Mystery Shopper's Manual

I Was Spotted as the Mystery Shopper – What Now?

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Question from a mystery shopper:

I have been doing mystery shops at the same location of a store once a month for several months now. I think they have figured out that I am the mystery shopper. What should I do?

First of all, they may not have figured out that you are the mystery shopper. You may be misinterpreting a look or a comment, or you may just be a little paranoid! ;o)

You may have heard employees say that they can always spot the mystery shopper. Don’t believe it! Often, the things they pick up on are not things a secret shopper would do, such as being difficult or causing a scene.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine if you really have been spotted as the secret shopper, and what to do if you believe you were.Continue Reading

Mystery Shopping During the Super Bowl

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super-bowlThe Super Bowl is not only the championship game of the National Football League, it is a major television event. An estimated audience of nearly 100 million Americans watch the annual spectacle. That means that lots of people are at home in front of their televisions, not in the stores and the restaurants.

If you are not into football, it may seem as though game time would be a good time to take care of a few mystery shopping assignments. But you might want to think again.Continue Reading

May I Return Broken Merchandise from a Mystery Shop?

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broken-glassQuestion from a secret shopper:

I did a mystery shopping job that included a required purchase, for which I will be reimbursed. I didn’t open the package until after I had entered my shop report. When I did, I discovered that the item was broken.

Would it be okay to return the purchase? I still have the original receipt, as the mystery shopping company just had me input the receipt number in my report.

The answer, as is so often the case, is “it depends.”
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Should I Write a Complaint Letter After a Bad Mystery Shop?

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restaurantQuestion from a secret shopper:

I had a mystery shopper job at a restaurant the other night. The service was okay, but the food was awful! I answered all of the report questions honestly and they ended up with a bad report.

After I submitted my mystery shop report, I also wrote a letter to the restaurant chain describing the poor quality of my meal. I did not tell them that I was the mystery shopper but I did say when I was there. The restaurant sent me a coupon for a free dinner to make up for the bad meal I had, but now I am starting to wonder if I did the right thing.

Should I have written a complaint letter to a restaurant I was mystery shopping?
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Same Employee, Different Location

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surprise.jpgHave you ever had this happen? You are mystery shopping more than one location of the same business, and one of the employees from a place you shopped earlier turns up at another location. Oops. What can you do?

Many businesses have “floating” employees who work at more than one branch or store. This happens in banking, retail, property management (apartments), and other businesses. Sometimes floaters have a regular schedule that moves them from place to place, and other times they may be filling in for an employee who is ill or on vacation or when a location is otherwise short-staffed.

I used to shop a lot of grocery stores, and often did two or three in one trip. One day, a manager was at both of the stores I shopped. Fortunately, I saw him before he saw me, and the store was big enough that I was able to avoid him for the rest of my visit. However, there are times that isn’t possible.Continue Reading

Bad Language and Secret Shopper Reports

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cursing.jpgWhile doing a mystery shop, you overhear a conversation between employees where they use obscenities. Or, worse, an employee curses while talking to you. Should you include it in the report? And if you do, should you actually put “those words” in your report?

What if the employees are not the ones swearing, but other customers? Should that go in your report?

It seems that the language gets coarser every day, and people say things in public that they would not have said even in private many years ago. I am convinced that some people are so accustomed to swearing that they do not even notice when they drop an f-bomb in a public place. Therefore, it should come as no surprise when you run in to employees or other customers cursing up a storm.

Here are some tips on when you should mention the use of offensive language in your secret shopping reports, and what you should say.Continue Reading