A TikTok mystery shopping influencer has found herself at the center of a major controversy after being exposed for lying about her experiences to promote her expensive online course. Kayla Sansom, who goes by “Kayla Laughs Out Loud” on the platform with over 300,000 followers, built her brand around documenting mystery shopping experiences at various retail locations.
According to sources, drama began when Sansom posted a nearly 12-minute video of herself conducting what she claimed was a mystery shop at Chicken Salad Chick, a quick-service restaurant chain. In the video, she filmed her entire interaction with employees before delivering a scathing review, calling one Black female manager “aggressive” and claiming the employee called her “sir.” Sansom failed the restaurant based on these complaints and later bragged that the manager had been fired as a result of her review.
However, the situation quickly unraveled when Chicken Salad Chick’s official TikTok account responded with a devastating clarification. The company posted a multi-slide response stating: “We’ve seen a few videos and we wanted to clear something up. There is no official mystery shopper program affiliated with our brand. And no, no one lost their job because of a recent viral video.”
The company’s response, which garnered nearly 4.5 million views, directly contradicted Sansom’s claims and exposed her lies to a massive audience. When Sansom tried to defend herself by claiming franchise owners hire mystery shoppers independently, the company again responded, firmly stating that the franchise owner did not hire mystery shoppers.
Critics quickly pointed out several problematic aspects of Sansom’s behavior. Many noted that describing the Black manager as “aggressive” when she was simply being direct and professional constituted a harmful microaggression. Viewers who watched the full interaction saw no evidence of aggressive behavior – the manager was helping customers efficiently while training a new employee.
The controversy deepened when the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), a legitimate industry organization, issued a warning email to members specifically naming Sansom. The association stated that she was not a member and that her practices – including filming employees without consent and sharing confidential shop details – violated industry ethics standards.
Further investigation revealed more inconsistencies in Sansom’s claims. She frequently posted videos claiming to mystery shop at Walgreens, despite the company having a webpage explicitly stating they don’t use mystery shopping programs and warning customers about related scams. Similarly, she claimed to shop at Publix, though multiple Reddit threads from employees indicated the chain discontinued its mystery shopping program in 2021.
The real motivation behind Sansom’s content became clear when examining her business model.
She sells a mystery shopping course for $97 per month or $797 annually, claiming to have nearly 1,200 members. This would generate potentially over $1 million in revenue, suggesting her primary income comes from course sales rather than actual mystery shopping.
Background research revealed a troubling pattern of fraudulent behavior in Sansom’s past, including a 2005 felony conviction for forgery, a 2007 incident involving counterfeit goods sales, and a 2013 arrest for breach of trust with fraudulent intent – essentially embezzlement charges.
The MSPA’s warning email emphasized that legitimate mystery shopping opportunities exist through accredited companies, but cautioned against individuals selling training courses or charging fees upfront. They specifically noted that reputable companies don’t require payment from shoppers to access assignments.
Following the exposure, Sansom deleted the controversial videos, disabled comments on most of her content, and restricted commenting to only mutual followers.
Additionally, she failed to provide the “proof” she claimed to have regarding her legitimate mystery shopping assignments.