Snapshots (Mystery Shoppers)

I am also a shopper who is baffled by some of the claims on this thread. Those of you who think you have the scenarios figured out-they change from quarter to month to WEEK-yes, week! That includes drinks ordered, questions asked, etc. Don't assume you know. And I definitely agree with those who have said that if you just do your jobs if you have been trained to do-in other words, the way Starbucks is PAYING you to do it-you shouldn't have a problem. I work a regular, full-time job in addition to shopping; I am being paid to smile, greet, thank and fully help my customers. If I am not doing that for every single customer, I am not doing my job.

I also just had to reply to the comments on the first page regarding breaks. There is no federal law that says workers in industries or offices are entitled to any breaks while working. From compensation.blr.com, a Human Resources industry website:

"Meal periods. There is no federal law requiring meal breaks in industries or offices. However, breaks of up to 20 minutes must be counted as work time, and those that last more than 20 minutes need not be counted as work time, provided the employee is relieved of duty. This is true even if the employee is not permitted to leave the premises.

Rest periods. Short rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes are common in the workplace. Rest breaks are not required by federal law, but if they are offered, they must be counted as hours worked."

Some states may have regulations regarding this that do require meals or breaks; most don't. I can tell you for a fact that Florida does not require meals or breaks (I've worked in HR for many years here). People like to think things they believe they deserve are "the law". Guess what? Uncle Sam doesn't always agree-which in the case of breaks/meals is unfortunate.

Thanks for letting me get all that out.

angel23- Your advice is good, however what you fail to address is that Starbucks by availing themselves of your services and attaching rewards to the outcome is misplaces the attention of it’s staff off of customer satisfaction and puts it on “secret shopper” satisfaction.

The end result? Poorer service than could have been obtained with out your services being rendered. One key component is that it is actually hard for people to lie. You can’t fake genuine enthusiasm. For that you have to provide genuine job satisfaction.
no gods no masters

You can't fake genuine anything, for the record. If the shopper were actually secret, why would the partner fake it anyhow?

I don't want to get into a "poke you in the eye and call you stupid" argument... so I'll just skip it and say: "You're stupid."

Dear Organize,

Really you should watch how loosely you throw around such terse and extreme analogies. I would bet you have absolutely no experience whatsoever as to what the USSR was ever like when it existed. And, as you may not know now it no longer exists as such. Be careful where you tread.

Also, it's very clear to see why you would have a problem with those at the top making more money. With your negativity, lack of clear understanding of the most basic of business principles and seemingly no interest in the total care and concern for the CUSTOMERS, our #1 priority in ANY business, it is doubtful that you will ever ascend the ranks of ANY organization until you deal with these issues first.

Were Starbucks to do business as you suggest through elections, the business would clearly begin to fall apart due to lack of any real overall leadership and direction. They would be filing for bankruptcy in 2 years or less just as so many other retailers and businesses in today's ultra competitive environment.

Bottomline: If you don't like it, GET OUT! Stop whining and postulating! Get off your duff and go do something you love to do! You'll make yourself and everyone else less miserable.

Sincerely,

Success In Action
"No Excuses...Just Results!"

[quote=successinaction]
Bottomline: If you don't like it, GET OUT! Stop whining and postulating! Get off your duff and go do something you love to do! You'll make yourself and everyone else less miserable.

Sincerely,

Success In Action
"No Excuses...Just Results!"[/quote]

Love it or leave it? This is your sentiment?

How well do you think Starbucks would do if all of it’s 9,000 stores lost their best employees to an Organizing drive which produced 9,000 independent worker owned IWW cooperatives who pooled their buying power through a unified supplier cooperative, going head to head with Starbucks with all the profits either reinvested through the consent of the workers or straight into the workers pockets?

All supported through community investment and Alternative banks.

Bottom line: Be careful what you wish for.

Success in Action,

From one Starbucks worker to another... I'm not going anywhere. Problem is, all of the people who don't really care about unions or union organizing are. Why? The same reason we are organizing the union.

One of the biggest obstacles for the union is trying to get people to join before they quit working at Starbucks. People would rather be unemployed than throw on a green apron for a few hours a day while they look for another job. I see it all the time. People are leaving. People are leaving to work at McDonalds.

Its truly pathetic to watch people defend the jobs that our teachers in elementary school warned us we would have if we didn't do our homework. You think they are telling the kids in schools in this modern age that they will be flipping burgers if they don't pay attention in class?? Nah, thats old news. They're telling the kids they'll be pushing coffee and milk at Starbucks if they don't shape up.

We're the joke and you're the punchline. The defender of the fast food, retail employer. I can see you now, mop in one hand raised towards the clouds, and you're new trendy black coffee passport in the other--your dictionary, your encyclopedia, your bible.

While I sometimes sport that image myself I only do it when I'm on the clock. When I'm off the clock I represent for myself, no one else. Successinaction, cheapwh0re, and (my personal favorite) dontformaunion you should try it. Feels great!

No Deception...Just Truth

[quote=Organize]angel23- Your advice is good, however what you fail to address is that Starbucks by availing themselves of your services and attaching rewards to the outcome is misplaces the attention of it’s staff off of customer satisfaction and puts it on “secret shopper” satisfaction.

