The Mystery Shopping thread - part 6

kman

kman wrote: »

OMG :eek: Just had a call from Bare - they've allocated me the car jobs - 8 dealerships to visit tomorrow (and one of them is 70 miles away from the others!!! Hopefully I can do that one today as I'll be close by...).

Having read through the briefing notes this looks like a nightmare - I think I need some guidance from UKMonkey here;)...

Woah...! The cars are all in the £30 - 40k range - I'd never spend that much on a car - I'm sure they'll be able to suss me out easily... Now I'm worried... :eek:

Cherry_pie_5

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

I've had 3 this week, and like you, am appalled that it takes 3 sheets of paper, 3 letters printed, 3 envelopes and 3 lots of postage when it could easily be bulked together. Maybe they could pay us more if their overheads weren't so high!

Yep! Their system is pants and must be really time consuming for the staff to organise, not to mention how high their postage bill must be.

Very silly and not environmentally friendly at all, I'm making a point of keeping their envelopes and re-using them and i'll print on the back of the (high grade) paper that they print the letters on too.

ukmonkey

kman wrote: »

OMG :eek: Just had a call from Bare - they've allocated me the car jobs - 8 dealerships to visit tomorrow (and one of them is 70 miles away from the others!!! Hopefully I can do that one today as I'll be close by...).

Having read through the briefing notes this looks like a nightmare - I think I need some guidance from UKMonkey here;)...

1. Print out the questionairre for each visit.
2. Write on the name that you will use at each one (just use the same name unless some are part of the same chain/group).
3. Use the same first name, just a different surname.
4. Go onto www.autobytel.co.uk and take a print out of the cars.
5. Before leaving your car, take a last look at the make, model, engine size and spec of the car.
6. Better still, take in your AutoByTel print out...
7. ...along with a notebook and a pen.
8. Note down the first price that they give you, then note down all the other details. Don't worry, it's normal to make notes in this case, in my opinion. If they question your note taking, explain that you're making a huge purchase, and need to spend time shopping around and part of this has been taking notes.
9. Make it clear that you are wanting to buy a car that day. Say that you've been looking for a few days but you "reallyu must make a decision today" as you're "getting fed up of having the same conversations over and over with salesmen!"
10. Tell them that you've priced it up online with AutoByTel - show them the printout if you wish. Tell them that you need their price to be as close to that as possible.
11. When they've given you their "absoloute lowest price", push for extras. Breakdown cover, metallic paint, servicing packages etc etc.
12. When you leave the showroom, drive away and park around the corner, fill in the printed-out questionairre - it'll make it much easier when you get home!



An important point is to check the opening hours of the dealerships - this is where I fell down. After that, plan your route, or at least the order that you'll shop the dealerships in.

Insist that you've already driven a friend's car so you don't need to test drive it, you purely want to have a "quick chat to get your best price".

Have fun, don't stress.

mezer3000

I've got my first mystery shop at midnight tonight haha - wish me luck - really nervous that I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb!!!!!

xx

kman

ukmonkey wrote: »

1. Print out the questionairre for each visit.
2. Write on the name that you will use at each one (just use the same name unless some are part of the same chain/group).
3. Use the same first name, just a different surname.
4. Go onto www.autobytel.co.uk and take a print out of the cars.
5. Before leaving your car, take a last look at the make, model, engine size and spec of the car.
6. Better still, take in your AutoByTel print out...
7. ...along with a notebook and a pen.
8. Note down the first price that they give you, then note down all the other details. Don't worry, it's normal to make notes in this case, in my opinion. If they question your note taking, explain that you're making a huge purchase, and need to spend time shopping around and part of this has been taking notes.
9. Make it clear that you are wanting to buy a car that day. Say that you've been looking for a few days but you "reallyu must make a decision today" as you're "getting fed up of having the same conversations over and over with salesmen!"
10. Tell them that you've priced it up online with AutoByTel - show them the printout if you wish. Tell them that you need their price to be as close to that as possible.
11. When they've given you their "absoloute lowest price", push for extras. Breakdown cover, metallic paint, servicing packages etc etc.
12. When you leave the showroom, drive away and park around the corner, fill in the printed-out questionairre - it'll make it much easier when you get home!



An important point is to check the opening hours of the dealerships - this is where I fell down. After that, plan your route, or at least the order that you'll shop the dealerships in.

