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What do you do if the employee remembers you?

July 21, 2023 07:46PM
Isn't it better for him if he says nothing?
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July 21, 2023 08:02PM
I had a bartender say hello to my husband and I by name. We had not been there for months. I just completed the shop.
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July 21, 2023 08:14PM
If I was on the other end of a job, I wouldn't say anything, so I could be sure I did great on the report.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
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July 21, 2023 08:24PM
Many yrs, ago, I was completing jobs at a regional eatery. The second occasion I encountered a manager, could easily have been a fluke, but on number four, I am positive he knew I was a shopper. Neither he nor I ever mentioned the four locations.
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July 21, 2023 08:25PM
It probably would be, his best bet is to give exemplary service and get a good report.

@nc wrote:

Isn't it better for him if he says nothing?
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July 21, 2023 11:32PM
Employees recognize me as a regular shopper. I don't see that as a problem.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer
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July 21, 2023 11:34PM
I said "hello, nice to see you again". I don't think the employee knows that I am their shopper. I happened to be carrying a blue purse that she liked and she commented on it the last time I shopped there.
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July 22, 2023 12:47AM
I say, "Hi how are you?" I don't assume that they can pick me out of the lineup as a secret shopper I just say hi if they remember me. And I continue with what I was doing.
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July 23, 2023 03:31AM
Before lock downs I had a shop requiring me to question how I could lower my monthly utility bill. I repeated the shop after a few months and the associate told me information well peppered with " Same as I told you last time you asked". I ignored the comments but either never went back or waited for a different associate to help me.
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July 23, 2023 04:36AM
I just forge ahead. If they are alert enough to remember me, they also are likely to be one of the better employees anyhow.
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July 23, 2023 12:26PM
It was somewhat amusing when they remembered me for repeat merchandising and auditing gigs. "Our auditor is here!" "Oh, good. You're back. We need this geegaw to be merchandized again" Felt like old home week, or something. But for shops, it really is different. Love all the responses to the OP's excellent question.
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July 23, 2023 06:16PM
I took a year off to go to Salt Lake City and play grandma. When I got back to Nebraska, a company wanted me to do a gas station MS 100 miles away. I was reluctant, and told the company. They said, "No way they'll remember you! It's been over a year since you were there." So I accepted. I walked into the station after getting gas, and Sarah said, "Good heavens! Where ya been? Bet it's been over a year since I saw you!"

Had a nice chat about grandkids, finished the MS portion. When I came back in, in vest, carrying clipboard, we had a good laugh.
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July 23, 2023 07:25PM
I used to do the burger and burrito shops for the company that sent you to training at one of their locations. On my training days every employee at that location who was there that day knew who the shoppers were. I always wondered about that. One day after a couple of years of doing the shop a manager said hello to me as I entered and asked me quizzically why I was eating so far from his normal location that I also shopped. I did not remember him from the training. For a second I was shocked but then recovered and told him that this location was near where I worked and the other near where I lived and that seemed to satisfy him so perhaps he did not think I was the shopper after all.
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July 24, 2023 03:41AM
Very local niche shop
Very poor script

I LOVE the look on their face

They know I know they know I know they know and yet…
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July 24, 2023 06:24AM
It happened to me the other day. The quirk is that it was an apartment shop. One of the MSCs I have a relationship with has exactly three properties here they insist on being shopped once a month. Unlike the other apartment shops, the SASSIE form is like 12 non redundant questions and one narrative. Its a super easy; nice paying shop--$30+. Anyway, The last 3 times I've done this shop including the one last week, I've run into the guy at one of the properties. To make matters worse, he was the real life manager at one of the apartments I used to live at. We had it out a few times when he was the manager of my complex. I don't like the guy. But I still give an impartial shop report.

Just be cool folks.
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July 24, 2023 01:58PM
It's no big deal if an employee remembers you, and I don't regard it as a flag that you are a mystery shopper except in shops that are mystery/reveal. Trying to remember repeat customers is part of the job of a good employee, especially in the service and retail sales industry. Remembering the customer and anticipating his/her needs are almost mandatory if you are a bartender, wait staff, casino dealer, or most anyone who works for tips.
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July 24, 2023 02:04PM
@condorchristi wrote:

It happened to me the other day. The quirk is that it was an apartment shop. One of the MSCs I have a relationship with has exactly three properties here they insist on being shopped once a month. Unlike the other apartment shops, the SASSIE form is like 12 non redundant questions and one narrative. Its a super easy; nice paying shop--$30+. Anyway, The last 3 times I've done this shop including the one last week, I've run into the guy at one of the properties. To make matters worse, he was the real life manager at one of the apartments I used to live at. We had it out a few times when he was the manager of my complex. I don't like the guy. But I still give an impartial shop report.
A three-month rotation is too short for an apartment shop. My personal rotation minimum is one year, which is the most common lease term. It is difficult to portray having a plausible reason for apartment hunting again at the same place if it has been less than a year since last visisting the same apartment community. I always adhere to my personal rotational rules. I would not return to the same apartment sooner than one year after my last visit, even if the client set the rotation for three or six months.
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July 25, 2023 08:44PM
@Niner wrote:

I had a bartender say hello to my husband and I by name. We had not been there for months. I just completed the shop.
That is not at all unusual or cause for alarm, especially if you tipped him properly during your last visit. It is the bartender's job to remember your names and your preferred drinks. Most customers do not tip, and bartenders try their best to remember those who do.
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