The end result? Poorer service than could have been obtained with out your services being rendered. One key component is that it is actually hard for people to lie. You can’t fake genuine enthusiasm. For that you have to provide genuine job satisfaction.
no gods no masters[/quote]

I'm a shopper too. As has been said here, we would love nothing better than to give a GREAT report, it's much easier for us then having to do a negative report.

However, don't blame MS for what happens. If you do your job as you have been trained you wouldn't need to 'concentrate on MS satisfaction'; that's not the point anyways. We are simply a video camera that shows what a customer experiences at a Starbucks. If you do what you are suppose to do, you wouldn't have to worry about where you put your attention.

As to faking enthusiams, I don't think that's what is being measured. What is being measured is that all required actions are being done. However, don't say you can't 'fake enthusiam', actors do it all the time. Also, I'm sure you've done that plenty of times in the past when you haven't enjoyed something but was forced to be there because a girlfriend, friend, wife, etc wanted to go somewhere and you didn't want to spoil it for them.

[quote=cheapwh0re]After two hours, or near as two hours as reasonable, every employee should be allowed a 10 minute rest period, by law. Unfortunately, reasonable is the managers discression.

If you think you can form a case out of it [ as in, this happens nearly every shift ] I would definately suggest you do so.[/quote]
The law..at least in California, is 10 minutes for every 4 hrs.

[quote=cheapwh0re]My little brother works at Regal Cinemas and just last week he was talking about how his staff got a bad review and now they don't get free soda. Secret shoppers are nothing new, and definately not isolated to Starbucks.

You [as a barista or supervisor] don't get a bonus when you attain a good snapshot because it's your job to serve every customer in a way that they feel welcomed and enjoy their visit. The manager and assistant manager get bonuses because it's their job to coach you into doing your job efficiently [which is far more difficult than pressing a button on a machine and learning the correct way of calling out a drink]. The snapshot isn't designed to be difficult, if you're doing your job correctly. Why would they give you a bonus for that? I think they do, they just call it your salary.

That's what's wrong with America, today. We celebrate and endorse mediocracy. You think that you should be given a cookie because you're average. Suddenly, less than average doesn't seem so bad. Not because we intentionally lower our standards, but in an effort for acceptance, we also allow in failure.

Tips are not a reflection of kindness, or sympathy. If you serve people shittily they are going to tip shittily. Do you always expect something for free?

A snapshot only singles out the unwanted employees because the ones that appear on the bad snapshots are bad partners. [ for the most part ]. If you get a good snapshot, your description is still recorded. How does that single out only the bad employee? There's nothing Arbitrary about a snapshot.

The kicker of my confusion, though, is this. You say that if I want to fire you then I should just do it. No documented reason, just do it. Then you say you want a union to prevent unjust termination. Is my whim enough to determine your career? Make up your mind, and then try to organize.[/quote]

You shouldn't work for a company then that doesn't reward you for a good report if that's so important for you. There are other companies that do 'reward' employees for doing what they are supppose to do. I've done reveal shops, where if they employees did what I was analyzing they got a cert saying they won and that in 4-6 weeks they would be getting a $15 cert.

[quote=bat_ball]First of all, they lie. That's right, they flat-out LIE sometimes. If they come in and things are going hunky-dorey, they will make something up in order to not give you the 5-star and/or the 100%.[/quote]
Do other Starbucks employees really want to agree with this person? lol

If you know how much MORE work it is for us ms'ers if we have to do a 'no' comments filled report, you'd know that we'd LOVE to have NOTHING to write about. We get paid the same if we have to spend 5 mins doing a report or 20 mins...which do you think we'd prefer?

[quote] It's that simple. I know this because some idiot shopper wrote on our form once " handed me my drink with a napkin." This is a total lie because where do we keep the napkins? Underneath the condiment bar. Don't know about other stores, but napkins certainly are not kept near the espresso bar station. So unless the idiot secret shopper thought the cardboard sleeve was a napkin, they LIED.[/quote]
How do you know they didn't make a MISTAKE, not a lie. And maybe other shops do it differently than yours. You said yourself 'Don't know about other stores', yet seem to contradict yourself later then. Are you lieing than?

....
I deleted what you said about spotting a MS'er cuz it was too long winded and just too funny. You really think you can spot a MS'er? How do you know a regular customer would NEVER act that way? That's the problem with using generalizations!

[quote]Lastly, make sure you say "Thank You" and not "Thanks." I am 100% serious--you'll lose points for saying "Thanks" instead of "Thank you" or "thank you very much" because if you just say "Thanks," it makes it sound like you're trying to get rid of the customer and be short with them. Stupid, I know, but it's just how it goes.[/quote]
You may consider it stupid but if that's what your company trained you to do and they want to make sure it's being done that's their perogative. They're paying you to do your job according to their guidelines. If you think they're so stupid, bring it up with management and get it changed or start your own company so you don't have to worry about such 'stupid' rules.

We Ms'ers are IC's and can decide who we work for.There are plenty of Ms companies that have 'stupid' policies I don't like and therefore I don't work for them. At least you get paid regulary and within 2 weeks or so, WE have to wait 30-90 or more days. And sometimes they won't even pay us if we do ANYTHING wrong. Even if you do make an error that shows up on an MS report, you STILL get PAID! So I don't see the reason to complain so much.