Thursday, August 07, 2008
A Word to the Wise
| By Lynn Forgy For those of you who are thinking of mystery shopping, or perhaps have already begun, I have a bit of advice for you. One disclaimer though - please don't let what I say here detract from your desire to mystery shop. Up until this experience, for the 8 months I've been doing this, I have had fun, gotten some cool (free) things, found some really neat stores, and met some nice people. It is a legitimate way to make some extra money. First, I'll tell my story and then you can take what you want from it. I'm afraid I can't divulge too much detail, but maybe you can get an idea of what I mean anyway. Almost 2 months ago, I did a shop at a business. My instructions were to act interested in a product sold by the business, interact with an associate and get a business card, and let the associate pitch the product. It went well, I did my job, and provided my honest feedback. So earlier this week, I signed up for another shop at this same business, never dreaming that the associate would be there and even if he was I thought there was absolutely no chance he would remember me. Geez, was I wrong! Not only did he remember me, but he knew why I was there. I walked into the location, asked for assistance at the front desk, and the same guy came over to me. I recognized him, but I thought I was not memorable enough for him to remember me. He came up to me, with a smile on his face, and immediately confronted me. He said he knew who I was, why I was there, and of course I was sputtering and trying to act like I had no idea what he was talking about. (When I'm confronted like that, I usually just open my mouth like a fish out of water and it's not until later that I realize I should have said such and such, etc.) He led me back to his cubicle, sat down at his desk, and began to look through his handy dandy notebook in search of my previous information. He said lots of stuff, basically just calling me out and trying to get me to admit my purpose for being there. Then he really let me have it - did I not realize that people like me take up their time, when they could be making a sale, he told me I was very negative in my comments (I reread them later and saw that I had given him just an average rating), and he was upset to say the least, yada yada. Long story short (too late?), I left the location without completing the shop. But it made me think - two things, really. The first is that I had absolutely no clue that the things I reported would go straight back to the employee I had interacted with. Even if I said just average things, not negative, perhaps they take it the wrong way. Rather than trying to get them to improve, maybe they think I'm criticizing them, personally. I didn't think of it that way. And I wouldn't want to make anyone feel badly about themselves - everyone has bad days. Who knows? Maybe it was me that caused them to provide less than stellar service. Secondly - I should not go back to the same place that has a very low turnover rate. At least not until I drastically change my appearance :) After some soul searching, I think I've decided to take a break from this part time job. I'm very tired (with all the shops I was doing, the travel time, plus the time it takes to enter the reports), it was almost like a full time job. Add to that my other part time job, and (formerly full time job) now second part time job, the fact that I've begun homeschooling my daughter, and it makes for a tiring week. If anyone else has had their mystery shopping identity compromised, with some colorful stories to share, I would love to post them! |
posted by Krista at 7:48 PM
Hello Ms Lynn:
I check your blog and enjoy reading your comments about your day to day living experiences. You are very well spoken or is it written..haha..anyhow, your columns or blogs are easy to read, understand, and enjoyable!
I understand your frustration with this mystery shopping experience. You sound like you have your hands full as it is with all those jobs plus home schooling!
In my opinion the man you encountered was in the wrong and should be reprimanded 100%! If he knew who you were, he should have actually done an about face, played ignorant, and given you 150% PERFECT customer service...so that he could obtain an A+ outstanding rating...rather than average. His supervisors should be informed of his actions, demeanor, word for word comments,..plus how YOU felt, etc. He is a direct reflection on the store he is representing... and regardless as to you being a "mystery shopper" or not...just as a regular shopper...you probably would not go back in his store again would you? Why? Because you left with a bad impression of this person.
He should not have taken you back into his work area to drill you, for you "doing your job"! I think he stepped way over the line with his attitude and really needs to be called down on it. The comment about you taking up his time from other customers was absolutely ridiculous and childish...totally uncalled for...and uhh...in case he hasn't thought about it...could you yourself maybe have been a "future" customer? Probably not now for sure. If he was half of a salesman as he is suppose to be, he should know this. He sounded weak to me, and if I were you, I would get GREAT pleasure in reporting him...but this time give him an F-! Seriously, even if you couldn't finish the shop...the people asking for the report need to know what's running their store. He could be acting rude to people all the time.
Ok, now that I got all that off my chest..heehee...I hope you don't stress over this rude person too much. He's probably in the wrong job and he must not be very happy...or he wouldn't have been so defensive.
Good luck with all your adventures~~hope I didn't rant too much, but it sort of angers me when some employees forget about good customer service...plus, when you get old, you tend to not want to take any more crap than you have too! haha