I just received an email from a store manager addressing issues about a shop I completed 2 weeks ago. She addressed the issues I brought up in my report. My name and email were used, what I purchased and what I asked about were mentioned. I'm not sure what to make of this. Should I contact the scheduler or would this be expected since they send our names and email address to the client?

I would definitely contact the scheduler and forward the email. I would not respond to it back to the store manager. I would expect to hear from my scheduler fairly promptly, preferably by phone, because it is completely inappropriate for the store manager to be contacting you.

what kind of store? I hardly ever give out real name. I use fake email addresses & phone #s.

In most cases, I don't believe our names and contact information are shared with the client by MSCs. Was your purchase made with a credit card, which would allow the store manager to track your purchase and identify you? Did you provide your e-mail address to the store employee? I would definitely contact the scheduler. And, having been identified, it would probably mean you cannot do this shop again.

If no, then it appears the MSC shared your name and contact information with the client, and that would surprise me. If that is the case, I hope you will share the name of the MSC since the client has not been named.

This happened to me two or three times on a Whataburger shop many years back when I lived in another part of the country. I never gave it a second thought, and took it as a compliment that the manager took the time to thank me for my sincere evaluation.

Austin, the manager may have done their detective work to find out some information, but contacting the shopper about issues in their report is inappropriate. These things are set up to be handled through channels and just as the shopper is not to contact the client directly, the client should not be directly contacting the shopper. And that would be true whether the MSC shared the shopper name and email or the shopper gave their name and email through use of a credit card and joining the company club with their email address. So the email should be handled through the proper channels by forwarding it to the MSC rather than responding to the manager. At that point the manager, district manager, corporate, MSC and scheduler can all sort it out without the shopper in the middle.

I did not give my name or email during this shop so I'm guessing they got it from the report. The manager apologized for the store being understaffed and provided additional information on the product I asked about when I mentioned the associate continued to show me items in a different age range. They weren't complaining or second guessing my report, only explaining their shortcomings. It was surprising that they contacted me.

What I was surprised about was she didn't comment on the customer with a 60 pound dog in a mall store that was most likely not a service dog because 1- it was not marked as such and 2- it was acting up. Jumping and barking at customers. Not knowing how my report was edited, this may have been omitted.

It is more than surprising, it is disturbing.

@Flash wrote:

It is more than surprising, it is disturbing.

Yes it is. That was my first reaction. I think my first comment was "How the f*** did they get my name and email!"

After reading the email a few times I realized she wasn't accusing me for a bad report but more so apologizing for my experience, which still makes it creepy. It also makes me think that not only did they probably review video but now not only do they know my name and email, they know what I look like too.

It really doesn't matter what the manager thought she was doing. She might have been completely remorseful for not having the item you were asking about or making excuses in hopes you would give them a better report. The issue is THE CONTACT. Whether you ever shop that location again or not is a different issue and certainly looking up shoppers on video is not unheard of and certainly we know that they know that we know that they know etc.

This sounds like an invasion into a shoppers privacy. I would do like @Flash says turn it over to the MSC. Let them handle the situation. The manager has overstepped her managerial duties by all account. It does not matter what the managers intentions were or was. They were wrong.

Yes, the problem is the contact. I also suggest you turn over this problem to your MSC. Expect that they handle it to your satisfaction. If the scheduler doesn't, then escalate it.

Confidentiality clauses in ICAs are heavily weighted on the shopper. Some ICAs mandate that MSCs agree to hold in confidence a shopper's information, but not all. What happened to kalfini is troubling. For an MSC to be so cavalier and disrespective of a shopper's ID is a self-inflicted stab to both. When the time is right, kalfini, it would be beneficial for shoppers to know the MSC, and their action (or lack thereof) in response to your personal information being shared with their client. Please keep us posted.

