As I've mentioned before, in my insanely long post about my job history, I work in Video Game Retail as a Sales Assistant. I'd been working there for about three months, when I found out I'd been mystery shopped. I panicked at first, my company is very keen on targets, and I knew that if I'd done badly then I'd never hear the end of it. Amazingly, I have no idea how, but I scored 92%, one of our store's highest. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a blog to brag at how amazing I am at customer service or something, no, it's about how it was most probably a fluke.
I've been racking my brains ever since, to try and work out who this shopper was. I was told which day it happened on, but the details of the actual customers are never released. Looking back the only instance I can think of which would cater for such a high score was a lady, probably in her late 40s.
I'd approached the lady in question, and reeled off my stereotypical, 'helpful' assistant, conversation starter; 'Hello Madam, are you ok there? Is there anything I can help you with?'. The first indication she was probably the mystery shopper is that she responded to my question with 'yes actually', then followed on with details of being confused about products. It turned out that her family had decided to buy a PS3, thinking it would be a console all the family could use. Her sons were apparently thrilled with it, as I wouldn't doubt, with countless choices of games, like C.o.D and Metal Gear Solid. However, she stressed that she hadn't come across any game that she found interesting, or which she could even get her head around. She was determined to get her money's worth out of the machine, and it became my task to find something for her.
I did the usual routine of asking about her interests, gaming knowledge and price range. To which I found she enjoyed adventures, hated violence and fighting, liked the idea of wii fit and sonic the hedgehog, had never actually played them, oh, and had a budget of around £15. My initial knee jerk reaction would have been to say, 'think you should have got a wii, love'. Instead I listened eagerly and lead her to the preowned games, as there was no chance in hell of getting a chart game at that budget.
If Playstation 'Move' had been released at the time, my work would have been easy. But as there are hardly any platform or interactive sports games for the PS3, especially without violence or fighting of some sort, I found myself scouring the shelves desperately. I ended up suggesting games like Rachet and Clank, Sonic and SEGA all-star racing, SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, and Tiger Woods. But truthfully I was stumped. Having grown up playing video games, I could easily discuss games with someone who also had an interest in them, giving them advice by comparing games to their previous knowledge. Now faced with a lady who had no previous knowledge about gaming, I found myself struggling to explain game layouts. Imagine trying to explain to someone what a banana tastes like, without them even having a tongue...
Then a thought came over me and I couldn't help enquiring, 'Do you have a Blockbuster account?'. After learning she did, I went on to suggest she went along to Blockbuster, one of our main competitors, and rented out some games for a week rather than me just talking her into buying a game she might not even like. Morally, despite it being my job, I just can't tell customers to buy something, even if it's good for the company and my figures, if it's not in their best interest. I figured by going to our competitors, for minimal cost and without commitment, she could try a variety of games to find one she quite liked. Then, I explained, she could come back in and say 'right, I liked this game, are there any similar?' Or even purchase the said game second hand, and go away with something that she wont just chuck to the side and say, 'well that was shit, thanks very much.'
To me this was logical customer service, but if the company I work for knew I'd even uttered a competitor's name positively, there'd be hell to pay. I didn't care, my conscience was clear as I waved bye to her, as she walked away empty handed, to give our opposer our custom. She probably actually just left, turned the corner, giggled to herself and went for a coffee having successfully fooled me.
Despite me majorly disregarding the company profits, that lady, I'm pretty certain it was her, gave me 92%. The report showed I missed the other 8% by not repeating our company 'trade-in' policy, apparently once or twice isn't enough, you need to force it down them until their ears bleed and they walk out cradling their head with our words echoing behind them for years to come. Therefore, the only conclusion I can come up with is that she was not looking to be sold a product, but for some humanity. That, or she just fucking loves Blockbuster.
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