How many of you have had severe pushback when doing gas station revealed shops?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2026 12:53AM by KA047.

Extremely rare to never.
Every now and then you might get a clerk who makes you wait a little to call their boss. As far as flat out rejections, I've had three in 11 years.

I've been doing gas stations for 14 years, thousands at this point and had 3 severe pushbacks. None I could not handle.

@LIJake wrote:

I've been doing gas stations for 14 years, thousands at this point and had 3 severe pushbacks. None I could not handle.

What did those three look like?

I live in the deep south, the paranoia of the white women here is astounding. The only station I've ever been asked to leave, two blonde to the bone women at the counter. Said I could download the LOA "offline" anywhere, and they insisted that I show them a badge or my personal ID. And my ID wasn't good enough because my head was covered and they said I look different. I told them that the owner should have received an email with my picture and when I would be there. They wouldn't call the owner, they said that "he would have told us."

I asked them if they were refusing to let me conduct my audit and they just kept yelling at me that I was an imposter, and I was trying to pull something on them. So I just got in my car and left. Went across the street took the curb appeal picture and explained what happened and went on with my day.

The location has new ownership and the screwy blondes are history. And a couple months ago they rebranded to a station that isn't shopped.

I did over a thousand Marathons and it happened maybe twice. These were people that I wondered if they could read/comprehend the LOA due to a language barrier. Many times the clerk would call and I was cool with that.

I can only think of a couple in the many hundreds I have done.

One employee was new and asked to see ID and called their manager. They were nice, so I complied.

The other one the clerk was an azzhole. First he feigned ignorance and tried to stop me to call the manager. When I stated that was not necessary and that I would be getting to work he commented I was not the woman who usually shops them.

I booked that one about a year later and the place now has different owners.

I had 1 over 3 years, that one shop who rejected me became a rebrand shop shortly after the rejection of the audit

Let me tell you about one I did last year. I did all my stuff then went to the cashier and gave them the LOA and he was a teenager and was giving me a hard time. It was really late in the day and he called the manager over acting all superior that he stopped some interloper from doing shady things. That manager went absolutely bat crap crazy on him. I felt really bad for him, she yelled at him that his job was to sell beer and lottery tickets and that was it. He was not to make any corporate decisions. She said the letter alone told him everything he needed to know and that he was interfering with things well above his pay grade. Then she turned to me and did a complete turn around and was sweet a pie and called me honey and told me to go about doing whatever I needed to do and come see if I had any problems. I have done that location twice since then and never saw him again. While I found it funny I still felt really bad for him he was just a baby. But we all gotta learn our place in life I guess.

But I did just have a clerk at P66 decline to let me take photos but it was after they already said yes and I was literally done with pictures. Since that LOA warns them about declining I did the report and just made a note that during the process the clerk came out and told me I could not take photos but I was already done with all the photos and was completing the report.

Earlier today I received the most severe pushback I've ever received, and it really wasn't that bad. I go back inside for the reveal, and the woman, whom I think is a manager, refuses to make eye contact with me as I'm going through my spiel. When I'm done, she asks me why I came in as a regular customer at first, then came back in as inspector. She said it made me look very suspicious, and normally people doing what I'm doing introduce themselves right away with a business card.

So I gave her a physical copy of the letter of authorization and calmly explained why I came in first as a customer. And then she was totally cool with me doing everything I needed to do. I did hear her say to her husband, "Why do we even stay with Exxon now??"

I find it funny when owners complain about the mystery shops and change brands, only to get the same shoppers doing the shops for the new brand.

@retrodaddy wrote:

Earlier today I received the most severe pushback I've ever received, and it really wasn't that bad. I go back inside for the reveal, and the woman, whom I think is a manager, refuses to make eye contact with me as I'm going through my spiel. When I'm done, she asks me why I came in as a regular customer at first, then came back in as inspector. She said it made me look very suspicious, and normally people doing what I'm doing introduce themselves right away with a business card.

So I gave her a physical copy of the letter of authorization and calmly explained why I came in first as a customer. And then she was totally cool with me doing everything I needed to do. I did hear her say to her husband, "Why do we even stay with Exxon now??"

I've had very few refused. The only recent one that comes to mind was at a station where the owner was feuding with the brand over something and refused to let me complete the audit because he did not want to pay for it. He was nice to me about it, but was adamant and really upset with Exxon. I took a photo of the refusal letter on the counter and left. It has since rebranded.

I use to have one location that refused for about a year. Everytime I went I got paid $150-$200. So I didn’t care if he refused . Then eventually he trusted me and let me go after he talked to someone because they were about to debrand him.

Two were the same grumpy old man. The first one he refused to provide a key for the rest room and told me he was too busy for an inspection, and I should come back tomorrow. I responded that I didn't need him to complete the inspection and I can't come back tomorrow. I further advised him that I would take a picture of the counter and an overall picture and submit a report giving his name and description and advising he refused the inspection. He decided to give me the restroom key and allow the inspection. I returned to the same location a couple of months later and he recognized me. When I attempted to purchase a $1.00 item, he tried to charge me $5.00. It turned out he was in the process of selling the station and the new buyer stepped out form the service area and interceded, charging the correct amount. The new buyer apologized, explaining the situation and I proceed with my inspection. I think they made a movie about the old owner starring Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau.

