If I do a shop where nothing is wrong it is approved instantly. They must not even review them at all! If I report that a drink was too strong or the server did not utter one word, I get emails demanding more information. What else can I say but "she didn't speak at all?" or "the drink was so sour I couldn't drink it?". How am I supposed to elaborate? It makes me feel like they think I'm lying if the report isn't a sparkling review. It's enough to make me want to just say everything was great just to avoid the hassle. Do any of you have the same problem?

I have received very few questions, EVER, from Marketforce. Especially now that they seem to just invalidate shops and not give shoppers any chance to correct or explain.

And I have submitted many shops with negatives on them, without being questioned.

I have, for example, reported moldy hamburger buns, huge potholes, and bathrooms with broken fixtures without one question ever being asked of me.

I understand on some shops now they are requiring photos of any negatives -- something they never required before.

I've almost never gotten questions. Shops with nothing wrong are not necessarily approved immediately. Sometimes they are, sometimes not. I did several bonused drive-in shops over the past two weeks. Three were outstanding - WOW shops. Two of those Wow shops were instantly approved. One was not. And I've had several not-perfect, not-Wow shops get instant approval. It's pretty random although it seems most Wow shops are instantly approved. Also, some clients have shops that are approved instantly, regardless of whether they are good or not. The fast chicken shop is always instantly approved without review.

When a shop is bad and it is addressed with the employee, the employee likely is not happy. Do you like getting a bad performance review? If your boss says you did perfect, you don't argue or ask questions, right? If your boss says someone reported you for doing a bad job, do you ask questions? Do you argue? I sure do. I want to know all the details. When you give a bad report on an employee, if they address it with the employee, they need details. There's plenty more you can say beyond "she didn't speak at all." You can describe her demeanor and body language. You can give a blow-by-blow report of what she didn't say and what she did instead of speaking. For example: "Employee glanced at me but did not make direct eye contact. She held a cell phone in her left hand at shoulder level and looked at the cell phone four times during our interaction. She did not speak, although I said "Good Morning" when I arrived at her window and "Thank you" when I left the window after completing our transaction. She nodded slightly when I arrived and made no acknowledgement when I left." That description is something the manager can discuss with the employee rather than just saying "Some mystery shopper thought you didn't speak so you got rated bad on the shop."

I have had one shop with them that I got an email asking questions. I just did one the night before last that was a drive-through dinner and it was not good. The employees were very disorganized and my main entree was so overcooked it was horrible and I couldn't eat it. They did not get a good report and unfortunately there was no place for comments so I was not able to elaborate on my reporting. It has been approved with no questions.

I had several terrible experiences with their burgers and fries shop. I rated it a 4 or 5 and it was still approved. I mean the people did not change gloves, argued with customers, got orders wrong and burnt my bun. I find them slower at arrival these days than a few months ago but from my experience want honest reviews as it may cost people their jobs or bonuses.

I don’t know about MF but there is usually room for elaboration. Instead of saying that someone didn’t speak at all, you say they didn’t offer a greeting, did not repeat the order, did not say anything when bringing the food, did not say anything in close. That would be very awkward but at least the description covers everything. I would strongly doubt a person could get away with saying nothing unless you were helped by someone else as well.

And the sour drink was overpowering on the first taste. Maybe you tried it again and could not stand another sip. Maybe you told someone about the sour liquid. Maybe.

These shops take longer to verify because it is important to ensure the details are clear. People’s jobs are affected. It’s important.

I typed out my reply before noticing that roflwofl expressed the exact same thought. But better.

I think it depends on the editor, or the person reading the report. Some people are very strict others are not. I try not to give bad reports. Some shoppers complain about every little things, the look for problems.

Well, that leaves me wondering if you do report problems -- or do you just not run into any?

I'm with you on being reluctant to submit a negative report. But that IS our job.

When one of the drink dispenser tabs is empty, the survey implies if I don't let the crew member know, then I cannot check it as non functioning because a crew member didn't have the chance/choice to remedy it. No where in the guidelines does it say bring such "problems" to management's attention. I think this is an issue on the survey that should be addressed. I have others, believe me, but this is the one being discussed here.

You should read the questions in addition to the instructions. If one question is reliant upon another without an N/A option, then you do the thing. Sometimes you forget and can’t mark it off. I don’t see a problem with not giving a negative if it’s something that employees were not yet aware of. It’s more important to report how people respond to problems unless it’s something they’re supposed to be checking.

@johnb974 wrote:

I try not to give bad reports. Some shoppers complain about every little things, the look for problems.

Well, that is our job, so... ...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2019 12:04AM by timgordon2448.

I feel it is certain clients who only want positive reports regardless of the MSC. So silly. I report what my experience was.

I've had mixed experiences in this area. I tore a poorly-run retailer a new one in one report and it was approved toute suite without questions. Later I gave a meh-to-poor report on a hardware shop and while I was not queried, that report stayed in QC for something like 4 days before approval.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2019 08:08AM by KokoBWare.

I've never had an editor email from MarketForce and the only shop that was invalidated was my mistake because I had mixed up a meal time.

@Madetoshop wrote:

I feel it is certain clients who only want positive reports regardless of the MSC. So silly. I report what my experience was.

Same here when I did their Drive-In shops. Though, it’s many times store dependent—as in they need a good score. I’ve had shops with 7, 8, 9 and even 13-minute times with no sweat. Find another store with a 6-minute time and report the menus not being changed to the digital style and I got rejected for a “timing error”.

Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

@timgordon2448 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I try not to give bad reports. Some shoppers complain about every little things, the look for problems.

Well, that is our job, so... ...

We are not there to look at every little problem. I can see why some stores don't like mystery shoppers. Some go in there just looking for something to write up. You're there to observe as a REGULAR customer.

No, you are there to observe what the client wants you to observe! Sometimes, it's the little things the clients want to know. Our job is to follow the guidelines, not to reinterpret what we think those guidelines should be!

@AlfredB1979 wrote:

@Madetoshop wrote:

I feel it is certain clients who only want positive reports regardless of the MSC. So silly. I report what my experience was.

Same here when I did their Drive-In shops. Though, it’s many times store dependent—as in they need a good score. I’ve had shops with 7, 8, 9 and even 13-minute times with no sweat. Find another store with a 6-minute time and report the menus not being changed to the digital style and I got rejected for a “timing error”.

Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

You have to think like the client. What will they accept. I hate making bad reports. It can delay your payments or you might not even get paid. I've had to make a few reports with a negatives. Seems like payments are delayed until they research it.

@kathygry wrote:

No, you are there to observe what the client wants you to observe! Sometimes, it's the little things the clients want to know. Our job is to follow the guidelines, not to reinterpret what we think those guidelines should be!

I have seen guidelines updated to tell the shopper, a few pieces of paper on the bathroom floor was ok. Some shoppers think they have to do a "white glove" test during the shop.