best site for gas station jobs?

December 02, 2012 09:46PM

Travelling all across the US so GETTING there and availability should (hopefully) not be a problem but what have you all found to be the most frequent gas jobs that have not been too much of a pain, or that you thought were reasonable, are your favorites, etc...

Really hoping to get some jobs without having to stress out about it too much, which I honestly tend to do.

Advice from the gassed up mystery shoppers out there?

Much obliged.

-S
omarandsamaragoplaces.com

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December 02, 2012 09:54PM

Omar - Everyone has different favorites. I like Exxon Mobil, but most people hate them. You will have to do some of each and figure out for yourself which ones you like. They will all seem confusing at first, but you'll get better at each type station as you do more of them. I suggest making up a cheat sheet for each type station so you don't forget something you need. There's some good information in the thread "pumping gas in America". From the home page, click on the "search button" and enter "pumping gas in America". Then click on "all dates". Good luck with your cross country venture.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

December 03, 2012 12:35AM

The problem with gas stations as you are traveling is that the vast majority are audits with a lot of required photos. If one photo doesn't meet company standards, the whole shop will be rejected without pay. I once did a route where you had to take photos of the credit card rack inside. There was a list of required photos which it wasn't on and then I thought the rest were all only required if they were no answers, it was my mistake. The only way to fix was to go back to all those stations again or not get paid.

I actually enjoy the photo audits, but wouldn't take too many for the first time if I was traveling right out of the area.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2012 04:32AM by Shelly.

December 03, 2012 03:04AM

Agreed with all the above. I just did my first gas station audit on the 30th. I want to do more, but not crazy about entering into a lot of them at once. As has been said, you miss one picture, you don't get paid.

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December 03, 2012 04:32AM

One small hint for those starting out with gas station audits...it can be handy if you can "tag" photos on your camera with the location name if you are doing several assignments on the same day. It's a great function on my camera that has saved my sanity. Using it really helps once you get back to the home office and start sorting out those pics.

And yes, when I started out with these type of audits, I fouled up one or two. Live and learn. I now review my pics on my camera before leaving the location to ensure I have all pictures required and that they are all of acceptable quality.

Also, I find it's easier to do multiples of any particular kind of assignment, including gas station audits, because then I can kind of get into a groove as I jet around town. It's better than mixing it up with an assortment of different assignment types sometimes, because then you have to try to remember the job requirements for each one. That can get crazy when you've got six or more visits scheduled in a day.

_____________________________________________________________________________
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
~Viktor Frankl

December 03, 2012 04:33AM

It also helps if you take the photos in the exact same order, with the receipt either at the end of the photo stream.

December 03, 2012 04:41AM

I tag mine on both ends with a shot of the street address on the building. If it's not there, then the address written on a piece of paper.

December 03, 2012 05:02AM

If you are driving as a team, you can shop your way along a trip quite well. One person drives, and the other edits photos with the laptop. Many places have feee WiFi. When you get to a place with WiFi, upload your edited photos and go. Before we had kids, we shopped our way around quite a bit, with a two-gallon of gas shop here and a five-dollar reimbursement there. (You are supposed to do the shops alone; if you drop off your driver at the corner of the site he or she can go to the loo, pick up a snack, and return to the car while you do your audit.)

December 04, 2012 03:29PM

For BP stations, the MSC requires that the paper forms be sent to you about a week before your shop, and the shop cannot be performed without having the forms. Just an FYI for your planning purposes.

December 05, 2012 04:28AM

The easy way to tag GS audits is to take a picture of your receipt(s) , which everyone should do as a back up in case you lose them.

February 18, 2013 03:11AM

I currently do Maritz gas shops. Does anyone know where to sign up for Exxon, Mobil, Holiday, Cenex stations?
Cathy
cjpak@aol.com

February 18, 2013 06:19AM

cjpak; Hi and welcome! Many of us know the answer to your request, but legally and ethically we cannot reveal which MSC's handle which clients. We sign agreements with each MSC that we will not divulge any of this information. You will have to just keep applying with more companies and look at available jobs. You might try googling it, but these clients skip around all of the time and sometimes it varies by state.

February 18, 2013 01:24PM

Hi cjpak. Another thing is "best" is a relative term. The Exxon reports are different from the BP reports, which are differnt from Shell, etc. An $11 shop with $6 gas reimbursement and a report with 12 pictures may be a job you would consider to be fine. Others won't consider touching that same job for less than $20.

Keep looking and you will find the shops you want and like.

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

February 18, 2013 03:20PM

Does anyone know if the Huck's stations are still shopped. I don't see them with the msc they have been with. I know these are in Ky, Mo and Tennesse.

February 19, 2013 04:31PM

I enjoy the Exxon Mobil shops. Had some problems when I first started remembering the date stamp. I decided to learn to do the Shell shops this year(2 gallons of gas). I have done two so far. The report is a bit tedious. Next I want to learn to do the Conoco.

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In !

February 19, 2013 05:26PM

My first and last mini-route of stations was during my 7th year in the business. Due to unacceptable pics, I needed to return to each site once and 1 twice. I lived and I learned this definitely wasn't my "cup of tea." I much prefer the higher paying assignments that require extensive narrative, but where it's extremely unlikely I'll need to return.

February 19, 2013 06:31PM

After struggling with my camera to date stamp the pics only to discover it hadn't done it, I found a trial version of software that did it for me that was sooooo easy to use. So if you can't get your camera to do it, you can use that. There are probably several kinds, I used TimetoPhoto. I think I have a 30 day free trial but I could probably get a 30 day trial on each of my four computers if I needed to. My camera DOES do it, I just have a hard time finding the setting.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

February 19, 2013 08:26PM

I think that is a good solution. I am afraid that if I use the time stamp for a shop, I might forget and leave it on for shops that do not allow that. I have only one shop iirc that requires the time stamp so it hasn't been much of an issue for me.

February 19, 2013 08:33PM

Or you can Photoshop it in if you only need 1 or 2 pictures.

February 19, 2013 08:46PM

Unfortunately, the gas audits requiring the stamp also average 20 pics or more.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
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February 19, 2013 09:15PM

I'm not trying to make trouble here, and I'm not saying this will work for you, but I never turn off the date/time stamp.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

February 19, 2013 10:48PM

I just had a store shop today, no purchase required. My camera automatically records date/time in the photo data, but it won't put it on the picture. I needed 1-2 pictures. I took 4, will upload, choose the 2 best, then add the date/time from the camera's data.

I discovered I'm not that crazy about the gas station shops.

February 20, 2013 05:44PM

download y a photo date stamper. It's free forever and batch dates photos as needed if your camera doesnt date stamp.

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