That oh sh** moment....

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted a new pair of shoes. So, naturally I applied for a mystery shop at a shoe store. I reviewed the guidelines and printed the paperwork before heading to the mall and thought it was strange that the report was only two pages long. The guidelines mentioned an 'extensive report,' so I thought it was odd that it was so short when I was reviewing it. I conducted the shop without any issues, and came home to fill out the report. As I was filling it out I had a horrible realization, or an 'oh @#$%&' moment. The report was longer than two pages. In fact, it was closer to 4 or 5 pages. SMH! I felt like such an idiot! I should have double checked before I left. Fortunately for me the rest of the report was common sense, and had nothing involving pictures or timing. I was able to fill it out without issue. Have you ever made a mistake like this? Or had an 'oh @#$%&' moment while mystery shopping?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

I had an "oh sh*t" moment two days ago, at a burger shop. I had to take a photo of the burger before eating it. Just as I'm taking a photo of the burger, the manager pops up behind me and asks, "How is everything?" I quickly turned my phone off. He actually asked each table, so I wasn't being singled out, but it was kinda awkward.

Yup, done that too. I did a steak house restaurant shop, you know, the one known for their parker bread rolls and line dancing in the restaurant. Anyway, I wrote down all of the areas I'm suppose to follow/check. Stupid me, I entered the restaurant before 6 PM, at 5:20 PM, thinking to beat the dinner crowd. Suppose to enter between 6 to 9 PM. Did not realized it until I started my report. It all worked out, Emailed scheduler to inform her of my mistake and offered to redo the shop another day. Got the permission to go ahead to submit the report. Got a 10 on the report.

Once, I was doing a restaurant shop with Mr. Cat, my "Professional Shop Companion" as he likes to call himself. We were doing great, taking pics of the food, the restroom, etc. I was discreetly taking notes and by the time dessert arrived, we were relaxed and not paying attention. We ate half the dessert before realizing we forgot to take a picture of the dessert!! After kicking ourselves in the head, I decided we should finish the dessert, and say it was so good we wanted another. So we did that, ordered another dessert (same item), took the pic, each took a bite, then acted full and took the rest home.

Good save.
I forgot to take a picture of All my food at one shop. Finally remembered by dessert. I offered to reshop. They got someone else.

Today's oh No! Was I drove an hour to another town and realized I left my purse at home. Went home and rescheduled my work. Sheesh!

@FrugalCat wrote:

Once, I was doing a restaurant shop with Mr. Cat, my "Professional Shop Companion" as he likes to call himself. We were doing great, taking pics of the food, the restroom, etc. I was discreetly taking notes and by the time dessert arrived, we were relaxed and not paying attention. We ate half the dessert before realizing we forgot to take a picture of the dessert!! After kicking ourselves in the head, I decided we should finish the dessert, and say it was so good we wanted another. So we did that, ordered another dessert (same item), took the pic, each took a bite, then acted full and took the rest home.

Yeah, I am working on a round of convenience stores with all having the same purchase requirement, though you are allowed to purchase additional items. I've done probably 30 of them in the past 10 days. Last night i missed one of the required purchase items at one of my stores...duh.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a restaurant shop with my husband and 11 year old daughter. One of the requirements was to order a pizza and to take a photo of it before eating it. Well, I took a slice and just after I took a bite, I remember that I was supposed to take a picture first. I quickly replaced the slice and placed a piece of basil to cover the missing bite. My husband took the photo, we all breathed a sigh of relief and then went on to enjoy the pizza. It was a close one!

I did a day of the week shop and the requirements was to take a picture of all food and app before eating. I forgot to take a photo of my first app before eating it, I remembered after I took the first bite. I took a picture of the remaining untouched food. I emailed the scheduler and told her what happened but they may not accept the shop, said it's up to the client. I was so upset with myself for making such a silly mistake. I wouldn't be upset if we enjoyed ourselves but service was so horrible and the place was disgusting plus I was required to tip a min of 20%. I hope they accept my shop, LOL

They made you tip 20%?! I hope they reimbursed you for that.

yes, it was part of the requirements to tip 20%.

A couple of times I had forgotten my clip board. I had all of my instructions written down with the addresses of the shops. I placed the clip board near my purse on the counter. I was hurrying to get on my way, got the purse, my little cooler, and took off. Only then after I reached my first shop's location, which was 20 minutes later, thinking to myself, I made good timing with traffic. I realized I forgotten my clip board. Had to drive all the home to retrieve the clip board.

I was doing a breakfast shop last week. I started buttering my hash browns when I remembered I was supposed to take a picture of the meal as it was delivered. I quickly stopped what I was doing. I took the napkin and blotted off the butter (and shininess). My table at this restaurant is always directly across from the kitchen. The cooks and waiters can observe me taking pictures. I just do what I have to do, as quick as I can.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

I am having a moment right now. I sat down to do a report for a gas station yesterday and the start date is tomorrow!
Funny thing is, I logged in and double checked the date just before pulling into the gas station. I have made a few mistakes recently and wanted to make sure!

I must have logged into the other company I was shopping for yesterday, noticed the start date on them and carried on. At least it wasn't out of my way. I will be working near by later in the week.

I did two grocery shops last week. I had a premonition that I had not spent enough just as I was finishing my second grocery shop. Sure enough, I was .11 cents short. And to add to the mix, the deli girl mislabeled my purchase so it didn't show as Boars Head (although I watched her pull the correct meat from the case). Contacted the scheduler and she said they couldn't accept a shop if the amount was different by greater than .10 cents! And I so wanted to write up that shop - took 4 passes and still no one in the produce department. The meat guy's response to how to prepare corned beef was "I dunno, I don't cook much." The cashier called me sweetheart and neither he nor the bagger were wearing name tags. Totally my fault for not checking the amount before I paid and I'll be sure to check labels from now on. Learning the hard way!

Susie shopping the Columbus Ohio area and outlying communities.

I was sitting in a bank speaking with the CSR doing an account opening shop. This was a large branch that I had not shopped before. I looked up and noticed a sign, I was at the wrong bank, the bank was next door. I quickly finished the shop and told the CSR I changed my mind and better pass it by my husband first. DURRRRRR!

Two nights ago I did a shop that required a pic of the appetizer and a pic of the entree before eating. This is usually the no-brainer part of the shop for me. Appetizer was delivered and my daughter and I were looking forward to it and tore into it!

OOPS!

Halfway through, I realized it and wanted to cry. It was too far gone to "adjust" it. I was sick and had already thought of just cancelling the shop because it couldn't be extended again.

This post popped into my head and we just ordered another one because "it was so good!" I'm sure the server thought I was crazy, but I got it done. Of course I didn't want to pay for an extra appetizer, but I felt like it was the only way to go. Not my proudest of shopping moments!

Part-time Colorado Shopper since 2016.

I made a previsit phone call tonight before the dinner shop I did. I had read the guidelines thoroughly but didn't look as closely at the questionnIre. When filling out the report online, I got to the last section of questions and it asked if the person on the phone had mentioned a certain promotion. It stated just above that to NOT prompt them. Oops. That wasn't in the guidelines. I asked them about the promotion during the call. Hope they accept my shop.

I was at the front of the mall when I discovered that my camera was not in my purse. I did not have my cell phone. I went home to get my digital camera. Took a picture of the store and did my report. No where was it asking for the photo download. I remembered that they said there were some changes in the Guidelines and in reviewing the questionnaire, I did not notice the absence of the download request. I wasted almost two hours travelling to and fro for something that was not required.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

That oh sh** moment....

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine