1. For over a year, I visited the same mall to take the same photo of the same vacated kiosk, reporting each time that it was out-of-business. The last three months, I took a photo of the empty floor space where the kiosk had previously stood. The MSC had a 100% fee closed-shop policy.

2. I asked about a piece of outdoor equipment, "How will it stand up in the snow?" In a desert, on a day of an official "Excessive Heat Warning", during a drought.

3. Wandering around a secured area - unauthorized presence a federal felony - in street clothes and without ID to gauge employee threat awareness.

4. Intentionally spilling popcorn in a cinema restroom and returning every 15 minutes to see if it had been cleaned up.

@jrj76 wrote:

This year I did one where I had to go to a Latin grocery store and take a brand of juices off the shelf. I had to take 6 gallons worth of juices as it required one of each flavor. Take it home, go buy the boxes and ship it out to Chicago. It was on the weird side because I still don't understand why they would want the actual juice sent and not just some covert pics of the labels etc. But also it was one of the best shops because I felt pay was fair, it was easy and there was a nice reimbursement for shipping all of those things on my CC.

Many companies do that for quality control. Either to check whether there are fake products, how well the item holds with a particular distribution channel, different manufacturing plants or processing, etc. My favorite one is the organic rice cakes that you have to go to different supermarkets in your area, buy X number of packages, wrap them gingerly with bubble wrapper, and mail them to the company but you also get to keep a good number of the packages. They do the rice cake every year.

@MsJudi wrote:

Not at all proud of this one, but I actually took photos of flush holes in toilets, using a mirror, the day after the cleaning company did their job...I was desperate back then...UGH

This was a great shop 10 yrs ago, $25+ bonused in Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and another supermarket. I never took a ladder, or checked in with the management. Just went inside during busy hours, took the photos, and left. Less than 10 minutes in and out, easy report that would not require any interaction with the MC's notorious annoying editors.

-Third month as a shopper when I had to buy the timeshare and write a personal check for $20K that the MC guaranteed that I would get reimbursed for all expenses if they try to cash the check but I was young, stupid, and the MC shopped all the Williams Sonoma stores back then.
-Site verification audits for one of the credit report companies when the law was enacted. I had to visit the regional Federal Reserve, a major power plant, a military facility, and an ivy league and get copies from the original time they got incorporated. The university actually called a museum to get a copy as their chapter was from 1700.
-Flying to a tiny Caribbean Island (yes had to take 2 scary regional flights between islands to get there), spending $1500+ in expenses, just to rent a car, drive it for 10 miles and return it.
-Having a mole removed at a walk-in ER.
-Going to a 5star luxury hotel, arriving only between 12AM-12:15AM, without reservations, and asking to get a room paying cash, and using nothing more than $20 banknotes, for the $700+ bill.
-Doing a night helios at a ghetto area and arriving 2 minutes after the police arrived for a major crime (shooting and looking for the suspect around, blood on the ground) and they were actually yellow taping the place (Yes it was after this shop that they added what to do in such situations in the guidelines). I actually went around and took the photos because there was no way I was not going to get my $100 fee.

Really nothing seems strange to me anymore. I do all shops at least once before assigning any to the 10, 20, or 50 ft pole! I only have not done the strip club/lap dance because my husband refused to come with me.

Weirdest would be the adult store since I'm so straight laced. I bought vanilla perfume, hah. That was the mildest thing that store sold.

These are great. Most obvious purchase was probably a hand warmer on a 90 degree day because it was the only item covered by reimbursement at a Army surplus store in an expensive tourist trap town. I had a whole explanation ready but the cashier said nothing.

When I was single I lived with roommates in an apartment where the front door automatically locked whenever one left and I was notorious for always forgetting my keys and needing someone to come unlock the door. One night I told one of the roomies I wouldn’t be home because I had to shop a hotel where I had to see if clerks on three different shifts would follow lockout protocols. He cracked that never before had someone been so qualified for a job.

Nothing weird, but something fun. Visit fantasy-like store and check specific merchandising & marketing conditions. It was like walking into game night on 'The Big Bang Theory' or something. Absolutely fun!

@HonnyBrown wrote:

There were a bunch of shops for one location of a chain vitamin store. The shopper had to take a bunch of pictures of the shelves then pay cash for an item.

Bizarre right?

When I went to purchase my item, the SA told me the register was broken and he couldn't print a receipt for me.

And that's exactly why they had you doing the mystery shop lol. Employees think they know, but do they really know?

sex toy shop!!

Nasty attorney. It was an audit of his computer system setup. Pay was excellent. It was 2 blocks away from my office. Nothing weird about the shop requirements but the business owner was the nastiest person I have ever encountered. I think I incensed him more by being the most happiest person he had ever met, lol.

