I found this, stories about mystery shoppers. Please be careful when writing someone up.

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Unfortunately our nature, as a secret shopper, is to find out someone's incompetent behavior "in secret". Being busy is not an acceptable excuse not to provide the service your company asked you to. We observe and report what the company asked us to and report and they are supposed to do what their company asked to to provide to their customer. End of story. Just because they are incompetent doesn't mean we have to be slacking and give them a break as well.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2024 04:24PM by kisekinecro.

@kisekinecro wrote:

Unfortunately our nature, as a secret shopper, is to find out someone's incompetent behavior "in secret". Being busy is not an acceptable excuse not to provide the service your company asked you to. We observe and report what the company asked us to and report and they are supposed to do what their company asked to to provide to their customer. End of story. Just because they are incompetent doesn't mean we have to be slacking and give them a break as well.

Sadly some shoppers use the shops as a white glove test. I remember one company telling shoppers the shop is not a white glove test. Do not report things not in a costumers view. I've had managers complain to me on audits of other shoppers writing them up for even the simplest thing.

Some of those stories seem to be either falsified, embellished or, plain made up to make the server appear they were wronged in order to justify their dismissal or admonishment..
What it does sound like to me (IMO) are servers who just are not doing the job as detailed in their job description.

However, OTOH, I've never been a restaurant worker and, I remember the movie with Jennifer Aniston where she was a server and was called on the carpet because she did not wear the right amount of "Flair".

Some of the things those workers have to do is silly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2024 05:43PM by French Farmer.

If I do a gas station audit, I don't write them up if the toilet has not been flushed. The last customer didn't flush it and the store employee cannot check the restroom after each customer. I show grace and mercy on my shops. I do report major problems.

So, considering this string's topic, I have my own recent story to tell. And, guess what, I didn't report it after performing the shop.

Yesterday, after performing my gas station shop, I was sitting in my truck/SUV filling out my own personal worksheet, naming and reviewing my photos etc. BTW, I was parked in one of the site's parking spaces.
Now, I am not adverse to foul language and have used it myself in times of extreme frustration or anger - privately, not publicly. Further, I do not use foul language as part of my everyday discourse. I consider not using foul language as a matter or respect and dignity to others. Especially so of new acquaintances privately and in business.
So, back to my vehicle. As I was sitting there, I noticed a man, an employee of some sort of the gas station approaching my vehicle.
He shouts, "What the F... is this?" holding up the LOA. "Excuse me sir?" I reply. I get out of the car and look at the sheet. He is pointing to the section on the LOA referring to refusing the inspection.
"Sir," I explain, "That explains the consequences of not allowing the inspection. Your coworker has allowed me to perform the inspection and so, that sentence does not apply."
The guy continues to drop F bombs as well as the entire scale of swear words. He is ranting because he believes that he should be getting the report directly from me. I explain that I just take the photos of what I have noted and send them on to the corporate HQ where and editor and higher ups review them. "That is all I know," I tell him.
He then tells me that he used to get the report right from the mystery shopper/site inspector. I told him that in the past 2 years, the new company has had his brand. "Who?" he asks. I tell him the name. They are a multi-national company which I believe might be located in France.
"The French!" he spits out. "They do not like America, British, nobody!" They are Effing A..H...s! F them!", this littl
"Thank you sir," I tell him and go back to my car, leaving him fuming.

Interestingly, this dialogue comes on the heels of one I had just the day before.
In that one, I asked the employee if he would like his picture taken or one of the counter - his decision. I explained, like I always have that the employee picture is just of his uniform, not his face.
"It's a bunch of effing Sh..," he grumbles. "It's all a bunch of effing Sh..!" he goes on. "What the F do they want it for? Those effers!" He goes on for awhile, dropping F bombs, etc Then he goes on about criminals having more rights than regular folks. Society is breaking down, etc, etc. Nobody wants to work. They're all lazy SOBs, what with the dope
and porn.

I thought my head was going to explode. I felt like explaining to him that folks who use foul language as a daily practice without consideration of another are part of the problem he talks about.

Som anyway, that was my mystery shopping experiences in the last 2 days.

People who work in service (or any industry for that matter) are expected to do their job and to do it well. Nobody "must" work as a waiter or waitress, one can go do something else. A lot of people don't like to work period, and will make excuses regardless of the job. I think management has bent over backwards trying to make things more attractive for employees. I can't go into a grocery store, restaurant, etc. without seeing employees playing on their phones, in front of management. Since nobody says anything, it appears to me that management is okay with it.

I also think companies and managers miss the mark by placing too much emphasis on small details that do not matter. More "rules" are never a good thing. Nobody can keep up with them all, and ultimately people end up failing on the things that do matter. I am not a fan of workers having to repeat cookie-cutter statements. Employees sound robotic and unnatural. Let people word things in a manner that makes sense to them, as long as the customer understands. There is one postal clerk that does their job really well. However, they are very robotic because they have so much stuff they have to say. It comes across insincere. I know they are so worried about being dinged by a mystery shopper because they apologize for the wait, even if you didn't wait.

Another thing I've seen through life experience is that people are often not properly trained, and they are thrown into the deep end of the pool their first or second day on the job. You cannot expect people to do their job in the manner you want them to do, if they are not trained properly. Mystery shopping can pick up on some of this, but there is really nothing to prevent a manager from placing blame on the employee instead of taking responsibility.

I think another point is that mystery shopping seems to be a way for corporations to increase revenue. Gas stations owners pay out-of-pocket for the mystery shops done at their stores. But, the corporate brand collects fees for every violation. These numbers add up. What if all that money spent on mystery shopping was instead used to upgrade locations or to actually make things better for the customers? Rarely do shopper reports actually change anything and, if they do, the changes are short-lived as turnover is often high in industries that are shopped, and the process starts all over.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2024 06:22PM by ServiceAward.

I only found out recently about shops paying fees for a bad mystery shop. That is not right. It's corporate greed.

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2024 06:41PM by kisekinecro.

Most of those posts are folk's imaginations. They think it was a secret shopper when it was just management using it as an excuse to get rid of a sketchy employee. That bullshit about getting shopped every day at a Cheesecake Factory.. seriously.. And that one about the 7&7 lady that paid in cash and was never issued a receipt? seriously? If she was a shopper she didn't get paid with no receipt.

I had to stop reading. All I saw was how they all blamed us for them not doing their jobs, and they get into trouble. If they were doing their job, we wouldn't be reporting it. Crazy!

@Morledzep wrote:

Most of those posts are folk's imaginations. They think it was a secret shopper when it was just management using it as an excuse to get rid of a sketchy employee. That bullshit about getting shopped every day at a Cheesecake Factory.. seriously.. And that one about the 7&7 lady that paid in cash and was never issued a receipt? seriously? If she was a shopper she didn't get paid with no receipt.

Or the shopper lost the receipt and tried to cover it up by saying they never got a receipt.

@ArkLaMissshopping wrote:

I had to stop reading. All I saw was how they all blamed us for them not doing their jobs, and they get into trouble. If they were doing their job, we wouldn't be reporting it. Crazy!

There are stories in there where a restaurant manager was making things up. On some shops, the manager yells at the employee if they don't get 100%. That's the fault of the manager.

@kisekinecro wrote:

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

I would not want to have you as a shopper. Seems you have a chip on your shoulder.

Everyone lives in a two story house - there's your story and mine - who knows the reality.
What I do know is I once worked for a corporation that wanted to fire a couple people, but had no legal basis, so they hired shoppers to drum up complaints and used those to fire them....so there you go.
As well, it's experiences like those in this thread that keep me from ever doing a revealed shop.

@kisekinecro wrote:

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

Not sure who you are talking to, but it seems to be me since I mentioned corporations.

I never said corporations were greedy. They can be, yes, but at the same time, nobody makes anybody work anywhere. People make their own choices. If you do not like a job, either suck it up or quit.

Mystery shopping can be an invaluable tool for clients, if it is done correctly and there are meaningful changes made as a result. Far too often, it seems little changes, and there does appear to be at least some clients that want to hear their business did perfectly, even if it didn't. Maybe their goal isn't so much about improving customer service, but being able to market certain bragging rights. I don't know.

For the record, I do not avoid paying my taxes. So I don't know where you got that.

@johnb974 wrote:

@kisekinecro wrote:

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

I would not want to have you as a shopper. Seems you have a chip on your shoulder.

Likewise, I also would not want someone like you who actively trying to dodge your due diligence of income tax and god knows what that gives you a "legal judgement" against you, on top of not keeping any form of payment record for income fraud purposes

@ServiceAward wrote:

@kisekinecro wrote:

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

Not sure who you are talking to, but it seems to be me since I mentioned corporations.

I never said corporations were greedy. They can be, yes, but at the same time, nobody makes anybody work anywhere. People make their own choices. If you do not like a job, either suck it up or quit.

Mystery shopping can be an invaluable tool for clients, if it is done correctly and there are meaningful changes made as a result. Far too often, it seems little changes, and there does appear to be at least some clients that want to hear their business did perfectly, even if it didn't. Maybe their goal isn't so much about improving customer service, but being able to market certain bragging rights. I don't know.

For the record, I do not avoid paying my taxes. So I don't know where you got that.

Not you, but some "John" Doe who keeps on asking doing SS as hobby so he doesn't need to pay tax, not keeping payment record and not reporting income becuase he does not have 1099

@kisekinecro wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

@kisekinecro wrote:

Ya, without those "greedy corp" you wouldn't have a shop to go mystery shopping, heck without them you won't even get paid to be a secret shopper "as a hobby" to begin with. So maybe you should just stfu about "greedy corp" and instead be thankful that you have some income because of them, and stop trying to avoid paying your due in taxes.

I would not want to have you as a shopper. Seems you have a chip on your shoulder.

