Hello everyone! Newbie here.... So, today I did my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th shop ever. I was assigned to take pics of a certain company's fast food menu to verify item prices but I also needed to make a quick purchase at the drive thru - and get a receipt - as proof of my accomplishment. Piece of cake, right?

So you'd think.

At the very first drive thru, I eased up to the intercom and ordered a $1.00 item from the menu. Then I pulled forward a nudge or two and covertly snapped about 4 pics of the menu board. Done! As I zipped around the corner to the 'first window, please" I smiled to myself thinking this is a ridiculously easy six bucks!

Not so fast. I handed the employee my $1.06, grabbed my cookies and hit accelerator! "Wa-hoo", I said to myself as I drove away. That's when it hits me.

I didn't get the stupid receipt!

(Now, perhaps I don't need to editorialize this but it makes me feel better to put on record that I actually am a fairly intelligent gal - even though what I'm about to tell you is going to make me look like an incredible moron...)

I turned out of the lot and drove down the road to pull into a parking lot out of sight. I contemplated my options. I decided that I could get away with going back, but this time I would have to ask for a bottled water. I figured if I was asked, 'weren't you just here?' I could legitimately say, "Oh my, those cookies made me thirsty!" (Yes, I stole a line from Seinfeld...don't judge me!)

So, I pulled back into the drive thru and asked the talking machine for a bottled water. I pulled up to the window and, Hallelujah, it was a different employee! I handed him a 5 dollar bill and as I waited for my change, IT happened. My son called my cell phone asking for a ride home from school. As I fiddled to turn off the sound of my sons voice filling the car, the employee handed me my water and my change....

The next thing I knew, I had pulled forward about 20 feet from the drive thru and I pretty much slammed on my brakes. Even though I was still pushing buttons on my steering wheel and dashboard trying to silence the call from my unknowing child, I realized what I had done. No receipt, again!

I think I might be the poster child of Your-First-Mystery-Shop-Gone-Wrong! As I sit here tonight wearing my Dunce Cap, I ask others to share their Newbie Mishaps with me. Let's be proud of our most shameful moments together, right?

Hugs*

Welcome to the forum! Now, don't leave us hanging... how did it end? Did you go back and ask for a receipt? Go around a third time and get another item?

Hi Cali....

No, I didn't feel like I could get away with a third attempt so I just pushed on with the other 3 shops. Naturally, the shop I didn't complete is the one farthest from my house, but the good news, it's not due for another week. I'll just hope for another job in that area to make it worth the while...

Know how ya feel. I made 3 critical errors on my first 5 shops. They were such silly mistakes too. I basically submitted the wrong photos for each assignment. Fortunately, the MSC let me correct the problems. The silver lining for such mishaps is that I have not made the same mistake since. Trial by error.

Taking photos of the menu board from inside the car is so difficult. I can never capture the complete board. Nowadays, I just park, walk up to the board, and snap away.

They get easier as you do more, and getting the receipt will become a habit. Good luck.

We all have the 'shameful moments' of forgetting something. These are the things that we quite simply would rather forget and get on with life. Wrong location, wrong time, wrong day, no receipt, no business card, camera failed, the list can go on and on. If it can go wrong it eventually will. I think my worst was years ago when the USPS shops were handled differently and the MSC sent out a package for us to mail to a specified address. I went into an area where the road (lets call it US23) suddenly changed name to a local name (lets call it N Adams). I was convinced it was just a local name as US23 was called S Lincoln (lets say) in the next town. I couldn't find the USPS at the correct address on N Adams, but there was a pack and ship nearby which had no number on the building but was on the correct side of the street. I mailed my package. As I headed home I took a quick detour to take a free bridge and was suddenly on US23. Oops. I checked for the address I was supposed to mail from and voila, there was a post office. The MSP was kind and sympathetic. They sent me a new package and apologized that they couldn't reimburse me for my postage for my failed shop.

Thanks, Dora

I suggest that you start asking for a receipt everywhere, whether you are doing a mystery shop or not. It will get to be a habit that way.

words to live by....

I've been at this eight years and have forgotten my newbie mistakes. BUT, I can tell you about scheduling an audit in my neighborhood just this week. The store is on a really long road and I didn't pay attention to the address so instead of the store five minutes away, it's about 25 minutes away, LOL!

I'm just getting back in the field after a ten year hiatus. I swear I've messed up nearly every shop in some way or another! Most of the time, I've been allowed to correct my mistake. I'm truly not a *complete* idiot, but last week I forgot to get a business card, forgot to get an associate's name, and missed a cutoff time for a shop 20 miles away and had to reschedule it. Hopefully I'll improve with practice.

OMG. I can't believe I did this. I performed three shops tonight, being extra careful to go during the times allowed and super careful to get a receipt. Well done! When I went to enter the first report I couldn't get the button to upload a copy of the receipt to work. I tried three different browsers. Then I finally looked up at the top of the screen where it said "you can't report before such and such date". Damn it! Why on earth can't I get it into my head that it ISN'T April yet. I now have three bottles of Gatorade and the opportunity to purchase three more when I repeat the shops. I wish I was laughing. At least the pup got to go for a nice ride!

On my very first shop, which was a purchase and return (Now you understand why I try to avoid the type.), I was so nervous, I lost the receipt after I photocopied it in the mall pharmacy store. I presented the photocopied receipt for the return part. The associate asked, "Do you always photocopy your receipt?" I said, "I am organized that way." My son met me at the mall and said, "Mom, you are shaking."

