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Dante Hicks · 11 Jul 2006, 20:26

We do a mystery shopper where I work. The primary reason given is to audit the quality of customer service in a given example (i.e. the mystery shopper phones up with a real problem and reports back on the level of service they've been given). The secondary reason (which may have a larger impact) is perhaps to increase service by implying that anyone could be selected in such an example. I suppose the only difference is we use our actual customers to do them, I think they get £15 or some sort of voucher which won't effect their benefit entitlement or something like that.

I'm not sure I have a real problem with the process. If you treated a customer badly they'd probably complain anyway, and so it's not like you're normally working without "being seen" anyway. A workplace which got some shocking feedback (i.e. their staff gave terrible service) is probably one with abysmal morale, training, renumeration and/or management anyway. Then again any customer service type job I've worked in there was always a random chance your phone call would be recorded anyway, so I suppose it doesn't seem that strange.

It's probably not a policy I'd institute if I was a manager, but it doesn't seem to be much worse than a lot of other things that are done.

11 Jul 2006, 20:26	#15
Dante Hicks Clerk Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 13,940	Re: What a horrible job We do a mystery shopper where I work. The primary reason given is to audit the quality of customer service in a given example (i.e. the mystery shopper phones up with a real problem and reports back on the level of service they've been given). The secondary reason (which may have a larger impact) is perhaps to increase service by implying that anyone could be selected in such an example. I suppose the only difference is we use our actual customers to do them, I think they get £15 or some sort of voucher which won't effect their benefit entitlement or something like that. I'm not sure I have a real problem with the process. If you treated a customer badly they'd probably complain anyway, and so it's not like you're normally working without "being seen" anyway. A workplace which got some shocking feedback (i.e. their staff gave terrible service) is probably one with abysmal morale, training, renumeration and/or management anyway. Then again any customer service type job I've worked in there was always a random chance your phone call would be recorded anyway, so I suppose it doesn't seem that strange. It's probably not a policy I'd institute if I was a manager, but it doesn't seem to be much worse than a lot of other things that are done.