THE UNKNOWN SHOPPER COMPANIES ARE HIRING UNDERCOVER SLEUTHS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE, BUT HOW WELL IS IT WORKING?

Byline: Barbara Correa Staff Writer

A hungry consumer walks into a McDonald's, ready to fork over a few bucks for a quick fast-food fix. The only thing on his mind is the warm Big Mac he's about to bite into. But then, he looks down and notices old fries and trash on the floor. An employee sweeping up in the eating area is taking a chat break on her cell phone. The final straw: the customer can't seem to make himself understood by the English-challenged counter clerk.

The next act - consumer takes his money and leaves store for another McDonald's, or worse, for a competing restaurant - is what retailers of all stripes will do just about anything to avoid. That's where mystery shoppers come in.

In an effort to keep Southern California customer dollars flowing into their coffers, banks, burger joints, supermarkets, movie theaters, gas stations and department stores across the region are hiring clandestine consumers to unmask surly employees and uncover gaps in customer service. Retailers use the incriminating data compiled by these roving snoops to train workers and adjust service accordingly to keep customers coming.

Judging by the industry's growth - it's now an $800 million business, with dozens of mystery shopping companies in California - the effort is paying off for retailers.

But the supposed beneficiaries of surreptitious spying - the shopping public - tell a somewhat different story.

Individual shoppers say they just aren't seeing the customer service improvements companies are paying mystery shoppers to bring about.

Joan Sampson, a membership and billing employee in Woodland Hills, said aggressive sales tactics at a jewelry store in the Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga mall turned her off. ``I don't go back to any stores that are too aggressive,'' Sampson said. ``I'm very particular about where I spend my money.''

Kevin Bral, owner of Kevin Jewelers, which has 13 stores in Southern California, said he is surprised at Sampson's experience. He said the company has mystery shoppers visit at least five stores a month to ensure that employees stick to sales techniques it has set up for processes such as how to initiate a diamond sale.

``I've never had these mystery shoppers experience that kind of aggressive attitude,'' said Bral. ``We obviously try to promote sales, but not aggressively.''

Actually, a lot of sales agents at service businesses like apartment rental offices and banks are not aggressive enough, said Melanie Jordan, a longtime mystery shopper and author of ``The Perfect Work-at-Home Job: Mystery Shopping.''

``The majority aren't good closers,'' said Jordan. ``Except for the car dealers.''

Still, for most regular shoppers, an aggressive salesperson may be better than no salesperson at all.

Kathleen Peterson, a homemaker in Yucaipa, says she has avoided returning to Rite Aid because there aren't enough clerks and the ones there aren't very helpful. ``Now I go to Walgreens,'' she said. ``They have more people working.''

The drug store retailer says it hired mystery shopping firm ICC/Decision in the fall of 2001 to eliminate that sort of complaint.

``One question the mystery shoppers have to answer in their reports is how many people are waiting in line at the time and how many clerks are behind cash registers,'' said Sarah Datz, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid Corp., which has over 500 stores in California. ``We've made a lot of headway since the new management team came (in December 1999), but we know we have a lot more to do.''

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts' Southern California franchisee, Great Circle Family Foods, sends out mystery shoppers monthly to perform extensive site checks at stores in Ontario, Long Beach, La Habra and Canoga Park to scrutinize everything from the cleanliness of the parking lot to the level of enthusiasm displayed by employees. (Krispy Kreme workers are encouraged to lead customers in cheers of ``Krispy Kreme makes me scream.'')

Like most food service companies, Krispy Kreme also runs contests to motivate employees, such as drive-through speed competitions and beverage sales contests. It also offers cash incentives to managers whose stores do well in the mystery shopper performance reviews.

For all the effort by retailers, many regular shoppers seem resigned to a ``you get what you pay for'' level of service.

``You go to Target, and they make $6.50 an hour, so what do you expect?'' said Staci Collins, 24, a bartender in Sylmar and a committed mall shopper. (Target says it is dedicated to keeping customers satisfied and does that through, among other things, mystery shoppers and online- response surveys printed on store receipts.)

To be sure, low price trumps good service for many consumers making careful decisions about where to shop. And, as every retailer knows, customers are fickle. Some complain when retail employees give them too much attention.

``I rue the day when Nordstrom moved to the Inland Empire,'' said Jane Beitscher, a history professor at Crafton Hills College who was shopping at the Redlands Mall. ``They are too attentive. ... They're all over you. I'm thinking, 'Don't help me. I don't want you to comment on an outfit.''' Beitscher also finds Wal-Mart's greeters a bit intrusive. ``Sometimes it's a little much,'' she said.