@jrj76 wrote:

This year I did one where I had to go to a Latin grocery store and take a brand of juices off the shelf. I had to take 6 gallons worth of juices as it required one of each flavor. Take it home, go buy the boxes and ship it out to Chicago. It was on the weird side because I still don't understand why they would want the actual juice sent and not just some covert pics of the labels ect. But also it was one of the best shops because I felt pay was fair, it was easy and there was a nice reimbursement for shipping all of those things on my CC.

Oh, hey! This is one of our programs. The client is the juice company. They are testing the products that come from different distributing plants to ensure they are meeting company standards. Thanks for helping us out!

A few of my weird video shops:

- A series of plastic surgery consult shops where I went in for Botox and filler consultation, and waited to see if they tried to upsell a boob job,

- A car dealership that literally tossed me the keys to a $95,000 sports car, no license hold, nothing, and invited me to “take it out for as long as you like” (two hour test drive in the mountains followed…)

- A restaurant that appeared to be completely empty at 5:30 pm, absolutely no one FOH or BOH, got worried, walked around, found everyone standing out back by the grease trap blazing up a bong and drinking beer,

- A new home sales consultant who got served a warrant in the middle of my shop. Also another sales consultant whose wife arrived mid-shop and handed him divorce papers as I was sitting at his desk picking out structural upgrades. (He’d apparently been fooling around with his sales partner.)

All these are on video, which makes it awesome.

I did this one -lol

These are great - I am dying

Shop at the bar where I caught the bartender breathing fire to get extra tips. Thankfully was able to catch it on camera because I'm pretty sure the client would not have believed me otherwise.

Sex toy purchase in a NYC lower east side adult chain store.

Urine sample for bogus job drug testing. Would be a millionaire if they had multiple shops !!

Turned down the NYC strip club sex in private room solicitation shop. Would never do it and should be done only by a licensed private investigator given potential illegal behavior involved. On second thought though.....a potential freebie for a horny dude?

Which msc does the spilled popcorn shop please? Thanks Much.

Visiting a shooting range and firing a gun. Attending a 'paint and sip' class. Neither particularly strange, but fun.

I did a tour of a gym. I first had to email for an appointment. I had to use my real name because I had to show ID. I thought no biggie it is a gym tour. The guy was a jerk and did not give the tour according to the guidelines. The person was to follow up by email with in 5 days which he did not do. I submitted my review and stated I did not get a follow up email. The guy emails me a week later stating I was messing with his job. He claimed he did send me a follow up email and demanded I change my review. I apologized and asked him to forward me the original follow up email. He sent me an email he doctored from my original appointment request. I reached out to the MSC with all the documentation. They apologized and said the guy would never contact me again. That was alittle but scary.

I would love to do a shooting range shop. No chains out here though.

The end client was actually a firearms trade association. A couple of months after the shooting range shop I visited a sporting goods store to ask about pistols. Both shops were five years ago.

@Tanischri87 wrote:

I would love to do a shooting range shop. No chains out here though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2021 10:04PM by KathyG.

Lobby Observations - I just wasn't prepared for the issues I encountered and the hypervigilance of the the staff.

@KathyG wrote:

The end client was actually a firearms trade association. A couple of months after the shooting range shop I visited a sporting goods store to ask about pistols. Both shops were five years ago.

@Tanischri87 wrote:

I would love to do a shooting range shop. No chains out here though.

I remember these! I loved doing them.

(t was 1994..and I was a PI then, partner in a MSC that was eventually sold to JD Power. I grabbed this one off of my VP Operations mgr.'s desk! Had to go to the bar at a posh Beverly Hills Hotel, and work with the bartender to secure a hooker...then go to a room and work the hooker right up to the exchange of cash (but not the deed!..rats!!!) I think the hotel already "Knew" that the bartender was running a side business.....My first wife did not love this story....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2021 03:31AM by salisburync.

Details, please!

@cherubino3 wrote:

Lobby Observations - I just wasn't prepared for the issues I encountered and the hypervigilance of the the staff.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

My strangest shop was strange not because of the shop guidelines. It was strange because it was a combo mystery shop/revealed audit and the employee in charge decided to tempt me with a set of new tires if I would report falsely and in the store's favor.

I really resented the extra communication with the MSC's owner and the extra narratives necessary to explain/document the attempted/failed bribe.

I don't know what happened to that employee, if anything. I never returned to that store for another shop/audit.

This is off topic but I hate it when something goes wrong during a shop that is outside of the "happy path", and then you try to do the right thing by reporting it and suddenly the MSC makes it *your problem*. I once did a shop where you had to call and order items over the phone. The first few times I tried calling and couldn't get through, the phone just rang and rang. I told the MSC and they simply told me to try again. I tried another day and got hung up on twice after people answered and put me on hold. I filled out the survey with all of the answers giving the client 0 scores for everything. The MSC came back scolding me that I didn't finish the job, I have to keep trying until I order the product. I eventually got someone on the phone and finished the shop but when I again gave scores of 0 due to what happened beforehand, they told me to change it because it wasn't relevant. Uh, why *wouldn't* a business owner want to know that a customer couldn't get through on the phone lines when trying to order a product?