Hi all! I just have a quick question. I was told by an MSP scheduler that a certain company that I do shops for all the time "had to watch a video of one of my shops". The email they sent me to tell me this honestly wasn't really nice and made it seem like somehow this was my fault. I have no idea what I could have done wrong,as all I've ever done is fill out the reports honestly and do what I was supposed to do. Does anyone know what could prompt them "having to watch a video of one of my shops?"

Sometimes the person you are shopping does not like the results of the shop - such as when they do not do what they are supposed to do. Sometimes the person then accuses the shopper of lying (and, yes, that does happen sometimes). The client is then in a position where they have to decide whether they believe the word of the shopper (whom they have never met) and the employee (with whom they have a relationship). This sometimes results in our reports being challenged. In this case, it sounds like your shop may have been caught on the the client's video security system. So, they are going to watch the video to verify that your report is accurate.

It' happens. As long as you re honest in your reports, it will not be problem for you at all. :)

Thanks for the clarification and that's all I ever was; honest in my reports. It turns out that they watched the video because I always shopped one chain of stores (I live in a very small area so almost no jobs are available to me.). At any rate, one of the chain of stores that I shop for I had reported having a more negative exerperience than a previous shopper. They watched the video, which wouldn't have been a problem for me, as I was always 100% honest, but they made me stop being a shopper all together for that chain of stores, "because I had been discovered", so that ended my secret shopping all together. It just doesn't seem right or fair at all to me, as I did nothing wrong, but am being penalized for it anyway.

Thanks so much for your reply....I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the reply MFJohnston!

I know of one example, where the client who ordered the shops holds their locations and employees to such high standards, that they review video surveillance from the time of each shop, to ensure absolute accuracy of everything reported - they often even return shops after they have been approved by the editors, to ask for additional clarification and information.

Different clients can have different expectations and reasons for posting their shops, so all shoppers can do is be true and objective in their reporting - whether a video of their experience will later be watched or not.

Cheers!

Since you complete the reports honestly, do not worry. If an employee has not done as expected, the company may watch the video to be certain that the employee is in the wrong before speaking to them.

India_15423422221854 @ Mar 4, 2019 8:52:16 PM

Hi all! I just have a quick question. I was told by an MSP scheduler that a certain company that I do shops for all the time "had to watch a video of one of my shops". The email they sent me to tell me this honestly wasn't really nice and made it seem like somehow this was my fault. I have no idea what I could have done wrong,as all I've ever done is fill out the reports honestly and do what I was supposed to do. Does anyone know what could prompt them "having to watch a video of one of my shops?"

I have had restaurants deny I ever visited, saying I was falsifying my report when I made statements like "We were seated at our table by the hostess, and were not greeted by a server for 17 minutes". However, fortunately for me, even when it's not required, I have eye wear spy camera equipment [that can record up to 4 hours] and I always have 1 or 2 voice recorders running on phones at all times. If I'm doing a restaurant shop where I'm supposed to have a guest, I always make my guest run a voice recorder too. I recently did a museum evaluation where I had to have -4- people present, therefore I have 4 audio recordings.

It quickly stops disputes when I send a link to my video capture of me just sitting there looking around waiting for someone, anyone, to show up. It also helps greatly with me doing narratives after I get home, because I can watch my video or listen to my audio and when I'm asked "What was the exact greeting" or other things like that, I don't have to just remember it.

I currently subscribe to the google drive backup cloud service and pay for the 2TB of data option (it's only $10 a month or $100 a year if prepaid) because I backup EVERYTHING on a nightly basis just in case I ever have equipment failure [because it doesn't matter if you spend $50 on a bargain smart phone, or $1500 on a fancy "fruit company" phone, -- you're GOING to have a failure] because with the way some of these companies stall, you might be needing to prove something 2-3 months later.

It's very common that the place you're visiting will DENY what you claim in your evaluations. I once had a car salesman actually swear at me

because I asked for a printed quote. I did an evaluation at the same dealership 2 months later and found out he was no longer employed there. I would say out of 100 evaluations I do, I have to PROVE what I put in my reports 3-5 times. I recently did an apartment evaluation where the leasing agent looked like a prostitute. I didn't use those exact words, but I was asked to give a narrative when I stated "no" to the question "Was the leasing agent dressed professionally?" and I stated 'she looked like she was ready to leave the office and head directly to a nightclub' - The scheduler asked me what I meant by that, so I sent a 10 second excerpt from my video recording.

What is uncommon, and unacceptable, is the reaction you got from the company you were directly working for. I would love to know what mystery shopping company made you feel like you were doing something wrong? These companies should ALL know by now that the locations being shopped are prone to dispute your report. It happens ALL the time.

India_15423422221854 @ Mar 22, 2019 8:41:33 AM

Thanks for the clarification and that's all I ever was; honest in my reports. It turns out that they watched the video because I always shopped one chain of stores (I live in a very small area so almost no jobs are available to me.). At any rate, one of the chain of stores that I shop for I had reported having a more negative exerperience than a previous shopper. They watched the video, which wouldn't have been a problem for me, as I was always 100% honest, but they made me stop being a shopper all together for that chain of stores, "because I had been discovered", so that ended my secret shopping all together. It just doesn't seem right or fair at all to me, as I did nothing wrong, but am being penalized for it anyway.

Thanks so much for your reply....I really appreciate it.

I would also state that with 'such a unique look' - it may be a LOT easier for you to be identified by that store. I've been identified before by a well known "$1 store" but as soon as I shaved my head [not to be a mystery shopper] they no longer recognize me.

So, the answer I finally got as to why I could no longer be a mystery shopper for the only consistent jobs anywhere around where I live is that they watched a video because I rated one of a chain of stores "lower" in some way than a previous shopper had. As I stated before, all I ever did was tell the truth about how I was treated on each shop that I went on, but still I loose because, as I said, this chain of stores are the only consistent shopper jobs anywhere around where I live. It just sucks because it's not at all like I was making in big money, but it was something to help and now it's nothing at all.

India - That's frustrating. Losing out on one MSC is really not a big deal - there are hundreds more. What you see on iSS is but a fraction of the shopping that's available. If you are interested in continuing to shop, I am certain that you can find more work. Have you looked for mystery shopping work outside of the iSS platform?

This thread has been quite informative!

I have only done web/phone shops so far, but now I know to be careful if I do an in person shop.

The eye spywear is a great idea @Linda. And helping to recall the visit would be greatly aided by that. So is the voice recorder.

There is a lot of info to be gleaned here.