What to Do If You Make a Mistake
on a Mystery Shop?
What to do if you make a mistake on a mystery shop?
I've done thousands of mystery shopping assignments, and I can tell you they don't all go perfectly.
Some shops are easy. You follow the instructions, complete the assignment, write the report, and get paid.
Then there are the other ones.
You forget something. You can't read an employee's name tag. You lose a receipt. You misunderstand an instruction. You suddenly realize you didn't ask a required question.
Or, as I once discovered after eating an entire steak dinner, you went to the wrong location.
Mistakes happen to beginners and experienced mystery shoppers. What matters is what you do after you realize you've made one.
Want more help getting started? My book, Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!, walks you through finding assignments, completing shops, writing reports, and avoiding many of the mistakes new shoppers make.
So, What to Do If You Make a Mistake on a Mystery Shop?
First, figure out how serious the mistake is.
Not every mistake ruins an assignment.
Suppose you couldn't read an employee's name tag. You may be able to provide a description of the employee instead. If you can't remember whether something happened at 2:14 or 2:15, that may not matter unless the client specifically requires an exact time.
Other mistakes are more serious.
You may have forgotten to make a required purchase, visited outside the assigned time period, performed the wrong scenario, lost a required receipt, or skipped an important part of the assignment.
Don't try to hide a major mistake.
Contact your scheduler and explain what happened.
I've sent plenty of notes to schedulers over the years when something didn't go exactly according to plan. Many times, the assignment was still acceptable. Occasionally, I received a deduction in pay.
And sometimes you simply don't get paid.
That's part of the business.
The Steak Dinner I Had to Pay For
I learned this lesson the expensive way on a restaurant mystery shop.
I had an assignment at a steakhouse. I went to the restaurant, completed everything I was supposed to do, ate my meal, went home, and wrote the report.
Then I noticed something.
I had visited the wrong location.
Everything else about the assignment was fine. Unfortunately, I had evaluated a restaurant the client hadn't assigned me to shop.
I contacted the scheduler and explained what happened. I asked whether anyone had been assigned to the location I accidentally visited. If nobody had shopped it, I thought perhaps the client could still use my report.
No such luck.
Someone else had the location, so my report wasn't needed.
I literally had to eat that assignment.
I wasn't reimbursed for the meal, but something else happened that was more important in the long run: the mystery shopping company continued giving me assignments.
One mistake didn't destroy my relationship with them. I admitted what happened instead of trying to cover it up.
Don't Invent Information
This is probably the worst way to fix a mistake.
If you don't remember something, don't make it up.
If you can't read an employee's name, write down a description of the person. If the name tag is hard to read, mention that in the report. Don't create an exact time if you don't know. And most of all, don't claim an employee said something when you're not sure they said it.
Mystery shopping companies are selling information to their clients. That information needs to be accurate.
It's better to tell your scheduler you're missing a piece of information than to confidently provide something that isn't true.
Check Your Notes Before Assuming the Worst
Sometimes you think you've forgotten something only to discover you recorded it somewhere.
Go through your notes, receipt, photographs, business cards, or other material you're permitted to collect during the assignment.
This is also why I recommend making notes as soon as possible after completing a shop.
You might think you'll remember an employee's description three hours later. After completing two more assignments that day, those details can start running together.
My article on How to Take Better Notes During a Mystery Shop has more suggestions on keeping track of those details.
When Should You Contact the Scheduler?
If the mistake could affect whether the client can use the assignment, contact the scheduler.
Don't wait until you've submitted the report and hope nobody notices.
Explain what happened and ask what they want you to do.
The scheduler may tell you to complete the report normally. They may ask you to return to the location if that's possible and permitted. They may accept the report with missing information. Or they may tell you the assignment can't be used.
You might lose the fee or reimbursement, but being honest gives the mystery shopping company a chance to decide how to handle the situation.
Learn Something from the Mistake
I like to do a quick review of every mystery shop I do, especially the ones where I made a mistake.
Did I read the instructions too quickly? Did I accept too many assignments that day? Did I fail to double-check the address? Did I need better notes?
That steakhouse mistake taught me something very simple.
Check the address.
Not just the name of the restaurant. The address.
That's an easy habit that can save you the price of a steak dinner.
Experienced Shoppers Make Mistakes Too
Knowing what to do if you make a mistake on a mystery shop doesn't mean you'll never make another one.
I've been mystery shopping for years, and I still evaluate my performance after assignments—especially when something goes wrong.
The objective isn't perfection. It's becoming dependable enough that mistakes are the exception rather than the rule.
If you make one, don't panic. Don't invent information. Determine how serious the problem is, contact your scheduler when necessary, and tell the truth about what happened.
You may lose the payment on that particular assignment.
But losing one shop is much better than losing a mystery shopping company's trust.
About the Author
I'm Mystery Don, and I've completed mystery shopping assignments for restaurants, hotels, apartment communities, automobile dealerships, and new home builders.
I created this website to help people avoid the mistakes I've seen—and to show new shoppers how legitimate mystery shopping really works.
My book Take That Job And Mystery Shop It! lists over 150 mystery shopping companies to contact. I offer beginner-friendly tips and honest guidance without hype.
We're always looking for new faces to visit different places.
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