Secret Shoppers Suck

[XCashier]

Whoever thought Secret Shoppers were a good idea needs to be strung up by their ankles and used as a human piñata. We got our Secret Shopper scores back, and we were held to standards impossible at this time of year.

When we have the cutting counter line going to the back wall and wrapping around the store, we're not going to be able to keep the back counter clean or the fabric put away. We simply don't have the personnel to spare someone to keep up with the remnants when we have that many people to work through. But we lost points for that.

When there is a line of people five deep at the registers and two of the three registers are manned, we aren't going to call for another cashier. The third register is only for severe line problems (like Black Friday) as people tend to line jump, and since the third cashier's back is to the line, s/he won't be able to know if that person truly was next or not. (Bad register layout, I agree, but it's not something we can correct.) We didn't have enough personnel to cover a third register anyway. But since we didn't call for a third cashier, we got docked points for that.

We got docked points because we didn't greet them when they first got in line. How are we supposed to greet someone at the far end of the line, a megaphone?! And are we seriously supposed to interrupt the customer we're currently serving to greet every new person who shows up in line? We'll never get the line down!

I got docked points for not giving info about Special Orders. We're only supposed to give that info when someone asks about it, and nobody has asked me about making Special Orders in months. So the Secret Shopper didn't ask me, then docked me for not answering a question I wasn't asked.

We got docked for not having someone on the floor to assist customers. Hey Corporate, if you want someone on the floor to assist customers, quit harrassing my Store Manager to cut staff hours!!! Half the store staff is on the verge of burnout, and this is the reason why. Tasks that require twelve people to do are not going to be adequately done by three. Piling more tasks on us and sending spies to rat us out does not help in the least. We're human beings, not gods, we can't be everywhere and do everything at once!

[notlovinit]

You have my sympathies for secret shoppers. We had some real problems with one at my store a while back. I was actually able to prove she was lying and get her fired, so yay for me, I guess. A bunch of our stores kept getting low scores for a few months running and we weren't sure what was happening. Turns out it was the same shopper trying to get revenge or something. The shopper scores are meant by corporate to rate the franchise owners, but the owner puts it on the individual floor manager that was running the shift at the time of the shop. So I hadn't had any shops for a while and then all of a sudden I get a 73%, oh hell no! She marked me down for things like our speaker being cracked and our floor chaulk in the bathrooms not being white enough. I was pissed. How am I supposed to control these things when it is up to the owner to do these things and then I'm going to get held accountable for it? Oh hell no. Anyway, the way I proved her to be a liar was that our shoppers had strict rules about what they could order. She didn't follow these rules. She bought a large fry and a large drink and that's it, which wasn't allowed. Then she put on the shopper form that she ordered a 10 pc. meal and the nuggets were cold. How exactly are the nuggets you didn't order cold? Well anyway, I had her receipt, which was time stamped, and the video of her order.. so she didn't last much longer after that. (And before anyone asks how I knew it was her, our secret shoppers aren't really that secret. They are supposed to be, but based on the rules they are given for their shops it's obvious who it is when you get one. They also act way different than normal customers. I had my suspicions it was here, showed the video to the owner, and I guess they figured out it was her from there.)

[Kristev]

The madness that infects the corporate world view is unbelievable to anyone who isn't part of it or a supporter of it.

[Bright_Star]

Bitching at the store to do stuff with more people that they want you to get but can't cause they'd be screaming like banshees to cut hours.

[emax4]

Heh, you should send them a report also with a failing grade and list your issues in the store as to why your store didn't get a passing grade. Such as, "Our store got dinged for not advising the secret shopper about Special Orders, when that information is only to be given out when the customer asks about it. Since the secret shopper didn't as, we're knocking off 10 points. Also, we had points removed because we were not greeting customers when they entered our line, yet our lines already had five people waiting. Our cashiers are HUMAN, have two hands, a pair of eyes, and one voice. I politely invite you into our store to demonstrate how this is supposed to be done. Otherwise, the comment on our test score is redacted, the points added back on, and we will resume as if that part of the test was non-existent. Thank you"

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I think I'd make a good secret shopper because I've actually WORKED in retail and all kinds of service and I can see where there store employees and even the rules are coming from. I know the difference between someone who is just not doing their job or just being a jerk and someone who is doing what they are supposed to do but may not be pleasing everyone because it's not possible to do so.

[Slayer]

At my store, the owners only half cared about our mystery shopper scores.

The scores associated with things we're supposed to do, yes.

The scores associated with things that we don't participate in, no. We don't wear uniforms or name tags and they don't want us giving out fidelity cards without being asked for one (since corporate doesn't reimburse free items given). That's 15% of the score so getting anything close to 85% is awesome.

