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

TractorGirl327

kelts84 wrote: »

Tell me about it what a joke. 8 flaming stores took me 4hrs the other day plus 1hr to upload them grrr

That was quick!! I went out at 9am, did 8 stores, got home about 2.30pm, and then spent from 4.30pm to 8pm uploading the photos to my computer, re-naming them and uploading them to the site. Then another 3/4 hour this afternoon zipping 6 of the stores up and emailing them 'cos the blimmin' upload didn't work!

Lil_Me_2

mysterious_girl wrote: »

Use to happen to me all the time too with the drive thru - they recognise your number plate. I have changed cars over Christmas and have one due in Feb so this will be interesting. See if they recognise me! Should I put on a false beard and moustache too? Might not match my lippy and earrings though.

First time I've done this one, did it as a favour. Don't mind too much as by that time I'd already heard the girls conversation with the person in front, which was just as friendly as mine so they had nothing to worry about! They were just a bit slow

purt

gallygirl wrote: »

maybe if they spent less time looking at cctv footage to identify mystery shoppers and spent more time on customer service they wouldn't need to spend so much time looking at cctv footage to identify........ etc etc

I had this happen to me recently for the first time in eight years of working for GAP. The outlet in question did rather badly in my report so obviously decided to challenge the poor results. They reckoned they'd identified me from CCTV and asked me allsorts of questions about my judgement including whether I'd actually thought the person in front of me was even in the queue. It was ridiculous.

Anyone any similar experiences to share? Am wondering how to approach queries of this nature without getting the sack! I happen to like GAP.

Lil_Me_2

culchied wrote: »

I had this happen to me recently for the first time in eight years of working for GAP. The outlet in question did rather badly in my report so obviously decided to challenge the poor results. They reckoned they'd identified me from CCTV and asked me allsorts of questions about my judgement including whether I'd actually thought the person in front of me was even in the queue. It was ridiculous.

Anyone any similar experiences to share? Am wondering how to approach queries of this nature without getting the sack! I happen to like GAP.

Just for your information, if they want to challenge any of the reports they get then they do have to identify you on the CCTV. I thought it was a bit creepy, but if they use it as training then it's not too bad.

I find that the same places seem to question my reports. Only done one place twice, but both times they've come back with more questions, even when the one report wasn't that bad! I think they only missed one of the points but that's the one that they queried. I think they just try it on tbh.

mumsthe

I have just had this with a chicken shop job, they did not do very well in my report then the ms company got back to me saying that the chicken shop id me as I sat in the shop filling in my paperwork!!! they also said that I was biased in my opinion!
I was really upset and asked the ms company to ask for cctv footage to show that I was not sat in the shop filling in my paperwork and they could then see that there was not 1 clean table in the place. I have also said that I will not do any more chicken shop jobs for them and they sent me an email today to say that my account status had been changed and I would not be offered and more jobs with this type of shop.
What is the point of paying a mystery shopping company to check your company if the staff are going to lie through their teeth to get out of trouble and make you look bad.:(

ljshopper

mumsthe wrote: »

I have just had this with a chicken shop job, they did not do very well in my report then the ms company got back to me saying that the chicken shop id me as I sat in the shop filling in my paperwork!!! they also said that I was biased in my opinion!
I was really upset and asked the ms company to ask for cctv footage to show that I was not sat in the shop filling in my paperwork and they could then see that there was not 1 clean table in the place. I have also said that I will not do any more chicken shop jobs for them and they sent me an email today to say that my account status had been changed and I would not be offered and more jobs with this type of shop.
What is the point of paying a mystery shopping company to check your company if the staff are going to lie through their teeth to get out of trouble and make you look bad.:(

fwiw -

cctv is not meant to be used as a tool to nail mystery shoppers.
the data protection act is very strict about its uses.

i did sign up for a job thru tns(?) a little while back that asked me to ok this but these companies are well out of order doing this.

you may have a case.

proshopper

culchied wrote: »

IAnyone any similar experiences to share? Am wondering how to approach queries of this nature without getting the sack! I happen to like GAP.

Site staff have nothing to lose by challenging bad results. If you have reported honestly, the CCTV should support this. There is no reason why you should "get the sack" because the site did not attain the required standards.

If my results are queried, I keep my responses objective (i.e. saying this happened, this was said, this took x amount of time) rather than subjective (I felt like this, this seemed). Mostly, the objective results cannot be questioned further, because the CCTV shows the visit.

However, once you're identified on the CCTV, and if your damning results cannot be desputed by the site staff, you stand a chance of being barred from shopping that site until a new manager takes over. I am currently banned from two sites! .... but not the rest!!:rotfl:

Looking at it from the other standpoint: some sites are fine with the same shopper returning after a bad report. They have identifed you from the CCTV, your face is probably in a mugs' gallery on the office wall, and they will certainly be ready for you next time.

I find it strange how many times I am mis-identified from the CCTV and I have to confirm that I am not, for example, 5'10" tall, weighing 25 stones, with a purple crewcut, wearing a grey gaberdine overcoat and carrying three large suitcases. All this does is confirm that at least one other customer was present at about the time when I waited 10 minutes for my food!:)

TractorGirl327

mumsthe wrote: »

I have just had this with a chicken shop job, they did not do very well in my report then the ms company got back to me saying that the chicken shop id me as I sat in the shop filling in my paperwork!!! they also said that I was biased in my opinion!
I was really upset and asked the ms company to ask for cctv footage to show that I was not sat in the shop filling in my paperwork and they could then see that there was not 1 clean table in the place. I have also said that I will not do any more chicken shop jobs for them and they sent me an email today to say that my account status had been changed and I would not be offered and more jobs with this type of shop.
What is the point of paying a mystery shopping company to check your company if the staff are going to lie through their teeth to get out of trouble and make you look bad.:(

So many people are being taken off the pizza,chicken & burger jobs now, after giving bad reports, it's getting beyond a joke! The only people they're going to have left before long are the ones who are only in it for a free lunch and who give a glowing report whether or not it is deserved. Is that what mystery shopping is all about? I don't think so!

The sooner another company takes over these jobs from Gap the better!

purt

I disagree with identifying myself as a mystery shopper even if the site has identified me (or thinks it has) from CCTV. It's a fundamental rule of mystery shopping that you never reveal your identity and I don't see why that rule should suddenly be broken because a site hasn't performed well in a shop and decides to challenge the report.

pinkprincess39

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

So many people are being taken off the pizza,chicken & burger jobs now, after giving bad reports, it's getting beyond a joke! The only people they're going to have left before long are the ones who are only in it for a free lunch and who give a glowing report whether or not it is deserved. Is that what mystery shopping is all about? I don't think so!

The sooner another company takes over these jobs from Gap the better!

I never had cause to give a bad pizza or burger report. All the jobs I did were great. Always did jobs on time, reported them on time, always sent receipts and STILL I got barred from them!:mad: