1. You are shopping a bank and are waiting for a New Account employee to assist you. Several customers are waiting with you. A customer who walked in after you is helped first. The best thing to do as a mystery shopper is:
Announce yourself as a mystery shopper and demand service.
Make a scene and demand service, but withhold the fact that you are the mystery shopper.
Quietly tell other customers around you that you are the mystery shopper and the banker will get in trouble for helping customers out of turn.
Say nothing and simply write this up in your report in a comment section.
2. You have promised to do a mystery shop today or the day before today, and you are struggling to find the energy to do the shop, as you feel a cold coming on. The best thing to do is:
Call the agency and ask if there is any flexibility in the shop due to the date. If not, complete the shop as promised.
Send an email to the company letting them know you are sick and can't do the shop.
Do the shop tomorrow when you might feel better. The deadline doesn't matter that much, one day can't possibly make a difference.
Give the shop to your friend; she can do it - no problem.
3. On the way into a retail store, you trip and stumble, because your shoe is untied and you didn´t notice. A very kind employee rushes to your assistance and offers you a seat to tie your shoe, which you refuse. If you are being honest, fair and truthful, it would be best to:
Get your composure, complete the shop anyway to the best of your ability and mention the employee's friendliness towards you in the shop, admitting you stumbled on your entry.
Send an email to the company letting them know you are sick and can't do the shop.
Tell the employee you are a mystery shopper and you will make special note of her kindness in your shop.
Come back later and do the shop, even though the deadline will be missed.
4. Shopping reports are time sensitive. Therefore all shops must be submitted on or before the deadline.
True
False
5. An MSPA agency has apparently failed to pay you your fee and reimbursement. What do you do?
Immediately go on the MSPA Bulletin Board and find out if others are in the same situation. After all this would be a violation of the MSPA member agency's Code of Ethics and the entire MSPA should know.
Contact the agency and find out what the problem might be.
Call the client and report the mystery shopping company to them.
Call the President of the MSPA and demand the company be banned.
6. You are committed to being thorough and accurate. During a shop a customer was arrested for shoplifting. It caused a scene. The cashier you were evaluating was very distracted by this event and paid little attention to you. Your report should:
Skip the part about the shoplifting incident - there was nothing in the guidelines or on the form that had a place to deal with it.
Give the employee the benefit of the doubt and score her well, as you are certain she would generally provide great service if not distracted, and you can tell she is a very nice person.
Answer all questions inaccurately since the shoplifting incident distracted everyone and the whole shop seems to be diverted.
Answer all questions accurately but be sure to include the shoplifting incident somewhere on the form - either in notes or comments. If there is no place on the forms for this information email the shopping company and let them know of the incident.
7. During a mystery shop an employee is very rude to you and offends you. It would be a good idea to:
Demand to see the manager immediately and report it.
Tell the employee you are a mystery shopper and they will get reported.
Write a letter to the President of the company and demand action.
Say nothing about it, and complete the report. Say nothing about the rude behaviour.
Write up the report in detail, explaining everything. If there is not room on the report, email the company and explain what happened in detail.
8. About three months after you mystery shop a retail store, you happen to go into the store (not associated with a shop at all). You notice the employee that you have mystery shopped and given a glowing report was promoted to the manager. Do you:
Do nothing, but smile.
Tell the employee that you thought she was a great asset to the company and you told them so in a recent shop.
Tell your family and friends about this, naming the store and employee, demon-strating how mystery shopping really works.
Write to the company and thank them for the great opportunity to mystery shop and how rewarding it is when things turn out right for their employees who receive good shops.
9. You accept an assignment that must be completed on a specific day. There is no re-scheduling allowed. The mystery shopping agency impressed upon you that it was critical to do the mystery shop on that day alone. When that day arrives, you realize that you have forgotten that your Book Club had planned a luncheon, far away from the shop. Do you:
Find a friend or relative to do the shop for you and submit it as your own work?
Call the mystery shopping agency and cancel?
Do the mystery shop you accepted, trying to work it out with the Book Club lunch?
Do the mystery shop on a different day; after all it really cannot matter that much.
10. A question on your shopper form reads "Were the carpets clean and well vacuumed?" When you arrive on the premises the store doesn´t have carpets, but hardwood floors that are clean. In the spirit of being honest and truthful, the appropriate answer to this question would be:
Yes
No
Not Applicable and explain why
11. You completed a mystery shop for a mystery shopping agency about 30 days ago. They email you or call you asking more details about that particular mystery shop. You don´t remember much about the mystery shop. When they call it is best to:
Avoid all calls and emails - ignore them because you can't remember anything.
Respond immediately, being very honest that your memory is hazy because you didn't save the mystery shop details or your notes.
Respond immediately. Refer to the mystery shop you've saved on your computer, and your notes and help work through the questions and concerns the company has, also being honest that your memory is a bit hazy.
Respond when you get around to it and tell them they have to be kidding: That shop was a month ago!
12. If you arrive at the address stated on your mystery shopping form and discover that the business has relocated, in an effort to be accurate and fair, you should:
Drive away and submit the report with no answers all the way through it.
Mystery shop the address on the form regardless of what business is there now.
Call the mystery shopping agency from your mobile phone or nearby pay phone and advise them of the situation and get further instructions.
Drive away and submit the report with inapplicable answers all the way through.
13. Mystery shoppers that companies like to work with are well organized so they can perform mystery shopping services well, on time and to specification.
True
False
14. If you are doing a shop and the employee who helps you is a friend or acquaintance, it´s a good idea and carry on doing the mystery shop and reporting it. And to say nothing about this.
True
False
15. The guidelines for a mystery shop instruct you to cash a traveller’s check at a bank. You get to the bank and the line is long, and you are late for an appointment. You:
Wait it out, tap your feet, grumble to the customers about the long line and complain to the teller when you get to her that the wait was too long.
Observe another customer's transaction, and write it up as if it happened to you.
Bolt from the line and do the shop another time, even if the shop is late.
Wait it out, be pleasant along the way, and be late for your appointment with apologies but on time with your mystery shop.
16. You should never contact mystery shopping agencies by phone, even in an emergency or if something goes wrong on a mystery shop, because they don´t have time to take phone calls.
True
False
17. You arrive at a location and it is really busy and you have a complicated scenario to deliver as outlined in your guidelines. You are thinking this won´t work well, because the employees are very busy and stressed. It´s a good idea to change your scenario to something else so it will be a smoother mystery shop.
True
False
18. During a mystery shop, if you are asked if you are a mystery shopper. It is a good idea to say: Yes, I am a mystery shopper, as this is the most honest thing to do.
True
False
19. If you are unsure where a particular shop location is situated geographically, accept the assignment anyway and figure it out later. If it turns out to be too far, you can always cancel up to the last minute.
True
False
20. The store you have been asked to shop seems to be closed. Therefore you should mark all questions "NO" and submit the report like that.
True
False
21. As you are driving home from a mystery shop your cell phone rings. It´s your sister and she has just found the best shoe sale ever and wants you to meet her there right away. You:
Pull to a safe place on the road and make all your notes about the mystery shop by hand so you can complete the shop as soon as you get home. Or, if you can record the events, do so on a recorder, PDA, answering machine. At least you've captured everything in great detail. Then you can enter the mystery shop on your computer within 24 hours.
Call the agency immediately and ask for an extension on your due date, after all, this is a HUGE sale!
Forget the mystery shop - real shopping is much more important than mystery shopping just cancel with the company, the money isn't worth it.
Drive right to the mall and do nothing, you'll figure something out later. You won't forget the details of the assignment in just a few hours.
22. Your car is in the auto repair shop for an extended period of time with a major repair. You have several mystery shopping assignments from one agency that involve driving. The best thing to do is:
Call the company and cancel all assignments until you have reliable transportation.
Throw all the mystery shops away.
Ask a friend or neighbour to drive you to each mystery shop and include them in the shop, offering to pay them for their time and gas.
23. You are mystery shopping a retail location with nine departments. You need to record each person´s name in each department. One way to do this is to:
Remember everyone's name by heart.
Take a shopping list with you and discreetly write the names down quickly as you cross items out of your shopping list.
Bring your five year old child and whisper the employee's names to her; she'll help you remember when you get to the car.
