I completed a shop for Intellishop. It should have taken no more than 30 minutes on site. I spent a full hour giving the staff every possible opportunity to provide needed answers. The associates response when I asked for his name was to tell me I had a business card with the associate managers name and I did not need to know the associates name. I was given a "1" and the entire job was rejected because names were not included. This was likely the most negative shop I have ever completed and it was absolutely objective and honest. Now the company has no opportunity to correct the weaknesses observed with their lack of customer service.

I am a gold level shopper who is upset if I get a 9. I have never before received such a rating and it was not deserved. I am appalled at the lack of professional respect given Intellishop contractors. I would be cautious in dealing with this company.

Was the all clearly outlined in your report? I've never had a shop rejected when a name was outright refused. Contact your scheduler on Monday. If that associate was so unresponsive and obnoxious then someone needs to know. If they will let you provide a name after the fact there are several ways to go about it.

You didn't say what type of store this was so what you can do may depend on the size. If you have a spot on description and exact time of the interaction you could call the manager under the guise of wanting to compliment the associate (or complain about them) and probably get the name that way. This is fairly easy if it's a smaller store. An alternative, if the store is not too far you could also try going back in as if you are looking for him to help you again.

Ideally, your scheduler will work with you and realize that you can't get blood out of a turnip.

I was very clear on the report. I gave a good physical description of the staff members. This is a small operation and I am confident that the manager could easily identify the involved staff associates. I asked for a name. The associate laughed, said I already had a card with the assistant manager's name, and I did not need another name. The associate then left the showroom. This associate refused to share the information and this was covered in my report. I have reported the issue to Intellishop.

If "reporting the issue" to them was just in your actual report and was seen and rejected by just the editor, you still should contact your scheduler. It's very possible the editor just took the guidelines too literally. Plus, if it was in the last week everyone was probably rushing to get things completed before the holiday. Look at it this way, unless somehow the job was already posted and completed by another shopper it may be quicker and easier for them to work out a solution so your report can be used. It's always worth a shot. You've already put in a lot of time.

Seems like a natural reaction to a salesman not wanting to provide his name would be to ask WHY. Have you left that part out or did you not ask? If you didn't ask, why do you THINK he wouldn't provide his name? If you did ask, did you note that as well as the response in the report?

Lots of missing parts here.

I asked the question, "What is your name. I may want to contact you with more questions." The salesman observed that I had a flyer in my hand and stapled to that flyer was a business card with the name of the assistant manager. The salesman told me I already had a name to call, it was on the card. He laughed and said, "You don't need my name, call him." The sales person quickly left the sales floor and did not return to the sales area. There was never an opportunity to ask additional information.

This was a long, very detailed report. Nothing was left out. It would not be appropriate to repeat an entire report on this forum. I assure you the information was covered in the original report.

@EddyLee I completely understand where you are coming from on this. I also echo LisaSTL's insight on contacting your scheduler today regarding the issue. I had an incident earlier this year where I put the wrong shop id # on the business card (my mistake), and as a result, I was graded at a 5 by the editor. I contacted my scheduler immediately and noted that I thought that this was extreme, given that the shop report itself was completed, edited and done to the letter given in the guidelines. My scheduler understood my honest mistake and graded it at a 10.

Definitely give the scheduler a call today and explain your situation.

EddyLee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I asked the question, "What is your name. I may
> want to contact you with more questions." The
> salesman observed that I had a flyer in my hand
> and stapled to that flyer was a business card with
> the name of the assistant manager. The salesman
> told me I already had a name to call, it was on
> the card. He laughed and said, "You don't need my
> name, call him." The sales person quickly left
> the sales floor and did not return to the sales
> area. There was never an opportunity to ask
> additional information.
>
> This was a long, very detailed report. Nothing was
> left out. It would not be appropriate to repeat an
> entire report on this forum. I assure you the
> information was covered in the original report.

If it happened this way and nothing of note happened DURING the shop then either that person is the worst salesman ever or you're the worst customer he's ever dealt with. All things being equal no salesman would ever act that way towards a customer, otherwise they wouldn't be a salesman, they'd be "the guy who got his first sales job and quit after 10 minutes."

No need to post the narrative, I'll fill in the blanks for you.

Just another note regarding working with someone other than the editor. Schedulers are better to deal with in this regards because they have a vested interest in shops being completed. AlwaysAngie has explained that editors get paid by the report. If a report is rejected the scheduler now has to fill that job again and if it involves a bonus to the new shopper it could be coming out of the scheduler's paycheck. Let us know what happens. BTW Angie, not a slam to editors at all

EddyLee, I feel for you. Something similar has happened to me and it confused me as to how to report the shop. I approached someone wearing the store smock. I had noticed him helping another customer. When he was done, I asked for help. This guy looked me right in the eye, said he did not work there then turned around and went into the "employee only" room. Apparently, it was time for his break and he didn't feel like dealing with me.

I reported the shop as it happened. I was asked 2 or 3 follow-up questions and was paid for my work.

Like others have said, this may warrant a call to your scheduler. It's not right that you should not be paid when you did nothing wrong.

Am I the only one who feels it's wrong to blame the OP for a bad shop? Not cool at all. Sometimes, @#$%& happens. We should be helping each other, not picking apart someone's response and finding fault (and doubting the OP) for why something didn't go as planned. I would think the company being shopped would want to know that one of their employees is treating customers like that - isn't that the point of MSing?

MtlShopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Am I the only one who feels it's wrong to blame
> the OP for a bad shop? Not cool at all.
> Sometimes, @#$%& happens. We should be helping
> each other, not picking apart someone's response
> and finding fault (and doubting the OP) for why
> something didn't go as planned. I would think the
> company being shopped would want to know that one
> of their employees is treating customers like that
> - isn't that the point of MSing?

There are numerous opportunities on a daily basis here to help people out, and I take my fair share, if not more. There are also those times when things just don't add up. This happens to be one of those times, and in this case it's not even a request for help, it's a vent that doesn't add up.

I had this feeling early on and got a PM from a longer term forum member who made some "historical observations" (translation: hit the Search button) that were in line with my comments here.

I'm all about helping. I'm not all about cheerleading those who seek consolation while (in my opinion) leaving out parts of the story. I explained why I believe what I believe. It isn't based on emotion, I just put the pieces together and saw that they don't fit. My background is in the armored car business. Between hundreds of interviews of both prospective employees and suspected (and in most cases, eventually admitted) thieves I have a finely honed BS detector. Believe it or not it's even easier for written exhibits (http://www.lsiscan.com/intro_to_scan.htm)

As one who is retired from working within law enforcement it is especially interesting.

My guess is you were spotted as a shopper, hence, employee did not want to give you business card....after getting Manager's card, really no need for any other card. Something went wrong with shop....

There is no way that I could have been detected as a shopper. I was in fact in market for the product being shopped. I was new to the community but had a valid address for new property. That is the reason that I contracted to do this shop.

My shopping scenario was a match for a project that is actually underway in my life. The staff was cutting up and having fun. I believe the associate thought he was being funny when he refused to give his name. The fact is that he still refused.

raisitup Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> There are numerous opportunities on a daily basis
> here to help people out, and I take my fair share,
> if not more. There are also those times when
> things just don't add up. This happens to be one
> of those times, and in this case it's not even a
> request for help, it's a vent that doesn't add up.
>
>
> I had this feeling early on and got a PM from a
> longer term forum member who made some "historical
> observations" (translation: hit the Search button)
> that were in line with my comments here.
>
> I'm all about helping. I'm not all about
> cheerleading those who seek consolation while (in
> my opinion) leaving out parts of the story. I
> explained why I believe what I believe. It isn't
> based on emotion, I just put the pieces together
> and saw that they don't fit. My background is in
> the armored car business. Between hundreds of
> interviews of both prospective employees and
> suspected (and in most cases, eventually admitted)
> thieves I have a finely honed BS detector.
> Believe it or not it's even easier for written
> exhibits
> (http://www.lsiscan.com/intro_to_scan.htm)

Indeed, I've noticed your trying to help out. Thing is, you're still a newbie at this business but you act as if you know everything about everything. Replying to every post does not make you an expert - it just makes you someone who has a lot of time on their hands.

PM from longtime member? How endearing that some are talking about others behind their backs. I have a feeling I know exactly who you're gossiping with. When someone pulls that crap with me, I put an end to it. We're all adults here and there's no need for high-school, behind-the-scenes gossip and drama.

As for using the search feature to find all of EddyLee's old posts and use those to judge his present and future posts - that says a lot.

I don't mean to pick at you. Your statement that EddyLee may have been the worst shopper the salesperson had ever dealt with struck a nerve. EddyLee's story made perfect sense to me. You say there are holes but don't say what they may be. EddyLee has answered every question posed to him in regards to this particular subject with perfect clarity. Your attitude to this member is what doesn't add up to me. Maybe your BS meter needs to be recalibrated.

Well your feelings aside I'll keep on saying what I want to say, when I think I can offer something of value. I call a spade a spade and that rubs some the wrong way, I get that, but just because I happen to have posted a lot in a short amount of time (two month anniversary today, hooray!) doesn't make me the expert YOU THINK I THINK I AM. I claim expert status on very little, I just happen to know a fair amount about a lot of things and can express it easily, therefore when a subject comes up and I think I can add something to it (maybe facts, maybe opinion, maybe humor) I do. I took touch typing in seventh grade and never lost the ability so I can type as quickly as the words come to me and it doesn't take that much time. Speaking of which, if you have the time to read all of my posts, which considering your analysis of my posting history you do, doesn't that mean you have as much free time as me? If I can't recall reading a single post of yours, doesn't that mean you have even more free time than me? If so, congrats, you're using it in a way that obviously makes you happy, just like I am! :-)

Seriously? Bashing the OP isn't helpful to anyone.
Oh gosh..now how do I get these 42 seconds back?


OP - please update us once you talk to the scheduler.

Eddylee I hope you were able to get this worked out with your scheduler. Your situation is something that I'm sure has happened to all of us at some point. It boggles the mind as to why we as the shopper get dinged for the behavior of the people we are shopping. If the clients want perfect sales associates, then they need to take our reports seriously. If they want bs shops, they what's the point?

I've had situations outside of mystery shopping when an associate refused to give me their name, usually on the phone. Without exception, this occurred in cases where they were rude or inefficient, and I believe they felt (rightfully so) that I was going to complain.

Eddy, sorry you had that experience. Like others have stated, I would appeal to Intellishop. Personally, I'd give them a call and try to speak to the project manager. (They're sometimes different than the scheduler, and and the editor can't make that type of discretionary decision.) If the employee can easily be identified by the description and you tried to obtain their name, as instructed, it sounds like you did your job, but the associate didn't do theirs.

The latest word from the company is that a supervisor will review the shop. I will let you know the results.

The worst part of Mystery Shopping is that I have never had a positive report questioned. Only the ones where improvement is really needed. If Mystery Shopping companies would report the negative as well as the positive I believe customer service would improve.

Well, that's progress.

That's good to hear eddylee. I agree about positive vs negative shops. What's the point if all they want to hear about is the good? I don't agree with companies that forewarn their employees that a shopper is coming in at some point. They should have them be as natural as possible so as to see how they act with all customers and not just on the look out for us.

You are right about that. We do need to spend way more time justifying any negatives.

I do recognize that as a shopper there are things absolutely beyond our control that we sometimes get dinged for. The story sounds believable to me at this point in time. Maybe the request for the name itself made the sales person suspicious. If they knew they had not done their best, they may have refused to give their name. Maybe they work so few hours and know the other person is more likely to be working and therefore an easier contact. Maybe they had decided to quit and were going out on a bang.

While I do think there need to be some checks and balances in place, so we can't be having a bad day and write a lousy report because of it, I also think that if anything many shoppers gloss over some of the negatives just because it means more writing.

An easy way to get the name after the fact is to call the location and say you think you forgot you cell phone, glasses, whatever. Say you were speaking with (give description) Ask the person on the phone for the name. Say you will be returning for your item and would like to see if he found it.

kalfini, If I had not attempted to obtain the name or forgotten the information a call back is reasonable. It seems to me that it is a distortion of the facts to attempt to obtain the name in this situation. The associate had a full opportunity to share his name and it was refused. I believe it is more helpful to management to know what is happening in a business so that customer service can be improved.

I like Intellishop. I have done many shops for them. Their schedulers Russ and Heather have been very helpful. My average score is a 9. I did have one less than positive experience but for now I'm going to assume that one proofreader was not representative of the whole company. I hope that your scheduler can help advise you in your situation. Good luck.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2011 04:06PM by Danillo.

I agree. Actually my favorite shop is with this company. I hope to be able to continue but it is a waste of time to do legitimate work that is tossed out. I was also disappointed that the proofreader had not notified me of the problem on this shop. I went back and reviewed the shop. One name was provided and a business card with that contact information was provided. This is a small business and a phone call could easily determine from the descriptions the name of the associate who was involved. I do hope the proofreader problem is soon resolved.

I always have problem getting business cards for these shops. I had one associate outright refuse to give me a card and he ended up writing another employees name on a piece of paper. I explained all that in my report and still got paid for it.

EddyLee I have done 20 shops for Intelli-Shop and have never had any problems with any of the shops. You are retired Law Enforcement I am a Retired Corrections Officer who did 19 years in the Ohio Department of Rehabilation and Corrections. I have called Intelli-Shop to get shop that I needed before doing it on line and have always found them willing to work with me. I did 2 shops for 2 other MSC's and they were pretty negative and I was paid for both of those shops by the other MSC's. If you don't get satisfaction with the Supervisor call back and ask to speak with the Owner or at least General Manager and tell them exactly what happened. hope this helps.

I'm not disputing story, just in my case, it is stated with 98% of MSCs, no business card or receipt, no pay. I have run across several shops where the
employee does not have a business card, but took someone else's and wrote their name on it. I believe or hope I would have found a way to get employees name. This is a lesson for newcomers...although I understand you can't tackle him to the ground and keep your foot on his head until he gives you a card...
Hopefully, Intelli will let this slip by.