Bare with me while I give you guys all the details...

I am a regular shopper for Maritz performing bank shops on a monthly basis. A new branch opened in the town where I live back in March 2012 so I jumped on it. I must have forgotten to block my phone number when I called and the banker must have used caller ID or something to record my phone number (which is actually under a company name.)

I periodically have received voicemail messages from the banker asking if I was ready to open an account. I never called back. But earlier this week, I answered my phone and it was this banker. I ended up telling her that I decided to stay with my existing bank and I won't be switching. End of story, right? NOT!

Last night, I am at the gas station filling up my tank with all my mystery shopping money (a bit exaggerated) and the woman at the next pump, looks at me and says, "Hi. How are you doing?" It was the banker that has been calling me. I am not sure if she put my face to the person on the phone call or the person in the bank but obviously she made some sort of connection. Again, this is the town that I live in.

This morning, I look at my list of bank shops to be performed today or tomorrow and of course, I am supposed to go back to that branch. So, I called Maritz and explained the situation. The woman on the phone just did not get it. She goes off on some tangent that this is harassment from the banker and shoppers always need to block their phone number when calling. I asked her directly what I should do when I walk into the branch and this banker's desk is the first one to the right when you enter. There is no hiding if she is at her desk. The Maritz employee still did not get it and just wished me luck.

So, I searched thru my old paperwork from March and found the banker's name. I called and blocked my phone number and asked if "Banker's Name" was working today or tomorrow. Of course, she is working both days.

Any suggestions on what to do?

I would try talking to someone else at Maritz. You could be setting yourself up to be identified which could also impact your ability to shop at other branches of this bank. I always put my anonymity first.

By all means speak with someone else at Maritz and tell them, pointblank, that you cannot shop that branch right now because someone who will ID you will be working. If they need it any plainer than that, ask to speak with the Maritz account manager for that client! That banker could spread the news beyond just the bank in your town. We already know that she is an "activist", right?

I feel for you Shoppin'...although I have forgotten to block a number here or there I just always say they have the wrong number. But I understand, you were on a business line and probably unable to not identify yourself as you answered.

I walk into the same branches month after month as you do. You have got to know by now they know you. I have one guy who constantly antagonizes me while I shop him month after month. He tries to frazzle me out of my msing alter ego.

After speaking with Maritz about my situations, they don't really care. They said that the banker is not allowed to call you out on being an MSer. The only way is if you acknowledge it. The blue bank client doesn't care if they "know" you are an MSer, only if you acknowledge it. So, that being said, I walk into the banks confidently and when they say "are you going to open that account yet?" I answer with, "I am not sure what you are talking about, my sister/mother/friend just opened an account here and I was impressed, so I thought I would stop in and get my own information" or if they say "Didn't you stop in before?"...Nope, but I do have an twin and we get mistaken for eachother all the time.

Good luck, I feel for ya. I am going in for round 10 on the same banks later this month. I just dread it, but I will go with it and when the bank manager waves at me, I will not even let the hint of a smile cross my face and ignore him completely.

I agree with everyone who said Maritz does not care because the blue bank also does not care. There is one branch that I had shopped the same guy seven times and each time I make up a story about sons, daughters, neighbors, etc. I decided that's it, I will not go back to that branch any more. Maritz called and beg me to go and I told her I ran out of relatives to ask for. She said you could have 25 relatives - their client does not care. I have no clue what the bank gains by having us going in month after month for the same thing. I have a huge shopping bag full of collateral material to dump out soon. My advice is to just go and present your scenario with a straight face.

I agree, I yet to understand why companies dont bounce the mystery shops around. I have done companies that do the same store and never shop one of the others. Sounds wierd.

Here's the deal, it's part of compliance control. They want to make sure that the employees are handing out the required documentation. That is it! They don't care if the employee pees in your cherrios, as long as you get that blue book and that double sided/two page sheet.

It is an insurance policy to protect against consumers crying "I DIDNT KNO WHAAT I WAS GETTING INNNNTOOO THEY R TAKIN ADVANTAGE OF US"

Starblazr, you're probably right about that. There is a rotation on the ODP scenario. They have a new booklets and I almost panicked that it was the wrong one since it has a different name. It went thought fine.

It is the compliance thing...

Has anyone else ever noticed that they never ask how the banker treats you? Sometimes, even when I am shopping a banker for the first time, I think I would never come here this person is a loser. Sometimes they treat you awful, sometimes they go beyond nice. But the blue bank doesn't want to know how they treat you, only if you got the 6 pages of info -do they ever really talk about a specific card on the combos? I have only once had someone talk about a specific card.

Edited to add: You don't always have to go in asking for checking account information...maybe you want to know more about their rewards card, or you want to shop CD rates (those 2 scenarios usually will have you in and out in 5 minutes). You still get all the required information and then you have a reason you are back in the bank, seeing the same banker -again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2012 05:24PM by SecretAgentMom.

I always go in asking about credit cards and yes, they usually recommend the rewards one, unless I get bored and tell them I travel a lot, then they recommend the other one. It never takes long once I'm with the banker, it's the waiting to see a banker.

I'm glad I found this forum. I had a banker tell me that he thought he had seen me in there two or three other times (I know I've shopped him once before at least). Knowing that the bank doesn't care, they just want the shop done for compliance reasons will make me more confident in accepting that location again. Once I had a banker ask if I had been in before, when I was doing a shop a long way from home (I accepted four shops with bonus, and drove out to the coast to do them). I had definitely never been in that branch before! I had the same surprise with the new booklets too, but just added a comment to the editor that I was told this was the new welcome booklet, so I just continue to call it that. Seems fine with them.

The new booklet is now on their list of accepted forms. There's even a photo of it. I've been mostly getting the new ones this month.

I have gotten all new booklets during the month of September.

I am so glad I read this thread. I was just about to sign up with Maritz, and also accept a Bank shop with another MSC, which I haven't done for a while.

My anonymity has aways been my priority. If the company cannot respect it, then I'd rather we part ways. I have taken shops where later on (when they told me the location), discovered it was the very shop with which I had a very bad experience. Though I had successfully completed it before, I did not want to push my luck. I had gone back to the scheduler and explained. They had almost always understood.

To change the subject a little, I have been trying for several weeks now to access their website. My computer keeps giving me a message that there is some problem with that address. Has anyone had any similar problems? Have they changed it and just didn't tell me? Thanks.

I am the OP of this thread. I performed that shop that week but I did not "renew" my auto assign status for that one location. It hurt a bit to give up a location so close to where I live but better to lose one location than be blackballed from every branch!

And I see new branches popping up everywhere so I will jump on those when they become available.

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Starblazr, you're probably right about that. There
> is a rotation on the ODP scenario. They have a new
> booklets and I almost panicked that it was the
> wrong one since it has a different name. It went
> thought fine.


---
Hahahaha. I had the same reaction when I saw the new book. I obviously didn't look at the file that shows what is acceptable since I had done the shop a bazillion times. I got into the car, tossed the book in the back and told my husband, "They are gonna get in trouble!" I went home, looked at the paperwork again, and said to my husband, "Oopsy, guess I should read the paperwork before I do another round of these."

OP: Got anything left over from Halloween??(: The bank shops I do (not for Maritz) emphasize customer service.

I have done over 100 of these bank shops, but I got a question. Do they get credit if they give me all the material EXCEPT for the rate sheet and I had to request it. Is it all or nothing? This is the first time someone did not give me the rate sheets.

I think you need to answer the questions just as they ask. If you got it after asking then you got it. I don't think you are supposed to ask for it though. They are supposed to give it. You are supposed to ask for information to take home, if they do not offer it, and that is supposed to be one of the things they automatically give you. You will not get the shop denied if you put that you didn't get the rate sheet (fyi). I panicked the first time I didn't get one too, but it is okay....that is why the client does the shops.

I did eight of those shops today and one gave me a rate sheet from October. I love those shops, they're dead easy. A couple of them I was only in the bank for about 5 minutes and the reports are a snap. But I'm reluctant to auto-sign for the rotation because I don't think I could go in there over and over and ask the same thing. And I'd rather wait till they're desperate and willing to pay more. If they know they've got me, they're going to pay the minimum. I drove over 200 miles one way to get to the farthest one today and they paid a handsome bonus to get me to do it. (That happened to be the branch with the old rate sheet, so they probably haven't been shopped in ages.)