My husband did a phone shop today and was totally called out as a shopper. never happened to me thankfully but he is quite upset over it. The shop was to a facility which has multiple locations nationwide inquiring as to pricing and requesting a price list. He was doing very well and was told a price list would be sent out until the person speaking with him asked him to hold. She returned to the line and then asked him for his full name, email and phone number. She then asked for his mom's full name which he thought was a bit odd. She then asked him why he was calling her location when he had called a facility in the chain in a state 2000 miles away a few months back with the same scenario for a parent- she knew the name he provided on the first call which matched his mom's name on this call. She asked if his mom had recently remarried as she was a widow at the time of the first call 3 months ago. I was in the other room and heard him stammering a bit and came into the room. He denied calling but it was obvious he had called before. If he does not get the rate sheets he is supposed to keep trying and make more calls until he gets the email with the requested rates. . As he has been outed as a shopper seems to be of no use. He is very upset over this as he felt like he was being called a liar which in fact he was- well let's say he was simply role playing. Caller ID and technology can be a shopper's enemy at times. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any advice for him as I have none! LOL

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2025 10:09PM by Fatlady.

I would be totally freaked out by that!

That's the big problem with companies that have a shared database across all locations. It is also an issue with car dealership shops.

How much does this shop pay that you are even bothering to do them in the first place? You can't use a different name? And a different email address? Seems quite lame if guidelines prevent that. Seems quite lame if you could do it and chose to use the same info again.

I’m confused why he could not have continued with the role play. My 80 year old in laws have a home in AZ and home on the east coast. As for the last name change, he could have used her maiden name in one call and married name in another. I see it as the rep is making sure her database is correct and updated. Are you certain he was “outed” as a shopper?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2025 09:20AM by gigishopper.

Would blocking his number and calling again with all new names help?

I used to do funeral home calls. They were all to the same company, different locations. I had different names for myself and my loved one each time.

I did a bank shop where I had to find out about credit cards. The banker was super friendly and I left and got paid. Several weeks later, I went to another branch to find out about checking accounts. When I got there the same banker was at this branch. She recognized me and asked if I was ready to get the card. I told her I just needed some more information. I could not ask about a checking account. I got the information about the credit card and left and contacted the scheduler and told her what happened.
The shop is still on the board s of this morning,

*67

I just deny when I get called out. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I would imagine that the company he was calling wouldn't be too thrilled if their CSRs got confrontational over the phone when it's not a legal or accounts payable matter. What if they're wrong???

Get yourself a free phone number. Try Text now. Only use that phone number. Create a new email address at Yahoo or Gmail. Rework your scenario, use your father, an uncle or an aunt. I've done dozens of Retirement Living shops and always am prepared with a new phone number, email and scenario.

Exactly. I have quite a few free numbers I use for any shop that I have to give a number to. And a slew of shop dedicated email addresses to rotate for these fake scenarios/shops, etc. Never been caught

Also mail.com is where you can get multiple email addresses and you can change them up. I change them up all the time. I think you can get 10 at a time. They call them alias email addresses. TextNow all day long! You can change the phone number I believe it’s every 15 days. I have two phones so I have two TextNow numbers. In fact, I just switched out my TextNow phone number this morning for a new one. As shoppers, we have to fight technology with technology!