Mystery shopping is a legitimate way to make money; however, if you received a large check and were told to wire money somewhere, don't do anything until you read about mystery shopping scams.

Fine Dining Restaurant Service Standards

Posted on July 10th, 2009 in Customer Service by Cathy Stucker

waiter1Fine dining restaurants typically have high standards for service. If you have ever done a fine dining restaurant mystery shop, you know how detailed the questions can be.

The four-star Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City has exacting standards for service. In fact, they have a list of 129 “sins” that staff are to avoid when serving customers.

Many of the these will be familiar to mystery shoppers, as they are the kinds of things we are asked to evaluate in our reports:

  • Not acknowledging guests with eye contact and a smile within 30 seconds. First impressions count!
  • Not thanking the guests as they leave. Last impression!
  • Forks with bent tines.
  • Chipped glassware.
  • Burned-out lightbulbs.
  • Lack of eye contact.
  • Not refilling water or coffee.
  • Soiled or ill-fitting uniforms. …continue reading Fine Dining Restaurant Service Standards

Will Mystery Shopping Become Obsolete?

Posted on November 28th, 2008 in Customer Service, Industry News, Technology and Secret Shopping by Cathy Stucker

ivr.jpgHave you ever gotten one of those notices on your receipt to call a toll-free number and answer a few questions about your experience at a store or restaurant? Often the business “bribes” customers to participate by providing a coupon good for a discount on their next visit, or by entering them in a drawing for cash and other prizes.

Integrated Voice Response (IVR) is used by a lot of businesses, often as an add-on to their mystery shopping and other market research programs. Mystery shoppers have often wondered if IVR will put us out of business, but I do not believe it will. There is, however, something else on the horizon that causes me more concern. …continue reading Will Mystery Shopping Become Obsolete?

How Waiters See Customers

Posted on October 23rd, 2008 in Customer Service, Employees and Mystery Shopping, Secret Shopper How-To by Cathy Stucker

waiter.jpgAs mystery shoppers, we are in the business of evaluating the service provided by waiters and other service providers.

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip–Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, a new book by someone called “The Waiter,” (but since publication, identified as Steve Dublanica) tells the other side of the story: what happens behind the scenes at a restaurant and what waiters really think of the customers.

“Waiter Rant” is often wickedly funny, such as in the descriptions of the various types of tippers, or the 40 tips on how to be a good customer. Those tips include, “Do not snap your fingers to get the waiter’s attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen,” and “Never say, ‘I’m friends with the owner.’ Restaurant owners don’t have any friends.” …continue reading How Waiters See Customers

A Mystery Shopper Would Not Do This

Posted on July 11th, 2008 in Customer Service, Mystery Shopper Fun by Cathy Stucker

Many employees believe they can always spot the mystery shopper. Often the things they think give away the shopper are things that a shopper would never (or at least should never) do.

As shoppers, we are sometimes concerned that be required to ask what we believe are “stupid” questions will give us away. My answer to that is that real customers do dumber things than anything we do. Want proof? Check out this site: http://notalwaysright.com/.

At The Customer is Not Always Right, people who work in sales, tech support, food service and other customer service positions share horror stories of stupid and difficult customers. Anyone who has ever held a job dealing with the public will experience flashes of recognition. As secret shoppers, we have probably observed some of these types of interactions. However, if you see yourself as the customer in any of these stories . . . uh, there may be a problem.