When visiting a restaurant or retail establishment, you may wonder how a large chain keeps its practices standard and high quality across multiple different locations.
This answer contains many factors, but one key element is the use of mystery shoppers.
A “mystery shopper” is someone who has been contracted by a business to test their services. This can include assessing employees, the state of the establishment itself, and other criteria specified by the company. These people are typically compensated monetarily, in company products, or both for their efforts.
In recent years, “mystery shopping” has become a popular topic of discussion online. Several users share their stories of mystery shopping at places like Costco and gas stations.
One of the most prominent voices in this discussion is TikTok user Kayla (@kaylalaughsoutloud), who frequently shares her experiences mystery shopping at places like Popeyes, Five Guys, McDonald’s, and more.
Now, she’s revealed another experience, this time at the chain Bojangles—and she’s not too thrilled about it.
What went wrong at this Bojangles?
In a video with over 450,000 views, Kayla explains that she is going to do a Bojangles mystery shop with her mother. At the start of her video, she lays out the criteria she’s looking for to pass the restaurant.
“Let’s hope when we walk in the door, we’re immediately greeted; when it’s our time to order, that our order is taken in a timely manner; that we get good customer service; that we are up sold, and that our food is hot and fresh; that the restaurant is clean, neat and well-stocked in the condiment and drink area, and the bathrooms are clean and well-stocked,” she explains. “If all of those things happen, they pass—and if not, of course, they don’t pass.”
Soon into the video, it becomes clear that the restaurant is not going to meet Kayla’s standards.
The employee taking Kayla and her mom’s order appears uninterested and is leaning on the store’s microphone. The food looks old and not freshly prepared, and there are a host of other issues with the store.
Mystery shop failed
Back in her car, Kayla explains that this experience was a “fail.”
“I’m sure that y’all can agree with me that Bojangles failed and they failed badly,” she says. “I cannot believe that cashier was leaning on the microphone with her head practically against the wall the entire time taking people’s orders. She was like that for two customers in front of us and with me and my mother.”
“She had, like, the worst facial expression—she clearly did not want to be there and did not care about anything,” Kayla continues.
The mystery shopper says she lacked so much enthusiasm, they could hardly hear the Bojangles cashier. “She barely spoke,” she says. “You could barely hear her…As I am filming the bar of food, it looks gross. It looks old and it looks overcooked. It even looks like the oil had not been changed in a while.”
In a comment, Kayla stated that she and her mother did not eat the food.
What happened next?
Kayla later posted a follow-up video claiming that, after posting her video, she received a voicemail from a district manager.
They met, and Kayla showed him the footage from the restaurant. Visibly disappointed, the two traveled to the Bojangles location, at which point the manager instructed Kayla to point out all of the people working at the store that day.
Kayla refrained from doing this but did note the cashier visible in the video—who was fired on the spot.
The TikToker says she feels only slightly bad about this result.
“That behavior that she had at the cash register—the face of the store, mind you—turns away customers,” she details. “Without customers, there is no business. Without business, the store is not open. There are no hours or low hours, and eventually it completely shuts down and everyone loses their job.”
In addition to the employee, Kayla criticized the restaurant’s overall cleanliness and quality.
“The food was old. It looked like it had been made in nasty grease that is super old. The condiment station—what condiments? There was cleaner on the counter… trash all over it,” she explains.
To close, Kayla denies being a “Karen,” calling those who defend the employee “the problem.”
@kaylalaughsoutloud Mystery Shop: Is it BO Time or GO Time❓️On a Scale of 1 to 10 What Would You Rate This Location❓️ @Bojangles #fyp #mysteryshopping #money #fail ♬ original sound – 😂 Kayla Laughs Out Loud 🤣
Commenters are divided
In the comments section, some users supported the employee, while others countered that Kayla was simply doing her job.
“If she ain’t wanna work or get bothered why she come in to work,” asked a user.
“When I was younger, I had EXTREMELY bad cramps and was forced to show up to work. I would’ve asked if she was OK just to hear her response. Had she said no, I would’ve gave her some grace & advice,” offered another.
“So he fired the girl , but did he start doing anything about the restaurants condition,” questioned a commenter about the manager with whom Kayla spoke.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kayla and Bojangles via email.
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