‘They give they self away every time’: Walmart customer says he was kicked out for spotting a ‘secret shopper’

A TikTok comedian says Walmart kicked him out after his reaction to someone he believed to be a “secret shopper,” or an undercover employee.

@hoesluvhef recently posted a six-second TikTok. In it, he approaches a woman appearing to lurk behind a display, watching something or somebody nearby.

Sneaking up behind her, he startles her by suddenly asking, “What’s your [expletive] doing, following people in here?”

The woman doesn’t respond, and @hoesluvhef laughs before the two seem to start heading in different directions.

The video, which has been viewed over 1.6 million times, ends there. However, the TikToker wrote in his caption that “they kicked me out of [Walmart] for scaring a secret shopper.”

@hoesluvhef Lol they kicked me out of walnart for scaring a secret shopper 😂😂😂#fyp #comedy #nosey #walmart #prankwars ♬ original sound – Comedian Poohh Hefner

What’s the difference between a secret shopper and a floor walker?

@hoesluvhef and several viewers refer to the woman at Walmart as a “secret shopper.” He actually seems to be insinuating that she may have been a floor walker.

“Floor walkers,” as customers have come to call them, are allegedly part of a retail store’s loss prevention team. They, according to customers and some alleged workers, pose as shoppers. They allegedly follow a single customer all the way through the store to determine whether or not they may be shoplifting. They also allegedly record evidence if they believe that to be the case.

Secret shoppers, also called “mystery shoppers,” also pose as customers. However, their goal is to observe the store employees and operations to help determine whether things are running smoothly. They are often independent contractors hired by corporations.

Walmart has denied using secret shoppers. On its site, it says, “Walmart does NOT utilize these services or hire associates to perform services on behalf of other retailers or companies.”

While these are technically different terms indicating entirely different jobs, they are occasionally conflated on TikTok, presumably due to floor walkers posing as shoppers but secretly having a different purpose.

How to spot a floor walker

As floor walkers continue to be a popular topic on TikTok, commenters have often insisted they can always tell when a fellow “customer” is actually an employee in plain clothes. For one, they tend to trail a customer to every single aisle, regardless of whether they’re picking up products to “purchase” themselves. And trying to look casual can often come across as anything but.

We can’t know for sure whether @hoesluvhef’s accusation was correct, but viewers largely agreed with him that the woman he startled was likely a Walmart “secret shopper” after all.

“Well they need a new secret shopper cause uh uh,” wrote @.skrawbrry.__, “she made it look so obvious.”

“I thought the key rule was to not look suspicious,” another person joked.

“We kno they secret shoppers they give they self away every time,” added @mari..curry.

The Daily Dot has reached out to @hoesluvhef via TikTok comment and Walmart via its website.

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