For the past 4 years, I have been pursuing an experiment. Is it possible to make a career Mystery Shopping? This is one of those obscure activities that people have kind of heard of and sort of know what it is but still have to ask anyway to make sure they have heard you correctly or double check that it is not actually a myth. Is it a real job? Do people really do this for a living? Can I do it too? How easy is it to get in to? These questions arise from the fact that mystery shopping is quite taboo, I mean, of course it’s going to be, isn’t it supposed to be a mystery?
And it’s this mystery that really gets people intrigued. Shopping for a living?! Could it get much better than that? Well, you may think that if you love shopping, at least. Even if you don’t, surely it would still be better than sitting at a desk day in, day out or stuck behind a till for the rest of your days in jobs you aren’t really into? Being out there, working for yourself, freedom, fun, self-employment, variety, the list goes on. And so do the clichés.
The online world is full of hints at how amazing mystery shopping could be. Some say if you work hard enough at it, you could do it full time and others say it is a great way to earn a little extra money in your spare time. Some say it is not real and doubt it’s validity and others say it’s impossible to get past all the scam websites to be able to do it in the first place.
This is an interesting topic and one that I’ve been keen to delve in to for a while. If I ever mention to someone that I do this, they are fascinated by it and it makes for an interesting conversation; some people want the names of websites to be able to get in to it themselves. Some say they themselves work in retail and have actually been mystery shopped. Some are keen to know how I find the work, how I make enough money to live on and what kinds of assignments I have done. I have even been likened to a secret agent before…well, if you put it that way!
People that read or follow my blog may be a bit uncertain as to how this fits in with the travel or the mind side of things as suggested in my title of Sound Mind Travel. Well, it kind of applies to both. Throughout the duration of my mystery shopping ‘career’ so far, I have done a fair bit of travelling around the UK to carry out my assignments. As for the mind bit, well, let’s just say that my sanity has been tested more than once during this ‘experiment.’
I mean, there was the time I feigned my ‘engagement’ in order to be given a tour of a lavish venue, only to have to quickly invent a story about where my engagement ring was when asked by the host. Also the time I had to deliberately attempt to cheat during an exam and not to mention the time I was forced to fail an entire mystery shopping assignment I had already carried out due to getting caught in a rainstorm, causing my audio equipment to fail. In fact, rainstorms have been a running theme throughout my mystery shopping experience so far. It’s still a very sensitive subject!
More often that not, my assignments have left me squirming, both literally and metaphorically. Whether it be from the discomfort of being sat through the entire duration of a bank appointment only to open a fake account or when I realised that I had told the mortgage adviser my real name when clearly I had booked an appointment under the name of Sally. Giving the wrong first name is not an easy scenario to squirm your way out of, trust me. And there aren’t many jobs that would require you to do it, which is why I need to tell my tale.
What is it really like being a mystery shopper?
I am going to tell you. But, gradually. I’ve been flitting and flapping about from place to place for the past 4 years, unbeknownst to me, building up a series of adventures that have sometimes made me want to locate the nearest double decker bus and swiftly throw myself under it and sometimes feel like I had the most ridiculously fabulous job in the world.
I mean, I’ve enjoyed countless meals both in basic cafes and lavish restaurants, been to the cinema and on a range of fun day trips – all for free! But then there were times that weren’t so good…
The time I enrolled on a full day ‘Health & Safety Course for Construction Workers’ and was surrounded by big, burly men and a sexist-joke-making tutor who domineered over the short, petite girl who claimed to work in an office on a construction site but clearly did not as she sat there looking like a baby rabbit in headlights.
The time I took my fake Maid of Honour to my fake wedding dress fitting for a fake bride who had actually never even been proposed to nor had any true intention of entering into wedlock any time soon. Well, if I was asked maybe…I have a partner of almost 10 years. Dropping hints on a public blog post – I have no shame.
Or the time I contacted several house valuers with the tale that I owned the house that I actually rent, and was intending to sell. Now, I’ve been in some situations but, this was definitely one of the most alarming. Professional valuers were asking for details, all of which I had to fabricate, and one even started acting very suspicious when they had cause to believe I wasn’t actually the owner of my house…
It’s a crazy world out there full of places and people with their own ideas of the way things should be and just trying to make their way through this world. Just when they think they are safe, in comes a mystery shopper to stir the gently simmering pot, by whatever means necessary.
How do you get into mystery shopping? What kind of skills do you need? Can anyone do it? Is it suitable for me?
All these questions and more to be answered in upcoming posts.
After four years of doing this, it is definitely time to get the story out.
Check out Part II here.
