bpha currently has a number of residents who have trained as Mystery Shoppers and periodically contact our staff to check the level of customer service we are delivering to our residents.

Any member of staff may be contacted and presented with a question or questions designed to test bpha standard procedures and look at how they are delivered by front line staff. The findings are then fed back to managers and staff and are used to improve the level of customer service within bpha.

Whether it’s enquiring about repairs, reporting anti-social behaviour or finding out about the many services we provide – we want to know all about the good and bad parts of bpha – and you can help us.

Residents receive free training and reimbursement for expenses and are rewarded with High Street Shopping Vouchers after each round of Mystery Shopping. In addition, they are, of course, helping to improve the housing service delivered by bpha. Many have also become involved with other aspects of testing our service.

Susie is a young mum who enjoys being a Mystery Shopper because it is something she can do from home when her children are at school but gives her the opportunity to get involved in something she needs to think about and also helps to improve the service she receives from bpha. She said that “Getting residents involved in mystery shopping is a great idea as it will help improve services for everyone.”

Robert is an older man who is disabled and unable to work. Mystery Shopping gives him the opportunity to make calls at a time to suit him and being rewarded with shopping vouchers doesn’t disrupt his housing benefit claim. After the first round of shopping, Robert said that he thought “The standard of customer service is really good. The whole mystery shop worked well.”

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming one of our resident Mystery Shoppers then please contact Sheila Robertson, Policy and Research Officer on 01234 221266 or email sheilar@bpha.org.uk.