MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 17 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

misssarahleigh

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Did you know that often,as a result of mystery shop feedbacks,workers are disciplined,put on improvement plans or can be sacked?

I think we knows it's a possibility. But i would assume the training course is a good thing, if somebody is disciplined or sacked i can only assume they did something very badly wrong.

p.s. yes i do like your dog :-)

proshopper

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Did you know that often,as a result of mystery shop feedbacks,workers are disciplined,put on improvement plans or can be sacked?

.... or recieve a bonus, pay rise or promotion.

If mystery shopping visits had no purpose, I don't think there would be many of us working in the industry.

misssarahleigh

proshopper wrote: »

.... or recieve a bonus, pay rise or promotion.

If mystery shopping visits had no purpose, I don't think there would be many of us working in the industry.

Good point. I have personally handed out a bonus on a cinema job:o

C_Mababejive

I read another closed forum and this is often a topic of conversation. In one instance,at a major supermarket, a manager put all is cashiers names on a list close by and if they got any negative mystery shopper feedback,they would have a red blob against their name. This is in the UK BTW,not North Korea. Also they were told they must "talk all the time" to customers,presumably about any old inane tosh.

Becles

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I read another closed forum and this is often a topic of conversation. In one instance,at a major supermarket, a manager put all is cashiers names on a list close by and if they got any negative mystery shopper feedback,they would have a red blob against their name. This is in the UK BTW,not North Korea. Also they were told they must "talk all the time" to customers,presumably about any old inane tosh.

To be fair, if your employer tells you to talk all the time to customers and you choose not to do that, you're not doing what you are being paid to do and it's right that some sort of action is taken. It's all to do with brand marketing and brand experience and stuff.

It's like any other job. If we don't do the mystery shop job right, we don't get paid and can get fired by agencies. We get checked up on as sometimes they watch us on CCTV or ring stores to check up on us.

If you were employed to sweep the roads/nurse patients/teach children/to sell to targets and so on, and a management inspection found littered roads/distressed patients/uneducated children/poor sales figures you would expect to be reprimanded for not doing your job properly.

borders

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I read another closed forum and this is often a topic of conversation. In one instance,at a major supermarket, a manager put all is cashiers names on a list close by and if they got any negative mystery shopper feedback,they would have a red blob against their name. This is in the UK BTW,not North Korea. Also they were told they must "talk all the time" to customers,presumably about any old inane tosh.

And.......?

Not sure what your point is. We're not responsible for bad management. We report from a customer view and seldom get the chance to comment on internal company matters.

Can guess which supermarket you mean though as there was at least one shopper on here who used to work for them and it has already been discussed. If I am guessing correctly then they also use their own managers to mystery shop and are far stricter with their reports than we are.

mimi1234

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I read another closed forum and this is often a topic of conversation. In one instance,at a major supermarket, a manager put all is cashiers names on a list close by and if they got any negative mystery shopper feedback,they would have a red blob against their name. This is in the UK BTW,not North Korea. Also they were told they must "talk all the time" to customers,presumably about any old inane tosh.

Well some cashiers and assistants do need blobs against their names and I am more than happy to help the manager do that. If a cashier swears in front of a customer (experienced this in a sports shop and a coffee shop) then they need more than a blob. If a cashier talks to the next cashier about getting drunk over the weekend whilst serving customers, then the same applies.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. A lot of shoppers will have done visits where they hand out certificates or vouchers to top notch cashiers or assistants. And in most reports, they ask if the shopper was wowed or if they received excellent service.

TractorGirl327

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

I was at the circus!

Becles wrote: »

performing or watching?

I was busy catching up on paperwork and accounts. I have such an exciting life me :rotfl:

Watching! It was at my kids school.

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Did you know that often,as a result of mystery shop feedbacks,workers are disciplined,put on improvement plans or can be sacked?

Really?!!! Oh, wow, that IS news to me. I thought that when we gave a bad report the Manager would look at it, say "Oh well, doesn't matter, I won't do anything about that" and then screw up the report and throw it away!

I take it this has happened to you and you are now coming on here to complain about mystery shoppers?

What if a mystery shopper had given you a GLOWING report and as a result you'd got a pay-rise or bonus? Would you still be on here complaining?

ljshopper

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Did you know that often,as a result of mystery shop feedbacks,workers are disciplined,put on improvement plans or can be sacked?

If some lazy sod on the till has lost the store its bonus by not doing the job they are paid for then that sounds fair enough to me.

There is nothing intrinsically difficult in what most retail staff are asked to do and 99% of the time they do not do it because they cannot be bothered.

Is your point that people can deliver whatever performance they feel like, without any pressure to deliver what they are actually paid to deliver?:rotfl:

WiiMee

C_Mababejive wrote: »

...... Also they were told they must "talk all the time" to customers,presumably about any old inane tosh.

I always thought I hated the "old inane tosh" but earlier in the week I was a genuine customer in a hairdressers and no one talked. There were 2 stylists and 2 juniors and they didn't even talk to each other never mind the clients. There was no atmospher and it wasn't a particularly pleasant experience. eventually I started the chat because i couldn't stand it any longer!!!! There is obviously no need to "talk all the time" but it is nice if the check out staff pass the time of day with you. The attitude at the egg shops is that some of their customers are old and have no real contact with other people and a wee chat at the shops makes their day.