Very creepy! I once reported I would not return to a location based upon that day's visit and the regional manager asked if he could contact me personally to "make it right." The representative from the MSC said she had never seen this happen but asked if I felt comfortable with her giving out my info. I was curious about what they had to say so I obliged. I received a heartfelt apology as well as $35 in gift certificates in the mail to return for another breakfast in the future. I explained I was already reimbursed for the meal I reported on but he said that what happened didn't sit well with him. Never one to turn down a report-less free meal, I accepted. I liked that the MSC asked MY PERMISSION before giving out the info. I always assumed all of our personal info was confidential and never included in reports. But we all know what happened when you ass-u-me. Ugh!

This is an invasion of your privacy. I would be seriously ticked off about this, regardless of how friendly the contact was. I would complain to the MSC about this and that would be the last shop I would be doing for them.

Dawn, though it seems the most likely explanation, I would not necessarily assume it was the MSC who gave the manager the person's contact information. Might possibly have been traced through a debit or credit card. I have even seen some mystery shoppers leave reviews on sites like Yelp....they usually didn't say they were mystery shoppers (though I have seen that, too), but the flow of the shop looked suspiciously familiar.

deleted by way of cyber illusions

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2015 01:42AM by sojo917.

@OceanGirl wrote:

.........Might possibly have been traced through a debit or credit card. I have even seen some mystery shoppers leave reviews on sites like Yelp....they usually didn't say they were mystery shoppers (though I have seen that, too), but the flow of the shop looked suspiciously familiar.

How many of your credit card are tied to your email account? I would worry if a store retail was able to contact me through my email after using CC in there store. It seems like the manager was spot on with the flaws that the OP encountered. Then address a letter to them.

That's why I very, very seldom use my debit card and never my credit card in any mystery shop purchases. It is so easy to be identified. Unless I am specifically asked to use a card, I always pay cash. It would really creep me out if a client contacts me. I would stop shopping for that MSC immediately! No explanation accepted.

A lot of stores can track the shopper if the shopper is allowed to use their loyalty card. I did a Lego shop today and in the guidelines it says wait for the associate to ask about VIP club before presenting your VIP card so the MSC is ok with me using my VIP card and all my personal info is linked to my card. Same thing at Godiva and Tully's Coffee. I was kind of debating whether I wanted to use my VIP card b/c if they read the report or see the receipt that is attached they can easily track me down or possibly add notes in the system ie: alert this acct belongs to a MS!

Out of curiosity do you guys use your loyalty cards when performing shops?

@kalfini I'm also interested to know which MSC this is, very unprofessional to have your name and email in the report to the client!

My loyalty cards and credit cards are not attached in any way to my shopping email. Credit card notices of payments scheduled, alerts and other information all go to my personal email. Loyalty cards are all linked to my junk email account as they send out too many notices of today's 'special' like they thought I should live on their doorstep just waiting for the 'deal'. Similarly my shopping email account and my junk mail accounts are both registered to variants of my name so even a lookup would not give enough information to contact me by correct name.

So yes, I will use loyalty cards and credit cards. In the OP's situation, if the email had come to my personal email I would know the store manager did some research and found me. If it came to my business email the information had to be given out by someone, somehow. The obvious candidate for that would be that it was on the shop report.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2015 02:10AM by Flash.

I usually do not use my loyalty card, if I have one, when mystery shopping. I also learned not to give my email addy, if asked. I understand we can choose not to provide it.

After contacting the MSC it appears they got the information from the loyalty card the store uses. The use of the loyalty card is not prohibited in the shop instructions and we are told to confirm if asked about it.

By the way sorry this thread is in the wrong location.

This makes me think about my loyalty card use. It's never been a problem and I also have my loyalty cards set to a disposable email address that is not linked to me. I like the freebies such as a free sub after buying x many, or how Panera Bread rewards will add up to a free meal when not MS as a great fast meal when I'm really busy and on the run.

@sojo917 wrote:

@OceanGirl wrote:

.........Might possibly have been traced through a debit or credit card. I have even seen some mystery shoppers leave reviews on sites like Yelp....they usually didn't say they were mystery shoppers (though I have seen that, too), but the flow of the shop looked suspiciously familiar.

How many of your credit card are tied to your email account? I would worry if a store retail was able to contact me through my email after using CC in there store. It seems like the manager was spot on with the flaws that the OP encountered. Then address a letter to them.

