I have been mystery shopping for 3 weeks and have done about 20 jobs. A couple of jobs are concerning me. One was a gas station where the CSR was wearing a casual shirt without a name tag in addition to the restroom being filthy. I was an idiot, and forgot my wallet at the location. The CSR actually called me on my cell when I had gotten 15 miles away explaining he had to open to see who it belonged to and found my number. I also made a mistake on the job and asked about a promotion that was not present (after rereading the guidelines, I discovered I was not supposed to inquire if it was not present). Everything I stated above was documented in my report. My concern is....if this CSR is reprimanded in any way...will he connect the dots and figure out that it was me who was the mystery shopper? He knows all of my personal information!
The second job I am concerned about relates to a free brake inspection. Everything was great and they did excellent the entire shop up until it was time they asked for the repair. I personally alresady have an extended warranty on my vehicle so I came in on this shop knowing I would not pay for anything even if they found something. Well, when I told them I could not get any repairs done immediately, (I think I lied poorly saying I had somewhere I needed to go to quickly and I needed to talk to my husband about it) it went downhill very fast. At this point the employee was perturbed, I believe, that I did not agree to the verbal $60 repair and told his workers to "put the tires back on" in an irritated tone. He tried so hard to get the sell before this asking me to call my husband now. When I went back to the waiting room, the other associate also tried to pressure me to call my husband right away and do the repair. What is worse, is suddenly the 1st employee opened the window to speak to the other associate speaking loud enough that he knew I could hear (I was the only guest there) saying, "hey, I do not feel safe backing this vehicle up, will you do it?" He even stated that twice. I was a little offended. So, my concern here is the same....since they had to get my personal information before inspecting, and the report might not be great for those employees, how safe am I?
Is my identity kept confidential (although these two incidences would not apply)...what do yall think?

kerryd73 Wrote:
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> I have been mystery shopping for 3 weeks and have
> done about 20 jobs. A couple of jobs are
> concerning me. One was a gas station where the CSR
> was wearing a casual shirt without a name tag in
> addition to the restroom being filthy. I was an
> idiot, and forgot my wallet at the location. The
> CSR actually called me on my cell when I had
> gotten 15 miles away explaining he had to open to
> see who it belonged to and found my number. I also
> made a mistake on the job and asked about a
> promotion that was not present (after rereading
> the guidelines, I discovered I was not supposed to
> inquire if it was not present). Everything I
> stated above was documented in my report. My
> concern is....if this CSR is reprimanded in any
> way...will he connect the dots and figure out that
> it was me who was the mystery shopper? He knows
> all of my personal information!
> The second job I am concerned about relates to a
> free brake inspection. Everything was great and
> they did excellent the entire shop up until it was
> time they asked for the repair. I personally
> alresady have an extended warranty on my vehicle
> so I came in on this shop knowing I would not pay
> for anything even if they found something. Well,
> when I told them I could not get any repairs done
> immediately, (I think I lied poorly saying I had
> somewhere I needed to go to quickly and I needed
> to talk to my husband about it) it went downhill
> very fast. At this point the employee was
> perturbed, I believe, that I did not agree to the
> verbal $60 repair and told his workers to "put the
> tires back on" in an irritated tone. He tried so
> hard to get the sell before this asking me to call
> my husband now. When I went back to the waiting
> room, the other associate also tried to pressure
> me to call my husband right away and do the
> repair. What is worse, is suddenly the 1st
> employee opened the window to speak to the other
> associate speaking loud enough that he knew I
> could hear (I was the only guest there) saying,
> "hey, I do not feel safe backing this vehicle up,
> will you do it?" He even stated that twice. I was
> a little offended. So, my concern here is the
> same....since they had to get my personal
> information before inspecting, and the report
> might not be great for those employees, how safe
> am I?
> Is my identity kept confidential (although
> these two incidences would not apply)...what do
> yall think?

I wouldn't worry about the brake shop, it sounds like they were putting on a show and ultimately pissed that they didn't make the sale.

The gas station is different. If someone had access to my wallet for that amount of time I'd do a quick check of what was in my wallet and start calling for new CC numbers. If my SS card was in there (which many people do but is a bad idea) or any other vital information I'd go online to the three credit reporting agencies and initiate fraud alerts (it's free) so no new lines of credit can be opened without you knowing about it.