Likewise, I also would not want someone like you who actively trying to dodge your due diligence of income tax and god knows what that gives you a "legal judgement" against you, on top of not keeping any form of payment record for income fraud purposes

Please stick with the topic of this thread

I was doing a gas station shop that was a mystery shop and open audit. When I came back for the open audit. the employee told me they lost their bonus the last time because they did not ask about the rewards program. To me, taking away their bonus just for that isn't right. She had just started there, working alone and was busy with another customer. To me this was just corporate greed. She should have been just given a warning. Some companies use mystery shopping to line their own pockets.

I think some mystery shopping companies do the same thing. I'm on the west coast. I was doing a report that was due before midnight. I filed it around 11pm. My report was rejected. The scheduler said because I did not file it in time. I told them it was 11pm when I filed it. I was told they are on the east coast and it was after midnight. There was nothing in the guidelines about filing on east coast time. I told them that, but they didn't care. I was expected to know it. Now they got a report they did not have to pay for.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2024 01:46AM by johnb974.

@johnb974 wrote:

Or the shopper lost the receipt and tried to cover it up by saying they never got a receipt.

It wasn't the shopper that said they didn't give the customer receipts for her 7&7s.

@Morledzep wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

Or the shopper lost the receipt and tried to cover it up by saying they never got a receipt.

It wasn't the shopper that said they didn't give the customer receipts for her 7&7s.

"Well you also didn’t give her a receipt. Well that’s not a thing we have ever been told we need to do and our POS doesn’t print cash receipts unless you take extra steps when requested."......it appears it was an issue with the bar.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2024 05:49AM by johnb974.

I think most of the anecdotes in that thread are legit, and I totally understand their exasperation. Especially at chain restaurants. Getting lambasted for forgetting to mention a $1.50 upsell of fries on a busy night (or any night, really) is pathetic. And all the other little stuff they have to remember to sell, errr, mention, or do, that they can tell really isn't relevant to the experience or wanted by the customer is soul sucking.

There are already a lot of great reasons not to dine at chain restaurants. This just adds to the list imo.

Am certainly flexible at times. Did a fitness equipment shop. Sales guy was supposed to tell me to stand on the tread mill or whatever. He did not ask me and this was likely because I wore unsafe shoes, not sneakers. So I did say he asked me on my report. Fair is fair !!

@Arch Stanton wrote:

Am certainly flexible at times. Did a fitness equipment shop. Sales guy was supposed to tell me to stand on the tread mill or whatever. He did not ask me and this was likely because I wore unsafe shoes, not sneakers. So I did say he asked me on my report. Fair is fair !!

Instead of saying he asked you to stand on the treadmill (which he did not), I would have said, "He did not ask me to stand on the treadmill, possibly because the shoes I wore were not suitable for standing on that machine."

It’s quite common on cash integrity shops (bar, parking, etc) to be told not to ask for a receipt if one isn’t projectively provided.

I often encounter friends who assume the point of MSing is to get employees in trouble. I always explain that I am collecting a piece of business data. Inevitably there are businesses that use such data wisely and in a manner that helps its employees help customers better, and there are businesses where managers use all kinds of data to create a toxic work environment that is of no benefit to the company.

@Morledzep wrote:

Most of those posts are folk's imaginations. They think it was a secret shopper when it was just management using it as an excuse to get rid of a sketchy employee. That bullshit about getting shopped every day at a Cheesecake Factory.. seriously.. And that one about the 7&7 lady that paid in cash and was never issued a receipt? seriously? If she was a shopper she didn't get paid with no receipt.

I have had 2 bar shops with different MSCs where you record the exact time the bartender rings in and makes change. I was only allowed to pay with a $20 so there had to be change. If the bartender didn't give a receipt I had to ask for 1 only when leaving. I thought it was to see if bartenders were actually ringing the sale when it happened or keeping the cash and just giving change.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2024 07:56PM by tstewart3.

I used to work in a bar back in the 90's and we called them "spotters" I believe they were checking to make sure the drinks were rung in properly and change given. I also believe we had bartenders fired due to stealing, which didn't surprise me at all. Happens all the time.

As a shopper, I always give those being shopped every opportunity. If there is something they are supposed to ask, I will take a very long pause or even ask them to repeat to give them a chance. For example, if it is fast food and they are supposed to specifically offer a drink, and they just say, "Anything else?", I just stand there until they say something else to give them a chance to offer a drink. If they do fail to meet their corporate guidelines, and there are consequences for them, that is on them, not on me.

That said, I think some jobs have guidelines that set the employee up for failure. I wish all shops had a comment section that allowed for an explanation of any deficiencies. For example, if an employee failed to offer an upsell, you could write, "No upsell was offered, but the show next door had just let out, there was a large influx of customers and X was the only bartender. X was doing a superb job of quickly and accurately waiting on patrons."

I've seen a few reddit posts over the years where posters have posted screen shots/copy+paste of the mystery shopping report. I've been shocked at the grammar in a few of them. I recently saw one full on run on sentences. It makes me wonder how the report was even accepted by the MSC.