekly copy of T.V. Guide arrived in my mailbox. That was a long time ago.

Shopping an adult toy store. Was great for stocking up on bachelorette party items.

I did a merchandising assignment with one of the app shops. I had to take pictures of the snack shelves and end caps to show the holes, stock the shelves with product from the back, and take pictures of the shelves after stocking.

The vendor was there that morning. The shelves were fully stocked.

For another app shop, I was required to pull a minimum of 50 damaged packets of seeds from the shelves and rearrange the product to fill holes. Then I had to return two days later and do the same thing.

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

My weirdest job was going into employee break rooms in home improvement stores and taking pictures and auditing their vending machines, coffee makers, and microwaves. It was very interesting.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

Buying over $100 worth of bakery items and reporting on the taste/freshness/presentation of all within 24 hours

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

My weirdest one was a long time ago, and it was a merch shop at BabiesRUs. The job was to make sure all the cribs were removed from the sales floor that didn't meet the new safety standards. Well, that was easy. But then, instead of the store shipping them back, the manager had me and another person hammer away at them and break them up! That was weird!

My wierdest was also my most fun, but it was a long time ago. I went to a fake grocery store and tested a new type cart.

Did a parking shop at a small boutique hotel where the lot was small, about 10 cars, and under the building, had only one entrance with the two valets standing right there and I had to stay for 45 minutes or so. The lobby was the size of a postage stamp. It was uncomfortable to sit there and wait as the desk clerk wanted to know who I was waiting for. There was one quaint easy chair about 2 feet from the desk. I could not leave and go down the street as the lot was expensive and on a small side street with plenty of street parking so why would i pay to park there? Only overnight guests were allowed past the small lobby and up to the rooftop coffee shop. The staff knew all the guests by name. I asked to use the restroom and they allowed me to go down the hall to a postage stamp sized restroom decked out in fancy cloth wraps covering the furniture and a dark colored light bulb. Trying to get a pic of the parking tic before I had to leave was tricky. After I was in there for a few minutes one of the small staff came and knocked on the door to see if I was okay and why I was in there so long.
My story of meeting another friend there to meet a guest that my friend knew the name of was believable at first but when my friend never arrived I think I had already worn out my stay.

Those ones where you had to 'accidentally' drop your self-serve fountain drink on the floor to see how the employees responded. Yeah, that was a popular one with the other customers and the employee who had to clean up the sticky mess.

I used to do a fast food shop where after purchasing and receiving the sandwich, I had to ask them for a different type of bun. I'm sure it was a dead giveaway of being a mystery shopper.

Mine was a massage shop. The Male employee was young enough to be my son.... so it was a bit awkward getting a massage from him anyway. Midway through the massage he told me that I was “making him hot” and asked if I wanted “sexual gratification”. WHAT??? That was my last massage at a chain place...

Wow...just...wow.

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

The weirdest one was shopping a new homes agent on one day, only to shop her partner the very next day (the desks were next to each other, yet in a cubicle). For the second one, I had to dress differently and use a heavy accent just to ensure that the first agent wouldn't recognize my voice (and appearance if she ever saw me).

I would up doing this same type of scenario a couple years later for a different homebuilder.

Going to a mall shortly after dark and having to drive all around the parking lots looking for lights being out and having to take a picture of the light standard that was out and writing down the info off of the pole. And having to check the outside of the structure for signs having any part of the lights out on it.
Going into the mall on a different occasion and having to walk the entire 2 floors checking for where all the rest rooms were located and noting them on a map . then checking inside both the Womens and Mens. My husband went with me for that one. Then we had to time how long it took to go from the bottom to the top of the escalators. and then had to time how long it took the elevator to go from first to second floor and time how long it took to arrive after pressing call button.

Inquiring minds want to know:

1) Did you go stay for the rest of the session?

2) Did you include that detail in your report?

@kday wrote:

Mine was a massage shop. The Male employee was young enough to be my son.... so it was a bit awkward getting a massage from him anyway. Midway through the massage he told me that I was “making him hot” and asked if I wanted “sexual gratification”. WHAT??? That was my last massage at a chain place...

That's hilarious!

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

Those ones where you had to 'accidentally' drop your self-serve fountain drink on the floor to see how the employees responded. Yeah, that was a popular one with the other customers and the employee who had to clean up the sticky mess.

Asking if an item would strand up to rain and snow if stored outdoors. In a desert during a drought.

Asking for directions to the restroom while wearing an ID card indicating that I was employed at the location and standing less than ten feet from it with a large sign indicating its location in plain view.

Ordering a beer, asking when it was brought to the table if it included alcohol and then sending it back stating that my body was medically unable to digest alcohol.

Walking through a federally securred area, chatting up employees that I encountered and reporting if any did not call the police for me being there without a uniform or employee ID.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2020 11:39PM by Rousseau.

Rousseau wins for wildest scenarios and chutzpah!

Anti-kudos "raspberries" to the MSCs and clients who created the ludicrous scenarios that Rousseau mentioned.

I did a liquor audit at a strip club.

I did a bar evaluation where the guidelines had me spill a half full drink and report if they replaced it. I also had to complain that the drinks were weak and see if the bartender made the next one stronger.

I did continue with the massage,. When he asked if I would like my breasts massaged, I told him I had had enough for today and asked him to leave so I could get dressed. I was in shock.... I frequently get massages.... and I just didn’t know what to do. That I was at least 30 years older than the employee made it all the more uncomfortable and unbelievable. I did not report it to the company. There were no questions about inappropriate behavior.... no real section to report the info. In retrospect, I should have emailed the scheduler about the incident. I just felt so very violated.... and did not want to deal with the situation. I considered making a police report.... but again...I just did not want to deal with the situation. When I think about the situation, I’m shocked that I just “froze”... I am an outspoken, confident woman. I now get my massages at my chiropractors office,

Looking at past posts @SteveSoCal had a similar mystery shopping experience with a DUDE at a seedy massage place....

@Book wrote:

Looking at past posts @SteveSoCal had a similar mystery shopping experience with a DUDE at a seedy massage place....

Yes, but it was a fancy boutique hotel, not a seedy place.

Kday I am not all that surprised that someone in that kind of job would have a side hustle going on. I wonder how often it happens and he/she is accepted. I can imagine there are those who would be happy to say yes to that proposal. And also wonder how often the masseuses are offered a nice tip by their client for something extra. Like you I would have hastened my way out of that situation with my head down.

"Happy ending."

@SoCalMama wrote:

@Book wrote:

Looking at past posts @SteveSoCal had a similar mystery shopping experience with a DUDE at a seedy massage place....
Yes, but it was a fancy boutique hotel, not a seedy place.

I was a VERY upscale hotel...and they asked me to leave it in the report.

That said, it was not as traumatic at the experience @kday had; though I still remember it clearly to this day, since it was such a shock. The male therapist simply asked, "Do you want me to finish you off?" When I declined, he finished the massage professionally and never said another word about it.

There was another seedy massage experience I may have posted about, but that was a female, and the hotel had a connection to a known prostitution ring. They were extremely careful about how they presented it, from a legal standpoint, and actually scored well on the shop. The therapist just kept asking, "Are you sure there isn't anything else I can do for you?" She began to wink knowingly while asking at one point....but that was actually a standard for the massage: Therapist asks if there's any other way they can be of service: YES

@SteveSoCal......Yes??? Continue.....

Did you have the massage with or sans undies? Was the only thing separating him from your nether regions a sheet?

@SteveSoCal wrote:

The male therapist simply asked, "Do you want me to finish you off?" When I declined, he finished the massage professionally and never said another word about it.

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