I saw a bicycle with a hanging air freshener on the handle today at a gas station I inspected.

It's the kind of air freshener that is a tree and hangs off of a vehicle's mirror. It was strange, but OMGosh! It was so funny!

I was doing a Nextel shop many years ago. They were trying to catch the stores authorizing purchases without an appropriate ID. I shopped a mall location and I convinced them that I could fax the authorization to the store. Big time fail. I shopped a few months later, same scenario and the manager recognized the scenario and demanded I leave the store. I waited a couple of days, called the store and asked for the manager by name.

He wasn't there and I visited, did the same scenario and the store failed again.

I had an associate tell another associate “I hate this job” when I was standing beside them.

Lol

Years ago I did shops to see if the business took American Express. It was really dark inside the business. In my preppy outfit I walk up to the bar and ask the bartender if they accepted the American Express credit card. It was a biker/strip joint! Several of the patrons told me the strippers only took cash.

I crawled out of the business and wrote my report. Even the editors thought it was funny.

@Karenhal wrote:

It was a biker/strip joint! Several of the patrons told me the strippers only took cash.

That’s why I like to keep $1s on hand for service workers

@Karenhal wrote:

Years ago I did shops to see if the business took American Express. It was really dark inside the business. In my preppy outfit I walk up to the bar and ask the bartender if they accepted the American Express credit card. It was a biker/strip joint! Several of the patrons told me the strippers only took cash.

I crawled out of the business and wrote my report. Even the editors thought it was funny.

On that note, last year I picked up some Visa debit card shops while out on a route. Pulled up to one place on the side of a highway and it turned out to be an adult store. I took one step in, realized it wasn't for me, and backed out. LOL

I knew if I did not do a report the MSC would be upset. I did get $10. per shop. This was a long time ago. But not forgotten.

What did the company that hired you comment about your not doing the shop?

It’s something you don’t forget even 20 years later.

I'm not sure if this counts as funny, but I did find it interesting.
Last summer, I did one of those Kia shops - and it was the weekend and they were swamped.
The floor manager matched me with a very knowledgeable sales rep.
We sat and chatted and I kept asking him questions about the car and he was good with the comebacks and then I did it - I asked him to explain to me exactly how an EV powertrain works. The poor guy, bless his heart. Next thing I know we are pouring over flowcharts and talking science between ourselves. It was fascinating and we lost track of time....he wasn't your typical annoying salesperson. As we wrapped it up, he asked if he could introduce me to his manager.
A short while later, the manager came to shake my hand and asked me what I thought. I told him that I appreciated all the information about the car and it would help to inform my decision.
Suddenly, the sales guy says to me, in front of his boss "you are a smart consumer. I bet if I'd tried to pressure you right away to make a decision, you'd have quickly run out of here and never talked to us again!".
I was taken off guard.
"you're right!"
He must have followed up with me every few weeks for almost 6 months...thankfully he stopped.
We both earned that one lol.

Another time, I had a hotel shop where I overheard a drug deal going down right after entering my room...I could hear the voices in the next room and what they were saying.
Not wanting to stay, but not wanting to give up the shop, I made all the observations I could make, then drove home - it wasn't far from home - then I drove back in the morning and made the morning observations.
I had to mark them down on a couple things because the hotel was undergoing renovations, even though I explained that in the report. The photos were to be taken all in the morning. The scheduler made some comment like wow, your room looks barely stayed in.
Ugh yeah lol.

@Karenhal wrote:

What did the company that hired you comment about your not doing the shop?

Nothing. It was through an app, so I abandoned it.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

Another time, I had a hotel shop where I overheard a drug deal going down right after entering my room...I could hear the voices in the next room and what they were saying.
Not wanting to stay, but not wanting to give up the shop, I made all the observations I could make, then drove home - it wasn't far from home - then I drove back in the morning and made the morning observations.
I had to mark them down on a couple things because the hotel was undergoing renovations, even though I explained that in the report. The photos were to be taken all in the morning. The scheduler made some comment like wow, your room looks barely stayed in.
Ugh yeah lol.

Now that was a funny story! I've not done a hotel shop since 2013. I did three of them, all for the same shady hotel chain. I'm sure at least two of them had drug deals going on, not to mention the hookers. My [ex] wife and I stayed though. I would not do those locations today. One of them is here in town and they've had two homicides in the past 18 months.

Q10a: Were there any homicides during your stay?
Yes

Q10b: If yes, did the hotel employees offer an apology for the mess and crime scene tape?
Yes

Yes, I've observed hotels are just not always what they used to be - overnight stays - now they can be used for all kinds of business, lots of it nefarious in nature.
One tip off: I was recently in the elevator of a 4 star and there was a small sign posted by the feature buttons - something like please report any signs of human trafficking here.

I thought this was hilarious, but some might not, but here goes...

Long ago, Market Force offered up some gas station mystery shops. Not the audits, but mystery shops. Photos were required for infractions, which was sometimes a problem unless you had one of those newfangled cellular telephones that featured an included camera. Pulling pics off of your phone in those days to upload them to a report was a whole other adventure.

Anyways, one of the pictures was to take an "overall site" photo, which I did while leaving the property. Coincidentally, the fuel transport driver was offloading some fuel into the main storage tanks. The transport driver sees me hanging out of my window taking a picture and thinks that I might be up to something nefarious. After all, I was taking a picture of his large fuel transport trailer/truck offloading at the location, so he thought.

I went right home after the shop, which happened to be only a little over a mile from the gas station. About 30 minutes after I got home there is a knock at the door. There is a State Patrol car in front of my house and a trooper at the door in full gear. He introduces himself as a DHS agent assigned to my state's State Patrol force.

His first question to me was if I was taking pictures 30 minutes ago at the gas station where I was doing the shop. I quickly connected the dots and started laughing, and said to him, "Oh wow the transport driver thinks that I'm a terrorist!" I happened to have the guidelines printed, and I retrieved them and showed them to him. After scanning the guidelines, he chuckled, gave me back the guidelines, wished me a good day, and went on about his day.

@teacherguy I had a similar experience at a mall food court, where a security guard followed me into another store. It spooked me because he walked up behind me 10 minutes after. I wanted to scream like a girl! He must have searched various stores beforehand. Anyways, I let him know, and he was cool about it.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

One tip off: I was recently in the elevator of a 4 star and there was a small sign posted by the feature buttons - something like please report any signs of human trafficking here.

As a side note (not funny) - There are actually signs like this inside the women's bathroom stalls at the Atlantic City casinos now. They're directed particularly at women who may be in the situation

Hardware stores I mystery shop
Have “no backpacks” signs
Getting a key to use the public restroom is like getting a pass to the VIP lounge with a dime

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2024 02:27PM by Karenhal.