Have 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