Go to the mall, evaluate 2 restrooms and the food court. Go to the service desk and evaluate the service while purchasing a $20 gift card. There is a specific window of 2 hours, there are 3 reports to be filled out and submitted at the same time.

You will not be reimbursed for the gift card and your total payment is $25 for all 3 reports.


OMG, are you serious?????

Here they are reimbursing the shopper $30 and paying the fee.

Insight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here they are reimbursing the shopper $30 and
> paying the fee.


Now that is something I would consider....

I got this bonused last month for $45. The reports are pretty easy to fill out, but I only had two and my mall only has one restroom. It took me less than an hour at the mall. I bought a Chili's GC for $25 and figure a meal (or two with coupons) at Chili's is my payment, plus the $15 bonus. We go there all the time anyway.

They think we work for free!

Kathee70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Go to the mall, evaluate 2 restrooms and the food
> court. Go to the service desk and evaluate the
> service while purchasing a $20 gift card. There is
> a specific window of 2 hours, there are 3 reports
> to be filled out and submitted at the same time.
>
> You will not be reimbursed for the gift card and
> your total payment is $25 for all 3 reports.
>
>
> OMG, are you serious?????

How is that for free? The shopper is being paid $25. The OP didn't say if they reimburse the actual fee for the card which might be a few bucks. Naturally that would take the value down to $20 and change.

Oh, wow, I would jump on that in a second, just for the gift card if it were reimbursed!

My granddaughter got married last month, and the gift card would make a wedding present -- and my
babiest granddaughter is getting married NEXT month, so I could use a couple of these!

Anybody wanna PM me the name of the MSC, so I can sign up.....if it's not against the rules to PM it....

cease

No client has been mentioned..saying the mall is just like saying the restaurant or whatever...right? So the MSC can be in this thread? The MSC is Beyond Hello. Good luck!

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How is that for free? The shopper is being paid
> $25. The OP didn't say if they reimburse the
> actual fee for the card which might be a few
> bucks. Naturally that would take the value down to
> $20 and change.


No Lisa, the fee is $25 and YOU have to buy a gift card which is NOT reimbursed. The card fee is however so the total payment for the shop ends up to be $5 for all that work!!!

I'm jealous. I have not had any problems per se with Beyond Hello but I never can get their better shops it seems. I have applied and applied for this shop to no avail. Oh well, I've gotten shops with other MSC's that I thought I didn't have a shot at so I guess it all balances out.

> No Lisa, the fee is $25 and YOU have to buy a gift
> card which is NOT reimbursed. The card fee is
> however so the total payment for the shop ends up
> to be $5 for all that work!!!


The gift card is the payment - I just don't think that is a big deal. You can get an American Express gift card, which is the same as cash...so the payment is $25, just in gift card form.

It's not a hard shop, but I like to keep my rate at $1 a minute.
10 minute shop= $10
60 minute shop=$60

This is no 25-30 minute shop. So, I quit doing them about 10 years ago. I'd do them for a bonus though.

@gtrgirl

That's not the way I look at it at all. I can go to any store and get myself a gift card without running all around the mall and taking the time to fill out 3 reports. On top of that I can do a phone shop for $5 and not leave my chair.

So going 1 mile down the road to buy the gift card and 1 phone shop I don't have to leave my house for vs. going to the mall and evaluating 2 restrooms, making a "small purchase" at the food court while evaluating that area and going to the service desk to get the card while evaluating that area. THEN going home, filling out 3 reports and submitting them with in 12 hours!!

How in the world can you justify that?

This is a direct result of shoppers taking low paying jobs, as another poster mentioned, in their area the gift card purchase is reimbursed AND they get a $30 payment for the multiple evaluations they need to do for the assignment. My bet is there are no shoppers in that area and there are a ton in mine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2014 03:06PM by Kathee70.

Kathee, I completely understand the $25 is the fee and the shopper is required to purchase the card. What gets missed every time these shops are offered is that gift card you purchase is also yours to keep. In other words it is a wash financially. You hand the concierge $20, she hands you a $20 gift card. The only out of pocket would be if there was a processing charge and that is normally in the range of $2.95 to $4.95. The ones I have seen posted were for Visa branded cards which could then be used anywhere and the MSC reimbursed the processing fee.

I am guessing we are not going to see eye to eye on this, but if I buy a $25 gift card, and then I am reimbursed $25, I see that as a $25 payment in gift card form. Or, a $25 gift card as payment to submit a report. It appears we do not agree on this. Also, my mall did not require a food court purchase and only had one bathroom, so a little less work.

