So, I was doing some holiday shopping yesterday. I went into a retail store I had shopped before. The manager was there and came over to greet me. She smiled and kind of did a double take saying, "Hello.... I want to say again." I smiled and acknowledged her. Then she said, "It's always great when a mystery shopper becomes a customer." My significant other and I exchanged a look; I did not acknowledge it and the manager was back to helping another group that she had broken away from to greet us. This manager had rung me up previously during my shop.

I was SO flustered and frustrated that she would identify me in person. The manager was all smiles and happy and didn't seem to be acting in a passive aggressive way so it did not seem as if she was being vindictive in identifying me. I had given them a positive review stating I'd return and recommend the location to friends.

I was/am still really rattled that it had happened like that. I really wanted to tell her that it was inappropriate to mention that in public. I ended up leaving the shop and my SO purchased what we were there to buy. This is a place I have shopped once and there's a six month rotation so it's not like I would be very impacted if I could never shop there again.

What would you have done? Have you been identified before? This was my first time with anyone saying anything to me. I have been shopping close to two years now.

I would have just smiled and been glad she was being friendly about it.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

So, I was doing some holiday shopping yesterday. I went into a retail store I had shopped before. The manager was there and came over to greet me. She smiled and kind of did a double take saying, "Hello.... I want to say again." I smiled and acknowledged her. Then she said, "It's always great when a mystery shopper becomes a customer." My significant other and I exchanged a look; I did not acknowledge it and the manager was back to helping another group that she had broken away from to greet us. This manager had rung me up previously during my shop.

I was SO flustered and frustrated that she would identify me in person. The manager was all smiles and happy and didn't seem to be acting in a passive aggressive way so it did not seem as if she was being vindictive in identifying me. I had given them a positive review stating I'd return and recommend the location to friends.

I was/am still really rattled that it had happened like that. I really wanted to tell her that it was inappropriate to mention that in public. I ended up leaving the shop and my SO purchased what we were there to buy. This is a place I have shopped once and there's a six month rotation so it's not like I would be very impacted if I could never shop there again.

What would you have done? Have you been identified before? This was my first time with anyone saying anything to me. I have been shopping close to two years now.

Not sure what you should have done in either case listed below.

If you were just shopping, I’d just sort of ignore it and let it pass with a shrug. A shrug is neither a confirmation or a denial. Say nothing!!!!

If you were doing a mystery shop, do the same thing. Say nothing!!!! But on the report, put that in the report. You may not get another assignment at the same location. But I would think that the manager’s boss may want to know that there is this accusatory aspect of their employee.

I'd respond with a typical MS brush-off.

"A what? I've been buying stuff here since the store opened."

I would have done exactly what CoolMusic said:

Deny without issuing a denial.

I did a mystery shop at a Mercedes dealership- loved the car during the test drive. My husband and I both wound up returning to and buying at the dealership- we went with the same model but CPO- much better deal. Dealership made out well with my $40 or so fee shop!

Years ago, I had the best mattress sales guy at one of the MF mattress shops. I was kind of in the market so I did the shop, did the report and then came back the next day and bought a Tempur-Pedic. He was so good. I came back a few months later and bought a second one for the guest room. He got a good score on the shop I'm sure. Got $10,000 of sales and got a good Google review since I was a customer on the two bed transactions.

Did a car shop at a dealership one time. Again was sort of in the market for a car. The guy did an excellent job, a couple months later go back track him down and bought 2 cars from him.

I was doing a phone shop at a location and the associate asked "Are you the mystery shopper?" I simply said I wasn't.

Years ago, I was doing a gas station audit and the manager asked if I worked for the company. I told him I didn't. He said "Then you're the mystery shopper." I shrugged and re[plied, "Where's the bathroom? I need a picture of that too,"

Back when the comic book shops were popular and we had to go in the day before a title came out and ask for it, I talked to my friends at a comic book store. They told me the only people who ever ask for titles the night before are they mystery shoppers. They make sure to watch when they take photos of the store afterwards.

We went to Home Depot to get a water heater last night. I think the guy that helped us thought we were mystery shoppers. He showed us the water heaters and showed us the most expensive "smart" water heater available. And he was ready to walk away. It took him a minute to finger out that we were actually going to buy the water heater, then he started actually trying to help us.

@ServiceAward wrote:

When you boil it down, mystery shopping is really a hidden marketing ploy to convert a person into a customer. Think about how many jobs ask if whether the shopper would return as an actual customer. Of course, they get tons of data from us, but they also may get a lifelong customer who would have never purchased from them otherwise. [...]

In my years of shopping, I have never become a "regular customer" of any establishment that I have shopped. However, I have come away from many establishments knowing that a high bonus would be the only reason for me to ever return. Indeed, if not for MS, I would likely never enter any retailer ever again. Indeed, I cannot remember the last time - its been so long - I made a non-online purchase of anything for either personally or for my business with the exception of pay-at-the-pump fuel and impulse buying in used/antiquarian bookshops. (Although I do locate and purchase most of my tomes online.)

I have become a regular customer at several restaurants where I have shopped. Most of them are no longer shopped so I started going on my own dime. And I often will check a box saying I would recommend a place. I have done so because I thought the service and what they had to offer was a great deal, however some of those places were not in the price range I prefer to spend so even though I thought it was a great deal it was not for me personally. Still I have friends that like to spend more so I would tell them about it. I found many new places I really enjoy through mystery shopping. I look at it as a bonus to me to find those places.

@ServiceAward wrote:

When you boil it down, mystery shopping is really a hidden marketing ploy to convert a person into a customer.

Interesting premise. FWIS, I doubt companies are contracting with MSCs with even a secondary goal of building their client base. Think of the hundreds or thousands of shops in a project (or 10's of thousands for cell phone shops). A project will generate hundreds or thousands of datasets, but how many new customers? Any "real" business coming from converting shoppers to buyers would be gravy in my book.

That being said, I have (or will) become a customer of entities I have shopped.

I moved my car loan from one credit union to save on interest, and to be able to conduct teller evaluations instead of new customer evaluations (with their suspect scenario that can lead to outing).

I average about 8 Quick Quack car wash shops a month, and have since the program started. As a rideshare driver I like having a clean car for my riders, and I'm now kind of addicted to having one.

Were that program ever to end I would definitely become a monthly membership customer, and wind up probably increasing my visits by at least a third.

Relative to the OP: their surveys include questions about returning and recommending. I rarely indicate that I would recommend to a friend, and I rarely indicate I would definitely return.

For the price they get for a single premium wash I would expect my car to be close to spotless, and they rarely deliver on that expectation. If I were to become a member I'd probably wash every third day on average, which makes for a decent value given the overall quality of the outcomes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2023 08:06PM by CoolMusic.

@ServiceAward wrote:

When you boil it down, mystery shopping is really a hidden marketing ploy to convert a person into a customer. .

Thats an awfully expensive customer acquisition tactic. Maybe an unintended side effect. I can tell you that a common complaint in the Five Guys thread is how expensive it is and how shoppers would never eat there on their own dime. On the other hand, we'd never been to bar taco before shopping them and now that they've decided that I am too old to shop them, I have been back on my own dime.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2023 07:47PM by MisterBill.

@ServiceAward wrote:

When you boil it down, mystery shopping is really a hidden marketing ploy to convert a person into a customer. /quote]
I became a Sams Club member on a shop, and several weeks later did a purchase/return. Then the shops disappeared. I continue to pay for the yearly membership.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt