Mystery shoppers


Workers dealing with customers of any kind, whether face-to-face or by phone, email or letter, may be subject to scrutiny by “mystery shoppers” — individuals employed to pose as customers and test various aspects of the service being provided. 


Monitoring using mystery shoppers is common in many customer-facing workplaces, including shops, banks, hotels, restaurants and cultural and entertainment venues, and also used in public services, including local councils and even the police. 


The use of mystery passengers in the transport sector was highlighted in the LRD survey responses from reps. These included undercover supervisors who travel on buses and monitor the service provided by the driver and check, for example, for unscheduled stops. 


A Unite official in the survey also mentioned a coach company where the employers asked couples to take holidays with the company, and take notes of the tour and driver and report back to the company. This resulted in disciplinary action being taken.


In another case, a mystery shopper acted as an “agent provocateur” asking vehicle technicians at an employer to break company policy. In some instances the employees did break company policy and disciplinaries leading to dismissal occurred. 


Mystery shopping itself is now a sizeable industry. An article in the Guardian in 2014 cited data from the Mystery Shopping Providers Association which showed that around 50,000 such visits take place in the UK each month. There are several companies specialising in the provision of mystery shoppers, and a large number of customer-facing employers use their services. 


Mystery shoppers are required to take notes of various aspects of the “customer experience” and provide detailed reports, sometimes tailored to focus on a specific aspect of customer service as requested by the commissioning company. In some cases the mystery shopper also covertly records the exchange.