Alcohol Compliance Checks
for mystery shoppers
Alcohol Compliance checks are often enjoyable mystery shopping assignments. You visit a tavern or restaurant and keep an eye on what’s happening behind the bar. You order drinks (and food) and see how the employees handle your order. You, as the mystery shopper, may be required to write down actual times waited on and served in your report to the mystery shopping company. The focus is usually on whether servers and bartenders follow house policies for checking IDs, handling payment, and giving away free drinks. You’re not there to “catch” employees for punishment, but to help the business identify compliance gaps, avoid fines or license issues, and improve training so that every alcohol sale complies with legal requirements.
Business owners of these establishments place orders with a mystery shopping company to send in mystery shoppers to make these observations. Managers can’t watch every shift every minute, and security cameras don’t always show everything clearly. A live shopper can see attitude, habits, and details that cameras miss. This protects honest staff as well, because it separates normal, honest mistakes from patterns of bad behavior.
If you’re a college student, a working parent, or even a retired person looking for extra income, alcohol compliance checks can be an interesting way to earn money without a long-term commitment. You don’t need to be a security expert. The key is to be observant and follow directions.
Business owners have had too many instances of bartenders pouring more product than company policy allows or offering free drinks when they’re not supposed to. Bartenders have been known to waive off a payment for a friend. As a mystery shopper, you make the observation and submit it in your report. You do not confront the person. The bartender should never know who the mystery shopper is.
Requirements for Alcohol Compliance Checks
You must be at least 21 years of age before you can consider this assignment. Some businesses like to have a person appear young enough to be carded. They want to see whether their staff follow the correct procedures for ID checks. As a mystery shopper, you don’t lie about your age if asked, but don’t volunteer it either. Managers expect their servers to decide whether to card you.
You may be asked how thoroughly the ID was checked. Did the server take a quick glance, or did they actually spend a few seconds looking at it?
As a mystery shopper, you’ll receive written guidelines and a short test to complete before doing the assignment. Often, you’ll need to record the time you arrived, the drink you ordered, and where you sat. The instructions will be clear on this point. Many companies want you to take a seat at the bar so you can see the cash register better.
You’ll have to look closely at the guidelines for the assignment before doing the mystery shop. Some questions include how many bartenders were on duty. Did the bartender or servant greet you at a certain time? Did the bartender ring up every drink? Did you notice any drinks being remade and thrown away?
You might be asked if bartenders followed safety rules, such as cutting off a clearly drunk person. All this connects to loss prevention because overserving drinks can lead to legal trouble and cause significant financial losses for the establishment.
Some assignments require you to pay with cash. These assignments place greater emphasis on where the money travels. Was the cash placed in the register or in the tip jar? Mystery shopping companies usually reimburse you for purchases you make up to a certain amount. For example, an assignment may reimburse up to $30. If you spend $35, you’ll receive $30. If you spend $25, you’ll be reimbursed $25.
Some questionnaires are fairly short. There may be 10-15 questions, along with a short narrative describing the experience. Others can be quite lengthy, with up to 60 questions or more to answer and multiple areas to write narratives. The longer surveys will include questions about cleanliness and service. Of course, the longer reports pay more than the shorter ones. Keep in mind that the more you pay attention during your visit, the faster your report will go when you fill it out.
Podcast with Mystery Phil and how you can make some good money in your spare time.
The final report you submit may require some narrative writing. The more information you put in your report, the better it is for the business owner. They hire mystery shoppers to improve their business.
You may have to wait a while before you can visit the same location as a mystery shopper. Many mystery shopping companies set a rotation period for mystery shoppers to visit a single location. This keeps employees from recognizing you and ensures fresh, unbiased observations. The rotation period could be anywhere from 30 days to 6 months.
The mystery shopping business is always looking for new faces to visit different places. Learn how you can start your own mystery shopping business from my book, "Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!." I also list close to 200 mystery shopping companies that you can visit on their websites and submit an application. There's information about each company, and I indicate which ones I've worked with.
