I am not ashamed to admit what I do. I try to look at it this way. I am hired by a 3rd party company to evaluate one of thier locations & employees. It will cover everything from location up keep to employee knowledge, friendliness to work ethic. I am being paid for my services. There are no freebies in this for me. I am simply reimbursed for something that i may have purchased. This is because my job requires me to work unannounced and unnoticed.

Yup.

@KimRod wrote:

@gojiberry, don't feel bad. My kids will tell you in a heartbeat that my family motto is, "Cheap is good, free is better." :-D There is a difference between being frugal and "cheap". Being Frugal is using BOGO coupons on a meal out. Being Cheap is tipping as if only one person ate.

My twins tease me that even in having kids I insisted on BOGO.

It never occurred to me to be embarrassed about mystery shopping! My hubs loves that I do it and gets excited with me when I get a high bonused shop! He also enjoys the "free" food I bring home. All of our ms money goes in a separate bank account that we are using for a vacation next year. He gladly watches our 3 kids (4 and under) while I go out on shops I can't take them on. I feel like this is the perfect job for a stay at home mom like myself who wants to earn a little extra cash without being tied down to a regular job.

I am definitely not embarrassed to admit that I'm a mystery shopper, but I do dislike the term "mystery shopper." I feel like it cheapens what we do. Any time I am discussing what I do with someone, I feel like I have to explain just what mystery shopping entails to prove how hard I actually work. But, the work itself doesn't embarrass me at all.

@meghan9262 Do most people assume that mystery shopping is a breeze? I'm not even sure what they know we do.

I think most people see the two grocery baskets in the front of the store all nicely plastic wrapped with signs on them showing how much the basket of identical items cost at this store versus some other store in the area and that is what they think mystery shoppers do. Then of course there are those who watch 'Mystery Diners' on TV and assume shoppers go in as a team to catch the bad guys. I think most folks figure that the District Manager is out there to make sure that stores are clean and well stocked while the local Manager makes sure that everybody is polite and helpful. I doubt that anyone in the general public knows that young shoppers attempt to buy cigarettes and alcohol to make sure they are carded. Shoppers can be in locations a lot easier than law enforcement and management to make certain businesses do what they are supposed to be doing.

I would say that, even though we all know that what we do is important and sometimes difficult work, the general public does not. Most people I've encountered think of mystery shopping as either a get rich quick scam or a hobby. I do know that I get a lot more respectful feedback when I refer to myself as an "Independent Business Auditor" or some such instead of "Mystery Shopper."

It's just something that I've noticed, and it bugs me because I am really proud of what I do and the small business that I've grown. 

Of course I don't often share what I do because who knows, I may be evaluating that person tomorrow (unless they are close friend or family). So I am simply "retired".

The quick answer to your question is absolutely not. I have started a business, one that isn't easy BTW, and my earnings have been in the black since my first year. So actually that's like asking me if I'm embarrassed to admit I'm successful. I have no altruistic motives and don't mind admitting my goal is the money and as much of it as I can get. I get no sense of satisfaction if a location improves because it doesn't matter to me in the long run. I provide an important service, if the client company doesn't utilize their program to institute positive changes they are not running a company which will be successful in the long run.

Now, you probably don't want me to address the whole telling your SO and worrying about what he thinks, but I will anyway because I'm older and hopefully a bit wiser. If someone can't accept, understand and support you in your endeavors, you may want to reconsider that someone. Mystery shopping is not a BOGO coupon book. It is a service and you are the service provider. The pay may come in different forms, but it doesn't diminish the value of the service you provide or how hard you work. If your SO is worthy of your time he will understand that what you do has value. Frugality is also nothing to be ashamed of these days. Just don't let it rule your life to the point you don't have some fun with what you have worked so hard to accumulate.

@gojiberry wrote:

I've been mystery shopping for over a year now and feel embarrassed to tell anyone I mystery shop, mostly because I'm conscious of them knowing that I'm willing to perform certain scenarios and spend time writing reports to get free things. I started shopping right out of college before I was employed full time, to help make some extra cash.

In particular I'm shy to tell my SO about it. We're both in our 20's. Only once did I tell him about about a dinner shop, and we went on that. He didn't say or ask anything about it.