But now we have surveys instead of mystery shoppers.


What happens for you when you don't get a good score back? Is it something that's sent to store level to "handle" or is a big honcho breathing down your neck with scare tactics?

[blas]

When we were on reduced hours a few months ago, I was pretty close to signing up to be a secret shopper.

But, unlike the majority of them, I've been in food/retail and I am the first person to comment on how well someone does, and very friendly and pleasant to people who serve me. I think I would have done an amazing job.

[bacchinalus]

when i worked at the bookstore, we had a shopper who outright f-ed up what she was supposed to be doing, and we failed because of it

keep in mind EVERY shop that i ever participated in at that store i always scored every question that involved me, and all the managers knew it (i knew the inventory back to front, and could tell you exactly on the shelf where most of the books were, down to how many from the left/right it was!)

we were only supposed to be scored on 4 things, each consisting of 25% of the grade. one of these was the shopper had to ask for a book they knew was in stock and on the shelf so we could take them to it and hand it to them. she (we knew who it was once the score came back because no one ever wanted that book) deliberately asked for a book that was on a display that never sold one copy, so most people forgot it was even there

then she had the gall to say she was in the store for 15 minutes before being greeted, when there were two of us (both managers!) who asked if she needed help no more than 2 minutes after she got there.

needless to say we were unamused when corporate decided to ignore everyone's complaints about her and the scoring itself

[EricKei]

I have also found that Corp's tend to believe the SS's almost without question...

Back at GameStore, their SS visits were set up such that a 90% score or below was a Failure. Naturally, "Greeting customer as they come into the store" is 10% of the grade. PS - they loved to come at times when they know that we're swamped and ALL taking care of other customers, e.g., Black Friday (and yet we manager to do it anyway). Other little things were worth big on there, as well, like offering Discount cards AND reserves AND warranties to every person, every time. Now you know why the cashiers push these things >_< A SS could have had the perfect all-time shopping experience ever, and we could fail the visit for failing to offer them a $1 warranty (returnable within a year, no questions asked) on a $10 game...>_> Other things, like offering to help them find stuff (and we KNOW everyone wants help with that, no-one ever complains) are up there, too; they just do not take "every single floor person was already helping somebody else" into account...

[Seraph]

....Secret shoppers aren't always that bad.....

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[silverstaff]

I've never had the displeasure of dealing with a Secret Shopper, but I had a good friend of mine that lost her job because of one.

She was working at a chain pet store. A few times a year they will send in a secret shopper. If the secret shopper gives a failing report, it goes as a black mark on the record of every employee in the store at the time, even if they had no part in the customer's experience (the logic being that the employee should have done something to help the customer).

Three such black marks, ever, and you're terminated and permanently ineligible for re-hire. These black marks never drop off the record, ever.

She got fired for three such marks a few months ago, after working there for several years. In each case, she was not the one that caused the fault with the customer experience, but was a victim of the "if it happens in the store it's your fault" rule.

The first time, she was in the back in the stockroom. Still counted, even if she didn't even know the shopper was in the store.

The second time, she was re-arranging stock on the shelves. She greeted the customer when said secret shopper was in her area, but since the cashier screwed up on something, then she got just as much blame.

The third time she was the cashier, and did everything by the book . . .but since someone in the aisles didn't properly greet her as she was walking around, it was a third black mark, and her termination for-cause.

Apparently this doesn't happen too often, since failing secret shopper reports only happen on-average every 1 out of 4 or 5 times, and you only get maybe 1 per quarter, and you might not even be working there that day, and the place has such a high turnover rate that most employees don't last a year, two at most before quitting. The fact she made it to three years there, and just happened to be working at the time of the last 3 bad secret shopper reports was bad luck, but the manager said there was nothing he could do, it was fire her and deny Unemployment benefits since it was "for cause" or he would be fired himself.

[Mad-Bassist]

Sort of off-topic, but the creepy ones are store owners who park down the street and watch their store with binoculars. Their point of view is understandable, and I'd want to know my store is going well but—I always had the temptation of calling his car in to the local police.

I'm also amused by corporate inspections. Why do we always know they're coming? I guess it's nice to have the warning, as long as you're not a restaurant: "Okay people, the health inspector's coming tomorrow; you all know the drill."

[MoonCat]

Sounds to me like some companies use secret shoppers as a way to find a reason to cut payroll.

I always know when the company owner is coming to town. It's the only time they wash ALL the windows, inside and out, on the building.

[Grape The Cat]

Is there anything to keep Secret Shoppers from lying just to be nasty and vindictive, or to keep them from flat-out lying? It seems that corporate takes these surveys/reports very seriously so their should be some sort of way to validate the information.