I'm not saying it would have to be tied to a credit card account. You get a name, you plop it into a search engine, maybe run it through a social media site like Facebook or whatnot, you use a background checking website for which you have unlimited searches anyway (a manager, at least a smart one, will probably have access to one of these), you come across a resume stored somewhere or a message on a message board...there are a million other ways to potentially get that contact information. Yes, the MSC is the most likely source, but you can't just assume it. Not from a legal standpoint, anyway. If you don't want to work with the MSC anymore, then it's your own call, but I wouldn't hold an entire MSC responsible for something one person did, especially without any proof that they did it, anyway.

@kalfini wrote:

After contacting the MSC it appears they got the information from the loyalty card the store uses. The use of the loyalty card is not prohibited in the shop instructions and we are told to confirm if asked about it.

By the way sorry this thread is in the wrong location.

Ahh. A loyalty card. Yet another way to trace someone. Glad that seems to have been sorted out. Did the MSC say anything else about the issue?

So, about those loyalty cards, though...assuming this all went down like the MSC is saying, should/would the manager who contacted kalfini even have been able to look up contact information via loyalty card info by themselves, or would they probably have had to go through another channel in the company? It kind of creeps me out to think that I could just use a card In a completely different state or something and the manager could just look me up for whatever reason they wanted. Such is the risk you take anytime you give out your contact information, but it still just seems really creepy to me, and I'm wondering if there's another complaint to be made here. If the employee violated some kind of protocol, it really does seem like something the company should know, but there might be a Catch-22 on that due to the ICA. :/

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2015 01:34AM by OceanGirl.

All the loyalty cards I know of are tied to either a cell phone number or an e-mail address. I never carry loyalty cards with me, I just give my e-mail address at a restaurant/store and the cashier is able to look up my account. Quite a lot of info is available to them, including my past purchases and the locations of those purchases.

It would be unusual for a MSC to share the shoppers name AND e-mail address, which is why my first thought was that the shopper gave an e-mail address and/or used a loyalty card.

It was still very inappropriate for the manager to contact a mystery shopper direct, and I hope you called the scheduler immediately. Of course, the MSC probably has little to say about what the client does. It does sound like the client/manager identified the shopper through the store's receipt and loyalty card database.

AustinMom, I understand that most loyalty cards are tied to a cell phone number or e-mail address. What I was wondering was whether or not a manager is able to access them without checking in with somebody else. I guess they probably would,especially since people sometimes leave their cards in the store and they do have the databases you mentioned, but I'm not familiar enough with retail (or the specific client, obviously) to know whether or not there is some kind of protocol the manager violated other than 'do not attempt to personally contact the mystery shopper'.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2015 01:45AM by OceanGirl.

FYI .... this is the letter I received with store identifying info X'd out.

Dear XXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for visiting our XXXXXXXXXXX Store on August 7, 2015. I wanted to let you know how much I really appreciate the feedback you have shared about your visit.

As manager, I deeply regret that we were unable to provide a better service experience due to the high volume of guests who were shopping at the time of your visit. Unfortunately, the traffic in the store that day was much greater than expected and significantly higher as it compared to past data. While we certainly welcome and enjoy having more guests visit our store, we hope that we will be able to better prepare for such occasions with additional staff members to serve our guests in a timely manner.

I will also take the time to work with the team to ensure that we are really listening to our guests' needs and suggesting products that would be both enjoyable and age appropriate for the consumer. As a fellow fan of XXXXXXXXXX I am excited to see the increase in our selection for XXXXXXXX, XXXXXX and XXXXXXX. We are also expanding our Juniors collection, which offers unique options that are best for ages 4 to 7. Please do not ever hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions about some of our XXXXX. While the majority of the xxxxxxxxxxxx are recommended for ages 6 and up, we may be able to suggest the best starting options and building techniques to help overcome potential challenges.

I would like to personally invite you, at any time, to let me know how we are doing. You can contact me directly at xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.com or by telephone at 999-999-9999. Thanks again, we hope to provide a more personal shopping experience on your next visit!

Sincerely,
xxxxx xxxxxx
Store Manager