I've been doing this for 6 or 7 years now (I can't remember!) and have never felt guilty about role-playing, making up scenarios, etc. Unless I end up taking up a lot of the employee's time. But even then, not so much. They know they get shopped, and they should give each customer good service.
But I'm in the middle of a large project right now, and I can't wait to be done with it. This project involves some in-depth work on both my part and on the part of the sales reps. There's never just one contact; many times there are a number of contacts required before the end result is desired. I thought this would be fun for me because it's in an industry in which I have a lot of experience. And, to boot, it's a competitor shop, so it's not like I'm doing the work for the actual client of the salesperson.
And it's probably going to end up being too much work for the money. I'm going to complete it, of course, but for the most part, I feel bad. I've spoken with some very nice people who have given outstanding service. OTOH, some have not been so pleasant to deal with, so I don't feel so guilty about them! LOL.
Do any of you ever end up feeling this way?
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.