Last weekend, I was eating lunch with my friend Barry - just grabbing some burgers at a drive-through joint - and he asked for a separate receipt for his No. 2 combo meal.
A receipt for $5 meal on a Saturday? OK, what's up?
Well, my friend Barry has been keeping a secret from me.
Since January, Barry (not even close to his real name) has been a "mystery shopper," specializing in, no mystery here, restaurants. Barry is a good eater.
He dines and dashes … off a note with his opinion of the restaurant to the mystery shopper company, which in turn forwards it to restaurant executives.
And Barry makes out like a bandit. A well-fed, well-paid bandit.
"I hooked up with the company when I noticed a toll-free number on the bottom of a receipt I got from a restaurant. I called them, and they offered me a tryout to be a mystery shopper. They asked how many miles from my house I was willing to travel. I put down 50 miles - the most on the application - because I live way out in Fort Bend County and I wanted to hit restaurants in Houston. I visited a few restaurants for them, and they hired me," said Barry, who is an accountant when he's not eating for free and reporting just the facts, ma'am.
Here's how the mystery shopper deal works.
Each week, the mystery shopper company posts the names of restaurants and other businesses (its clients) who want to hear how they're doing. It's called the Mystery Shopper Job Board. The restaurants will ask specific questions about service, cleanliness, parking, personal safety - pretty much the entire customer experience.
Except one thing. Mystery shoppers are not food critics. They are not asked if they enjoyed the food. Alison Cook need not apply.
His first job was Five Guys, one of his favorite burger places. Nice work if you can get it.
"I ordered the regular burger, fries and a fountain drink. I watched for how long it took to prepare my meal, how clean the restaurant was, the service, how friendly, how efficient. I gave it straight As," Barry said.
Each restaurant also lists how much they're willing to reimburse the mystery shopper and how much the mystery shopper will earn on top of that.
Two weeks ago, Barry and Mrs. Barry went to Churrascos. They were allowed to spend up to $150 between them, and Barry picked up $25 for his time and work.
I know what you're thinking … how do I get that job?
Next time, look at the bottom your restaurant receipt. You may see a toll-free number.
Barry said he averages about 50 restaurant visits a month.
"It's not a career, you won't get rich doing this, but it's really good walking-around money. And I get to eat in some really good restaurants," he said.
And some, well, not really good restaurants.
"There's one fast-food chain that drives me a little crazy. One thing they demand is, I have to order the dish the way it normally comes. I can't tell them to hold the pickles, or substitute ketchup for mayonnaise. This one fast-food chain puts onions on their burgers. I hate onions, so I have to open up the burger and take off the onions," Barry said.
Poor baby.
Upscale restaurants usually will cover dinner for two. Fast-food restaurants, you're on your own.
The most he makes (above the food bill) is $25. The smallest pay check is $2, typically from a fast-food chain.
Some days, he eats three meals as a mystery shopper.
"I'll look at what restaurants are offered and plot them geographically, so I don't have to go out of my way. I don't like having to double back or drive too far in the wrong direction," he said.
If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a lazy mystery shopper. Go the extra mile? He won't go the extra block if he can avoid it.
Barry likes to think of himself as a versatile mystery shopper. Next week, he's visiting a boutique that sells adult videos, toys for the boudoir and sexy lingerie. He is supposed to say he's buying a nightie for his wife.
He's getting paid for this?
His most difficult assignment was a supermarket that sold health-food products.
"They gave me a list of about 100 things, and I had to find them in the store and see if they were displayed properly. I'd never heard of 75 of the products," he said.
Let me guess, they were vegetables. Barry is a burger guy. The only vegetables he eats are french fries and onion rings.
Next week, he's also grading a convenience-store gas station.
"I'll be checking to see if the store is clean, if everything has a price on it, if the prepared foods are displayed right. I'll see if the attendant is wearing his uniform. Outside, I'll check to see if there's water and a squeegee for customers to clean their windshield, and if the curb is painted the right color."
George Carlin joke: You know why gas station bathrooms are always locked? They're afraid that someone may break in and clean them.
Once, it almost broke his heart to give a restaurant, specifically one waitress, a poor grade.
"The funny thing is, most Hooters get perfect scores from me. They deliver the customer experience exactly as promised. But this time, my Hooters Girl wasn't wearing her uniform properly and she didn't tell me the specials. She said her name was Jazz, but her name tag said Bambi. She just didn't fit the bill of what a Hooters Girl is supposed to be. But she was the exception, by far," Barry said.
Barry should be a mystery shopper in a New York City taxi cab. The photo on the hack license on the dashboard may not match the guy driving 60 miles per hour down 8th Avenue like the "Dukes of Hazzard." And where I get my hair cut, yeah, sometimes the person matches the license on the mirror.
He's checked out other cities to see what places they have available for mystery shoppers.
"One mystery shopper company has a massage studio listed. I'd be all over that," Barry said.
The rub is, the company is in Phoenix.
Source: Houston Chronicle
If you're considering implementing a mystery shopper program for your company, or would like to join us as a mystery shopper, we'd love to have you join us!
Learn more here by clicking HERE!
If you're considering implementing a mystery shopper program for your company, or would like to join us as a mystery shopper, we'd love to have you join us!
Learn more here by clicking HERE!