I am new to mystery shopping (three shops in) and am learning the ropes, one shop at a time. I am sticking to shops that are in my normal routine to avoid feeling like I have to "act" too much until I get the hang of it- e.g. fast food restaurants that I go to occasionally anyway and shops for products that I need - new foundation or new glasses, etc.

I had a shop today at an eye glass store that indicated the shopper MUST get a quote to submit with the shop. There was no purchase. After finding the best frames, the associate said she would write it down for me. Trying to sound casual, I said something like, "Oh yeah, could you put it into one of those quote things with all of the details?" She said she would just write it on a card and wrote the style on the back of her business card. I said, "Oh could I get something more formal with the price and details on it? I want to make sure I have enough information to remember what it was." She said, "I have your name in the computer which is all you need when you come back, but I'll write the price down too", and added the price to the card. At this point, I didn't think I could ask a third time without it being super awkward and said "This card is so small, I feel like I'm going to lose it...", hoping she would bite and give me something more like a formal quote. But alas, she just laughed and made a comment about them having small cards.

So my question is... As a more experienced mystery shopping, what would you have said/done to get the formal quote? What is the line between being too subtle and being too awkward (and possibly alerting them that you are a shopper)?

I did drop a note to the scheduler right after the shop to let them know that I did not receive a formal quote and a quick summary. Today is the last day for the shop and I wanted to let them know in case this was a major problem. I then submitted the report with these details included in the narrative. I am also trying to make a call as to what types of problems rise to the level of notifying the scheduler vs just noting it in the report.

Thanks.

Unless there was some specific quote form you were to get, you do have a written quote, and that should be formal enough. This would be true for probably 90% of the companies you will work with. The quote is to make sure you actually 1) were there and 2) interacted with an associate about new glasses. It would be possible for a person to cruise through the store, perhaps pick up a business card and NOT have an interaction, so your business card is likely important only as a proof of visit and for nothing else. What I would do is submit a copy of the front and back of the business card as the quote and move on.

Sometimes you will find that you only have one slot to upload a proof of visit. In that situation I photocopy the front of the card, then turn the card over on the photocopy to get the front and back in the same image. (Yes, it is possible to merge images and all that stuff, I just keep it simple.)

Thanks Flash. I hope you are correct! I look forward to the point when I feel more comfortable and confident!

I did merge the images of the front and back into one. I just do this electronically by cropping/cutting both into the same image and then taking a new crop. The snipping tool and MS Paint that both come with Windows were enough to do that without a fancy merge. I've yet to run into specific image size requirements.