Do you Mystery Shop at a place that you normally shop?

November 25, 2025 10:14PM

I was wondering if anyone mystery shops at places that they frequent casually. There is a Whataburger reveal shop at a local franchise where I frequently patronize. I am not sure if I want to reveal myself as a mystery shopper. Some of the employees already recognize me as a frequent diner there and are very polite to me. I don’t want them to act differently when I patronize if I am revealed as a mystery shopper. The other Whataburger places are too far out of the way to perform this shop.

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November 25, 2025 11:19PM

I don't do revealed shops at places where I also secret shop. But yes, I secret shop places where I visit when not on assignment.

November 25, 2025 11:35PM

Mt rule of thumb....I never do reveal shops for places where I put things in my stomach....as I never want to give people chances. You never know what people are thinking

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2025 11:36PM by kisekinecro.

November 26, 2025 12:33AM

I agree with kisekinercro. If I reveal... I stay away afterward until the next reveal.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

November 26, 2025 01:25AM

I only do reveals out of town. For instance, we do not have a Whattaburger in my city, but I happened to be traveling when there was a reveal shop along my travel route. The only local reveal that I have done was Wendy's several years ago. I picked up a location just off of the interstate in my city and it was a part of the city that I rarely frequent. I would never do a reveal at a location that I typically go as a paying customer.

November 26, 2025 03:46AM

Yes I try to snag shops at the Kroger near my house. The Kroger where I shop 1-2 times a week. I always wonder if they know, if they think I'm doing a shop when I am not. There is a local housewares store I did 2 shops at. Second time the associate questioned why I was asking the same questions as several months ago. I still stop in there just to mess with her mind if she sees me. However I will not do a shop there for quite a while.

November 26, 2025 04:25AM

It would be hard for me to shop somewhere I normally go to. I don't eat fast food or even casual restaurant food unless I'm shopping. I don't need to go to those places.

I do shop at Kroger even when I'm not mystery shopping, but I don't do things drastically differently than I do in a mystery shop. I buy approximately the same things, and spend about the same amount of money.

But I don't really eat at many fast food places unless I'm likely to get my money refunded. I like fried chicken, so I will occaisonally go to Popeyes or Slim Chickens. I know there are Slim Chickens shops, but I got Nikki'd and the MSC won't even let me apply for the shops, even though I'm not deactivated. Otherwise, if I'm out and need to eat I'll get myself a sandwich at Publix.

November 26, 2025 03:38PM

There's a grocery chain based out of NC that also has many stores here in SC. I've done my regular grocery shopping there for years. So when the mystery shops come open in my area, there are 2 or 3 locations I will mystery shop at, especially when they get bonused! I'm in those stores so frequently, I seriously doubt anyone who works there gives me a second look.

November 27, 2025 12:20PM

We have Two WAB where I live. I am there all the time.. Most of the employees know me also..

November 27, 2025 12:23PM

@Morledzep wrote:

But I don't really eat at many fast food places unless I'm likely to get my money refunded. I like fried chicken, so I will occaisonally go to Popeyes or Slim Chickens. I know there are Slim Chickens shops, but I got Nikki'd and the MSC won't even let me apply for the shops, even though I'm not deactivated. Otherwise, if I'm out and need to eat I'll get myself a sandwich at Publix.

I love Slims Chicken.. I would like to do their shops, but the last time I saw a shop you had to video it.

There was one time I went on my own dime, and I practice using my video on my phone and for some reason, it would not upload to y computer..

November 27, 2025 03:45PM

There are several convenience stores near me that I frequent that I used to shop a lot. They still know me, and I get great service. Even those that have changed brands or whatever and are no longer shopped.

November 28, 2025 12:32AM

I go to both Jersey Mikes and Five Guys on my own and as mystery shops.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

November 28, 2025 08:57PM

I was made at a Kroger store that I frequently shopped. So I self-excluded for 6 months, but would shop there regularly. It was when you had to ask questions of service areas. I shopped each one during my non-MS visits. They tended to forget about it.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

November 30, 2025 01:24AM

If bonused, which happens less frequently recently because the MSC has declared total war on its own shoppers from a fee standpoint, I will do Buffalo Wild Wings, which I frequent on my own.

