Mystery Shopping Thread 24 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

fionajbanana

My friend's dh goes to the bookies 4-5 times a week. They know who the mystery shopper is by:
. Someone who they never seen before (bookies has regulars)
. They need to visit the loo
. They need help explaining how the odds system works and forms - normally only do that a few days before the Grand National
. Take a photo of the outside.

I do hope the HQ of the bookies and the MS folks come up with a less obvious 'I'm a mystery customer' scenarios.

Visiting the loo whilst on a pub/eating place does not feel out of place as most people that visit these use the loo.

polythenegirl

skivenov wrote: »

The chicken place doing home delivery? That would be one step nearer to all being right in the world!

They do in India!!! (Sorry to butt in!) I was amazed out here when the guys at work asked if I wanted to order stuff for delivery. Subway, Pizza Hut & Macdonalds also deliver

Boredupnorth

polythenegirl wrote: »

They do in India!!! (Sorry to butt in!) I was amazed out here when the guys at work asked if I wanted to order stuff for delivery. Subway, Pizza Hut & Macdonalds also deliver

Most other countries do, just over here thats behind the times!

JohnnyG

fionajbanana wrote: »

My friend's dh goes to the bookies 4-5 times a week. They know who the mystery shopper is by:
. Someone who they never seen before (bookies has regulars)
. They need to visit the loo
. They need help explaining how the odds system works and forms - normally only do that a few days before the Grand National
. Take a photo of the outside.

I do hope the HQ of the bookies and the MS folks come up with a less obvious 'I'm a mystery customer' scenarios.

Visiting the loo whilst on a pub/eating place does not feel out of place as most people that visit these use the loo.

Absolutely spot on. I like going to the bookies in my own time, not as a Mystery Shopper, so I love these shops when they come up...but they do make me chuckle. Some of the scenarios make it quite clear you're a MS.

JohnnyG

Wizzbang wrote: »

Hi everyone, This is my first post on these forums. I've been reading for a while now. I started mystery shopping a month of so ago and have completed quite a number without issue. However, today AA have refused to pay me for a visit to a jewellery shop as they say I was recognised as the mystery shopper. At no point during the proceedings did I feel that I'd been recognised or that anything was unnatural, either for myself or the assistant. I mean, we have to follow everything listed in our brief and that IS unnatural- what normal shopper would ever ask all those questions?! Anyway, I'm rather unhappy about this and have requested a full explanation and stated that they can't penalise me for asking all the questions in the brief. Does this happen often?

I don't shop for AA, so I can't comment on them but I hope you get it sorted. As most other posters have said, you'd think if you were recognised as a MS, they'd be super dooper nice to you.

Good luck

Big_Graeme

Wizzbang wrote: »

Hi everyone, This is my first post on these forums. I've been reading for a while now. I started mystery shopping a month of so ago and have completed quite a number without issue. However, today AA have refused to pay me for a visit to a jewellery shop as they say I was recognised as the mystery shopper. At no point during the proceedings did I feel that I'd been recognised or that anything was unnatural, either for myself or the assistant. I mean, we have to follow everything listed in our brief and that IS unnatural- what normal shopper would ever ask all those questions?! Anyway, I'm rather unhappy about this and have requested a full explanation and stated that they can't penalise me for asking all the questions in the brief. Does this happen often?

Erm, just who was being evaluated here? I always refuse to answer agencies questions about my appearance, we do this work covertly and it isn't good to have everyone ID you from CCTV.

Wizzbang

Thanks for your comments everyone, really reassuring and helpful. They offered me half the fee, saying it was a goodwill gesture and they have never ever, in all their history of shopping this store had a shopper recognised. I am sticking to my guns for the time being, for the full fee. See how I get on.

superliss

Wizzbang wrote: »

Thanks for your comments everyone, really reassuring and helpful. They offered me half the fee, saying it was a goodwill gesture and they have never ever, in all their history of shopping this store had a shopper recognised. I am sticking to my guns for the time being, for the full fee. See how I get on.

What an absolute load of b*****ks. NEVER? I hate that whole 'goodwill gesture' malarkey. What it means is you are right we are wrong but we don't admit it.

We get spotted all the time but often it's a 'I know that you know that I know' kind of game. Unless its a bad report.

N.I.M

Wizzbang, tell them you have a number of shoppers willing to state, in court if necessary, that they have previously been told by AA that they have been identified.

And yes I do mean that I will gladly write a sworn statement to that effect.

superliss

fionajbanana wrote: »

My friend's dh goes to the bookies 4-5 times a week. They know who the mystery shopper is by:
. Someone who they never seen before (bookies has regulars)
. They need to visit the loo
. They need help explaining how the odds system works and forms - normally only do that a few days before the Grand National
. Take a photo of the outside.

I do hope the HQ of the bookies and the MS folks come up with a less obvious 'I'm a mystery customer' scenarios.

Visiting the loo whilst on a pub/eating place does not feel out of place as most people that visit these use the loo.

I've thought this so many times with bookies probably more than any of the other scenarios. But as with poor paying jobs if you don't like it someone else will do it.

The discussion on whether this makes the data worth the paper it's written on is something for the companies to decide. I would argue that with the rate of companies going int administration over the past year they need to do do something that gives customers that experience. Not just when they think us lot are about!