Remember the grocery shops where you had to ask the produce clerk a scripted question. I thought the question about how to store bananas was the ultimate "out me" question. I'm a senior so...... I've been buying bananas for at least 40 years and I don't know how to store them. :-)

I assure you that I have done all of these things when staying at a hotel. I can't seem to get any of the hotel shops I see.

I did an apartment shop where three leasing agents were in the office. Two were in a personal conversation about dodging the mystery shopper earlier in the day. They talked about the tactics they used to get away from the shopper. One girl said, "You better shut up; you know we are getting video shopped this month; that lady could be the shopper." The leasing agent doing all the talking was like, look at her, she's not the shopper they always come in here dressed up and ready to go. I turned around as the Leasing agent assisting me returned to the room. I got both girls on video, looked at them, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what a mystery shopper is, and I'm not dressed like a rich person. I am an Operations Manager at a warehouse and just got off work. I'll send in my well-dressed husband to sign the lease papers. I am sure he will be coming from work in a three-piece suit." They were floored, and my Leasing Agent apologized profusely, explaining the mystery shopping program and that it was her turn to be shopped, but every time someone came in, she was suddenly busy. She then looked at me and said, I hope you are the shopper and got all that on your hidden camera. Needless to say, I was told to dress down for the shop and get everything on video. A few weeks later, I was at Sam's Club, and this girl approached me, thanking me for losing her job. They apparently showed her the video, and what got her fired was not the comments about dodging the mystery shopper but talking about how I was dressed. I no longer shop at home, I thought she was going to hit me.

Location managers (retail, restaurants, automotive) often have thousands of dollars in bonus money riding on the outcome of performance evaluations. They definitely have been known to sign up as “shoppers,” learn the rotation and read the report forms so they know the scenario.

I went into the staff kitchen area of a car dealership once by accident, and saw that the entire report form was printed out and posted on a bulletin board. Not the results, the whole report from the MSC website. Someone was definitely craftier than your average car salesman at that dealership.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2023 12:27PM by ColoKate63.

When I first started shopping, I did a shop for ATT. On the circular desk, open to everyone was a copy of the report. I just ignored it and went ahead and did the shop. I feel certain that the managers or employees know what the reports say and they try to follow them. The only good thing is that they do not know who the shoppers are and should treat all the customers as if they are the shopper. We would always get better service.

I guess I don't see what is odd or "outing" about that. A sandwich, fries and drink is the norm at all fast food places.

@Boutique wrote:

I guess I don't see what is odd or "outing" about that. A sandwich, fries and drink is the norm at all fast food places.

Agree 100%.

I think that some people (like my husband) have no talent for deception. He gets so nervous, he overthinks everything. OTOH, I’m pretty good at acting bored and disinterested and on autopilot during a mystery shop, and blend in with everyone else.

I do a lot of 5 Guys shops and pretty much always order the same thing. I think the thing that is distinctive about my order is that I have my jalapenos grilled instead of raw. I was shopping the other day and the manager took my order. He neglected to note that the jalapenos were grilled on the ticket and despite him reading it back to me, I didn't catch it either. Well another employee stops him before he puts the raw jalapenos on the bun and says "she wants those grilled." The manager who took my order asked me and I confirmed that I did. The second employee comments, "I keep telling him he needs to learn what the regulars order." I am pretty sure he knows. But he could just think that I really like 5 Guys. I came in last night with my partner and he sees me from the grill and asks "hot dog" so he can get it on the grill early? But I will say this guy seems like he is a good all around employee not just to me so maybe he doesn't know.

@Boutique wrote:

I guess I don't see what is odd or "outing" about that. A sandwich, fries and drink is the norm at all fast food places.

I remember when there used to be an all you can eat Brazilian steakhouse shop. At the end of the meal you had to go to the bar for a drink, put a $20 bill on the bar, and order their specialty drink. Your guest wasn’t allowed to order anything during the bar visit except a glass of water. I remember when I put the $20 bill on the bar and ordered the signature drink the bartender got very nervous. There is no way they couldn’t figure out who the shoppers were with those guidelines.

I've had friends who work at bars tell me they always knew who the shopper was by how and what they ordered. sometimes its seems to unnatural. But at the same time, I've seen a lot of strange orders in my days as a bartender.

I've had friends who work at bars tell me they always knew who the shopper was by how and what they ordered. sometimes its seems to unnatural. But at the same time, I've seen a lot of strange orders in my days as a bartender. We always assumed the/a secret shopper was there to check on the money part, not the service! haha.

I often get a request during non phone shop phone calls to give the person a good score as they have little questionnaires about service after the phone calls. But I also have gotten these types of emails after a visit to a doc office or every time I buy something at CVS and various other stores where I have a store card so they can link the purchase to me. . I have not purchased a car lately but it seems routine now for many types of businesses to send follow up questions about how the person did who served you. So it is possible the "score" they are talking about is that one. A scale from 1 to 5 usually.
I generally ask lots of questions when I go to purchase as I am naturally curious. I do not worry that there are silly questions. I have probably asked them myself. It is the repeated question by the same person over and over that I worry could out you.

@Zek wrote:

Once when I was doing a high paying vehicle purchase shop - as I was departing the salesperson said "make it a good score." I have no idea what gave me away. I've done them on and off for 7 years at various dealerships, but I said or did something that time. I gave the guy a confused what are you talking about look and kept walking towards my vehicle.

I asked him what a mystery shopper is.

Decades ago, I managed a Blockbuster. When the mystery shopper report came in, it had the date and time on it. I went through the computer, found out who the shopper was and put an ALL CAPS note on her profile, so whenever she came in, the CSRs should offer her everything.

Does anyone else who mails packages to themselves sometimes find a little, tiny "X" on a package when you receive it?

I find the number 9 on a lot of mine. If I reuse the package I remove the number with nail polish remover.

Why?

What could it mean?

@sestrahelena wrote:

Does anyone else who mails packages to themselves sometimes find a little, tiny "X" on a package when you receive it?

@ceasesmith - They are wondering if those symbols, numbers, etc., are code for: "They have been outed."

I don’t often get them back with stuff written on the boxes. But sometimes I get numbers that are circled when they come from other shoppers. I make hashmarks on the bottoms of some of my boxes so I know how many trips they've made. I think the record is 8 before I had to replace the box.

The only post office that might have a clue that I'm a shopper would be the local one, but i get and send enough different packages to enough different people that I doubt they think anything of it.

I think it has to do with the delivery area it goes to so the carrier gets the correct packages for their route. I usually get the #8 on all the packages.

The numbers and marks on the packages are not "guessing" that you are a MShopper- they are put on by the route carriers who number and mark the boxes depending on the area they are being delivered to. So all area "8" boxes go together - then they load them in the truck according to their route. As an example, (just making this up) their first stops will be at area 23 and then 19, and then 8 soforth. So they load "8" in first, then 19, then 23. When they go to retrieve the package from the back of the truck area 23 packages will be there most easily. Also, they will know which area the package is for and easily retrieve them in case they get mixed up.

Common sense not conspiracy theory.

Frightening posting either here or on the defunct Volition ( V God) site a few years ago. Shopper out west, possibly CA or NV, gets a call from an oil change guy fired because of his negative mystery shop report.

Did a corporate cafeteria shop once. Front entrance security babe looks at my letter of authorization and after giving me approval to enter, proceeds downstairs to tip off the staff. My server is exceptionally nice and gives me a big helping of food, exceeding all other customers. So he was certainly rewarded when I wrote my report.

And inspite of whatever cover story is given for you taking photos, it can actually get quite messy. One check cashing place shop required interior pics. This was incredibly foolish given the shopper is Caucasian and the site is in a high crime area. Blockwatch 101 common sense would scream for the help to call 911 as they would understandably assume the pics are a part of a robbery scouting trip. Yes this has occured in real life incidents in banks, etc.

"One check cashing place shop required interior pics. This was incredibly foolish given the shopper is Caucasian and the site is in a high crime area."
WHY would anyone sign up for a shop in a high crime area?
Asks the person who will not take any shops in locations I am unfamilure with.

I haven't seen those check cashing shops in a while but by definition they are not in the best side of town.

Darn it! In my 15 years of shops, I have rarely been outed. The last time was 2 years ago. And 10 years before. So I have had a good run.

However, I was outed by USPS, which I learned via a quick email. I asked what happened. I was told that they saw me "timing them." I did about 7 shops in the past 2 weeks and it could be any of them. None of them were very busy and that's probably why they spotted me. In all those years I made texts to myself on my phone figuring it looked like I was texting (which I was texting). Everyone texts even more now than when I first started. I thought I had plausible deniability. I got a new, larger phone that I realize now is awkward in my hands. I must have fumbled it a bit. The whole point of the phone was to make shopping easier for me. So much for that! And it had the cool feature where you can isolate the receipt. ARGH! I tried asking what location this was and they would not tell me. I feel like mailing something from each of those, pretending like I'm still a shopper just to mess with them.

Anyone know how long it takes for them to get their reports from the time of the shop? I have thought about other shops to do, but I can't be arsed right now, since my motivation to send gifts to family and also mail out my Ebay & Amazon orders is gone.

Anyhooooo, no more free shipping for my Ebay & Amazon orders.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2023 02:56AM by cherubino3.

@Rho* wrote:

"One check cashing place shop required interior pics. This was incredibly foolish given the shopper is Caucasian and the site is in a high crime area."
WHY would anyone sign up for a shop in a high crime area?
Asks the person who will not take any shops in locations I am unfamilure with.

I would not do that check-cashing shop. I am very selective. I have done shops in "high crime" areas during the day and I have to say the people at those revealed audits treated me the best out of anyone. I don't care about the "high crime" area, I care about not doing things which will out me as a shopper.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2023 02:54AM by cherubino3.

@cherubino3 sorry to hear that. I thought someone here said that it was against their policy to try to figure out who the secret shopper was.

I've read that the newer security cameras allow retailers to zoom in with great clarity so that they can read your text or see what pages you are surfing. Of course it could've been an employee or customer saw your stopwatch when you were fumbling with your phone.

It seems that we all now have to be more creative to calculate time instead of using a simple stopwatch on the phone. One idea is to use the Timestamp Camera app and just take pictures either in your pocket or cover your phone while you do it. It includes the seconds so you can use this info for timing. You could also record a video to capture when you go in and talk to yourself as you make your way through the line and note I am going up to the counter now. This is a derivative of what another user said about timing the fast food shops.

@Arch Stanton wrote:

Frightening posting either here or on the defunct Volition ( V God) site a few years ago. Shopper out west, possibly CA or NV, gets a call from an oil change guy fired because of his negative mystery shop report.

Did a corporate cafeteria shop once. Front entrance security babe looks at my letter of authorization and after giving me approval to enter, proceeds downstairs to tip off the staff. My server is exceptionally nice and gives me a big helping of food, exceeding all other customers. So he was certainly rewarded when I wrote my report.

Bonus points to you for the use of, "Front entrance security babe."
Admirably bold move!