Different strokes for different folks, but I am easily able to justify a $25 gift card as payment to walk around the mall with my DH and then submit a report about it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2014 08:08PM by gtrgrl22.

Yes, thank you Lisa. I was trying to explain it that way, and I think you did a better job.

This is not about agreeing or disagreeing and every time these shops are posted the same misunderstanding occurs. How are you out $25 if you still have a gift card worth $25 to spend like cash? All the gift card did was add a third party to your transaction so in reality you made $45.

Here is another example. I go to the mall planning on spending $25 at Barnes and Noble. Before going to B&N I stop by the concierge and pick up a gift card for $25 and then immediately go to B&N and use the gift card. The only thing I did there was add a few minutes to the trip by converting my cash to that card.

aren't they a "slow player" though? I seem to remember like 60-90 day, closer to 90.

Let me see if I understand this. Forget the gift card. I buy it, I keep it, it's mine bought with my money.

On to the rest of it: I get $25 for doing the shop and I also get reimbursed for the transaction fee on the gift card.

So I make $25 total on the shop. Isn't that right?

God Mary, why couldn't I be that concise?

That is not the way my instructions read at all.

Here are the quotes from the exact shop instructions.

• Client requires that you purchase an American Express Gift Card (minimum of $20) during the visit; however, you walk out with the gift card to use for your personal use at any location that takes American Express, not just the center.

• The service fee cost to purchase the gift card will be reimbursed. There are no additional fees after the service fee, you have the entire amount to spend. The amount of the gift card is not reimbursed.

This is also a reveal shop that you get give a reward for (I bet it's more than $5.)

How is that making $45 ??? I have to take $20 out of my own pocket to buy the card... and my total pay is $25... so after I pay the $20 for the card I am left with a $5 payment PLUS I have to evaluate the restrooms (up to 2 if possible) AND Kiosks, food court, as well as the service desk. For $25, $20 of which I had to spend to complete the assignment.


Maybe I am reading this wrong but I don't think so. If it was $25 PLUS reimbursement that would be a fair price. At least that is my opinion. I can't even buy dog food for $5 never mind the time to travel and evaluate all of the areas they want me to. Yes I get to leave with a gift card but honestly, I paid for it without reimbursement which I can do at the local CVS or Walmart without running around for an hour.

Umm, you're reading it wrong.

You spend $20 for a $20 gift card.
You get $2.95 reimbursement for the card fees
You get $25 in shopper pay.

You end up with:

1 $20 gift card you can spend anywhere
1 $27.95 payment from the MSC

The spending $20 to get $20 is a wash, because the card you get is as good as cash.
You get the $2.95 reimbursed.
Your payment of $25 is for evaluating the rest room and the other aspects of the shop.

As I am reading through this I am noticing that I have come off sort of snitty. This was not my intention so please don't take it that way

And I did look again, there is not actual purchase for the food court, I was looking at 2 different shops. So that was my mistake.

Okay, a $20 dollar AE gift card is 20 dollars. For that part of the shop, you come in with 20 dollars, and you leave with 20 dollars--just like that shop the other day where I went into the bank with a 20 dollar bill, and left it with one ten dollar bill, one five, three ones, and two dollars of quarters.

You get reimbursed for the fee.

So, if I understood correctly, you're getting paid $25.00 to evaluate two restrooms, evaluate the service counter where you bought the gift card, and....what else? I see that the food court purchase was for another shop.

I think Kathee is having trouble grasping the fact that walking out with the gift card is just like being reimbursed for the $20 you spend.

OK, now I get it.... I guess I could buy the dog food with the $20 card that I was going to need to spend the money on anyway... and... I will still have the $25 for running all over the mall....

As I look at it I am not sure why it was so hard for me to look at it like that in the first place.......... meh, that's what the board is for.........

Thanks all, you're the best!!!

Ishmael,

My other requirement was to walk around the mall and see if someone in a kiosk stopped me. If they did, I was to listen to their speech and then politely refuse. I was supposed to see if they let me walk away at that time. I only had one kiosk stop me, so that was fairly easy. If many would have stopped me, it would have been a much more difficult report.

So you had to cover the entire mall. I've never had a kiosk salesperson actually grab me by the arm and not let me go, but I've had many, many, just in my ordinary shopping, not take 'no' for an answer. I hope this was a shop where the mall wanted to see how many kiosk employees were being unpleasantly pushy.

Kathee, that is why I said it comes up every single time the shop is posted. In other words, you are far from the only one And BTW, the $45 in my later post was referring to gtrgrl22's bonus for the same type of shop.

I guess it was a blond moment or maybe an elderly moment... better, a combination of both LOL