Now that I've shopped a while, I'd like to do some higher end shops, like overnight stays. Those require a lot more time, so it would be easier to let my SO in on it being a mystery shop. The alternative would be going on hotel shops and just not letting him know and doing the report secretly, since I'm on the computer often anyway.

I'd rather be honest about mystery shopping. Does anyone else know what I mean? I'd like to not feel embarrassed anymore.

@LisaSTL I like your honest answer. Similarly, I am in this for the money as well. It's a good feeling when I notice the business improves.

As I said after my original post in this thread, I think a lot of my hesitancy has been from the way I grew up with parents who spent too frivolously. It was actually criticized to coupon or use ebay. This thinking definitely hit them though, as they both have no savings now! I've been upping my frugality ever since.

I want to thank you all for responses to this post. They really helped me and last night I invited my SO to an ACL dinner shop. I told him a little more about the details before the shop. He said, "Oh yeah, didn't you do one of these before?"

He had a very good time. And we noticed the food presentation and service was better since any of our previous visits!

I was embarrassed of not mystery shopping, but seeming like a cheapo in general. But after dinner we talked about this fear and he said budgeting is a great thing and it's good to save money. I was feeling better about the whole thing and needed some things, so I went into Marshalls. He very nicely bought all the things I was going to get.

I'm still a little timid about mystery shopping, but am improving!





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2015 11:00PM by gojiberry.

And since differing attitudes towards sex and money are the biggest disruptors of relationships, it is good to have him on board with money.

The only one in my family who isn't keen on mystery shopping is my brother Years ago he worked for The Cheesecake Factory where they were shopped somethng like 30 times a month and apparently it was a major PITA . I totally respect his opinion based on his experience and he respects that I enjoy Mystery Shopping so it's all good.

@sarahshopper wrote:

The only one in my family who isn't keen on mystery shopping is my brother Years ago he worked for The Cheesecake Factory where they were shopped somethng like 30 times a month and apparently it was a major PITA . I totally respect his opinion based on his experience and he respects that I enjoy Mystery Shopping so it's all good.

Your brother said it was a major PITA, but tell him to look at it another way.

Why are companies having this performed? To fire people, NO.

If staff are not keeping customers happy, they will not continue to use the business. What does this cause? Companies to close or layoff because of the drop in business.

Companies that care create training that they believe will allow them to give good customer service. They usually have the best intentions, but may not be going about it the right way. Maybe their way is not what the consumer wants.

These companies that really care about how they are doing spend the money to have a non-biased customer survey/audit performed, from a customers point of view.

Again, as I said above, I am pretty sure they are not spending this kind of money to fire people, but rather to find failures (in their opinion) and work at making them better either by retraining or different training.

Happy customers = Continued business = Continued employment

Run this by your brother and see what he thinks then, I suspect he may look at it a little differently.

Just my opinion of course, but it is how I view it anyway.

@CeciliaM wrote:

I don't think being frugal is anything to be embarrassed about. There are a lot of people in this world who are making a show of doing all this lifestyle stuff like restaurants, travel etc but it's all going on credit cards with no means to pay it off.

You hit the nail on the head. Sometimes I see friends checking in to some awesome places on social media and I want to play tit for tat, but I quickly get over those feelings. If people saw my credit card bills, they would think my husband and I made a ridiculous amount of money or were very careless with our money. What they don't know is that most of these charges will be reversed, reimbursed, or returned and I STILL get the points for the amount spent too. I love being able to pay off my card every month knowing that maybe 10% is actually from my own spending!

Sandman1048,

My brother has long since quit that job at Cheesecake Factory and he said working there was awful and the staff was not treated well or respected at that location, he had worked previously for a location in another state.. So if he said the process was a PITA who am I to argue with him. He is allowed his perspective as a result of his experiences. Just because a system like mystery shopping is beneficial to a company overall does not mean every location uses those systems in the best possible way. I don't think it was issues like being fired, more like management wanting shops reviewed in detail and not compensating tipped employees for that time by keeping them off the floor meaning no tips, essentially no pay and other employees working too many extra tables to cover for that employee which results in subpar service which again leads to unhappy customers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2015 07:59AM by sarahshopper.

