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Frequently Asked Questions |
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What is Mystery Guest, Inc.?
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Mystery Guest, Inc. is a national market research company headquartered in Winter Park, Florida. Established in 1992, the company provides mystery shopping services for select Fortune 500 companies. Check out the “About Us” section to learn more.
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How can I contact Mystery Guest, Inc.?
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Please refer to our contact pages for details on how to contact us.
For Diners and Shoppers
For Businesses
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When can I reach a “real person” at Mystery Guest, Inc.?
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We do receive a high volume of calls and some may be routed through our voice mail
system when the operator is busy, but if you leave a detailed message with your area code and telephone
number and the best time to return your call we guarantee a response no later than the next business day.
Please refer to our contact pages for our hours of operation.
For Diners and Shoppers
For Businesses
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What is mystery shopping?
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Mystery shopping is a common practice in many industries to assess customer service performance. At Mystery Guest, Inc., we recruit individuals who meet our clients’ specified profiles to enjoy a typical customer experience. The only thing “unusual” about your mystery shopping experience compared to any other time you might visit the establishment is that after your visit you will answer specific questions and share your impressions about the experience in the observation survey. Mystery shoppers NEVER reveal their identity as a participant in the program as this anonymity ensures you are receiving typical service. Our clients use multiple observations on different days and at different times of day to develop an overview of how specific employees, locations and their company are performing.
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How do I register to be a mystery shopper?
How do I refer friends and family to mystery shopping? |
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Mystery Guest, Inc. requires all interested individuals to log on to our Web site at www.mysteryguestinc.com to complete the shopper registration process in full. You must have e-mail to participate.
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When do I get my PIN, username and password?
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Your PIN (personal identification number) is an exclusive number assigned to you by Mystery Guest at the time you register. You do not need to remember it. You can select your own username and password (something easy for you to remember) during the registration process. Your selection will be honored as long as it is not already being used in our system (if already taken you will be prompted to try another).
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When and how often will I be called?
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Most registrants will be called within a few weeks to verify their information. It is not unusual though for more time to pass before we call to “activate” your profile in our system pending the number of mystery shopping assignments in your area and the number of registration responses. After your profile has been activated, a Mystery Guest scheduler may call to learn your availability for a mystery shopping assignment in your area. Mystery Guest shoppers may not participate more than 6 times a year, so our contacts will be limited.
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How do I know if there is a location in my area for mystery shopping?
Are all mystery shopping assignments at restaurants? |
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We’ll contact you when your profile matches one of our assignments, but a quick visit to your Close Locations option in your profile will also provide you with some details in this regard. Our client industries and locations are expanding rapidly…so be sure to update your profile when your address, telephone or e-mail changes.
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Do I need to fax in my observation form and receipt?
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We no longer require the routine faxing of receipts and all observation surveys are completed on the Web site using your username and password for access. Some shoppers may be asked to fax in their receipt as verification and all shoppers are cautioned to keep their receipts handy until after they receive their Mystery Guest reimbursement check, sent 6 weeks after your visit.
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What should I do if I can’t complete my observation visit?
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Contact us immediately! We are required to complete observations at nearly every location daily. Your inability to complete the assignment requires us to quickly find a replacement. Please note that any cancellation without reasonable cause will affect your Mystery Guest profile and dramatically lowers the odds of future assignments.
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When and how will I receive my reimbursement and is it “taxable”?
Will I receive any travel expenses? |
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Check are sent out 6 weeks after your visit. Mystery Guest shoppers are not employees and travel expenses are not provided. As shoppers typically dine out frequently, the reimbursement is like a “coupon” to underwrite the experience they might have enjoyed even without the assignment. Tax documentation is not required for reimbursements of this nature and dollar amount.
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Is the Mystery Guest Web site secure?
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Yes! We subscribe to VeriSign to ensure complete Internet security for our shoppers. You can click on the VeriSign icon displayed on this Web site to learn more about the protection they provide.
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Why must I check the guidelines before my observation visit?
What time should I go to the restaurant and whom should I take?
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The guidelines are very important! You will learn when to arrive, what to look for, what to order and other important tips that ensure you complete your observation correctly to be reimbursed. At least one of your dining companions should be an adult (21 years of age or older) and it is recommended that you leave small children at home when you have agreed to be a mystery shopper --- you’ll want to avoid distractions so you can focus on the details of your experience to share in your observation survey. Remember that no one under the age of 21 may sit at a restaurant bar.
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Why must I complete my observation by 10am the next day?
What are the “best practices” for completing my observation and the observation form?
How much should I write about my visit?
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It is important for you to meet the observation completion deadline for two reasons: (1) so that the visit details will still be fresh for you to share and (2) to provide our clients with feedback in a timely manner that supports their training efforts. The guidelines, which you should always review in advance of your visit on this Web site, provide you with all the details necessary to complete the observation successfully: arrival time, who to take, items to order, details to observe etc. If you follow these guidelines, remain observant during an otherwise typical dining experience and then promptly complete the observation survey, you’ll find it easy to provide the appropriate detail in the text portions of the survey. Expressive adjectives and specific details greatly enhance your observation survey. For instance, if your service was particularly quick and attentive you should state that and provide an example (“our server brought our drinks out quickly and refilled the water glasses regularly without being asked”). A “great meal” might be a fair assessment of your visit, but “We enjoyed a great meal because our server anticipated our needs and the quality and preparation of all our entrees was exceptional. The presentation of each plate was so attractive and unique. I have never enjoyed a better portion of grouper.” provides the reader with a fuller picture of your experience. If something was less than ideal during your observation, it is important to detail those issues too. Writing in complete sentences, using proper grammar and correct spelling and using upper and lower case letter also enhance your observation text.
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What is Mystery Guest's privacy policy for registered shoppers?
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Mystery Guest, Inc. will not sell, rent or trade its lists of shoppers. Shoppers' personal information, such as addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses are held in a secure database that is accessed only by Mystery Guest, Inc. Similarly, demographic and habit/frequency information such as date of birth and household income are confidential with data considered "in total" to describe our shopper database as a whole (i.e. 55% of our shoppers eat out at tables service restaurants more than 7 times each month). We never request banking or credit information.
For anyone visiting www.mysteryguestinc.com, our web server does automatically collect some general information about your visit to our site. If you do nothing during your visit to our web site but read pages or download information, we will record your domain name but not your e-mail address. Other information we collect (such as the number of hits, pages visited, type of browser and length of user session) is used for statistical analysis and to help us make our site more useful. Like most sites, we use "cookies" to help you use our web site interactively. A cookie is a small file that a Web site temporarily transfers to your computer's hard drive to help us identify you while you are visiting the site. The cookies on our web pages do not collect personal information about you, but rather, about your browser session. The cookie expires as soon as you close your browser. It is not permanently stored on your computer. |
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