Secret Shop, Public Flop

Head Cashier: “[Coworker], you’ve failed a secret shop. [My Name], take over her register. We have to go and do the counseling and write-up.”

(All the cashiers within earshot are shocked. The coworker in question is one of the best cashiers in the store.)

Me: “[Coworker]?! No way! Are you sure you have the right cashier?”

Head Cashier: “I know, but I got her numbers from the receipt. [Coworker], you’re not going to face any disciplinary action. It’s your first time, and you only missed offering the customer the credit card.”

Coworker: “No. I’m not signing it. I want to see the tape.”

(The manager pulls the surveillance recordings. The ‘customer’ in question is a 10-year-old girl buying bottled water. Laws have just been passed protecting teenagers from credit card companies. We are legally not allowed to push one AT ALL if the customer declines and says they’re under 18.)

Coworker #2: “Hey, isn’t that [Coworker #3]’s daughter?”

(The write-up was torn up right there. The girl was too young to have a job in the first place, and definitely too young for us to legally ask her to open a credit card. She had made a tiny purchase that didn’t require us to ask her to open one, and wouldn’t have been allowed to secret shop us anyway because she was directly related to an employee. The head cashier sends a scathing letter to corporate about the incident and their choice of secret shop companies. Not long after, secret shops were discontinued altogether!)