
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Artur84
I love mystery shopping, but I swear, sometimes the weirdest things happen on assignments which leave me scratching my head and thinking, “Ok, how am I going to write this one up?”
In one apartment shop, my cover story was that I was single, and looking for a one-bedroom apartment. The leasing agent was a young man who had just moved to the area and had been working at the building for only a few weeks. I doubt that he had much experience within rentals, as we spent a lot of time talking about me. He did a fair job of showing me the community, and the apartment, but never tried to close the deal. Instead, he asked if I had a boyfriend and if I wanted to join him for dinner. I thanked him, but turned him down. He gave me his phone number, and said that he hoped to hear from me.
Writing up this report was hard, because I couldn’t help but think of how the young man would feel when his boss eventually approached him. On the one hand, I didn’t want to embarrass him, but on the other hand, I really had no idea if he was hitting on every person who came through the door. In either case, this was information that the owner of the community needed to know about.
In the evaluation, I wrote that the leasing agent seemed more interested in my personal interests than my needs for the apartment. Although he was very friendly and conversational, the focus was more on my personal life than the community, and as such, he did not close the deal.
I guess that’s true in either case. I didn’t go out with him, nor did I get the apartment!