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I hate my job...as a Mystery Shopper
Along with supervising, auditing and price checking I'm always busy and could work seven days a week if I wished, and often do! Frankly there is nothing I dislike about the job at all. It's great to know that your feedback to retailers, financial services and restaurants will improve the service the public receives. The job is varied, interesting - and often quite amusing. Many times I've had to suppress a giggle at some of the answers I've had from shop assistants. In an electrical shop, when asking about washing machines, I was told that 'fuzzy logic' stopped your clothes fluffing up. And when I approached one sales assistant, after waiting five minutes to be served, he said: 'Can't you see we're having a meeting?' Little did he know that he was being recorded. Going undercover gives you a whole new persona - and the ability to get out of scrapes with a quickly invented excuse. One particular heart-stopping moment came when mystery shopping with a colleague at a car dealership. When we asked for more information, the staff member said: 'You know more about these cars than I do. You tell me, you're the mystery shoppers.' Fortunately, my colleague was able to look him straight in the eye and said 'I don't know what you're talking about. Being a man, shopping is a mystery to me. Now please tell me about the car.' And there's more to the job than traipsing round shops, buying things and asking questions. Many of my jobs have required in-depth knowledge of the areas being 'shopped', and I enjoy picking up information that I otherwise wouldn't find out. Financial mystery shops are probably the most challenging. One investigation of financial advisors entailed an all-day briefing session to ensure we knew what we were talking about. Of course, you have to be careful not to appear too knowledgeable during the visit, but you need to know enough to be able to ask the right questions, and carry off a real interest in the products you're being paid to discuss. It's also hugely rewarding to see the direct results of your mystery shopping. When I was working for Sky, I visited lots of electrical retailers asking about satellite TV services. Most just gave me a leaflet and sent me away, but one independent retailer sat me down and explained absolutely everything. I almost felt guilty for wasting his time, but his excellent advice won him a holiday in Sky's best retailer competition.
I love my job...as a Mystery Shopper Mystery shopping has taken any joy out of real shopping for me. After you've traipsed round all the supermarkets in town looking for a particular size of cook-in sauce, and visited five banks with the same question about a new account, it's hard to summon up any enthusiasm for yet another trip down the high street. People often say they envy the fact that I'm always out and about, rather than sitting in an office. But if they think it's a stress-free job, they're wrong. I'm constantly worried about whether my recording equipment's working properly, where I'm going to fill in my questionnaire in private, and how I'm going to answer any awkward questions. The job also calls for some fairly heavy duty acting skills – without the Hollywood salaries to compensate. My years of going undercover have entailed playing at being married to a colleague (fortunately this only lasted for a few hours), talking to a pharmacist about the best medicine for my (non-existent) piles, and pretending I wanted to plan a funeral. There's also the constant fear of being caught out. One time when I was mystery shopping for a chain of shops, I went to one branch in the morning and another a few miles away in the afternoon, and the same member of staff served me. Fortunately, he didn't seem to cotton on, and he was no better than on the first visit. Of course, being paid to visit shops and speak to sales staff also means you end up buying things you don't need. On more than one occasion, I've spent more than I've earned on a job. During an undercover visit to an opticians, I was talked into spending £320 on a pair of varifocal glasses, which I've never worn. Usually, the locations are far from glamorous. Visiting a funeral directors, for example, isn't what I had in mind when I started as a mystery shopper. This job required me to inspect the premises and make sure it was clean and tidy. Fortunately, I was able to decline the offer of going into the (occupied) chapel of rest. And then there are the props... A few years ago, I was sent a drill, which had been suitably tampered with. I had to take it to be repaired, to see whether it would be ready in seven days. When I got there, the shop offered me a new one in exchange. I could hardly refuse. The trouble was, I was then doing a job on the buses so I had to drag the new drill around for the best part of seven hours. When I started mystery shopping, it felt like a bit of an adventure but I've had my fill of surprises now. Give me a comfortable, predictable office job any day. |
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