To ask if being recorded was/is odd

[squealornosqueal]

i was having a conversation with my DH earlier about my Saturday job I had many moons ago in a mobile phone shop.

it was common practice for mystery shoppers to come into the store and wear a concealed camera and record the interaction and then send it to the manager who would then play the video in front of all the staff (including the person who was recorded) who’d then dissect the interaction. The mystery shopper would obviously provide a score but it all felt so over the top.

it happened to me several times and I was always deeply uncomfortable with a) being recorded when I wasn’t aware and b) having to sit through a post mortem of what I’d said and my body language etc and what I’d sold.

im 37 now so this was about 15/16 years ago while I was at university and I’m just wondering if anyone else ever experienced this and whether it still happens.

btw I’m not experiencing any deep trauma it just came up in discussion with my husband who thought it was really odd and wasnt sure if they get away with doing that now.

Seems normal for that kind of thing. We’re all recorded every day with CCTV and phone cameras etc

I worked as a Mystery Shopper while I was at University around the same time. We did not record people though and I would have not done the job if we did.

I wouldn’t think it was ever acceptable.

@TakeawayManAlan but CCTV is for security purposes and I covertly recording someone on your phone is weird.

This happens within my company (German car dealer)

Sales have mystery shoppers come in and they have a hidden camera

Luckily I'm not in Sales

I have been a mystery shopper and a few times had to record the interaction with the shop person
I was supplied a special handbag with a secret camera in it
Once I didn't position the bag right and do it didn't record the person properly so I wasn't paid

CCTV exists for various purposes, though security is the top one.

If seems a bit unusual for a mystery shopper to be recording, but as you were in a mobile phone shop it could have been because a lot lies on the specific conversation over the options and contract specifics - along with upselling to the benefit of the shop and not misselling the contract terms (especially if this included mobile insurance etc in the PPI era)

As long as the policy was clear about having mystery shoppers that recoded then it was all legitimate

Same as PPs, I worked as a mystery shopper years ago and was asked to use a camera. I didn't take those assignments, but I know it was definitely common.

@Tomikka no policy I was ever privy to.
it was introduced one month and that was it

I thought you were going to say your dh records your conversations!
I would feel uncomfortable with being recorded at work without my knowledge though.

Yes they did this when I used to work at specsavers around 10 years ago and then in the weekly training meetings show it to the whole team and analyse it - awful!!!

@AcceptYourself it’s the worst, isn’t it? I can still remember the fear of waiting for the video to load and wondering who the victim would be.

the fact people would be discussing how you communicated was awful. I’m reserved, quiet and very honest and despite being a good sales person this was picked apart. Uhhhh the worst!

That could have been a fun data protection case to have brought up …… it’s fine for businesses to record - but without clear policies it’s a risk of turning up to a tribunal.