Haven't you always wondered about mystery shoppers? They are paid to shop, while observing the staff, the merchandise and who knows what else? I have, so when my daughter Karen told me she now has a part-time gig as a mystery shopper I was interested. On a typical, non-holiday, Saturday Karen was scheduled to go to maybe be the best chocolate shop in California. We were supposed to look around, "sneakily" watch the staff interact with other customers, buy something ourselves (for which she will get reimbursed), and then, receive our free piece of chocolate. Karen was supposed to reject the piece they offered, to see if they would give her another piece. Ohhhh, intrigue! Karen asked me if I wanted to accompany her, and even help her. Well, yes! -- of course I'd like to do that. So she showed me her instruction sheets (4 pages long!) on what she was supposed to observe: mundane things that we all sort of routinely ignore when we go into a store. How is the staff dressed, do they have name tags, do they greet you when you walk in, do they try to acquaint you with their merchandise...a long list of things to observe. We are the perfect mystery shoppers. Nobody would ever guess that we were actually "working". There is nothing about us that would draw attention to us. We are quiet, always polite, smile at everybody, never cut in line, and so forth. That became obvious the moment we walked in the door. The two clerks didn't even turn around to say hello when we walked through the door, even though a little bell rang when we entered. (1 point off, right there!). We looked around, admired the boxes of chocolates, sniffed the wonderful chocolate shop aroma, and decided what to buy. Karen will only be reimbursed for $5 worth of merchandise so we had to consider things very carefully. The two clerks were efficiently filling candy boxes of delicious chocolates while their customers pointed to various piles of chocolates gleaming behind the counter. Next was our turn. We had our purchases in hand and went directly to the register. The clerk didn't make eye contact with us, nor did she smile (another point off, darn!). She shoved two milk chocolate butter cremes at us. We left them on the counter. Karen asked if she could have something else, telling the clerk "I don't really care for butter cremes." The clerk looked at her, finally, and said matter-of-factly: "You don't like butter cremes." Then she rang up our purchases while both pieces of chocolate just sat there. I finally picked mine up. The clerk didn't ask Karen what kind she would like, but she did offer her a different chocolate, which Karen accepted with a "thank you" and a smile. (Whew!) The clerk never asked us if there was anything else we would like, or if we were interested in buying something for St. Paddy's day, which was their current sales pitch. Finally, somewhat belatedly, she said, "Thank you, and come again." (Yeah!) She barely made it, she would have lost another point if she didn't say that. When I think of candy stores, I think of wide-eyed children, who want everything they see and are overwhelmed by the shear wonder of such a place. Granted, for the store clerks, it's probably just a job and a paycheck, but what would it take to actually pretend that it's all great fun to spend your days surrounded by chocolate, of all things. I had never given it a thought before today's mystery shopping adventure. When we left the store, we dashed off to Starbucks for coffee in order to review our investigation and so that Karen could fill in her report while the information was still fresh in her mind. I helped, of course, looking over her shoulder to remind her of this and that. We both had to agree that, although we were treated in a businesslike and efficient manner, the staff was hardly friendly, and the trip to the candy store wasn't a memorable event. Except for the rejected chocolate, we didn't even make a blip on their radar screens. I couldn't help but wonder why they couldn't have been a little more friendly. After all, a trip to the candy store should be FUN! When we were finished, Karen looked at me somewhat wistfully: "You know, mom, I just hated to reject that candy because I really do love butter cremes!" There is a price to pay, it's all in a day's work for a mystery shopper. | |
staff: 员工
merchandise: 商品；货物
gig: （俚语）工作
sneakily: 偷偷地
reimburse: 偿还（已花掉的钱）
intrigue: 阴谋；诡计
instruction sheets: 指南；指示
mundane: 平凡的
routinely: 常规地；照例地
name tag: 写着姓名的标签
cut in line: 插队
aroma: 芳香；香气
gleam: 微微发光
register = cash register 收银机
darn: 感叹词，表示不满
shove: 用力推
matter-of-factly: 语气平淡地
ring up: 把款项记入收银机
whew: 吹哨声，用来表达强烈感情
sales pitch: 推销词；广告词
belatedly: 迟了
wide-eyed: 目瞪口呆的；吃惊的
overwhelm: 控制；淹没
granted: 假定
blip: 光点
radar screen: 雷达屏幕
a price to pay: 代价 |
