The Mystery Shop Maven

Mystery shopping is the perfect job for those people who want to earn a paycheck without the constant oversight of a manager peering over their shoulder. You can absolutely work on your own, and as long as you do the assignments correctly and complete your reports properly, you can work on dozens of assignments without every communicating at all with a scheduler except to request assignments and submit reports. Even this communication is often done without personal interaction and is largely completed through the provider’s website. However, there comes a time in almost every mystery shopper’s life when you need to reach your scheduler about something and need to get a response back.

Schedulers are incredibly busy people and have many mystery shoppers to correspond with regularly as well as many different assignments to keep track of. Even the most detail-oriented of schedulers can be difficult to get a response out of. Here’s what you can do:

Pick Up the Phone. With almost every interaction you have with your providers done on a regular basis through email and over website platforms, it is easy shoot off a quick email and think a response will come back to you just as quickly. However, your scheduler may be behind on emails, stuck in meetings, away from his or her desk, or more. It is always a good idea to pick up the phone and try to reach your schedule by phone for urgent matters. Even if you have to leave a voice message, you likely will get a faster response when you call rather than by emailing. If your matter is truly urgent, let the scheduler know about the urgency in your voice message or email.

Be Patient. Unless you need an answer to your question or problem urgently, it is always a good idea to be patient rather than shoot off multiple emails and phone calls. The scheduler likely has quite a few different things going on, and will almost certainly get back to you at the earliest time. While you are waiting for a response, it may feel as though you are being ignored, but the keep in mind that it is in your scheduler’s best interest to get your questions answered so you can keep on working on assignments. Your scheduler absolutely understands this, too!

Multiple Attempts. If you have tried to reach your scheduler by phone and by email on several different occasions, and spread across several days, you certainly would not be out of line to try to reach someone else in the office. Most providers publish a main office number on their website, which will often connect you with a receptionist. The receptionist can let you know if the person you are trying to reach is out of the office or who else can help you with your question or problem. While it may be frustrating to try repeatedly to reach someone and get no response back, keep in mind that the receptionist or anyone else that you speak with at the office is not to blame. They are likely more than happy to help you get your questions answered.

Most mystery shoppers are incredibly busy people who are trying to squeeze in assignments here and there to make some extra cash around their jam-packed personal and professional lives. You may not have a lot of time or patience to wait for a scheduler to respond to your calls and emails, but keep in mind that your scheduler is equally as busy. Patience often goes a long way where schedulers are concerned, but when you truly don’t have time to be patient and wait, there is likely someone else at the provider’s office who can help you out.