Insist that you've already driven a friend's car so you don't need to test drive it, you purely want to have a "quick chat to get your best price".

Have fun, don't stress.

Many thanks UKM. That looks like a pretty comprehensive list... :T

Scaredy_Cat_3

ukmonkey wrote: »

1. Print out the questionairre for each visit.
2. Write on the name that you will use at each one (just use the same name unless some are part of the same chain/group).
3. Use the same first name, just a different surname.
4. Go onto www.autobytel.co.uk and take a print out of the cars.
5. Before leaving your car, take a last look at the make, model, engine size and spec of the car.
6. Better still, take in your AutoByTel print out...
7. ...along with a notebook and a pen.
8. Note down the first price that they give you, then note down all the other details. Don't worry, it's normal to make notes in this case, in my opinion. If they question your note taking, explain that you're making a huge purchase, and need to spend time shopping around and part of this has been taking notes.
9. Make it clear that you are wanting to buy a car that day. Say that you've been looking for a few days but you "reallyu must make a decision today" as you're "getting fed up of having the same conversations over and over with salesmen!"
10. Tell them that you've priced it up online with AutoByTel - show them the printout if you wish. Tell them that you need their price to be as close to that as possible.
11. When they've given you their "absoloute lowest price", push for extras. Breakdown cover, metallic paint, servicing packages etc etc.
12. When you leave the showroom, drive away and park around the corner, fill in the printed-out questionairre - it'll make it much easier when you get home!



An important point is to check the opening hours of the dealerships - this is where I fell down. After that, plan your route, or at least the order that you'll shop the dealerships in.

Insist that you've already driven a friend's car so you don't need to test drive it, you purely want to have a "quick chat to get your best price".

Have fun, don't stress.

I have no intention of ever doing these jobs as I think they sound a real nightmare - but I wanted to say thanks as this is a fantastic guide, and would be really helpful if I was going to do one!

Scary - they offered me a batch a few months ago, thankfully I turned them down as I didn't think I could get round the lot in 2 days.

(Note - they offered it and I declined via email. Imagine what might have happened if they'd asked me over the phone -given my recent inability to refuse a Gap drive-thru ) :eek:

sarahs999

Hello all, I'm starting to dip my toe into mystery shopping and have registered with GFK. My first one was an email assesment of something but I have to say I found the coversheet and briefing notes incredibly confusing - there seemed to be so much more information than I needed on them. Are they always like that? It read like it was used for lots of different scenarios, so there was stuff on there that wasn't relevant to me.

And then I found a great one that I could have done this lunchtime, and in the time it took me to read the briefing notes and see if I wanted to do it, it was gone! Does that happen a lot too?

Scaredy_Cat_3

sarahs999 wrote: »

Hello all, I'm starting to dip my toe into mystery shopping and have registered with GFK. My first one was an email assesment of something but I have to say I found the coversheet and briefing notes incredibly confusing - there seemed to be so much more information than I needed on them. Are they always like that? It read like it was used for lots of different scenarios, so there was stuff on there that wasn't relevant to me.

And then I found a great one that I could have done this lunchtime, and in the time it took me to read the briefing notes and see if I wanted to do it, it was gone! Does that happen a lot too?

Yes, it does happen a LOT!!! We've all been there - some (like me) more than others!

Don't worry, you get used to it. There's always another job coming up somewhere so try not to get too upset if you miss one. Wish I could take that advice myself, I still get upset if I miss out! But it's all swings and roundabouts.

sarahs999

Ah, I see.. thanks. Also, is it normal to feel like you're doing something wrong? I feel ridiculously guilty doing this stuff and I'm really hoping it doesn't show! Iknow it's not timewasting but I do feel like I'm lying. And there's so much to hold in your head at once!

Scaredy_Cat_3

sarahs999 wrote: »

Ah, I see.. thanks. Also, is it normal to feel like you're doing something wrong? I feel ridiculously guilty doing this stuff and I'm really hoping it doesn't show! Iknow it's not timewasting but I do feel like I'm lying. And there's so much to hold in your head at once!

Yes, I felt terribly guilty at the start. Don't worry - you get used to that, too. When I registered as self-employed I even wondered if I should put my occupation down as 'liar', but eventually opted for 'spy' instead :rotfl: (only kidding!)

I just try to remember that what I'm doing is legitimate and I'm really working for the company concerned, it's not like I'm tricking anyone.