I wondered how my husband would feel when I first signed up with mystery shopping because he's done service industry work his whole career and been mystery shopped before. He is that person in whatever job that takes it 110% seriously. Like he was working for a chain store that treated him like crap, but where I might go in with an IDGAF attitude, he would still try to perform up to par while looking for another job. He's in a job he likes now and gets good reviews.

I asked him how he felt about me mystery shopping since he has been mystery shopped before and he said he felt fine about it, it is what it is, and everyone has it done to them at some point or another. He's actually semi-obsessive about good customer service and really considers himself a professional in that field. We've always had conversations after dinners out or sales experiences, on the way home, about the customer service, even when we weren't mystery shopping. He's made a great restaurant shopping partner. So that was a relief to me because that's the only time I felt weird about it, if it was something that would make him uncomfortable.

(for the record, I don't know which MSC does his company-it's an industry I don't see a ton of gigs for, but I disclosed his employer to those who asked if I had relatives in the service industry and I would never secret shop it.)

Hello their should not be any embarrassment involved in mystery shopping .

Never feel bad. They are my relatives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2016 04:44AM by MA Smith.

I wanna learn

I get it. There are a few friends along with my family that thinks this is the biggest scam on the planet.

Two days ago I was working a shop that is fully revealed. The manager pointed out everything that was fixed, while he was dealing with an electrician to fix other stuff. One of the helpers asked who is that chick? The manager said she comes in and makes sure everything is right. Then the guy asked; she makes money doing that?
Bless the manager, he said I don't know, but she does drive all over TX doing it.

Truthfully I wanted him to say, no and she's probably a masochist.

I gave up being embarrassed about my new profession quite awhile ago. Not too worried that the majority of my pictures are no longer of my animals, my wildflowers or my fancy schmancy cakes. I'm sort of proud that I can actually tell people where the cleanest restrooms are in the great state of TX.

Most people always think it's a scam. My family has hissies with me all the time and definitely think I'm being ripped off.

Guess what? I don't care! I love what I do 99% of the time and that includes the backache from my car.

So don't feel embarrassed. You actually are a small business owner and from the gist of your post & successful.

I started mystery shopping and selling on EBay years ago, I quickly learned that others did not share my enthusiasm. I was newly divorced with a young child, the pitiful looks and responses I received when I would state what I did to make extra money. I no longer explain what I do because they just don't get it. Ask me and I will tell you I am a small business owner that provides compliance auditing services to companies. Period!

@Sandman1048 wrote:

The long and short of this short story is, I helped someone to give better customer service, and all the customers benefited from it as well as the company. This time I knew it was all me, and to this day I am still proud of that accomplishment. So doing MS is kind of the same thing for me, just not as direct, but sometimes just as rewarding.

I loved reading your story. This is what it's all about for me, too. That and I can travel routes and see the country.

No shame on my end. If anything, it'll deter others from trying mystery shopping altogether.

Why would discuss it with anyone other than your SO. As far as anyone knows who asks what I do, I am an auditor or a consultant. My own SO made the mistake of mentioning what she was doing and right on queue, her blabbering friend whose mouth run 100 mph with her brain in neutral blew a lunch shop by asking if they were on a shop or really just having lunch as usual. The manager overheard it while at a neighboring table. The shop was blown before she even finished. The scheduler called her to let her know she'd been made before the check hit the table. My SO thanked her friend for taking her to lunch and handed her the check. Not even casual lunches happen between them now. Don't bring it up or just be ready to say you're an auditor or a consultant in the retail or restaurant industry and change the subject. Most people will let it drop their. If they're boorish and keep it up, find someone else to talk to in the room.

You are my hero.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2016 04:24AM by Brarizona.

I too tell people that I do auditing (as a few others have said). If I say I mystery shop I get one of two things. They want to do it and get "free stuff" or "its a scam". So I don't bother telling people outside of my family.

After the "People's Court" video, I don't tell people anymore. (Only told a few people). Basically telling the only requirement is to be breathing really made me rethink what the MSC thinks of its shoppers.

I didn't use to when new, everyone thought it beneath them (not knowing anything about the work involved).
Now I say I evaluate restaurants and retail, and they say how great and fun for you. My best jobs back in the day, was visiting my daughter and able to get a hotel and a nice dinner. She thought good for you Mom, you found something you enjoy, and are able to perk up your life, and keep you productive. I think many are jealous. I'd share what you do with those close to you, but not everyone.