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Venue
of Experience:
Our experience in this area
has been restricted to Michigan. Except in unusual cases
involving extremely high losses or when travel costs can be
prorated, we could not provide this service cost effectively
elsewhere.
Reasons for
Testing--Honesty:
Periodic testing, like
conducting periodic inventories, is a low cost method of control and
a means of verifying no serious problems are occurring--or
identifying problems that must be addressed. In one case, all
employees of a small fast food establishment regularly conducted
minor thefts and frauds. The combination of these petty schemes
resulted in substantial weekly losses. In another case, a
single cocktail waitress was responsible for nightly losses
averaging around $200.
Reasons for
Testing--Service:
Some dissatisfied customers
complain to management. But most of these folks just become
"the customer who never returned." One national
restaurant chain went out of business because of a perception of
consistent poor service. A survey showed that typical folks
who visited these restaurants would wait an average of eighteen
months before giving the chain another try. Resorts, hotels
and upscale restaurants, are usually more concerned with customer
satisfaction than with theft problems. One dissatisfied
customer may encourage a hundred others to avoid the business, but a
satisfied customer will refer new clientele.
Testing Methodology:
Investigative procedures on
these operations vary, depending on the type of facility, the
objective of the tests and many other factors. In cases where
honesty is the sole concern, we frequently perform "double
purchase" buys. This is where one investigator makes a
regular purchase obtaining a sales receipt, then makes a second
"impulse purchase," paying with the exact change. He
or she then departs quickly without a receipt. The person in
line behind this investigator is a second investigator, who observes
how the employee handles this transaction, then makes a normal
purchase and obtains a sequentially numbered receipt. This
provides the employee with an opportunity for theft, without
encouraging it. Specifically, we never
instigate a theft, or request that an employee do anything
dishonest. Additionally, we only assign investigators who are
knowledgeable about the relevant business. For example, in
most cases only an investigator who has actually worked as a
bartender is capable of detecting sophisticated scams occurring in a
lounge.
Service Inspection
Methodology:
Again, this varies with the
client, but typically investigators pose as an exceptionally
demanding customers. In some cases, the investigator will
request unusual services to see how the staff responds. In
some cases in restaurants, the investigator may complain about a
meal to determine the response of the server or manager. In
all cases, we have found service to be superior at facilities which
regularly conduct service inspections. For that reason many
investigators have returned to patronize such facilities on their
own time. . . and recommended them to others.
Reports:
Brief honesty testing reports
are often check list forms, while service inspection reports are
generally elaborate narratives of many pages.
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