WMATA has decided to employ "mystery riders" to boost their understanding of customer perceptions of service quality.
"WMATA emphasizes that the information from the mystery riders will be used in addition to — not instead of — customer feedback. “It’s never that the customer’s perception is not valid. A customer that is complaining about something or giving negative scores, there’s a reason they’re doing it, but I need to get an accurate picture of [the situation].” - quote from article at Metro Magazine
http://www.metro-magazine.com/Channel/Rail-Transit/Article/Story/2008/06/WMATA-to-employ-mystery-riders-to-enhance-customer-service.aspx
What do you think? Does a transit agency need mystery riders to know what needs to be addressed? Is this window dressing, or a valid management technique to really improve service levels?
Perhaps most importantly, would you consider a career move to "professional commuter" if it meant logging a million + miles per year on the "subway"?
The concept and use of "mystery riders" is a valid one. Most public agencies, such as transit, only hear from passengers when there's a complaint, there's verly little, if any, positive feedback. These "riders" will be on the trains, and maybe able to talk to other passengers for a more rounded view of the service. The military calls this "boots on the ground" meaning that the managers sitting in the "ivory towers" (honestly, how many bigwigs of these transit agencies actually ride them on a regular basis) don't know the situation on the trains. The idea is to have paid riders to observe and report to the board, so they don't have to ride with the "huddled masses."
It depends on the "Mystery Riders". Who are they? Private contractors? Company employees? I once did mystery shopping for a legitamate shopping company. We had guidlines, questions, instructions as to how to do the shop, what to look for, what to question, what and who to approach for information, and how to judge the physical plant and the employees. It was detailed, it was fair, it provided useful information to the companies who hired our company to get the answers. As shoppers we could not have any ties to the place being shopped: no friends in the shop or the business in general, nor have been an employee of the shop or the business in general. So can this "Mystery Rider" program be of value? You bet it can.
In a related note, as a salesman I had a customer who told me what he wanted to do. After questioning him about what he wanted to accomplish, what his business needed to progress, it was apparent that what he wanted to do would not have brought the desired results and progress. Quite often, even after years of being in business, some companies need to get a grass roots report about what they are doing and what they have to do instead. In other words, they may find they are not meeting their marketing goals or that they may have to change their marketing goals to meet demands they aren't looking at. It is a constant game that has to be played by anyone in any business.
EDIT ADD: I will hasten that this is not neccessarily a job for a person who likes trains, perhaps not at all. Like with what I was doing, just because I liked to eat, didn't mean shopping a restaurant was ideal. Or shopping for appliances, etc. The mystery shopper has to be as objective as possible which I though was the strength of the company I was working for.
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I think the introduction of "mystery riders" is a good one, especially if it can be done economically. Lots of things are mystery-reviewed these days, even snack foods and church services (go to ship-of-fools.com)
The sad truth is that when service is an integral part of the experience, patrons of any kind will suffer though the rudeness and apathy and just stop buying that service . . . in this case curtail some or most of their commuting . . without having complained first. Mystery riders would also keep the on-board staff on their toes to the possiblity that if they start herding commuters around like cattle . . or don't explain service delays . . . it is bad for Metra's (or whosever) future service.
Riders, mystery or uniformed, have been part of Calgary Transit (buses and C-Trains (LRT)) since I started riding it 39 years ago. I first noticed passengers in bus driver uniforms with what would become easily identifiable company issued clipboards busily recording data as they went along the route. After a time you would notice non uniformed people busily recording data on the same clipboards. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were doing. This would happen a couple of times a week, for a week or two, and then you wouldn't see those clipboards for a few months. I don't ride the systems as often as I used to but I doubt that it has changed much.
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