What mystery shoppers really do
You see periodic ads for "mystery shoppers" -- ostensibly these are the people who pretend to fulfill a shopping list at some store, but are really hired by the store (or a parent company) to monitor customer service. Here's what I think they do at the local ShopRite: they hired the elderly lady in front of me at the checkout line who paused after her order was rung up, so that she could look over her receipt and argue with the checkout clerk over a quarter. I listened to this argument (the checkout clerk having no control whatsoever over what her register says the item costs) for five minutes before I butted in and offered the lady TWO quarters if she'd just move on, so the rest of us (five in line by this time) could be checked out. Too bad mystery shoppers can't monitor customers. :-)And here's what the mystery shoppers do at the local Stop & Shop: first, they hired the couple purchasing $100 dollars worth of produce. The couple engages in conversation while the checkout clerk (being trained) finds herself unable to identify a green cabbage and, after trying unsuccessfully to gain the couple's attention, rings it up as "Boston Lettuce" (pictured). Five minutes later, the wife indignantly shouts "this isn't Boston Lettuce!" Ring it up again, this time correctly. Five minutes after THAT, the 16-year-old clerk encounters another unrecognizable vegetable and, after several attempts to get the couple's attention, finally succeeds in getting the wife to sniff impatiently, "can't you recognize a rutabaga?" Yes, indeedy: our mystery shoppers are highly effective at telling 16-year-olds they should recognize vegetables they never have eaten and most likely never will.
That's not enough for Stop & Shop, however: second, a customer buys $200 worth of groceries (same clerk's aisle -- where do you think I get this info?) and proceeds to enumerate which items are to go in plastic bags, which in paper bags, which in double plastic bags, and which in paper bags INSIDE plastic bags. Whew! By the time this order is fulfilled, an empty line has five people waiting.
Hey, it's not the store's fault: it's whoever hired these megalomaniac mystery shoppers!
PS: :-) :-) :-) for the humour-deprived.
Labels: office space
posted by Ron @ 10:57 PM
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3 Comments:
ROFL--it would seem as though ShopRite and Stop & Shop would have to pay someone to behave this way in public, right? Who would treat their fellow human beings in such a manner, unless there was a dollar sign attached?
I think we have a case of mistaken identity. As a scheduler of these "megalomaniac shoppers" I can assure you that I have never seen an actual mystery shop guideline call for a shopper to bring this much attention to themselves. And being argumentative with a cashier would be justification for invalidating a shop. Rare is the occasion when a shopper is asked to behave outside of the "average shopper" capacity. We want our shoppers to maintain their "secret identity" so we can continue using them.
I admire your verboseness--you would do well with reports as a mystery shopper!
Sabrina Boone
KSS International
KSSSabrina@kernscheduling.com
These people were not mystery shoppers, just cranky, rude customers.
I am not a mystery shopper myself, but a couple of friend are, and I have seen them in action. They never call attention to themselves. They follow the guidlines about what information is needed. In the case of the Stop and Shop, the shopper would simply observe the problems the clerk was having and report this information if their mission was to report on service of clerks. And they would not be buying $100 of produce--a much smaller amount would allow the observations to be made.
Sabrina is right. You would be able to provide the detailed reports expected of the shoppers.
Mary
These people were not mystery shoppers, just cranky, rude customers.
I am not a mystery shopper myself, but a couple of friend are, and I have seen them in action. They never call attention to themselves. They follow the guidlines about what information is needed. In the case of the Stop and Shop, the shopper would simply observe the problems the clerk was having and report this information if their mission was to report on service of clerks. And they would not be buying $100 of produce--a much smaller amount would allow the observations to be made.
Sabrina is right. You would be able to provide the detailed reports expected of the shoppers.
Mary
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