To who_am_i:
You're not alone...however the difference in your situation and mine is...when I fulled forward the 1st time...I got out of the car walked back to the window and asked for the receipt...you assumed that you would be made as a shopper..so what...they don't know that...and in your case the 2nd time... I certainly would have gone back for the receipt...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2016 12:26AM by blaqwumin.

Ha Ha...

I've forgotten receipts before also. Good thing the reports weren't due for a day or two! So I do it again, buy another 20 oz., fill out the reports. All good. Whew!!

Oh, I remember when I and my companion forgot the receipt. He was so proud and was excited to pay for it. (It was a male shoe shop.) Gave big bills, took the change in bills and we left. Because he was holding the bills, I thought there was a receipt in it. But noooo, he said he did not have it. So I asked, "How am I going to make the report?" He was a new friend and he did not want to upset me so he went back to the store
from his home and told me to meet him as he had the receipt. It seemed as if everytime I tried to meet the demographic, I got into this mess.

I always go back and ask for a copy of my receipt if I forget it or lose it. Most places can print a copy for you. I tell them I need it for work. It's not unusual for people to need receipts for jobs that reimburse for meals. It may seem strange that an employer would reimburse for meals if you've never been in that kind of job, but it's actually quite common. Most restaurant and fast food workers are used to giving receipts to business people because the receipts have to be itemized and sometimes you need to ask for an itemized receipt if the one they provide doesn't have everything you ordered listed on it. Or you may have to ask for alcohol to be billed separately since most employees don't want their employer to know they had alcohol at dinner.

Hi Nitefly,

I actually considered going back for the exact reason you described. Before I retired from my previous job, it was very common for me to grab a receipt for reimbursement for meals when traveling. However, in this case I had only bought cookies worth $1.06! I thought for sure I'd be identified as a shopper if I went back for a receipt for such a silly amount. I think in time I'll be able to overcome this issue...once I drop the paranoid feeling that I'm wearing a neon sign that reads "mystery shopper"!

Sorry for the double post...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2016 01:45PM by who_am_i.

One reason my son does not want to join me in a restaurant shop was we forgot to get a receipt when we went to an upscale restaurant shop. He had to go back for the receipt to tell them he needed it for his expense account. He never, ever said yes to help me with any of my shops again.

Don't worry OP, we all get that feeling. Or many of us do.

There is the I need the receipt because I get a per diem ahead of time but I also need to send receipts back in to prove that I wasn't in a bar or a strip joint as I do not work for the government.

Wow, fine dining and all he had to do was ask for a receipt in exchange for a great meal? It sounds like a bargain to me.

@risinghorizon wrote:

One reason my son does not want to join me in a restaurant shop was we forgot to get a receipt when we went to an upscale restaurant shop. He had to go back for the receipt to tell them he needed it for his expense account. He never, ever said yes to help me with any of my shops again.

I've done Tony Romas a few times. The schedulers have assured me that I can take my kids, but the client doesn't agree. So I have my SO pay for the kids separately, and I pay for the adult meals. I don't mention the kids at all on the report. I repeat, this was approved by the MSC!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2016 08:58PM by Kakita987.

Been there done that and after over several hundred shops I still forget.

It's not just newbies that screw up. Let me tell you about my three 'burger, fries and drink' I had in a single lunch hour.
1. I pull into the drive-thru and order my meal. Pull over out of sight to have a taste of everything. As I'm doing so something twigged in my memory. I check the instructions and, sure enough, this was supposed to be an 'eat-in' shop.
2. Back to the FF restaurant and in I go to order another burger, fries and drink. This one I have to eat in the restaurant and stay at least 15 minutes. I had only had a taste of the previous burger and fries so it wasn't so bad eating this meal. The other down side was that I was definitely not making anything on this shop once I'd paid for the second meal. Once I get back to the car I am looking at the receipt and something doesn't look right. Again I check the instructions and I see the address on the receipt and the address on the instructions are different, not much different but still different. I look around, I drive around but I cannot see another A&W.
3. Since going by the address the restaurant can be no where else I come to the conclusion it must be inside the mall right next door to the A&W I've just been to. Of course neither the mall nor the A&W have address numbers posted outside. Into the mall I go and sure enough, in the food court, there is another A&W. I order my third burger, fries and drink and sit down. I can't remember having a harder time trying to get that meal down, I'm just not designed to eat three 'burger, fries and a drink' at one meal period.

The clincher to this tale...I had been mystery shopping about 25 years when I pulled this little faux pas.

@blaqwumin wrote:

To who_am_i:
You're not alone...however the difference in your situation and mine is...when I fulled forward the 1st time...I got out of the car walked back to the window and asked for the receipt...you assumed that you would be made as a shopper..so what...they don't know that...and in your case the 2nd time... I certainly would have gone back for the receipt...

Blaq, you are absolutely right! Now that I'm getting the hang of this I will definitely become more confident. In time, I guess.

Bena, thanks for sharing that awesome story! You had me giggling and I'm so relieved so many people have been able to laugh at -and share- their mistakes too. This is good stuff!

I did a pizza shop where you needed to take a photo before eating. Well, I forgot and started to eat the pizza. I already polished off 1 slice. As I am looking over my notes since it was my first visit, it stated that I needed to take photo before eating. Dang. Okay, I ordered another pizza but as a to go. switched out the to go pizza and replaced it on the dine in platter and snapped the photo.