Earlier this year I was doing a route of yellow audits. At my next to last store, while I was conducting the mystery shop portion, a woman came into the store who appeared to me to be a drug user. Fine, no big deal. What got my attention was that the woman got loud and came across as if she was trying to flirt with the two male employees behind the counter. Neither employee understood or spoke English very well. The woman stated she wanted a chocolate Popsicle. The two employees looked at each other and shook their no. The woman then got loud again and smiled, saying it was too bad they did not have what she wanted. The woman then proceeded over to the beverage counter, where she filled and dropped not one, not two, but three cups of soda. It was everywhere. One employee rushed over to clean up the mess, while the other checked out the line of customers. While both employees were distracted, the woman went over to the feminine hygiene section of the store and proceeded to pick items off the shelf, then drop them on the floor, pretending like she accidentally dropped them. I'm watching her this whole time, because I know what she is trying to do. Once the employee had cleaned up the spilled soda, he then had eyes on her and I went ahead and finished the mystery shop portion of the shop. I quickly went to the car, got my stuff and hurried back in. When I got back inside, both employees were working the counter as there were even more customers. They were trying to check people out, and keep an eye on the woman. Normally, I wait for the employee to finish up with customers before I introduce myself. This time I went around everybody, put the LOA on the counter and leaned over and told one of the employee to handle his customers and I would keep eyes on the woman. The employee said thanks, so put my vest on and tried to look official as best I could with my paperwork and clipboard. I walked over to where the woman was, but I did not say anything to her. She knew I was watching her though, and I ended up waiting her out about 15 minutes until she finally left.
I've had a few safety concerns at a couple of red/blue shops. When I introduce myself, I always ask if the person has been through an evaluation. If they have not, I explain it and also about the employee photo. In this case, it was a store manager and he said he had been through them many times. I said something to the effect, "Great. So you already know about the employee and badge photos, and that the photos will not include your face." The manager affirmed, then stated, "If you take a photo of my face, I will snatch that phone out of your hand and break it." I thought he was joking, so I laughed it off, then he said, "I'm serious. I don't play around with that _____." Looking back, I wish I had put him down as a refusal and left. I didn't, and proceeded with the evaluation, which may or may not have been a little more on the white glove side of things. I sure enjoyed writing why I ranked that location so low.
At another red/blue, a store manager harassed me while I was evaluating the fueling area. The woman actually came outside and cussed at me. I politely asked her to please let me do my job. The woman went back inside and, a few minutes later, I saw her looking out the window and waving her arms around gesturing at me while talking with a man inside the store. I continued with the evaluation, then returned to my car to review the photos to make sure I had everything and that the pictures were good quality. While sitting inside my car with the door open, the man from the store came out to me and started harassing me. I stepped out of the car and firmly directed him to leave the area, which he did. Deeming the situation unsafe, I pulled out the refusal document, snapped a photo of it from outside the store, and explained what happened in my report. Although that location is not too far from me, I drive right by it. It is not worth the headache.