They were talking about me in front of me

January 18, 2026 09:23PM

I guess they had no idea. I was on a shop and a manager was coaching an associate just a few feet away reminding them they needed to do a certain, specific thing "because there is a mystery shopper program here and someone will be checking". Only, we'd already passed that point in the evaluation and it was officially too late. The "someone" was fully amused by the conversation, though, so thanks for the chuckle.

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January 18, 2026 09:24PM

That's funny. I recently had a bartender apologetically check my ID "because corporate is sniffing around here this week." (So much for "Consider it a compliment!")

January 18, 2026 10:46PM

I was doing a pizza shop once. I was at the counter and I heard saomeone in the back say "our mystery shopper is due this week".

January 18, 2026 10:52PM

Back when the golden arches was shopped, one of my regular stores had a routine when I arrived. Someone at the counter would holler out, "Showtime!" and the other employees, in unison, would answer "HBO!" They would repeat it a few times during the visit.

January 19, 2026 01:55AM

At a grocery store in another state, I was all but checked out, and the manager scolded the bagger in the next checkout lane that to settle down and do their job right because the shopper is coming. I think he was goofing off and bullshitting with another bagger..

January 19, 2026 02:11AM

Let's see, once at the TRX bar I heard a manager mention to the bartender that they hadn't been shopped yet that month. They are generally perfect at the bar anyway!

Another time at a convenience store I heard a manager tell an employee that she needed to make sure to ask for loyalty cards and offer the monthly upsell every time because the shopper would be checking those two things. Unfortunately it was too late in that case.

January 19, 2026 03:19AM

While at a burger place, the manager read a prior mystery shopper's report to employees loud enough that I could hear her. Too late since I had already noted several of the same things, plus employees making rude comments about the manager when she was in the back.

January 19, 2026 04:06AM

Yikes!

Some of these make me think of parents who threaten that Santa is watching to get better behavior from their kids.

Did anyone who experienced something like this reveal it in their report? I sure didn't!

January 19, 2026 05:14AM

Not in your dreams.. these are not facts that the MSCs need to know and it could get you removed from a project.

January 19, 2026 12:21PM

I've completed a postal job and an ATV job where they said they had to watch what they do or say because they have mystery shoppers that score them. The ATV guy was helping me not get caught at doing what I was checking them on. Of course, I am sure Mr. ATV got into trouble.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

January 19, 2026 03:23PM

I was at a place (on my own) where I'd done a bar shop maybe a month earlier and the bartender was talking to the other bartender about how he'd just gotten his "scorecard" back and he'd gotten marked down on something but he didn't care because it was something he couldn't control anyway. I hadn't shopped him, because my bartender had been a woman when I did the shop, so, they must be shopped fairly frequently.

As someone who used to work in child care and public prek where we got audited by the state every year, I know exactly what he meant - there are some things on scorecards that people have no personal control over so *shrug*

January 19, 2026 06:37PM

I was doing a cell phone shop once and the manager asked me to leave. The manager said, "if they want a mystery shop done they have to clear it from me first".
I reported this on my shop. The MSC just told me to wait a month and go back. I got a feeling this manager won't be there.

January 19, 2026 06:48PM

About a year ago I was shopping a locally owned restaurant when the manager loudly said to a few of the workers "We just got our mystery shop report from last month, and we actually passed it this time, so none of us will get fired." Reading the report did not inspire the manager to go over and do a table touch for me or any other guest in the nearly empty dining room, or let the server know the various things that would have improved the score for the shop I was doing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2026 02:09PM by NinS.

January 19, 2026 11:23PM

I have heard on many shops the teams mentioning the prior shop, some of which I’ve done.

I also routinely see the 5G shop scores posted in the prep area behind the kitchen. At one 5G, they were hosting a district meeting with all the managers in the dining area while I was completing a shop at the table next to them.

January 20, 2026 05:31PM

Some many to mention.

On one occasion while doing a bank shop, I notice the mystery shopper notice and checklist on the banker's desk

Another occasion I walked pass a grocery store's employee huddle concerning the upcoming mystery shop.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

January 20, 2026 07:50PM

I was checking out at a convenience store and the cashier said something like "Let me remember to give you this flyer just in case you're the secret shopper."

Handing out flyers was not one of the questions.

January 20, 2026 07:55PM

But he did his job. He gave you the information

January 20, 2026 07:57PM

They know you're the mystery shopper by the questions you ask.

January 21, 2026 01:54AM

I had one at Bass Pro ask me, after the interaction, if I was a shopper. I said yes, I'm shopping! Look at the shirt I'm about to buy! As I left I gave her a thumbs up. She did do everything she was supposed to, but the guidelines had me asking questions that gave me away.

January 22, 2026 09:14PM

I was doing a sizing audit and I overheard the manager telling the staff which categories needed to be perfect for the mystery shopper that month. The only issue was that I was completing an overdue shop with different categories. They didn’t do so well!

January 22, 2026 11:38PM

One of my very first mystery shops. My very first Chipotle Shop. I happened to be at the wrong location, a story for another day, but it was a order ahead shop. When I was sitting in the dining room making my observations after picking up my order, I overheard a Manager going over a previous Mystery Shop with a Crew Member. I heard her say I always follow up with the order ahead orders. Meaning she always called to check up on the call ahead orders. Well she never called me so I guess that wasn't true.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

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They were talking about me in front of me

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