Greetings all:
I am fairly new to the mystery shopping experience and in my short run with the industry, I have found some questionable business practices that appear to be so commonplace that the businesses aren't even aware that the practices are questionable.
For instance:
1. On one occasion, while submitting a report, I misunderstood a question and filled the one question out incorrectly. The next day, the company for which I had performed the shop (and purchased some items for inspection) emailed me and stated that I was not going to be paid for the shop (to include my food purchase) because of the one question. (I apparently wasn't at the facility long enough for their taste and therefore could not have properly conducted the shop in their opinion. - Reality was that I was actually at the shop longer, but I had misunderstood what was necessary for that particular question and therefore, in their opinion, had incompetently conducted the entire shop.) Obvisouly I sent them a scathing email and they agreed to pay for my food purchase as it was required as part of my shop.
2. On another instance, I conducted a bank shop for another company and they required me to find the ATM machine. Unfortnately, the ATM was neither visable from the parking lot, nor was it visable from the main entrance of their facility. In an effort to remain discreet, I skipped the ATM portion of the shop and conducted the entire rest of the shop to include some other pertinent information that was not even asked (like some bank security procedures that needed "beefing up"
- this company was indignant that I did not seek out the ATM machine and completely negated all the rest of the work (the shop was to evaluate the loan procedures and customer service - the ATM was simply an incidental).
3. On yet another instance, I performed five shops for one company that paid well. I submitted my reports in a timely manner and was rated an average score of 9 out of a possible 10 on 4 of the reports and a 10 out of 10 on the fifth report. Obviously I did well on these (as judged from the company's own rating system) and should have been compensated without issue once the reports were submitted, accepted and graded. After 6 weeks had passed, I emailed the company to find out what happened to the pay, and I received an email stating that I had to submit an invoice for payment. The invoice contained ALL the same information that was already submitted online, and the invoice also stated that if this information was not received within 3 months of the completed assignment, then payment would not be submitted.
In all these incidents, it appeared that these shopping companies were not looking out for their shoppers.
In the first case, I made a mistake on the report. Instead of negating the entire report, an email could have been submitted for clarification. Perhaps a simple question asking me, the shopper (who had never done a shop for this company before) if I had misunderstood the question, and then reask the question, rephrasing it for me. But this did not happen. Their initial response was that it was all my fault if I didn't get paid, because it was my sole responsibility to ensure the form was filled out correctly... Where was the room for human error?
In the second instance, the information I provided back to the shopping company, although it was not perfect for their report as the lack of ATM information would probably skew their data, was more than pertinent for their shopping company's client. In this case, their client was a banking chain, and the little bank that I evaluated was in serious need of some security updates; they were a bank just prime for being robbed if any robber saw what I had seen - and the fact that the ATM was not evaluated should not have even been an issue. After an intense discussion with a senior member of the shopping company's staff, I got the impression that this company was not even going to inform their client that their little bank could possibly be in danger (not to mention the bank's employees).
In the last instance, the shopping company did not actually need this document for payment, although they absolutely insist that they do. The document appeared to me like a means to make the shopper jump through yet another hoop to get paid. The company's owner called me to explain that the IRS required her to use invoices for payment - but I explained to her that she already had all that information in their system. It was simply a matter of running a report with date perimeters. Since we, as mystery shoppers, must submit reports for payment - the companies use our reports to submit data back to their clients. And they have to use that same data to bill their clients for payment, then there really isn't a need to have the shoppers submit additional and seperate paperwork for their purposes. But the owner insisted that she has been in this business for 15 years and she should know what she is doind at this point. I pointed out to her that 15 years ago, I was 21 years old. If I still acted without change the way I had acted 15 years ago, people would tell me to grow up. Perhaps 15 years ago the invoices were necessary for documentation purposes, but since the expansion of the capabilities of computers, the invoice is about as useful as a dinosaur in downtown. All the information is already available for the company. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade in thinking?
If the report has a lot of number or letter block choices for answers (as in the bank report) then the shopping company is providing a chart analysis of the shop(s). If the report has a lot of details, like in the instance of apartment shops, the company is providing exact details so that the client company can address very specific concerns. In both types of reporting data, information that does not fit a block choice can skew the graph, and information that is not detailed enough can be counter-productive for a client who requires specifics for correction and training. But why is there no room for adjustments or for information that may not be expected (as in the bank case)?
My biggest concern is to WHY these companies have the hoops for the shoppers - is it because they simply cannot see beyond their reporting abilities or are they deliberately seeking ways to NOT pay their shoppers?
Has anyone experienced a shop that is happy to work with both the perfectly performed shops as well as the shops that experience bumps? Has anyone found a mystery shopping company that works with its shoppers who may be inexperienced and misunderstand a question? Has anyone found a mystery shopping company that can take the perfect shop with the not-so-perfect shop and still find a way to utilize the data? Or are we stuck in a world of mystery shopping companies that cannot or choose not to see beyond their check blocks, their outdated payment processing systems, or their inability or unwillingness to assist their shoppers to be better?
Or, am I just being over sensitive? All feedback is welcome.
Cheers.
I am fairly new to the mystery shopping experience and in my short run with the industry, I have found some questionable business practices that appear to be so commonplace that the businesses aren't even aware that the practices are questionable.
For instance:
1. On one occasion, while submitting a report, I misunderstood a question and filled the one question out incorrectly. The next day, the company for which I had performed the shop (and purchased some items for inspection) emailed me and stated that I was not going to be paid for the shop (to include my food purchase) because of the one question. (I apparently wasn't at the facility long enough for their taste and therefore could not have properly conducted the shop in their opinion. - Reality was that I was actually at the shop longer, but I had misunderstood what was necessary for that particular question and therefore, in their opinion, had incompetently conducted the entire shop.) Obvisouly I sent them a scathing email and they agreed to pay for my food purchase as it was required as part of my shop.
2. On another instance, I conducted a bank shop for another company and they required me to find the ATM machine. Unfortnately, the ATM was neither visable from the parking lot, nor was it visable from the main entrance of their facility. In an effort to remain discreet, I skipped the ATM portion of the shop and conducted the entire rest of the shop to include some other pertinent information that was not even asked (like some bank security procedures that needed "beefing up"
- this company was indignant that I did not seek out the ATM machine and completely negated all the rest of the work (the shop was to evaluate the loan procedures and customer service - the ATM was simply an incidental).
3. On yet another instance, I performed five shops for one company that paid well. I submitted my reports in a timely manner and was rated an average score of 9 out of a possible 10 on 4 of the reports and a 10 out of 10 on the fifth report. Obviously I did well on these (as judged from the company's own rating system) and should have been compensated without issue once the reports were submitted, accepted and graded. After 6 weeks had passed, I emailed the company to find out what happened to the pay, and I received an email stating that I had to submit an invoice for payment. The invoice contained ALL the same information that was already submitted online, and the invoice also stated that if this information was not received within 3 months of the completed assignment, then payment would not be submitted.
In all these incidents, it appeared that these shopping companies were not looking out for their shoppers.
In the first case, I made a mistake on the report. Instead of negating the entire report, an email could have been submitted for clarification. Perhaps a simple question asking me, the shopper (who had never done a shop for this company before) if I had misunderstood the question, and then reask the question, rephrasing it for me. But this did not happen. Their initial response was that it was all my fault if I didn't get paid, because it was my sole responsibility to ensure the form was filled out correctly... Where was the room for human error?
In the second instance, the information I provided back to the shopping company, although it was not perfect for their report as the lack of ATM information would probably skew their data, was more than pertinent for their shopping company's client. In this case, their client was a banking chain, and the little bank that I evaluated was in serious need of some security updates; they were a bank just prime for being robbed if any robber saw what I had seen - and the fact that the ATM was not evaluated should not have even been an issue. After an intense discussion with a senior member of the shopping company's staff, I got the impression that this company was not even going to inform their client that their little bank could possibly be in danger (not to mention the bank's employees).
In the last instance, the shopping company did not actually need this document for payment, although they absolutely insist that they do. The document appeared to me like a means to make the shopper jump through yet another hoop to get paid. The company's owner called me to explain that the IRS required her to use invoices for payment - but I explained to her that she already had all that information in their system. It was simply a matter of running a report with date perimeters. Since we, as mystery shoppers, must submit reports for payment - the companies use our reports to submit data back to their clients. And they have to use that same data to bill their clients for payment, then there really isn't a need to have the shoppers submit additional and seperate paperwork for their purposes. But the owner insisted that she has been in this business for 15 years and she should know what she is doind at this point. I pointed out to her that 15 years ago, I was 21 years old. If I still acted without change the way I had acted 15 years ago, people would tell me to grow up. Perhaps 15 years ago the invoices were necessary for documentation purposes, but since the expansion of the capabilities of computers, the invoice is about as useful as a dinosaur in downtown. All the information is already available for the company. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade in thinking?
If the report has a lot of number or letter block choices for answers (as in the bank report) then the shopping company is providing a chart analysis of the shop(s). If the report has a lot of details, like in the instance of apartment shops, the company is providing exact details so that the client company can address very specific concerns. In both types of reporting data, information that does not fit a block choice can skew the graph, and information that is not detailed enough can be counter-productive for a client who requires specifics for correction and training. But why is there no room for adjustments or for information that may not be expected (as in the bank case)?
My biggest concern is to WHY these companies have the hoops for the shoppers - is it because they simply cannot see beyond their reporting abilities or are they deliberately seeking ways to NOT pay their shoppers?
Has anyone experienced a shop that is happy to work with both the perfectly performed shops as well as the shops that experience bumps? Has anyone found a mystery shopping company that works with its shoppers who may be inexperienced and misunderstand a question? Has anyone found a mystery shopping company that can take the perfect shop with the not-so-perfect shop and still find a way to utilize the data? Or are we stuck in a world of mystery shopping companies that cannot or choose not to see beyond their check blocks, their outdated payment processing systems, or their inability or unwillingness to assist their shoppers to be better?
Or, am I just being over sensitive? All feedback is welcome.
Cheers.