Apartment Shop Advice

I am doing an apartment shop and there is a target leasing agent I am supposed to shop. After six attempts, I finally reach the target leasing agent for the phone portion. However, she had to excuse herself from the phone for an appointment and gave me to another leasing agent. I have not yet made an appointment, but she does have my contact information and is supposed to follow up with me.

I notified the company I’m doing this for, as this was of no fault of my own. They said this was fine, but I still needed to schedule the in-person appointment with the original target.

So, my question is this… how do I schedule an appointment with the target person when I spoke to a different leasing agent on the phone? She will likely follow up with me via email or by phone and it seems awkward to tell her I don’t want an appointment with her and can I meet with her coworker instead. Any advice how I can handle this?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Apartment Mystery Shopping

Say you want the "target" agent because your (coworker, neighbor, etc) mentioned how helpful "Carol" (or whoever the target is) was with their (sister, brother, grandson), so you'd really like to work with her. I always do two people removed so that when they ask for a name, I can plausibly give something general and say I'm not sure of a name ("Gosh....I think it's Sarah? Susan? Something with an S....)

As an update, I called today and got the general voicemail. I thought this was perfect! I left a message specifically for the target. However, that is not who called me back. Luckily, I did not answer and they left me a message. So, even when I specifically ask for the target, stating I had a friend refer me to her, I still get a different person calling me back! If this shop wasn’t paying well, I’d say forget it!

I think I might have my husband call and see if he can get an appointment with her. Then I’ll show up and make an excuse why he’s not there. What do you think?

@mysterioso412 wrote:

Say you want the "target" agent because your (coworker, neighbor, etc) mentioned how helpful "Carol" (or whoever the target is) was with their (sister, brother, grandson), so you'd really like to work with her. I always do two people removed so that when they ask for a name, I can plausibly give something general and say I'm not sure of a name ("Gosh....I think it's Sarah? Susan? Something with an S....)

Better yet, your friend's partner or cousin. That way you have an excuse for not know that person's name when asked for the resident referral bonus.

There is a reason most people who post here won't take targeted apartment leasing agent shops. They appear to know they are being shopped and so refuse to accept your phone call or give you a tour.

That makes it near impossible to complete the shop successfully.

I do quite a few apartment shops, and I have found that the issue discussed here in mostly prevalent with one MSC in particular. So, do not let the shortcomings of this company dissuade you from trying apartment shops with other companies. You might also want to try non-targeted shops first to see if you like them.

Years of reading here. Do not accept targeted apartment shops.

Accept non-targeted shops. And make sure you get their last name. I got burned by different Katie's.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Apartment Shop Advice

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine