The Mystery Dining Company (now HGEM) beware

Sholly

I signed up to a couple of mystery dining companies at the end of last year. I haven't had many visits through HGEM but every time I've dealt with them I've found them really pleasant. I had one visit with a large restaurant chain in November and was reimbursed the full bill plus £10 three weeks later. I did a visit to a national chain this week and picked up a sandwich shop visit whilst I was in town anyway. It did take about 3 hours to do the reports, but the way I think about it is that I got paid £15 to go out and have a free sandwich for lunch and 2 course meal for tea. Some of the visits aren't my thing (the betting shops etc), but I just choose to not do those.

belsizegal

I totally agree with CEAJ and have had a great experience with my several years of mystery dining with HGEM. I am Platinum and based in London and regularly enjoy dines with reimbursements of £75 to £200 for 2 people. They have always been fair with me and I find the reports are very easy to complete unlike others such as Coyle for whom you need to almost write a book and Silent Customer who have ridiculous reports requiring a minimum of 100 words for areas such as table settings. I do not work for HGEM, other than as a mystery diner, and felt the need to join this forum and write a post in response to what I consider to be very unfair criticism.

Computersaysno

hey belsizegal..


so you think it's ok for a company to send people on a three hour trip to a poxy sarnie shop and reimburse a pittance?


so you think it's ok to get rid of people because they are honest about a shop?

LadyDee

Computersaysno wrote: »

hey belsizegal..


so you think it's ok for a company to send people on a three hour trip to a poxy sarnie shop and reimburse a pittance?


so you think it's ok to get rid of people because they are honest about a shop?

People are free to say "No"!

The company can get rid of people for any reason.

Regulars on this forum would take all reviews with a pinch of salt anyway. If I see a company with only positive reviews I get suspicious - no restaurant will ever get positive reviews all of the time from all of their customers.

Doc_N

LadyDee wrote: »

People are free to say "No"!

The company can get rid of people for any reason.

Regulars on this forum would take all reviews with a pinch of salt anyway. If I see a company with only positive reviews I get suspicious - no restaurant will ever get positive reviews all of the time from all of their customers.

HGEM can, as you say, get rid of people for any reason. Whether that's fair or not, though, is another matter - though I accept that as a business they can choose whether or not fairness is a principle they're concerned about.

This isn't a question of reviews, though - it involves supposedly unbiased and accurate reports paid for by a client, and whether or not the client is getting the unvarnished truth or not. The suggestion that diners might find it more difficult to get negative reports accepted than positive ones ought to worry those clients - they're paying for objectivity, not whitewash.

belsizegal

First of all, no diners are being forced to eat anywhere. If someone chooses to drive 3 hours for a sandwich then that!!!8217;s their choice, however these dines appeal to people who want a free lunch near their workplace. I personally only choose dines that present good value to me.

Secondly, my reports are often negative as I regularly have to endure bad food or terrible service on a dine but these are accepted as fair as long as they are constructive.

ketoned

Does anybody know what the 500 point (or 1000 point) reward is? The not knowing is the only thing keeping me with HGEM at this point!

Doc_N

belsizegal wrote: »

Secondly, my reports are often negative as I regularly have to endure bad food or terrible service on a dine but these are accepted as fair as long as they are constructive.

The comments about difficulties getting Hgem to agree to a negative report without altering it to make it look more positive for the client are summed up by a recent internal forum post from someone who said he'd been downgraded from platinum to gold after a drinks-only pub visit. He reported that it was dingy, with intrusively loud music, and a minimal choice of beers. Also that he received no welcome. He scored it 7 out of 10 and said he wouldn't want to go there again. The score was changed from 7 to 9 and he said he was downgraded.

See what I mean? How does that in any way help the company that paid for the report?

Doc_N

ketoned wrote: »

Does anybody know what the 500 point (or 1000 point) reward is? The not knowing is the only thing keeping me with HGEM at this point!

At 500 points you receive a pretty trivial 'reward' - something on the lines of a small bar of chocolate and a free bag, as I recall.

1000 points gets you a Virgin Experience voucher.

Ask on the forums for more detail from those who've received them recently - though Hgem don't like people disclosing what the 500 point reward is, because it's so trivial - they say it spoils the surprise! Shock, more like.

ketoned

Oh, thanks for the info! It really does sound like the 500 point reward is trivial. I'm not sure I have the energy to stay with HGEM anymore. 20 min reports for a free coffee and sandwich are starting to get tiresome. I haven't had a more exciting visit in months.