SSSssshhhhhhhh...

I am a secret shopper. If I told you what that means, I would have to kill you! ... Okay, that isn't quite true. If I told you what that means I would not be able to be a secret shopper in your shop. Today my assignment was to go to an electronic store and inquire about buying a camera. Then I must buy something worth at lease $25, and then bring it back in to the store and return it to the store. The company wants me to evaluate it's employees and the store itself. I have to go into the bathroom and comment on its cleanliness. I really believe a store can be evaluated by its bathroom. Today the men's room had no sign on the door, it had the velcro there to put the sign, but someone had taken down the sign. The bathroom wasn't really dirty, just not clean ... can a bathroom be attractive? Today I was supposed to "shop" for a camera. It was really a good opportunity for me since I am looking for a camera any way. I went to the camera section and had to wait for about 10 minutes until the other customer had been waited on. Sometimes I feel like yelling to the employee, "Hey, I'm evaluating you, I'm more important than that other person." I just quietly waited for the sales associate to finish and he came over to me. I asked him about a specific camera, and found the power attachment didn't work and I couldn't find out how it worked. I didn't mention that on my write up to the company. I had to choose one camera that I had asked about so I had them show me a camera under the glass counter. It was a camera I have been looking for so it was good. I asked the sales associate comparison questions with the other camera that was there. I talked to him about the cameras, and took some pictures using the two different cameras. The batteries worked on these cameras, and that is what I wrote the company about. After finishing with the camera section I had to buy something for $30 so I just looked at the shelves for that amount. A very nice girl came buy to help me choose the right item, and she put her sticker on it to show that she had helped me to pick the item. I almost told her not to worry about it, that I would be bringing the item back in and hour. She was nice and helpful, so I wrote about how helpful she was so the company would read her name on my store evaluation. It took me about 30 minutes to do the shopping, then another hour to write the evaluation, and I get paid $20 to do the job. I don't know how much that works out in a wage, but it is kind of fun, and makes me feel a little powerful. So, just don't tell anyone that I am doing this, and if you see me shopping in your store treat me with RESPECT! And, put that sign on the bathroom door and clean the bathroom.