Secret Shopper
I have just recently started Mystery or Secret Shopping. I was excited at the prospect of making money on the side here and there with a few visits to stores. I am very opinionated about my customer service, so it seemed normal that I would enjoy critiquing people on theirs.Well, after doing 7 of these in 3 days, I can say that I am exhausted at acting. I had to do 5 banks and 2 pharmacies. Once in the groove, they were easy to do. It took about 20 minutes of my life for each one. I was treated well at 5 of the 7 shops. It wasn't all that bad.
However, I did find myself feeling really icky by the end of today. I had to ask people questions and trick them into doing the right or wrong thing. I had to make myself obviously look like I needed help, take up this person's real working time and then walk away, knowing I wasn't going to purchase what they had been trying to sell me. I had to walk out without buying or signing up for anything. Really, it made me feel weird.
Since I have worked at restaurants and retail most of my life, I know the threat of a secret shopper is a real one. My first one at Starbucks someone really hurt my feelings when evaluating me based on looks alone. I was having a bad hair month where I had it bleached then tried to put some brown on it to only turn it pink. I tried my best to camouflage it, but to no avail. The woman really gave me a nasty lashing, said some very not nice and personally rude things about me and my looks. I will never forget that.
I am nice to a fault in mine, specifically saying that a person was "friendly" even if they didn't smile. Its not all about smiling, you know. I am hard on people who are making no effort what so ever, but still feel bad that I am literally wasting their time.
Its really just what I need, more guilt. At least this kind of guilt I get a check for afterward. Dirty, I just feel dirty.
posted by Metalmeredith @ 11:09 PM
2 Comments:
You have nothing to feel guilty about M. You are being honest, and if an employee doesn't provide you with decent customer service, they have no one to blame but themselves. This is coming from someone whose place of employment is mystery shopped monthly. You might be wasting their time, but you are being paid by their employer to do so.
I think you're doing a valuable service. I always prided myself on my customer service when I worked at K-Mart and I always hoped that a Secret Shopper would come through my line. If they did, I never found out. But I SMILED at everyone. C'mon now - that is sooo a part of being friendly.
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