Ok done sharing about about face it raises too many questions

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 01:59AM by cathi1954.

cathi1954 Wrote:
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> Bottom line, I was released
> from my IC agreement because of this, one person
> that controlled everything. When I asked for an
> explanation they could not even be bothered to
> answer me. Just be careful when accepting this
> job. It is not what it seems.

does this mean that you can't perform actual mystery shops for the company anymore, because you are editing? are you getting paid less or more?

If the mystery shopper "isn't always right," does that mean they told you to change the reports to conform with some preconceived notion of what the report should say?

I don't see much about About Face corp. Has anyone worked for them ? As a shopper or editor? Need some input please

There is now a link below your post for more discussions about About Face. If you look at the Official List on the bottom of the page there is also a link to discussions and it says there are 19 as of now.

sorry I raised too many issues

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 02:00AM by cathi1954.

As far as performing Mystery shops for the company, it is interesting. Now that you mention it, I have not been given any shops in my area!
The pay is $3.00 per edit, that is an entire mystery shoppers report, It is easier to do the actual shop. I guess I was not paying much attention to the shops from them, I was so frustrated by what happened!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

If true that is not only disturbing the company is shooting themselves in the foot. First, there is no opportunity for the store to improve increasing the risk of being shut down. Second, customer complaints contradicting shoppers observations will devalue the reports. Lastly, if the client feels all of their stores and employees are consistently doing well they may decide there is no harm for reducing the frequency of shops and even dropping the program for extended periods of time. Seriously, who wins here.

cathi1954 Wrote:
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> It isn't called "changing the report" It is called
> rounding, and yes that is pretty much what they
> tell you to do. We put a lot of time and effort
> into these shops, and many of our comments are
> changed to conform with what the company wants.
> for example, Was the store clean and dust free?
> Do not even bother to say that it was littered
> with whatever, it will be deleted and changed to "
> The store was neat and tidy. Why bother to say
> what you really mean? Not worth the aggravation

I agree. Companies pay a lot of money to have mystery shoppers check out their places. , If there isn't complete honesty they aren't getting their moneys' worth. But I got the feeling that unless a shop has really poor customer service, in general the reports are positive.

Cathi, if you have evidence of this "rounding," you really ought to report it to the MSPA. I don't know if the MSPA has any teeth, but materially changing shopper reports is absolutely unethical.

So , don't you think I knew this was a public forum?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 02:01AM by cathi1954.

About Face does monitor this forum and they have posted here. By reporting this on a public internet forum, not only will About Face see what you have reported, but so can anyone with a computer and internet access, including shoppers, MSPA members and officers, and companies. If you are concerned that About Face would not appreciate the report you are making, why would you make this report on a public internet board?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2012 03:54AM by AustinMom.

If I had proof, I would raise a @#$%&-ton of stink. I'm sure the clients paying for these reports would be interested in knowing the truth. In an ideal world, the MSC which "rounds" would be exposed and summarily discredited for being liars, resulting in their clients moving to MSCs which behave ethically.

Rhetorically speaking, if the MSC just makes @#$%& up as they see fit, why shouldn't shoppers do the same?

I'm still in the pouting stage of an About Face rejected shop.

Here's my story: I called ahead to verify that indeed the cosmetologist would be there for a make-over. I sat in my parked car forty five minutes beyond the subject's expected starting time.went inside and to my surprise no high end contemporary make up associate, the counter is unattended. An associate from another high end Parisian firm helped out and rouged me up, gave me their card, sold me on the competitor's product and covered their behind with an explanation and praise for the usually reliable , but probably sick cosmetologist. Bottom line- the shop was rejected, I'm out time and money. Its the time I regret more.

I don't care that they round out. I do not however understand why their clients won't accept an observation in time, as it is an observation of a random day, random hour and not a permanent indictment. If all of the other shops were deemed "unroundable" and rejected the client could go out of business and never know why, but that's their business not mine. I fulfilled my end of the bargain and think that About Face should pay up. I've owned a retail store for 10 years and would have given my eye teeth for a shopper like me and others who participate in this forum.

Outside of this one time flub, AF has some neat shops, if you like decorating, and I've always enjoyed the challenge of that final one word descriptor