The behavior of the brake shop employees is entirely in line with what virtually every shopper who has ever commented on that shop has experienced. Many of us will not do those shops any more, not because we worry about retaliation, but rather, because the shop employees take so @#$%^& long to reassemble the wheels if you decline the work, and are so very pushy. It wasn't waht you did that caused that.

As for the station employee, I kinda think that his action in tracking you down is an indication of his good intentions, in general. I would not have put it into the report, but would have sent the scheduler and email, asking that the client be told of the positive things, but not to link the incident to the report.

I too would have contacted the scheduler about the gas station and omitted the information from the report if the scheduler did not get back to me by the time the report was due. Hopefully editing will remove anything that is too identifying. You DO want the employee to get credit for their honesty and helpfulness. They could just as readily have thrown the wallet in the drawer in case you came back for it or pilfered it and 'never saw it, sorry'. Tracking you down I find is customer service beyond the call of duty.

Indeed I am well accustomed to auto shops wanting to sell me extra services. For years before doing shops I distrusted all auto repair or servicing places both because of what appeared to be abuse because of gender, high pressure sales tactics and ultimately concern that my vehicle would be tampered with and when something 'broke' I would be told that it was 'what they had been trying to tell me'. With shops I have sorted out a few places I can trust will treat me fairly that I will go to without a male escort and will send others to.

Unfortunately you can turn in report after report on the slime balls and it never makes a difference in the on site behaviors, so I just don't do those shops further.

He does not know. You do not know if you got him in trouble or not. As a MS we deal with issues that confront us, this is a fear. I would not worry unless you have material reason to do so....credit card problems, etc... Remember, he is the guy that assisted you. Don't make his life difficult without reason. Just be more careful next time

Don in Vegas

kerryd73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been mystery shopping for 3 weeks and have
> done about 20 jobs. A couple of jobs are
> concerning me. One was a gas station where the CSR
> was wearing a casual shirt without a name tag in
> addition to the restroom being filthy. I was an
> idiot, and forgot my wallet at the location. The
> CSR actually called me on my cell when I had
> gotten 15 miles away explaining he had to open to
> see who it belonged to and found my number. I also
> made a mistake on the job and asked about a
> promotion that was not present (after rereading
> the guidelines, I discovered I was not supposed to
> inquire if it was not present). Everything I
> stated above was documented in my report. My
> concern is....if this CSR is reprimanded in any
> way...will he connect the dots and figure out that
> it was me who was the mystery shopper? He knows
> all of my personal information!
> The second job I am concerned about relates to a
> free brake inspection. Everything was great and
> they did excellent the entire shop up until it was
> time they asked for the repair. I personally
> alresady have an extended warranty on my vehicle
> so I came in on this shop knowing I would not pay
> for anything even if they found something. Well,
> when I told them I could not get any repairs done
> immediately, (I think I lied poorly saying I had
> somewhere I needed to go to quickly and I needed
> to talk to my husband about it) it went downhill
> very fast. At this point the employee was
> perturbed, I believe, that I did not agree to the
> verbal $60 repair and told his workers to "put the
> tires back on" in an irritated tone. He tried so
> hard to get the sell before this asking me to call
> my husband now. When I went back to the waiting
> room, the other associate also tried to pressure
> me to call my husband right away and do the
> repair. What is worse, is suddenly the 1st
> employee opened the window to speak to the other
> associate speaking loud enough that he knew I
> could hear (I was the only guest there) saying,
> "hey, I do not feel safe backing this vehicle up,
> will you do it?" He even stated that twice. I was
> a little offended. So, my concern here is the
> same....since they had to get my personal
> information before inspecting, and the report
> might not be great for those employees, how safe
> am I?
> Is my identity kept confidential (although
> these two incidences would not apply)...what do
> yall think?

I really wouldn't worry about it. You name doesn't go to the company, and even if it did, do you think the gas station attendant took the time to write your information down? He was probably more interested in texting or something.

Tony DeOliveira
Portamer Marketing
[www.portamer.com]