MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XII - ** New people please read posts 1 & 2 **

Rosy_Violet

nehpets81 wrote: »

I'd agree with this - just done one for PIP and it was very easy going and not too much hassle (could be something to do with the premium brand car they wanted me to visit tho -even the coffee tasted good!)

I love a couple of their cars - soooooooooo want a new car! But a bit out of my price range sadly. I like PIP ones as you don't have to haggle, generally quick and you're right the coffee is premium!

yonk wrote: »

The write-up is pretty ok. I suppose it depends on how you do these. I like buying cars and was trained up as a kid to haggle so I quite enjoy them. However, it does depend on the dealership and I get quite shirty when they want to spend an hour or so giving me "an experience". I do try my very best to get the absolute best deal too so it can get quite a struggle but it's what you make it. If you are confident, these are fine to do. I don't think you need to know about cars, just be able to identify the spec properly from doing a bit of research online first.
I think the key thing is to make them pay, if the circuit is too widely spread, I'm not sure it's worth it as the mileage can add up and the fee is in euros.

Bring out the method acting! Believe you are buying a new car. Say you had all the demonstration, test drive before Christmas and KNOW you want the particular model and want it asp. Definitely be confident and ask for at least £1000 under the best target price you have found on line (I like whatcar.com). They will probably laugh but you can creep up a few hundred then or squeeze for alloys or sat nav out of them if it’s a standard model!

I desperately need a new car - so it's easy to make believe - not so easy to find ways to buy sadly - just in my MS fantasy land...



Problem with Bare is when you apply you never know where they are consequently you can have a huge circuit. PIP are specific as are some of TNS but the best are their Promocar ones as you can choose your own dealerships (providing they can get the model of car you want). Much more preferable as you can squeeze one or two visits in when you are out and about. I travel a bit in y 'real' work and so I can pop in if I have some time. Very flexible.

ChefBungle wrote: »

But this is an audit for a competitor, so they will have no access to the CCTV system, nor will they be able to identify a particular member of staff. The briefing notes say that you can submit a photograph of the dealership if you are unable to get a business card. A quick check on the internet would confirm the availability of a particular model.

I'm not saying for a minute that I would do this because I always approach my MS's with integrity and honesty, but it seems entirely possible that someone could just take a photo at every other dealership and submit the report accordingly.

You could think this, and I dare say some may even fabricate the visit however I think they wouldn't last long in the MS world. Integrity and honesty are crucial and there are little tricks that agencies have up their sleeves to Mystery Shop the Mystery Shoppers even with competitor visits. I have MSed MSers ....:cool:

Would be making money under false pretences too. How on earth could you sleep at night? I have been known to worry endlessly over what I did genuinely experienced in a visit so if I made it up I would be heaping paranoia on my paranoia!

borders

Be careful out there today. Most of our roads are clear and some pavements too. Unfortunately with the slight thaw yesterday and freezing last night it is very, very slippery. I was out with the dog and it was easier to plow through the snow than it was to walk on the cleared areas.

gallygirl

Rosy_Violet wrote: »

Would be making money under false pretences too. How on earth could you sleep at night? I have been known to worry endlessly over what I did genuinely experienced in a visit so if I made it up I would be heaping paranoia on my paranoia!

Me too. I agonise if I don't think I clicked my watch correctly on a burger job :rolleyes:.

When I research cars on line I always look for something specific about the target spec, so I can say I prefer it to spec x as I want leather seats & they come as standard on y, or I don't want the next spec up as I prefer manual A/C to climate control, or don't want to pay extra for bluetooth as we're not allowed to use the phone for work etc.

Missed out this time as I'm away this weekend but will look when I get back in case any loitering.

deedee71

Miss_Qwerty wrote: »

Just out of curiousity is anyone on here doing one of those 3 month gym memberships for Tern? I've got Apr-Jun, but was just wondering how daunting the questionnaires are and how often you are required to do a visit.

The questionnaire isn't bad at all only it is so long it keeps crashing my home pc when I try to open it. You have to do 8 visits within the first month and have the next 2 months free for yourself. I've done 3 visits so far, though one of them had to be split over two visits IYSWIM because of timeslots with the trainers.

I'm really getting in to the swing of going now and am hoping to get a bit fitter in the next 3 months. Only downside for me is the gym is 30 miles away.


Oh, and of course its quite a bit of money to pay out before you get refunded.

PM me if you want to know more.

Hollypear

Rosy swithering isn't particularly a Scottish word. It means similar to dithering ie unable to make up one's mind. Glasgow esp has some fab words though like gallus.!!!Or mokkit!!!

I wouldn't mind if it was the same car in each then I could just swat up on 1 car. I fear I will get all muddled up between cars.

You are right too about cheating. I have to do a revisit recently at an optical shop. Bewteen us the allocator and I couldn't quite believe the cheek of this MS'er. 1) Had "forgotten" to get left and right. Had "forgotten" to take a prescription. Now I have forgotten my precription but the shop can phone your optician and get it faxed within 2 minutes so that isn't an excuse. We suspect this MS'er and I use the term loosely..merely phoned the shop to get a name for the report. And ordered the specs online and picked them up locally.
Thankfully this company removed her from their database and witheld the fee. Quite right too.
Being nosy how do you MS a MS'er. By doing it over again.



p.s What the heck is 'swithering'? I can make a guess but not so sure I am right? St. Swithin has something to do with rain for 40 days so my mind conjures up incontinence for best part of 2 months! :rotfl:[/QUOTE]

weeg

Aargh to shoe shops. I did everything bar walk up to an assistant yesterday demanding 'Find Me shoes, Dammit!'. They were too busy stack taking to actually serve people. This makes the report a nightmare. I'm supposed to have gone car shopping by now!

deedee71

Ooooh I've never done a shoe shop, or even seen one. Do you mind me asking who you are Msing it for?

weeg

deedee71 wrote: »

Ooooh I've never done a shoe shop, or even seen one. Do you mind me asking who you are Msing it for?

Amber arch. Long reports in excel.

deedee71

Thanks for that, I'll look out for them next month. I did four reports for them yesterday. They look like something my 11 year old designed. :rolleyes:

weeg

deedee71 wrote: »

They look like something my 11 year old designed. :rolleyes:

I know exactly what you mean! Random unmerged cells and things. Get 4 more to do in the next couple of days. I have to say I really like AA tough. reasonable pay, not website hassles and an actual person point of contact.