Hi! You have nothing to hide, so communicate with them when you first walk in the store instead - "Hi, I want to let you know I am a personal/mystery shopper and I will be taking photos etc today for my job. If you have any questions for me please let me know." and that can be the end of it. If they ask for proof, sign into this site and show them them the shop and address. You should be fine. That way, you won't have to worry about them afterwards and it is fixed in the beginning. Also, a lot of theft is associated with employees in the store not communicating with all customers, so some thieves think they have gone unseen or unnoticed for the most part and do their own thing. If you're making that connection with the security guard, that issue is mitigated. good luck in the future shops!

Mavreen @ May 24, 2023, 5:03:58 AM

I turned around once and when being followed by security and said “Really??? I’m a secret shopper and clearly I’m not very good at my job. Since obviously I’m not going to be able to do this discretely, how about you just walk next to me instead of lurking behind me. If you want we can even hold hands like 2nd graders on a field trip” It was obvious he felt foolish but walked silently next to me the rest of my trip. It was better than having him behind me and calling attention to me.

This is so silly of the security guard continuing to follow you afterwards.