I have no idea when these shops started. I can't even recall who did them before the current company. Was it [yada yada yada? Yada yada? Yada?] It's been too many years ago, back during my initial run as a shopper. It's far enough back that the USPS still did dimensional weight shops. I have many fond memories of the USPS shops. Between my first run and current run, I'm a part of that 100+ club. I've done enough of these shops to know the HazMat phrase by heart. Back at Christmas, an exhausted clerk floundered when trying to state it. I chimed in, and said it for her. Don't worry, I wasn't a shopper during that visit.
Among some of the funniest memories I have from mystery shopping, there is one that sticks out more than Santa does at an Easter party. To me, it is my funniest mystery shopping memory of all time. I've probably told the story once before, but like your favorite uncle (or your annoying friend), I'm going to do it again. And probably change a few non-important details just to mix it up.
The scene was a small down nested among the Appalachian mountains. I was on a route of mostly Shell audits with a few Pandora jewelry shops and post offices tossed in. I also picked up some easy buy back jobs (think Paqui chips) for [yada yada yada]. That day, all of my post office shops were dimensional weight. For those that don't know, that is when your box size exceeds a set number of cubic feet in relation to its weight. In other words, relatively lightweight items in very large boxes are charged a surcharge. As I recall, years ago, there were a total of 4 USPS shop scenarios, with dimensional weight being one of them.
Back then, the threshold to trigger dimensional weight was greater than it is today. Someone can correct me, but it seems like I remember the box had to be at least 3 cubic feet in size for that shop scenario and the weight had to be like a pound or less. Anyhow, I go into the post office with a gigantic box that a vintage window air conditioner could have fit in. I had a half-pound box of pasta in it. I go to the counter and sit my package on top. The clerk, an older gentleman, must have thought it weighed 50 pounds as he picked it up with some force, almost losing it onto the ground. He made some comments like, "Woah, what's going on here?" He put the box on the scale, and it may have weighed 2 pounds, most of which was the actual box weight. He started asking me what was inside the box. "What's inside the box," I thought. I had to think of an answer, so I said the first thing that came to mind: "Condoms." The clerk said, "What?" "It's condoms," I confirmed. Why did I blurt out condoms? Well, let's just say those [yada yada yada] jobs weren't for chips. My trunk was FULL of them. I had on my mind what I was going to do with them since I did not have to destroy them.
The clerk was very puzzled, and asked how many packages I was shipping. He could not figure out why the box weighed only a couple of pounds if the box was full. The cost to ship that package, because of the dimensional weight status, was going to be like $50.00. The clerk then wanted to open and repackage them into a smaller box. The guy even pulled out a pocket knife to open the box. I scrambled to stop him, pointing to the sender's name.
"I'm sorry," I said, "my wife is shipping this, and if you go to opening it and repackaging it, she is going to be horribly embarrassed and probably very mad at me. If you could just ship it as it is, it will save me a headache." The clerk ultimately complied. Can you imagine if he had opened it and found a box of pasta? He would have been even more confused, and I don't think I would have been able to keep a straight face.\
As I exited the lobby, I overheard someone from the back ask him what was in that box. "Condoms," the clerk said. (I think someone must have heard some of the conversation, hence the question.)
I laughed for many miles down the road.
Oh, the second-funniest memory I have from mystery shopping - the look on the CVS workers' faces as I checked out with 20+ boxes of condoms at each store.
[At least I didn't yada yada over the best part of the story.]
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2024 01:31AM by ServiceAward.
Among some of the funniest memories I have from mystery shopping, there is one that sticks out more than Santa does at an Easter party. To me, it is my funniest mystery shopping memory of all time. I've probably told the story once before, but like your favorite uncle (or your annoying friend), I'm going to do it again. And probably change a few non-important details just to mix it up.
The scene was a small down nested among the Appalachian mountains. I was on a route of mostly Shell audits with a few Pandora jewelry shops and post offices tossed in. I also picked up some easy buy back jobs (think Paqui chips) for [yada yada yada]. That day, all of my post office shops were dimensional weight. For those that don't know, that is when your box size exceeds a set number of cubic feet in relation to its weight. In other words, relatively lightweight items in very large boxes are charged a surcharge. As I recall, years ago, there were a total of 4 USPS shop scenarios, with dimensional weight being one of them.
Back then, the threshold to trigger dimensional weight was greater than it is today. Someone can correct me, but it seems like I remember the box had to be at least 3 cubic feet in size for that shop scenario and the weight had to be like a pound or less. Anyhow, I go into the post office with a gigantic box that a vintage window air conditioner could have fit in. I had a half-pound box of pasta in it. I go to the counter and sit my package on top. The clerk, an older gentleman, must have thought it weighed 50 pounds as he picked it up with some force, almost losing it onto the ground. He made some comments like, "Woah, what's going on here?" He put the box on the scale, and it may have weighed 2 pounds, most of which was the actual box weight. He started asking me what was inside the box. "What's inside the box," I thought. I had to think of an answer, so I said the first thing that came to mind: "Condoms." The clerk said, "What?" "It's condoms," I confirmed. Why did I blurt out condoms? Well, let's just say those [yada yada yada] jobs weren't for chips. My trunk was FULL of them. I had on my mind what I was going to do with them since I did not have to destroy them.
The clerk was very puzzled, and asked how many packages I was shipping. He could not figure out why the box weighed only a couple of pounds if the box was full. The cost to ship that package, because of the dimensional weight status, was going to be like $50.00. The clerk then wanted to open and repackage them into a smaller box. The guy even pulled out a pocket knife to open the box. I scrambled to stop him, pointing to the sender's name.
"I'm sorry," I said, "my wife is shipping this, and if you go to opening it and repackaging it, she is going to be horribly embarrassed and probably very mad at me. If you could just ship it as it is, it will save me a headache." The clerk ultimately complied. Can you imagine if he had opened it and found a box of pasta? He would have been even more confused, and I don't think I would have been able to keep a straight face.\
As I exited the lobby, I overheard someone from the back ask him what was in that box. "Condoms," the clerk said. (I think someone must have heard some of the conversation, hence the question.)
I laughed for many miles down the road.
Oh, the second-funniest memory I have from mystery shopping - the look on the CVS workers' faces as I checked out with 20+ boxes of condoms at each store.
[At least I didn't yada yada over the best part of the story.]
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2024 01:31AM by ServiceAward.
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