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Have you ever noticed mystery shoppers at places you shopped?

January 21, 2024 03:53AM
I was driving past a gas station I use to shop and saw a woman taking pictures of the outside. Another time I was taking pictures of a gas station and a woman, wearing an orange vest, drove up, spotted me and drove off. If I see another shopper I would say "Hi" and introduce myself.
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January 21, 2024 09:22AM
I get the impression that there may be fake mystery shoppers out there. They put on traffic vests, take pictures and ask questions of the people at the counter. But they run scared when a real mystery shopper shows up. I've encountered something like that at a gas station that I do often. I tried to talk to them but they got flustered and ran for their car. I asked the guy at the counter inside who that was, he said that they said they were the mystery shopper. I haven't quite figured out what they get out of it, or even what they are trying to accomplish. I know there aren't competitor shops for gas stations, or at least I've never seen any. I'm just baffled.
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January 21, 2024 11:07AM
I've seen this. In a vest, taking photos. I assumed they were traveling salespeople trying to place products in stores, and the photos were POVs or maybe to show signage.
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January 21, 2024 12:31PM
Merchandisers usually have to take pictures as proof of their work.

Twice I've seen the same gas site inspector. Once I spoke to him asking about the audit process, while I was on a non-reveal assignment at the same location! I don't know how we both got scheduled for the same day and I definitely did not "reveal" why I was there. Just a curious customer as far as he knew.
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January 21, 2024 03:59PM
I saw a guy taking pics of a roller grill once at a truck stop. I asked what company he was with and he told me his friend wanted to get a hot dog roller lol. He may or may not have been lying.
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January 21, 2024 04:00PM
I've never seen someone acting like a mystery shopper. I look. LOL

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer
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January 21, 2024 06:00PM
@Morledzep wrote:

I get the impression that there may be fake mystery shoppers out there. They put on traffic vests, take pictures and ask questions of the people at the counter. But they run scared when a real mystery shopper shows up. I've encountered something like that at a gas station that I do often. I tried to talk to them but they got flustered and ran for their car. I asked the guy at the counter inside who that was, he said that they said they were the mystery shopper. I haven't quite figured out what they get out of it, or even what they are trying to accomplish. I know there aren't competitor shops for gas stations, or at least I've never seen any. I'm just baffled.

Maybe they were practicing? I have sent my wife into some bank shops so she could see if she wanted to start mystery shopping. I have done this myself by doing a fake video shop at an apartment complex that I figured would never be mystery shopped. I did it to familiarize myself with the equipment before sigining up for real mystery shops. I also saw a mystery shopper sitting in his car and counting customers once when I arrived in the same lot a few minutes early for my mystery shopper customer counting shift.

Also, there are instances when more than one type mystery shop is done at the same location. For example one company might require menu photos from a restaurant, while another company might require a dining mystery shop at the same location. Two mystery shoppers could conceivably be shopping at the same time and place.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2024 06:05PM by AZwolfman.
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January 21, 2024 08:29PM
I was doing a merchandising job at gas stations and three days in a row I ran into a mystery shopper. I was outside taking a picture of the sign and address on the front of the store and they walked up to me and asked me what MS company I worked for, before I could say a thing they told me they were there to do a mystery shop too. I told them I was a merchandiser not a shopper. They thought because I was taking pictures that I was a shopper.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2024 08:31PM by sueac101.
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January 21, 2024 08:59PM
After I did the reveal at a certain Shell shop, the counter employee accused me of being the CK secret shopper who was there the day before.
Although I'm aware of the CK shops, I just said, "what are you talking about?"
He said that someone like me came in and secret shopped them for CK. He got a lower score than he thought he should have received.
I just hunched my shoulders, "not me!"
But, I thought to myself that when I've ever done the CK secret shop, I've never done a score. Was it AI doing the scoring or an editor?
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January 22, 2024 02:08AM
@French Farmer wrote:

After I did the reveal at a certain Shell shop, the counter employee accused me of being the CK secret shopper who was there the day before.
Although I'm aware of the CK shops, I just said, "what are you talking about?"
He said that someone like me came in and secret shopped them for CK. He got a lower score than he thought he should have received.
I just hunched my shoulders, "not me!"
But, I thought to myself that when I've ever done the CK secret shop, I've never done a score. Was it AI doing the scoring or an editor?

The sad thing is, some mystery shoppers do a shop as a "white glove" test. They will write up a business for every little thing. This makes it harder on everyone else.
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January 22, 2024 03:09AM
Occasionally, pre pandemic, I would see see not 'mystery shoppers' but 'auditors' in movie theaters. The females were always friendly. One male started to tell me his name and where he lived until I stopped him. All the other men were upset when I greeted them so I learned to ignore the men.
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