Reward points are our way of recognising and rewarding your loyalty as a Mystery Guest. Each visit has at least 10 reward points attached and so the more visits you do the more points you gain. When you reach your first 500 points we send you a thank you gift. And when you reach 1,000 points we'll send you a voucher to exchange for a special experience (this will vary depending on where you live) but it's on us and this time there will be no report to write!
Reward points are separate from your status and have no impact. Reward points are designed to recognise loyalty and helpfulness with priority reports.
Our priority or last minute visits have more reward points attached to them so accepting more of these will boost your total. We also offer points to anyone completing our guest surveys. These will appear as an option after you sign in to your profile.
Visits that are considered a priority or last minute will often carry more reward points than others.
We use these surveys to collect the opinion of our guests on a range of hospitality topics. We use the results to write articles for our website https://www.hgem.com/news
In return for completing a survey we offer you 5 reward points. To receive the points, you will need to enter your guest ID in the required section.
All information obtained from our surveys will be on our news page https://www.hgem.com/news and our company Facebook page @mysterydining
The brief for your visit will outline whether or not you need to book a table. If you do book a table, please ensure it's not through a third party website but direct with the venue.
You need to confirm that you have read two things; the brief and the questionnaire. The brief is specific to the visit and includes details of what you need to do for your report to be accepted. By previewing the questionnaire, you will be able to see the questions you'll need to answer after your visit- you should be familiar with it and you may want to take it with you (as long as it's hidden!). Some visits also have a separate PDF document that you need to review.
Give us a call, or start a live chat. We're always happy to talk through any queries with you. It is much better to ask questions before your visit to ensure you complete the report correctly. Errors could invalidate your report.
Details of party numbers will always be included in the brief for the visit or in the visit criteria but are usually for 2 adults. Please note that you should never take more than your agreed number of guests as this will invalidate your report. This includes babies and small children (even if they are not eating) and extra guests paying for themselves.
No, if this has not been requested by the client in the brief it may invalidate your report. If you are at all unsure, please contact us.
Check to see if the visit can be completed by one person, or if someone else can go with you. If neither of these are possible, please cancel the visit from your profile so it can be released to other guests as soon as possible.
No, you should never take more than your agreed number of guests, even if they are not eating or paying for themselves. This will invalidate your report.
An option for call recording will be built into HGEM Go, our new mobile app, when it is launched. Until then, recording calls is a bit tricky, so only take this on if you are confident that it will work for you. There are several call recording apps that you can put on your phone, but mobile operators are gradually tightening restrictions on the use of these – whether they work or not depends on both your mobile operator and your device. The only way to check if you can use one of these apps is trial and error. An alternative is to put your phone on speaker, and to have another recording device next to the phone though, again, this may involve a bit of trial and error. We will communicate when HGEM Go is ready for use.
Just treat it as a normal enquiry. Check the brief in case there are specific things you need to ask about. In some cases, the brief may require you to record the call if you leave any personal details in the call, we will edit these out of the recording before it is published.
We recommend trying to call the restaurant 3 times, with at least one call out of peak hours (unless the time of the call is specified on the brief). If your call isn't answered after 3 attempts, mark the telephone section on the report as N/A and detail the dates and times you called and what happened.
If the person who originally answers your call is unable to help and says that someone else will be calling you, please ask the name of the person who will be contacting you. When the call comes through, ignore it and then call the venue back asking for the person whose call you missed. Make sure you record and upload both calls to your report.
No, everything in your report should be written after the event, writing it in advance may invalidate your report. However, you can write up the telephone enquiry part before the visit (after you have made the call of course!)
Double check you are at the right location and then look around for possible reasons why the venue is closed and/or when they might be open again. Please take a photo of the closed venue, and any information that explains why the venue might be closed and give us a call. You can contact us on 01225 470281 during office hours, Monday to Friday 9-5:30 pm.
You may then go somewhere else to eat - keep hold of your receipts. We will reimburse up to £20 or the stated reimbursement, whichever is lower. After your visit send all your photos to our support inbox we can then also try and re-arrange your visit or allocate to another guest if you are unable to attend at another time.
If our office is closed you may still go somewhere else to eat - please keep hold of your receipts. We will reimburse up to £20 or the stated reimbursement, whichever is lower. Please email your receipts to support@mysterydining.com.
To book a visit login to your account and select ‘Book a Visit’. Here you will be able to see all the visits available in your selected locations. Select the visit you are interested in, check you are happy with the visit requirements by looking at the criteria information and click ‘book’ to confirm.
You can choose whichever visits are available to you under the 'Book a Visit' tab as long as you meet the visit criteria. Some visits have age, visit times and party size requirements. Please note if you don’t meet the criteria detailed in the brief then your report could be invalidated.
Click the ‘Book a Visit’ tab on your profile and select the visit you want to book. The details for this visit will then appear on the map; the ID number is detailed at the bottom of the box. It will also appear under visit details once you have clicked on the 'Review Visit and Book' button.
We add visits in batches as they are requested by our clients. The first half of the month is generally when more visits are added but we recommend that you regularly log in to check visit availability. Unless you have opted out, you will receive a weekly email highlighting visits available in your locations.
This just means that all of our current visits have been booked by other guests. Most venues have a 3-month no-return policy to reduce the chance of you being identified. Venues you have visited recently will not show up on your profile.
What dines are available depend on whether our clients have venues or requested visits in your chosen location. We also make sure that you only see visits that you are eligible for so if you don’t meet the requirements the visit will not show up on your account.
Available dates for a visit will be shown on a calendar. Please ensure that you can visit on the date you select as it can be hard for us to re-book a visit at short notice. You will receive a booking confirmation email, please check that the details are correct.
Some visits have specific requirements that are best discussed over the phone. If in doubt, get in touch.
The system automatically updates when visits are booked so it means that another diner has taken that date. Visits need to be spread out from each other to make sure our clients are receiving a variety of observations on their business.
You can change your visit date or cancel your visit if your circumstances change. This can be done via the 'My Visits' tab, under 'Visits Scheduled'. If you have to cancel a visit, please let us know as soon as possible as it can be hard for us to re-book a visit at short notice. Please note your status will be adversely affected if you regularly cancel visits.
Contact us as soon as possible as it may be that the visit hasn't been saved to your profile. If you complete a visit without having received a confirmation email, we will not be able to use your report or reimburse you for the visit.
If it is your first visit, you need to complete that visit before you can book another one. Once you have successfully completed your first, you can book multiple visits. Please note you cannot visit two branches of the same brand on the same day.
In order to reduce the chance of you being identified as a Mystery Guest there is a minimum period before you can revisit the same venue. This varies per venue, but typically it is 3 months.
At the top of the 'Book a Visit' page, there are several options to filter the dines that are displayed to you. These include; location, type of visit, dates, and the ability to sort by urgency or most recently added. Click each box to choose your options.
You can change your visit date or cancel your visit if your circumstances change. This can be done via the 'My Visits' tab, under 'Visits Scheduled' or contact us. If the office is closed, please cancel the visit from your profile so it can be released to other guests.
Tell the hotel that you need to check your dates and will call them back. Contact us to see if a different date is acceptable, if so, call the hotel back (recording both calls if this is required for your visit) and continue the booking as normal. Tip: it's always good to check availability on the hotel website before calling.
Tell the venue that you need to check your times and will call them back. Contact us as soon as possible and we will ask the account manager to confirm if the visit can go in at a different time or if it will be possible to do as a walk-in visit.
Absolutely, you can check the map facility on the booking page to see any available visits in the area that you will be visiting. These can be booked in the same way that you would book visits within your location. We also offer visits in airports (landside and airside), you can register your interest for these on the 'Flying Soon?' page.
It is really important that you collect all receipts that are applicable for your visit. If for some reason you are unable to provide a receipt, please contact the office as soon as possible. There is a chance that the client will not accept your report without a receipt to go with it.
This is dependent on the individual client and what the brief specifies. It's best to ask before your visit so we can confirm. As a general rule please keep all receipts.
Yes, if the brief states that you need to pay by card you will need to do this even if you have only purchased a drink.
Try asking them for a VAT receipt, that way it can seem as though you need one for personal expenses. If you pay using a card, you should also ask for a card receipt.
As we currently use a third party website to record calls, please contact them to retrieve the call recording. If you know your account details, the number and time of your call- they are usually able to assist you. If they are unable to help you, please call us and we'll advise you further.
Each brief should specify whether or not photos are required to accompany your report. If you would like to take photos of your food, do feel free to, this is no longer an act that will make you stand out as a Mystery Guest.
You are able to email your receipts through to us at support@mysterydining.com
If you have more than one receipt to upload, please take one photo containing all of the receipts and upload this as a single file. This file can be uploaded to your report under the 'Visit Details' section.
Check the brief, as certain visits have restrictions on arrival times. However, please arrive at the venue at least one hour prior to closing time (unless the criteria specifies otherwise). And ensure that all members of your party enter the venue at the same time.
Not unless you are specifically completing a questionnaire on the take-out service. Some restaurants and cafes offer both eat-in and take-away service, always assume that you need to eat in unless otherwise specified.
Rules on vouchers (such as Tastecards) vary by client please check with us first if you are unsure. You can usually pay for all or part of your visit using a gift voucher issued by the company you are visiting. We will treat this as cash when calculating your reimbursement. Please note - Tesco Clubcard vouchers cannot be used at any time.
You may use apps to pay if this is allowed in the visit brief.
If you need to raise an issue during the experience, this is fine, provided you do so in a normal and courteous way, and you give the staff every opportunity to put things right. If you want to make a complaint after the visit, please check with us first.
You are not permitted to carry out visits where you may know any of the staff members. If you carry out a visit and see someone you know, please notify us as soon as possible. Please do not inform staff that you are carrying out a visit.
Double check you are at the right location and then look around for possible reasons why the venue is closed and/or when they might be open again. Please take a photo of the closed venue, and any information that explains why the venue might be closed and give us a call. You can contact us on 01225 470281 during office hours, Monday to Friday 9-5:30 pm.
You may then go somewhere else to eat - keep hold of your receipts. We will reimburse up to £20 or the stated reimbursement, whichever is lower. After your visit send all your photos to our support inbox we can then also try and re-arrange your visit or allocate to another guest if you are unable to attend at another time.
If our office is closed you may still go somewhere else to eat - please keep hold of your receipts. We will reimburse up to £20 or the stated reimbursement, whichever is lower. Please email your receipts to support@mysterydining.com.
If your visit is during office opening hours and you can contact us without drawing attention to yourself, then please do so and we can advise you of what to do.
Most often when arriving at a venue that is full, you will be offered a place at the bar for a drink whilst you wait. If this is offered, we would expect you to accept this offer. Please bear in mind that venues will be busier during peak times so a wait for a table if you are unable to book is more likely.
Try to find out why food is not being served. If your visit is during office hours and you can contact us without drawing attention to yourself then please do so and we can advise you what to do. It is most likely that your visit will need to be rearranged.
If you are unable to complete your visit because there is no food service, you may go somewhere else to eat - keep hold of your receipts. We will reimburse up to £20 or the stated reimbursement, whichever is lower.
Unless the criteria for a visit specifies otherwise, please order food and drink to reflect a normal experience. In the case of a restaurant meal, this should as a minimum be at least one main course and drink per person. Please try to make sure these are different dishes. If you are required to order a drink, tap water does not count.
For some visits, this is required so please check the brief. If there is no information in the brief about set menus then please contact the office. We would normally say it’s OK if it doesn't affect your visit. i.e. it doesn't stop staff being able to carry out normal service such as offering sides or desserts.
If the item you are asked to order not available then please order something else instead. Complete the visit as normal and detail what happened in your report.
Alcohol limits are listed at the bottom of each visit brief so please ensure you check them before your visit. In order to ensure that your observations are not clouded by alcohol, it is important you follow the rules on the amount you can consume.
All photos of your food should be taken before you start to eat. Please make sure that you don't include any faces as these will need to be edited out.
No, taking photos of food for Instagram and other social media sites is very common now. Taking pictures will not make you stand out as a Mystery Guest.
Please bear in mind the party size agreed for your visit, inviting friends over to join you on a Mystery Visit will most likely invalidate your report. All guests should be agreed prior to your visit, therefore it would be appropriate to discreetly point out to your friends that you are on a Mystery Visit for us.
You are able to accept complimentary items whilst on a visit, however, please bear in mind the alcohol limits as these should not be exceeded.
You can contact us on 01225 470281 during office hours, Monday to Friday 9-5.30pm. Outside of these hours, please check our FAQ's oon our website or ask your fellow guests using the forum for any help with your question. Otherwise, please contact us when we are back in the office or email the support@mysterydining.com and we will get back to your email as soon as we can.
Please call the office and check with us before taking any action.
Your status is a reflection of the quality of your reports, your reliability in delivering them and how many visits you have done for us. There are 4 status levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The higher your status, the earlier you will get access to new visits. This is important because our popular visits will be booked as soon as we release them. We also sometimes approach our Platinum and Gold guests for special assignments.
Your status is based on a series of measures from your most recent 10 visits and as a result your status can go up and down. Our system looks at several factors that influence quality and feeds the results into an automatic algorithm that gives your report a quality score. This may also be affected by unreliability- for example, if you cancel visits or submit your report late.
Your status can be improved by making sure reports contain all of the information we require, spelling and grammar is correct and its sent on time. Cancellations also affect your status so these need to be kept to a minimum in order to reach a higher status level.
A drop in status may be due to a reduction in the quality of your reports or frequently cancelling visits at the last minute. Your 'Things to Consider' should provide you with some tips for improvement.
Any feedback on your reports will be emailed to your registered email address after each visit has been processed. It will also be listed on your 'Visit History' page.
Of course, we are happy to provide clarification on feedback we have provided. Simply respond to the feedback email you received.
Things to Consider (or TTC's) are parts of the report that needed amending or extra detail added and feedback for you to take on board for future visits.
Your report needs to be completed in past tense throughout.
Unless otherwise stated, your report should only rate or comment on things that are in the control of the team on duty. For example, if you don't like the décor, think the pricing is too high, or felt the venue was too busy, you should ignore these when considering your response.
No, the content of your report must be original and be completed after the event. Similarly, you should not compare your experience with any other Mystery Visit or personal experience.
In most cases, yes. This helps the reader to imagine they were there. Comments are particularly important if you have selected 'No' on a Yes/No question.
Only use the 'N/A' option if the question does not apply to any scenario you encountered during your experience. If in doubt about whether to mark 'Yes' or 'No' Only account for things in the team's control when deciding on whether to mark ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to a question and if you select 'No' make sure you state why in the comments.
All assertions should be supported with clear evidence. For example, instead of writing 'My pizza was not very nice', explain clearly what was wrong with it. For example, sparse ingredients, overcooked, lack of seasoning, served at the wrong temperature etc.
Yes, this can be useful in identifying who served you. However, only use someone's name if you have been told it, they are wearing a name badge or you overhear someone calling them by name. Don't take the name from a receipt unless asked to do so.
Please be sensitive when describing staff. Usually, height, gender and hairstyle are appropriate measures. Don't refer to their ethnic origin or build and only give estimations of age, e.g. 18-22, rather than saying 'young' or 'middle-aged' etc. Please don't refer to a team member as a 'girl' or 'boy' as this can sound belittling. Similarly, if you are served by a restaurant manager, do not call them a waiter/waitress at any stage in your report. If a member of staff has an accent, please state this, rather than trying to identify a particular accent.
Please add this information into either the body of the report (where appropriate) or under specials/other on the drop-downs if this is available.
If you complete your visit on Sun-Thur, we need to receive your report by 12:00 noon UK time the next day, so we can contact you to discuss the contents before sending to our client. Add an extra day if you complete your visit on a Fri/Sat. For visits completed on a Friday, we may contact you on either Sunday or Monday. Add an extra day for UK bank holidays.
You will need to be available on the day that your report is due in. For visits completed on a Fri/Sat we may contact you on Sun/Mon. You are able to specify on your report a time that is most convenient to you and we will do our best to adhere to this. If you are unavailable and we cannot clarify some required details, then we may not be able to use your report and you would not be reimbursed.
Our Assessment Quality Team will review the content, edit if appropriate, and send to our client by the end of the day. If there are any inconsistencies or if we need any extra details, we need you to be available by phone so we can clarify these. Our clients then use the contents of your report to monitor performance and influence business decisions.
Please contact the office as soon as you think your report is going to be late. The information will need to be detailed on your visit and your profile so that the validators are aware of the delay.
When submitting a report, you can request to be contacted at a specific time and we will try our best to call at that time. However, as we have hundreds of reports a day to review, we can't always meet all requests. If you don't think you will be available on the day your report is due, please don't book the visit. If you are unavailable when we call you, we will leave a message but please do call us back before the end of the day.