Are You a “Hero” or a “Flake?”

We all know that completing assignments by their deadlines is the absolute most important aspect of mystery shopping. Deadlines are set by a mystery shopping company’s clients to assure that the best and most relevant information is provided. Without clients, we would not have shopping evaluations or jobs!

Our integrated, customized system allows us to implement many quality assurance measures for shoppers. When an IntelliShop scheduler is approving applications and assigning shops, one very important detail that he or she looks at is if the shopper has ever received a hero citation or a flake citation.

A flake citation is issued if a shopper agrees to complete an assignment by a given due date and fails to do so, and especially if they do not contact the scheduler to give appropriate advance notice. A flake citation is essentially receiving a grade of 1 on a report. This can drop the overall shopper rating significantly, making it much more difficult to request or be assigned any assignments in the future. “Flaking” on an assignment results in a lot more work and expense for a mystery shopping company, and worse, could result in missing a client’s deadline.

When a hero citation is issued, the shopper is awarded a shop grade of 10 because he/she has gone above and beyond the call of duty by filling in for another shopper at the last minute or through a number of other noble actions. If you receive this hero citation your shopper rating will improve, making you eligible for more shops in your area. These additional opportunities equate to more money for you!

We love to assign shoppers with hero citations - it means you have proven to be a very reliable mystery shopper! It makes our jobs easier, and results in more assignment offers for you. Schedulers will definitely remember you in the future when you ask for a shop that you really want.

On the other hand, schedulers tend to avoid giving assignments to shoppers that have received a flake citation, since that shopper has proven to be unreliable at some point. If a shopper flakes on a shop and a deadline is missed, that action could ultimately cause a client to pull their program from their mystery shopping provider. That is obviously unacceptable and can result in less shopping opportunities for a great number of dedicated and reliable shoppers.

So earn yourself more shop offers by being a Hero, not a Flake!