The third shop involved an angry young jerk. When I asked for a receipt for my small in-store purchase he refused at first, angrily asking why I needed a receipt. When I produced the LOA he demanded identification. I declined telling him I'm here for a routine inspection or I could take a picture of counter and an overall picture and submit a report giving his name and description and advising he refused the inspection. That seems to work both with grumpy old men and young jerks.

I have always printed out color copies of the LOA, rather than images on my phone. That way the clerk has a copy and, I believe, avoids problems. I also wear a badge with my name and picture as well logos of the brand and Ipsos on my vest. But, of course, that is after the reveal.

"We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

No, but they prevent verbal explanations.

I wear a badge if I am supplied one. Don't mind at all.

When the Marathons were with another company, I did a crap load. I had a customer call the cops on me once, and I was told to leave three times. Mostly because the clerk had no clue what I was talking about. I usually explain it in a way they can understand.

I print out the letters and use them. I'm not shoving my phone into someone's face and asking them to read it. That's not professional, that's just rude.

@LIJake wrote:

Two were the same grumpy old man. The first one he refused to provide a key for the rest room and told me he was too busy for an inspection, and I should come back tomorrow. I responded that I didn't need him to complete the inspection and I can't come back tomorrow. I further advised him that I would take a picture of the counter and an overall picture and submit a report giving his name and description and advising he refused the inspection. He decided to give me the restroom key and allow the inspection. I returned to the same location a couple of months later and he recognized me. When I attempted to purchase a $1.00 item, he tried to charge me $5.00. It turned out he was in the process of selling the station and the new buyer stepped out form the service area and interceded, charging the correct amount. The new buyer apologized, explaining the situation and I proceed with my inspection. I think they made a movie about the old owner starring Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau.

The third shop involved an angry young jerk. When I asked for a receipt for my small in-store purchase he refused at first, angrily asking why I needed a receipt. When I produced the LOA he demanded identification. I declined telling him I'm here for a routine inspection or I could take a picture of counter and an overall picture and submit a report giving his name and description and advising he refused the inspection. That seems to work both with grumpy old men and young jerks.

I have always printed out color copies of the LOA, rather than images on my phone. That way the clerk has a copy and, I believe, avoids problems. I also wear a badge with my name and picture as well logos of the brand and Ipsos on my vest. But, of course, that is after the reveal.

I always printed them out. Unless things are formatted right it is tough to read. Also non professional to use the phone for the LOA,

I rarely present any type of LOA any more. Only if they ask. Just a smile and a quick explanation that I will be taking pictures for their gas brand. Another vendor like they deal with every day.

I had one where the manager said I gave them a bad review last time. (I never gave them a bad review) I said it wasn't me. He said my name was on the report. I said "what's my name?" He couldn't answer. LOL

Most associates / managers are okay with my brief explanation of what I'm doing. Many know what I'm doing from experience. Some ask for an LOA or authorization of some sort, and I provide a printed LOA. Arriving with only a digital LOA assumes someone will be able to read it on my phone or scan the QR code, and they may not be able to do that, or at least do it quickly. I'm not there to f@&! around. Keep it simple and keep it moving, imo.

Also, Sundays may require a lot of patience. The B or C team is likely working Sunday, and many of them have no clue about the inspection and are reluctant to give permission to do anything outside of the limited scope they were prepared for. Many times they'll call the station owner or GM, and even put you on the phone with them. Good to have a printed LOA so that the employee can read stuff off the sheet when they speak to the owner.

I once had an owner tail me throughout the entire audit, even after I politely asked him not to, making an excuse for every non-compliant photo I took:

"Tell the company I'm not going to stop selling drug paraphernalia. It's 10% of my business."

"Tell the company I keep the restroom locked with an 'Out of Order' sign on the door because I have to clean it after customers use it. I can unlock it for you though."

"Tell the company the forecourt is full of trash because I don't have time to remove it."

"Tell the company there are no paper towels on the pump islands because customers use too many and they're expensive."

"Tell the company we're in street clothes because I declared it a "dress down" day."

Unbelievable. I "told the company" everything he asked me to in my report comments. They're still open. Same branding. I told myself I'd need a HUGE bonus to go back there!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2026 03:15PM by mitchk.

@retrodaddy wrote:

Also, Sundays may require a lot of patience. The B or C team is likely working Sunday, and many of them have no clue about the inspection and are reluctant to give permission to do anything outside of the limited scope they were prepared for. Many times they'll call the station owner or GM, and even put you on the phone with them. Good to have a printed LOA so that the employee can read stuff off the sheet when they speak to the owner.

I will say that at many of the stations I was doing in the Detroit area, reading comprehension was an issue. I could kind of tell by the way they looked at the LOA and looked back at me. I had a set spiel for those folks, but I can't remember the sequence anymore.