Secret shopping is an extremely flexible job and most shoppers work almost entirely on their own, so self-discipline is a requirement for success in the industry. There are two situations known to occur in the industry…blowing off an assignment, and table-top reporting…easy to do, but absolutely wrong, and it’s self discipline and honesty that will avoid getting the shopper into trouble.

Shoppers never, ever have to accept an assignment, and the pressure for not accepting an assignment is virtually non-existent in the industry. The companies “get” the industry, and don’t require shoppers to accept assignments…it’s really that simple. But, once a shopper accepts an assignment, it must be completed. With hundreds of secret shopping companies and independent schedulers, it’s easy to think blowing off one assignment will not have an impact; however, just as there are forums for the shoppers, there are forums for schedulers…..in other words….schedulers from different companies talk too.

If for any reason the shopper can not complete an assignment, the best thing to do is contact the scheduler/company ASAP. If canceling an assignment is a rare occurrence, it will have little if any impact on future work for the shopper…I say little because if it’s the shopper’s first assignment with a company, they make take notice. But, if the shopper is established with a company, the company will most likely think nothing of a shopper canceling one assignment; however, blowing off an assignment entirely makes it difficult, if not impossible, to ever work for that particular company again…do it too many times with too many companies, the shopper will be looking for a new job.

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The second big no-no is actually a crime, and some ICAs (independent contractor’s agreements) state shoppers could be prosecuted. In the industry the term used for the crime is “table-top” reporting. Table-top reporting is not actually conducting an assignment, but turning in a report as though the assignment was completed. This is fraud, and fraud is a crime. Don’t confuse this with mistakes or non completing an assignment correctly. Table top reporting is a intentional act. For example, say I scheduled a gas station to complete. I wake up in the morning, call the location to get the name of the person on duty and write a report as though I had been there…that is a deliberate act to turn in a report without actually conducting the assignment.

Secret shopping is a job and should be treated as such. It’s just, the shopper is his/her own boss, and they should respect themselves the same way they would respect any other boss.