Behind this week's Mystery Shop

How clean is your desk?

I only ask because looking though the reports from this week's Mystery Shopper in Sunderland, one of the agencies - Tate's Travel - lost marks because of the appearance of their desks.

The Mystery Shopper said: "There were drinks and personal items on the desks which made them look cluttered." Fair?

I don't work in a shop, but every so often we get told to tidy our desks otherwise the boss threatens to implement a clean desk policy, where we have to leave our desks tidy at the end of each day.

I wonder how many shops have such a policy and whether consultants mind not being able to have photos of their friends and family on their desks. More importantly, what do customers think - is a messy desk off-putting?

Meanwhile, the Mystery Shopper said she was impressed that the consultant at Hays Travel told her about the agency. She said: "While getting the quotes she chatted about the company, explaining how old it was and that it was based in the northeast. She sounded proud to work for this company."

Is this something you use to help sell holidays? Do you think customers care about the agency or just the product they are booking?

PS I don't do the mystery shops; I just get a peek at the unedited results.