Do FF restaurants know WHEN they are going to be shopped>

I was doing a FF shop yesterday. As I'm paying for my food I hear the worker behind my cashier telling him "See that guy over there? He's the mystery shopper." My ears perked up right away because she was referring to a gentleman sitting down eating his food with a newspaper. She was explaining to my cashier that he was pretending to be working, but he was really filling out his report. Pretty funny, as I, the REAL mystery shopper was standing right in front of both of them unbeknownst to them.

So it got me wondering, do they know when they are going to be shopped? Obviously, they know of the program, but do they get told, "You will be shopped sometime this week" or something like that? Seems like defeating the purpose if they are notified.

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Some aren't really smart about talking in front of people. I stood at the register in McDonalds doing a shop while the "team" had a meeting with the manager over by the drive thru discussing the possibility of a mystery shopper coming in today. They blew their shop by worrying about it instead of doing their job. lol

Today I Will Choose Joy!

"Finally, whatever things are good, true, noble, lovely, of good report...if there be any virtue, if there be any praise...think on these things." ....It's a command, not a suggestion!

LOL!

I had something like that happen as I was going through the DT. As I get to the pay point, the cashier is totally distracted, talking on his mike to the person at the other window. He's saying "it's the lady in the grey car with red hair, she's the mystery shopper, I can tell by her order, I'm telling you, she's the one!" Meanwhile, there I am waiting on my food, tick-tock, time's a-wasting. Of course, I got the dreaded "what took so long for your order ....?"

Silly eh?

Guess some non-shopper customers are getting FANTASTIC service at Mickey D's! Moral of the story--just do it right with every customer and have them 'lovin' it'.

My husband worked at MCDs many many years ago, and he says the manager would always tell them the exact day they were being shopped.

My friend works at a WalMart. She says they tell them when a shopper is coming in. Isn't that kind of defeating the purpose? I guess that don't want to get a bad report. LOL

The only FF I do has a time frame for the shopper to show up. There was only one item that we used to be able to order and it was supposed to a give away when it was ordered. Sometime that did not even work. Key items were still missed by the order taker or cashier. Now several different items can be ordered which makes it better.

I did one MCD that if they knew when I was going to come it did not make any difference. The service was still bad and the food cold. After I did not shop for that company anymore I ran into an MCD employee and she was just laughing because they had a shopper and they got a "D". All employees were told the store score but it must have not been taken very serious by some.

So they DO know when we are coming. I wasn't at McD's yest but it is a big fast food chain.

What's the point of having us go "mysteriously" if they are expecting us? My hubby worked for InNOut in college and he said they never knew when their shopper was coming. Only thing they knew was that they were shopped once per month. Sounds like that is the way to do it properly.

USPS knew the time frame when I shopped for the old MSC. I did not move to the new provider so I cannot speak to that fact now. I also noticed (when not shopping) that a lot of clerks would only give the standard speech for certain size packages. Other clerks would go through the whole 9 yards no matter what the package. I was doing a USPS shop one time and a clerk was asking the customers standing line if they were the mystery shopper. She asked until she got to me and for some reason did not ask me. She stayed in the lobby so I took it as she had no idea who the shopper. If it was me and I thought I had a shopper in line I would go in the back and let the clerk know somehow. But then if they are doing the job they are supposed to be doing it should not make any difference.

I have shipped packages of all sizes all over Europe and have not been been given the standard postal speech with any of them. So I guess it depends if it looks like what a shopper would send and it is shipped in the US, they will ask the proper questions and offer the extras.

I bought different envelopes and evidently they are much lighter than the ones I was using. My package that I'd shipped to myself was the correct weight. When I used a new envelope to ship the item again, it was underweight. That day, the clerk never mentioned Express Mail and he threw my receipt in the trash and I had to ask for it. I had to redo the shop yesterday...the weight was correct and he did everything right.

At my retail job, we know a time frame of approx a week that we might be shopped.

Carol

When I was at my grocery store recently I had to make a return. While standing at the service desk their employee work schedule was laying on the counter with "mystery shopping times" yellowed at 4:00 pm for all of the employees to see.

lbarlbar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I was at my grocery store recently I had to
> make a return. While standing at the service desk
> their employee work schedule was laying on the
> counter with "mystery shopping times" yellowed at
> 4:00 pm for all of the employees to see.

NICE!! What's the point? Seems like a lot of money being spent on the program when they aren't really getting "honest" data.

Dustygirl, I think it was four or five years ago that MS'ers were talking about WM being shopped, but I could never find the MSC. Web addresses provided never worked. Then somewhere I heard that it is the drivers who shop. So I asked a WM driver. He said what it is is that while he's waiting for his truck to be unloaded, he's supposed to walk around the store and report anything that is amiss. It made me think that there is nothing for us. When you MS WM, what is it that a shopper there is expected to do?

Yes, they suspect everyone.

I go in and do all the things you would expect a shopper to do, write on a paper, look at my watch, I get great service.

In reality I never look at my watch or write anything. I carry a digital recorder that hears everything including my ques. When I get home, far away from the restaurants, I listen to the recorder and get the timing and details perfect.

Moral of the story? Do not be a shopper, be a snooper, buy a digital recorder and practice using it before shopping.

I used to be a newspaper reporter and am extremely good at remembering details as well as quotes and names. I rarely write anything down but when I do, I make it look like I'm checking things off a grocery list. I live in the town where I do the grocery shop frequently and go into the store often when I need a quick item on the way home. The only thing that would give away as a mystery shopper in that grocery store is that I am required to ask every single time if they take items back without receipts. They keep sending me there at the same time on the same day of the week and the same girl is always behind the counter. She patiently answers variations of this question and she now regards me either as an idiot or suspects me as a mystery shopper.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries employees know that all their restaurants get a lunch shop and a dinner shop every single week. They just don't know exactly what days, and they have a large window for meals (4.5 - 5 hours).

The large window is one of the reasons I like doing them, because I can swing by anytime between, say 4:15 and 9:15 for a dinner shop and am not held to the stricter windows of time many restaurants use.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2011 08:01AM by rainy.

rainy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Five Guys Burgers and Fries employees know that
> all their restaurants get a lunch shop and a
> dinner shop every single week. They just don't
> know exactly what days, and they have a large
> window for meals (4.5 - 5 hours).
>
> The large window is one of the reasons I like
> doing them, because I can swing by anytime
> between, say 4:15 and 9:15 for a dinner shop and
> am not held to the stricter windows of time many
> restaurants use.

Totally agree. Love 5Guys shops due to the large window....oh, and yummy food. BTW, they get shopped EVERY week?? sheesh.

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Do FF restaurants know WHEN they are going to be shopped>

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