Mystery shopping? Any experiences?

I might be mistaken (often am!) but I think we had a gransnetter who did this or something similar.
That's no help is it?

Until I was made redundant I spent 6 years as a Business Development Manager for a mystery shopping company, so I do have some knowledge!

Yes, there are scams out there, but there are also reputable companies too. Look for those that are members of the MSPA (mystery shopping providers association), never sign up with one that asks for a "registration fee".

It is very rare for anyone to make a full living from mystery shopping, although the ones that specialise in covert video sometimes do.

Cooee Lona here I am!

Told you so! (I thought it was you phoenix)

Jane10 if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Also if there are any particular advertisements you have seen, if you want to tell me about them I can usually spot the cons!

One that used to appear frequently involved asking the shopper to visit a local store and then complete a report form. The shopper was then sent large sum of money in some form (a cheque usually but sometimes other things) which they were asked to put into their bank account. Shortly after they would be asked to withdraw a certain amount, leaving the "balance" as payment for doing the mystery shop, and transfer the funds to a third party.This was usually done via Western Union or a similar transfer agency.

The problem was that the original cheque or Travellers cheques were false, but this usually didn't come to light until it was too late. I spoke to several people who this had happened to, they ended up out of pocket. One person had their bank account frozen, and another was taken in to custody by the Police on suspicion of fraud!

We once had someone send Tavellers cheques to us in the post, along with a note saying that they didn't want to do the mystery shop. (I think because of the company names the scammers used, people would go on the interned and think it was from us) We took the cheques to the bank and they thought they were genuine, so it shows how convincing it can be. We did not (of course) bank them but went to the Police.

What does a mystery shopper do?

There is a misconception that they spend their time swanning about in upmarket shops, having meals in restaurants etc, then just write up a few notes!

WRONG! You may be asked to go to a shop, make a purchase etc, but equally it may involve a visit to the local council offices to enquire about the local plan, or to ask for leaflets in large print for a friend/neighbour with sight problems. Often there is an in depth report form to fill in (usually via the mystery shopping companies website)

There is sometimes the misconception that the mystery shopping company chooses which places they will mystery shop.Would soon go out of business doing that! Clients would approach us and ask us to design a mystery shopping programme for them. This might be face to face visits, or telephone calls or emails/enquiries via a website.

The reasons for a company mystery shopping can be just to get an indication of the customer experience, or to make sure that staff are fully compliant to consumer laws (such as PPI, taking out store cards or extended warranties etc) sometimes we had to do a mystery shoplift to check their security levels!

So, a mystery shopper checks that the goods, services, customer experience etc is consistent with company standards or legal requirements

I have designed mystery shopping programmes for:
The M6 Toll Road
Hummingbird Bakery
Bettys Tea Rooms
Various Gov dept. inc Foreign & Commenwealth Office, Land Registry etc.
A large chain of funeral directors
Nursing & Care Homes
A chain of naked table dancing clubs
Health Clubs/Gyms
English Heritage
Banks & Building Societies
Travel Agents
Estate Agents
Fashion Retailers (Joules, Moda in Pelle, etc)

And heaven knows what else!

I fancied doing this. I found one which says it was MSPA. I started to fill in the form, which got more and more intrusive. Asking about PayPal and bank details, kind of car, house I lived in etc.. I exited before giving these details.

Some years ago DD worked as a mystery shopper in London. She started off going to shops to make purchases or visiting restaurants and reporting on the experience. She rather enjoyed it.

Later on she worked on a contract for London transport catching buses to a time table she was given. She said she saw parts of London she had never visited. There were certain things considered dangerous and if a driver did them she had to get off at the next stop and ring the agency so that someone would be waiting to speak to the him/her at the end of the journey. It included behaviour like leaving a stop before closing the doors.

Funeral directors? How does one mystery shop there? The mind boggles.

It was a telephone exercise Anya, the callers had to say that they were staying in the Aunts house and the hospital had said she didn't have long etc, and the shoppers was phoning funeral directors to ask for some initial information.

I can tell you a bit about why those questions are asked on the forms. The bank /paypal one is for 2 reasons, firstly a lot of the companies prefer to pay the shoppers via paypal, the second is because there is more mystery shopping of banks than people realise, so it is much easier to use a mystery shopper who already has an account with the relevant bank.

The car one I have had a lot of experience of! We had to do a nationwide mystery shop for a certain Japanese manufacturer, and need to recruit mystery shoppers who had the right make and model to take along for their annual service.

The house too can be relevant. We did a mystery shop for a well known supplier of windows, double glazing, conservatories etc. The poor mystery shoppers had to have a home visit from a sales rep from our clients, plus one from a competitor (they were very well paid for it though!) so we needed to find people in the right post code area with the right sort of house. I did a programme for a supplier of walk in baths, so again the house had to be right, as did the profile of the mystery shopper. Similar thing with one I did for a stairlift company, no chance if you live in a bungalow!

Thanks for the info, phoenix. I've often wondered.

Sounds like good material for a sit-com especially mystery shopping in a funeral directors.

And the chain of naked lady table dancing clubs.

Naked tables?

What, no tablecloths?

Yes, merlot the table dancing clubs project was "interesting" ! I had to rein the client in a bit though, as I did with the London Borough of Islington with what they wanted as part of a mystery shopping programme for their Traffic Wardens (called something daft now, like Community Enforcement Officers, but they were still traffic wardens to me!) Sometimes what the client asks for is somewhat akin to entrapment!

There is a lot more to mystery shopping than people imagine!

I truly loved that job, listening to clients and working out the best way to deliver. I was very proud when we won the contract for the finance arm of a major high street name. They had telephone interviewed every mystery shopping company they could find in the UK, then selected 12 to be asked to put forward a proposal. They chose 3 companies to go and present to them at their HQ in Chester. I toddled along with my team and we won the contract! My MD was so chuffed.

I still miss the job, the colleagues and the money!

What a wonderful job! DD was manageress in a restaurant chain that used them, if they were given enough points by their shopper all the staff would be given a night out free, or a free meal, or a prize.

Then the chain stopped doing it, word got out and the service went down - nothing she could do to raise their spirits back up again and 'incentivise' them, as they called it. It appeared the staff liked being checked up on!

She told us to go to different restaurants, and place a small pad on the table, scribble in it just after the waitress left the table every time, and see if our service didn't improve!

My sister's friend did this for a few years and really enjoyed it. She went to restaurants, bars, shops and even had to spend the night in an hotel. Didnt make a fortune from it as jobs were only once a week or so but she liked having something to do after retiring. My sister also works in T...o a well known supermarket and they have mystery shoppers in every month. They check the layout of the store is it clean, tidy etc, appearance of staff, did they ask for the club card, smile say thanks etc. If they pass the mystery shopper they all get a bonus at payday. I think most supermarkets have mystery shoppers to check food quality staffing manners etc etc Good luck if you have a go at it and HTH x

Thanks Phoenix. Very full and detailed response. I think I'm with Anya on this though. I just don't want to send off so many details to an online company. I'm sorry Phoenix obviously your company was a good one (apart from letting you go-their mistake by the sound of it!) but it doesn't sound like its for me.

I've done the odd mystery shop in a dry cleaners and food shop but assignemnts only came every few months so never going to make a fortune that way. Also had a meal at retaurant in a department store and that was quite fun. However, you have to make a spend on these occasions and the payment is quite small so I never did one unless I would be visiting the shopping area anyway. Mark you, these days I could make use of my bus pass to travel so that would cut the incidental costs! As I enjoy doing a bit of writing I looked on such experiences as an opportunity for people watching and getting an insight into a world of work very different to my own.

I have done one Mystery Shopping for one Restuarant and it was an amazing Experience I had it

What is a mystery is why posts are referring to phoenix when it seems that the mystery shopper is Anne58?

If members name change I didn't think that their old posts would show under the new name .

I need coffee.

Yes Riverwalk, that was perplexing me too, have obviously missed a lot. The job sounds fascinating.

Am confused phoenix anne58..what am I missing ?

I do both physical mystery shopping and online surveys and whilst not fabulously paid it gives me a little extra to play with.

I have noticed a move away from the norm and now it is not unusual to have to record your mystery shop either audio or video which I am not keen on.