Complaint Review: Service Probe Inc.

The information below is a description of all the content I received on August 10, 2008, from this supposed MYSTERY CUSTOMER firm.

The letter was sloppily handwritten, and had no return address. The post marked numbers are: 080805 15:40 www.canadapost.ca www.postescanada.ca

Inside the letter is the Company explanation letter, the Customer Evaluation Tool (CSET), and the Cashier's Check for $4,992.00

The document below is the Company explanation letter that I received, word for word.

SERVICE PROBE, INC.
'Improvement through observation'
TEL/FAX# 1-905-334-7192 OR 1-905-616-2615 July 30, 2008
_________________________________________________________________
ATTENTION: JOHN DEER (My Name)

We are a MYSTERY CUSTOMER employment firm that specializes in the assisting of corporation on how to gather first hand information about their business, in order to improve the customer service offered to their clientele; we represent over 1500 firms with more to come, we utilize a method known as mystery shopping to achieve this goal.

Due to the information we have ascertained, you are part of a small pre-selected group (MEANING NO REGISTRATION FEES) to represent our company as a mystery shopper, in addition you fit the criterion of an individual who is prepared to supplement their income by taking advantage of this opportunity.
The first probational training task is a PAID training assignment and is to be completed as directed by any of our assignment coordinators, so please contact us at (1-905-334-7193 Ext 300 or 1-905-616-2615 Ext. 300 then Press 1) to connect to a coordinator for detailed instructions.

Your job description would be to pose as a potential customer to the assigned place of business and evaluate the effectiveness; efficiency and customer service of the particular establishment, in the process of this evaluation, please take note of the quality of service in order to be able to fill out a fair and unbiased opinion on the Customer Service Evaluation Tool (CSET) form enclosed with this letter. This form and all receipts must be faxed back to our office upon completion of assignment.

NOTE: ENCLOSED IS A CASHIER'S CHECK FOR $4992 TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENT: IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT UPON RECEIPT OF THIS CHECK THAT YOU CONTACT OUR OFFICE IMMEDIATELY. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN THE AUTOMATIC STOP PAYMENT ORDER OF THE CHECK.

Below is the breakdown of attached funds:
SALARY AND TRAINING PAY...$350.00
Your tasks are as follows:
Wal-Mart Purchase....$50.00
Gap Purchase.....$40.00
Western Union transfer..$1558.00
Service Charge by Western Union....$99.00
Moneygram transfer...$2835.00
Service Charge by Moneygram........$60.00
Total...$4992.00

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH OUR CLIENTS IN ADDITION WITH YOU AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR FIRM, YOUR ARE TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EMPLOYEE CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS AS INSSTRUCTED BY YOUR COORDINATOR, FURTHERMORE ALL TASKS SHOULD BE PERFORMED IN A PROFESSIONAL AND EXPEDITIOUS MANNER, IN ORDER FOR THIS TO BE A WEEKLY EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.

REMEMBER ITS SHOPPING SO HAVE FUN!!!

Sincerely,
(KRISTY HUDSON Cursive Signature)
Kristy Hudson,
(CHIEF ASSIGNMENT CO-ORDINATOR)

SERVICE PROBE, INC.
SUITE-303-112 W MAIN.
ASHLEY, ND. 58413.
TEL/FAX# 1-905-334-7193 OR 1-905-616-2615

The Customer Evaluation Tool (CSET) page looks very generically created. Along the top border of the page are 5 logos (McDonalds, Burger King, MoneyGram, Wal*Mart, and FedEx, and; and along the bottom border their are 5 logos (Gap, Western Union, UPS, Best Buy, and Old Navy). The document is titled Customer Evaluation Tool (CSET) and it looks like this:

Customer Evaluation Tool (CSET)
Employee Name:_____
(First) (Last)
Name of Corporation:______
Address:_____
City:_____ State:__
Date of transaction:____

Then on the document is a box that looks like this:

(TOP BORDER LOGOS)

POOR BELOW AVERAGE ABOVE EXCELLENT
AVERAGE AVERAGE
The sales rep.was courteous

The sales rep. was dressed
appropriately

The sales rep. was professional

The sales rep.answered your questions in a polite and
courteous manner
The sales rep.explained the details of your transaction

The sales rep. verified your funds
The sales rep.was Fast and efficient

(BOTTOM BORDER LOGOS)

The check looks like a normal valid check, but the fishy thing is the check is out of Salem, Oregon. The bank this particular scam used was Willamette Valley Bank, which is a legit bank, but I am sure the scam artists do everything in their power to make this look legit except for a few common obvious mistakes like handwritten letters, to good to be true offers, and a few grammatical mistakes here and there, and cheesy assessment documents, but other than that they are very convincing and luring.

I did not fall for this scam, however, if it wasn't for the information on this website and others I may have attempted the transactions and would have been in a world of hurt in a few weeks just after my wedding, so thank God for this information and my sympathy goes out to those who were scammed and hopefully this post will fully assist somebody else being lured in by a scam MYSTERY CUSTOMER firm.

Good luck

Brett
Berea, Kentucky
U.S.A.