Several months ago, I was bored and thought the idea of mystery shopping was quite fun and something to bring in some extra cash. So I googled 'Mystery shopper' and landed on a company website which said it recruited mystery shoppers. Looking at the application form, I figured it was alright to divulge information such as name and email address only, and so I signed up. After submitting the application on a wimp, I forgot about it and went on with my oh-so-unexciting life.
Then several weeks ago, I received an email informing me that I had been approved as a mystery shopper and asking me if I was interested in the next assignment which was to visit Häagen-Dazs outlets to evaluate the service staff and the maintenance of the outlet. I could choose whether to be a take-out or eat-in customer or both, and I was given a choice of the outlet(s) I wanted to patronise.
I chose to do only a take-out and opted for the outlet that was closest to home. If you thought being a mystery shopper was all that easy, think again. One has to take note of so many things during the few minutes standing at outlet - what was the name of the service staff, were the tables clean, was there a prominent display of promotions, was there music playing etc. Gosh, too many things to remember!
So while the first assignment was nothing very exciting, I got to eat an ice cream for free and will get paid USD5 for the effort. Pittance really, so don't have lofty ideas of being a full-time mystery shopper.
Hmm....wonder what other assignments there are...how about a night's stay at some posh hotel, spa or some holiday??? :p
Posted by DSD at October 12, 2008 12:20 PM