@joanna81 wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

Pilot has added self checkout at some of their recently remodeled stores, and there's also a Circle K not far from me that has one.

Joanna,

We have 3 Pilots and 4 Loves truck stops that we shop regularly, and one of the Loves truck stops is brand new, with zero self-checkouts. All of the Circle K stores have self-checkouts, but most stores don't even turn them on anymore, no one will use them unless the cashier absolutely refuses to check them out.

Loves by me just did a large remodel and didn't add self checkout but the two pilots that recently underwent remodels did. A lot of the Dollar Generals and Family Dollars in my area added them but now have them all turned off. I guess too much theft or something.

@myst4au wrote:

Whenever a anyone comments about why I need a receipt, I tell them that I use the Fetch app to collect a few pennies per receipt. Many admit that they do also. [BTW, I do use Fetch as well as CoinOut, Merryfield, and Pogo.]

@metro25782 wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

Pilot has added self checkout at some of their recently remodeled stores, and there's also a Circle K not far from me that has one.

Joanna,

We have 3 Pilots and 4 Loves truck stops that we shop regularly, and one of the Loves truck stops is brand new, with zero self-checkouts. All of the Circle K stores have self-checkouts, but most stores don't even turn them on anymore, no one will use them unless the cashier absolutely refuses to check them out.

Loves by me just did a large remodel and didn't add self checkout but the two pilots that recently underwent remodels did. A lot of the Dollar Generals and Family Dollars in my area added them but now have them all turned off. I guess too much theft or something.

My problem with the self-check-outs at the truck stops is that many don't give you the necessary receipt and it looks ridiculous when you wait 3-5 minutes for a $2.12 receipt (as I have done).

@viv0412 wrote:

Don't use a cell phone... use glasses that have a camera. Records everything you look at.

@gigishopper wrote:

I feel like filming an entire car wash and being required to capture the crew members faces (requiring the shopper to move their cell phone position as the crew members move) is too obvious.

@shopperbob wrote:

Many yrs, ago and for a long deceased MSC, I shopped a local Abuelo's. It paid a flat $42, with my meal no more than $20. I was required to list 4 worker's names, but none wore a tag. As I knew they knew I was a shopper, it was strictly a game we played.

@metro25782 wrote:

I always find the dine-in Black and White Bear shops where you don't order a drink to be a dead give-away. I wouldn't be surprised if the cashier yelled out "Mystery Shopper Special" right here" when I decline a drink with my spicy kung pow.

@joanna81 wrote:

@metro25782 wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

Pilot has added self checkout at some of their recently remodeled stores, and there's also a Circle K not far from me that has one.

Joanna,

We have 3 Pilots and 4 Loves truck stops that we shop regularly, and one of the Loves truck stops is brand new, with zero self-checkouts. All of the Circle K stores have self-checkouts, but most stores don't even turn them on anymore, no one will use them unless the cashier absolutely refuses to check them out.

Loves by me just did a large remodel and didn't add self checkout but the two pilots that recently underwent remodels did. A lot of the Dollar Generals and Family Dollars in my area added them but now have them all turned off. I guess too much theft or something.

My problem with the self-check-outs at the truck stops is that many don't give you the necessary receipt and it looks ridiculous when you wait 3-5 minutes for a $2.12 receipt (as I have done).

I see most of them give an option to print. I did have another idea for not using a self checkout - put a band-aid on your finger. My son cut his finger and while I was putting the bandage on, the little light bulb in my head went off that might be another good trick for why a person wouldn't want to do self check out and hit the buttons themselves.

@metro25782 wrote:

I always find the dine-in Black and White Bear shops where you don't order a drink to be a dead give-away. I wouldn't be surprised if the cashier yelled out "Mystery Shopper Special" right here" when I decline a drink with my spicy kung pow.

@SBP wrote:

@viv0412 wrote:

Don't use a cell phone... use glasses that have a camera. Records everything you look at.

@gigishopper wrote:

I feel like filming an entire car wash and being required to capture the crew members faces (requiring the shopper to move their cell phone position as the crew members move) is too obvious.

Meta glasses: cost of $3-600…for a $30 gig?

@Maria72 wrote:

I did a gas station revealed audit not too long ago and the cashier told me they had already had their secret shopper a few days before. I asked how she knew and she said she saw her take a picture of the pump before she came in. Another gas station/C-Store I did a revealed was very on guard and slightly aggressive when I came in because he’d watched me sitting in my car on the security cam several minutes doing paperwork or checking on jobs (or who knows what i was doing, i just didn’t put my vest on and come in right away). They were alarmed and all the managers had to come out and find out what I was doing. That was a weird one, but yeah, watching you on security cam doing stuff other than coming in or getting gas on camera, and taking pictures of the pumps were the giveaway.

@DRJ wrote:

I thought this was going to be a discussion about tie dye shirts.

@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@DRJ wrote:

I thought this was going to be a discussion about tie dye shirts.

LOL! Do you know how much they charge for concert shirts these days?!

@viv0412 wrote:

Paid $95 for a hoodie for my daughter at Stray Kids...
Water was $10/ bottle and you don't even want to know how much the tickets were...
Lollapalooza tee shirt was only $40 last year.

@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@DRJ wrote:

I thought this was going to be a discussion about tie dye shirts.

LOL! Do you know how much they charge for concert shirts these days?!

@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@viv0412 wrote:

Paid $95 for a hoodie for my daughter at Stray Kids...
Water was $10/ bottle and you don't even want to know how much the tickets were...
Lollapalooza tee shirt was only $40 last year.

@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@DRJ wrote:

I thought this was going to be a discussion about tie dye shirts.

LOL! Do you know how much they charge for concert shirts these days?!

The things we do for love!

I went to a free show at the park and the shirts were $40 for a performer.who isn't particularly well known. So Lollapalooza sounds like a relative bargain to me.

@Momomomo wrote:

@viv0412 You brought up using glasses for a car wash shop. Do you have a pair of these glasses and use them on your shops? Are they the Metas or are you talking about a different brand. The Metas have a feature with a light that blinks from the time you start recording until you finish that makes it clear you are recording them. Apparently Meta does it for privacy issues.

Asking the gas station's store hours seems like a giveaway. Besides shoppers, who else is asking this question? Too many times the cashier thinks that I am asking what their, the cashier's hours are, and I have to quickly explain, no the store, the store hours. Plenty of gas stations don't have uniforms or maybe a backcourt t-shirt, but in most of those cases no nametags. Asking the cashier's name can seem aggressive and put them on guard. Why would a customer need to know that? Doesn't asking them for their name put them on the defensive and think why is this person asking this?

@prince wrote:

@metro25782 wrote:

I don't like pop, I don't like bottled water, I don't like the coffee served in most restaurants.

I never order a drink at these places. I feel like they must know I'm on a mystery shop at my local EDO when I order a pop

Perhaps you suffer from fluid retention and are on a restricted diet. (could be Congestive Heart Failure).

@sestrahelena wrote:

Viv, you could don a neck brace to keep your head from moving naturally!

"Here comes the mystery shopper - the lady in the neck brace."