Some Shoppers Just Want to Be Left Alone

Priscilla Howard, a nurse at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, said she has been noticing that checkers at supermarket chains including Ralphs and Vons always ask shoppers if they have found every item they were looking for, and if not, they insist on finding it and handing the item to the customer. ``Sometimes I appreciate it,'' said Howard. ``Sometimes I just want to be left alone.''

That particular supermarket tactic has been around for about a year and a half, said Christian Doomanis, president of Commercial Service Systems, a Van Nuys mystery shopping firm that opened in 1947 to monitor employee integrity. ``Some are supposed to take you to the item. You can say yes or no. It's about customer interaction,'' he said. And it works brilliantly, because when an employee hands the item to a customer, ``it's sold,'' Doomanis said. How many customers would actually turn down such a helping hand?

Of course, overly-attentive staff isn't at the top of the problem list for most retailers employing mystery shoppers.

Aside from dirty bathrooms and surly staffers, language barriers are a big customer service problem in Southern California, shopping companies said. Other complaints in service industries, such as gyms or banks, is that employees just don't listen, leaving customers feeling ignored or shunned. One reason, said Doomanis, is that big-box retailers have a hard time keeping employees motivated on the floor.

When an employee comes within a 10-foot range of a customer, he is supposed to acknowledge that customer, he said. What is happening instead is that workers are brushing past without saying anything, or they ask if the shopper is finding everything he needs while they walk by, never even bothering to stop.

Indeed, mystery shopping companies themselves acknowledge that all these operatives running around scrutinizing every aspect of retail has done little to keep customers satisfied. ``Southern California has a really laid-back, easy attitude, and it shows up in customer service,'' said Elaine Locksley, owner of the Locksley Group, a mystery shopping company in Pacific Palisades.

The super strong economy of the last decade has helped contribute to the decline in customer service because historically low unemployment in turn lowered the quality bar for entry-level jobs. ``The original sales reps were the professionals. This was their livelihood, and they took it seriously. You don't find that anymore,'' Locksley said. ``You have an attitude among younger people that this is just something they are doing until they get a real job.''

Service blunders she has heard about or experienced first-hand include employees yelling to each other from one end of the store to the other, not saying hello or making eye contact, or standing around in small groups chatting while a customer waits to pay. ``That's not where I'm going to spend my money,'' Locksley said.

While the supermarkets are probably working the hardest among all retailers to boost customer service, she said she doesn't see major improvement.

When the mystery shopping companies themselves are that pessimistic, where does that leave consumers at large? ``It's a sad commentary,'' said Locksley. ``But it isn't fun to shop anymore.''

Shoppers wanted

Hundreds of mystery shopping companies around Southern California are looking for freelance operatives to go into malls and fast-food restaurants and report back on what they find. But making a living as a mall spy isn't as easy as some shopping companies make it sound.

``The chances of someone doing this full time are very slim,'' says Mark Michelson, a customer research consultant and co-founder of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. ``I probably know of 10 people nationwide who are making more than $20,000 a year at it.''

Still, mystery shopping can be a good part-time gig, and shoppers are reimbursed for the food they buy on their shops, which could be $5 for a McDonald's meal or $85 for a five-star restaurant meal.

Nathalie Esteban of Service Check.com says one thing applicants should know is that in heavily populated areas, competition for mystery shopping is stiff, so people farther from city centers can expect more assignments. She says Service Check looks for applicants who have strong writing skills, Internet access and an eye for detail so they can be the eyes for the client.

Applicants also need to be aware of fraudulent mystery shopping companies. The industry has been a target of scam artists soliciting money over the Internet to be listed on fake mystery shopping databases. One tactic popular with frauds is to post a phone number about mystery shopping opportunities on a Web site and ask for the user's credit card number. When the consumer calls the phone number, the card is automatically charged.

Here's a list of Web sites of a few legitimate mystery shopping companies:

--www.pacificresearchgroup.com: Mystery shoppers need to have a laptop and digital camera.

--www.servicecheckreport.com: New shoppers must sign up on the site to get more information.

--shadowshopper.com: Charges a $30 annual fee to register as a mystery shopper.

--www.iccds.com: Applicants to ICC/Decision's site can pick the type of retail store they frequent.

--www.locksleygroupltd.com: Links to an e-mail for more information.

--www.mysteryshoppercoach.com: Lots of advice for prospective mystery shoppers.

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Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

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