December 04, 2025 04:22PM

For those of you that don't frequent places that you shop (or vice versa), that means that you never go to the gas stations that you regularly audit? Really? Back in ancient times when I did Shell audits for Maritz, there was one station that I visited both as auditor and normal customer. When I entered the store one of the clerks would often ask, "What is it today, business or pleasure?"

December 04, 2025 05:58PM

The line blurs for me with marketing. I had this disagreement with my spouse who didn't think I should conduct marketing activities at stores that I secret shop. I'm like... It's $50 to fix a messy foam shoe display at a store I rarely visit! Yeah, I am going. If they ask me whether I mystery shop there, I will be surprised enough that I won't have to fake my surprised face. Then I will ask them how to sign up to do that and if they know how much it pays. Easy enough to not actually answer their question and also mislead by the nature my response.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2025 05:58PM by Deedeezthoughts.

December 04, 2025 08:07PM

I did bank and grocery stores. But I will never ever did revealed shops at location I am doing MS

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

December 04, 2025 09:02PM

I will go to In N Out all the time on my own dime. It's maybe the one place where I will spend my own money. But of course it is NOT a reveal shop. I won't go to Texas Roadhouse, Bubba's 33, 5g or any other place that pays me because why should I pay for it myself when they will pay me? But In N Out is the only place I break that rule because the food is still affordable and the experience is always much better than most any other similar option.

I have a Whataburger to do. I have been to it a few times, but don't go enough that I think they will even remember when I come back in 2-3 months. I'm not impressed with whataburger. it's a bigger meat patty, the fries are better than In N out and it's a bigger menu with more options, but value and experience for the price, i'm taking In N Out all day. I went to whataburger the day they had their 75 year anniversary and offered their burger for 75 cents. Place was slammed and outta control. Something whataburger cannot handle, but it would just be a normal day at In N Out because they handle that amount of volume.

I took my own sliced cheese with me to whataburger in a ziplock bag. I prefer quality cheese and not spending $1 slice for american cheese :-P

December 04, 2025 09:43PM

I get my gas at Sam's Club unless it's on a shop.

@teacherguy wrote:

For those of you that don't frequent places that you shop (or vice versa), that means that you never go to the gas stations that you regularly audit? Really? Back in ancient times when I did Shell audits for Maritz, there was one station that I visited both as auditor and normal customer. When I entered the store one of the clerks would often ask, "What is it today, business or pleasure?"

December 04, 2025 10:26PM

For Teacherguy. I mostly do gas stations and grocery shops. I don't usually get gas at gas stations on my own dime, at least not the ones I normally shop. Once each month I get 35 gallons of gasoline at a severely discounted rate from my grocery store fuel points, in November I paid $0.65 per gallon using my October fuel points. With my November points I'm debating between using all of them and paying somewhere around $0.20 per gallon or splitting the points and getting 70 gallons of gas for approximately half of the regular price per gallon.

When I need more gas than that, I go to Buc-ee's and get a car wash and 15 gallons of gas for their discounted gasoline price, so I end up getting my car washed once or twice per month too. In addition to that we do as many "famous highway" shops for 3 gallons of gas and a drink, plus a little bit of money too. And my son does other gas station shops that get him gasoline to add to the gas caddy at home also.

So we really don't go to gas stations for gasoline when we aren't shopping the gas stations.

December 05, 2025 05:38PM

I do go to TXR on my own dime if our entire family goes (which seems to be the restaurant of choice for my son and his girfriend). I can't take everyone on a shop since the party size is too large. As for date nights, we do not go unless its a shop.

December 05, 2025 06:10PM

During my shopping life I have found several of my favorite retail or food establishments. Most of them no longer have a mystery program that I am aware of but I still go there. While they still had the program they were usually places where the shop was taken by someone the first day out or there were several locations so I could not get my favorite location of the shop often and I would continue to go on my own dime. Positive of living in a big city is often there are so many customers you don't stick out in their memory. Negative is it is hard to pick up a shop you like before someone else does (at base).

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