The email reads:

"We have consumer loan shops available! You will be reimbursed up to $30 for the fees PLUS you will receive $20 shopper pay!"

So, no, this is not truly a $50 shop. It's a $20 shop. I hate it when companies think we're stupid.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2014 06:25PM by Phoebe70.

I think I know which company you mean.
I got one for $50 plus reimb. but that was last year.
This year, it paid $30.

Phoebe,

My guess is this was the scheduler. I received one last week that was supposedly for $64, but that was a combination of the fee and reimbursement; it's definitely misleading.

Reminds me of this:

HEADLINE: "$60 car shops!"

INSIDE: "Complete two Kia shops for $30 each on the same day!"

Or some such bullshit.

I was thinking the same thing. The subject line screamed that it was a $50.00 shop. A twenty dollar payment and reimbursement of a $30.00 charge that is necessary to do the shop is only a twenty dollar payment-and you are out $30.00 until the reimbursement shows up. This type of deceptive e-mail really makes me think twice about where it is coming from.

Several weeks ago I was in a mood and politely responded to a similarly misleading email subject line. Much to my surprise the emails were changed going forward. The same thing had happened with Second to None a few years ago when a $5 reimbursement to cover mailing back documents was touted as part of the fee and after my complaint the scheduler also changed future notifications.

Deceptive - like "NEW FEE" - only they do not tell you it is lower. Or "EASY NEW REPORT" - they do not tell you it actually includes 3 more pictures- give me a break.

Hey, I just looked at the paperwork for a 'new and easier', and it's down from 38 pages to 10.

Those email headlines make my blood boil, too. Are they really fooling *anyone*?!

I mean, even if the reimbursement is for something that *might* be truly useful, such as groceries or gas or oil changes or pet supplies or whatever... (NOT the cost to mail something back or some dumb thing as POV) it should *still* be listed as $X pay + $X worth of whatever.

And the ones that are really for double shops? Totally heinous! >: (

How about the ever misleading $175 mall shops? The instructions read like a " where will you be spending eternity" pamphlet. Or the body shop $100 fee. You actually have to go to 5 shops and get estimates on your damaged car for the fee.

And there are some who disagree but the check cash "loan" shops DO hit your credit report. Soft, hard hit it does hit.
Tread at your own risk. The one they were trying to get me to do had a murder right across the parking lot from today here..... 10 in the morning. No thanks... at all no thanks.

That email caused me to suffer a spontaneous, unavoidable eyeroll. How misleading!

I did a few of those kinds of shops years ago, but went in before the end of the day because mom/grandma/sister/friend loaned me the money. However, I won't do them anymore because they can affect your credit worthinesd and I've worked too hard to make it good.

TechSavvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That email caused me to suffer a spontaneous,
> unavoidable eyeroll. How misleading!
>
> I did a few of those kinds of shops years ago, but
> went in before the end of the day because
> mom/grandma/sister/friend loaned me the money.
> However, I won't do them anymore because they can
> affect your credit worthinesd and I've worked too
> hard to make it good.


And all this just for $20. And considering the nature of the shop it's "purchase and return" so you have to go to the store twice which makes it $10 a visit.

hmmmm..... I did a similar shop a couple weeks ago... however the shop fee was $100 and it said that the actual fees would be reimbursed.... wonder if I read that wrong.....

dmp777 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hmmmm..... I did a similar shop a couple weeks
> ago... however the shop fee was $100 and it said
> that the actual fees would be reimbursed....
> wonder if I read that wrong.....


Depends on MSC. I saw this type of shop starting at $20 with MarketForce and going all the way up to $100 because of no takers. $100 payment + fees reimbursement sound pretty good. As for Kern, there are no takers, but the fee stays at $20, the highest fee I saw was $20+$2bonus. No thanks...

Shoppers must not be biting...I received 3 of those emails yesterday!

It seems that now that MF is doing these shops, Kern/Service Sleuth is having a harder time getting them filled. They seem to sit on the board much longer. Who wouldn't rather do the shorter report without narrative for more money?

Thanks Plusha, that sure explains alot. Sure seems that in MSing the saying...good things come to those who wait also works with these shops and the fees. Learning to be a hold out.

Your response made me wonder something else, with Kern scheduling... do you know if they schedule for more than one MSC?

Also....I did not realize that the shop would effect my credit, it sure was not in all the paperwork the MSC, however I noticed I lost 18 pts since I last checked my score last month and wondered why until reading this post.....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2014 04:17PM by dmp777.

I did one once for $175 (Plus fee reimbursement).

I wouldn't do it again for $500.

Well, maybe....if they really offered me $500.

Nasty, nasty, rude nasty people. They actually did not WANT to give me a loan.

I actually at one point looked at her and said, you know, if I enjoyed being talked to like that, I'd
still be married.....



cease

I actually had one email that said $140.00 car shops. It was actually 7 car shops at $20.00 each.

Oh that is SO wrong! And they keep thinking they will get by with it!

jwolpert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I actually had one email that said $140.00 car
> shops. It was actually 7 car shops at $20.00 each.

Yes, they do think or hope we are stupid, unfortunately it takes time for the newbys to realize the marketing tricks. It's nothing personal, just marketing and business. We all see the same thing in supermarkets, retail, others. I am starting to realize from this forum that mystery shoppers are some of the smarter people on the planet. Also very observant. The companies are lucky to have all of us willing to work for what we do. Some do appreciate it and make the extra effort, most of them don't.

Yes, Kern does handle more than one msc.

More MSP's I am with are going to flat fee (say, $10) with NO reimbursement. One even tells you what to purchase and it comes to $8.60 or so). That's a shop for a fee of $1.40. Then they had a panicy day and I was called for a $20 bonus on same shop. How and why do they do such things?

I guess they get enough of them filled at the low price, that they still make money when they bonus some of them. Or they underbid and they don't make anything.

I do not like misleading shops because I have the mental image of some young lady trying to make extra money and getting ripped off.

Don
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sympathy and empathy are different. I don't care. I have neither sympathy nor empathy. Go away

I had no idea.....sigh, that these jobs affected my credit rating. Thank you so much for sharing this !

I have yet to have a payday loan affect my credit rating. And, believe me, I have checked. Maybe it has to do with whether it is a "payday" loan or an "installment" loan.

The ones Kern advertises at $20 is not the same as the one at MF, which I have done for $125 and would do them all day long if that fee should happen again. If you read the Kern ad it says you give them a check and post date it and they cash it when the loan comes due. So you only go once and it sounds like you do not need nearly the amt of proof that you can actually afford to pay the loan back. For MF you need to go a second time to pay off the loan. I have not taken the Kern one but I found the ones I did to be quite simple to do aside from getting the paperwork together. Even at $20 as long as you do not get your credit dinged it sounds like much better pay than most ms jobs.
But I agree with all of you about including the reimbursement for fees for something you get absolutely no value out of in the "pay" they are offering is ridiculous. Now if it was for chocolate I would count it as worth something to me but loan fees when the only reason you have loan fees is to do the shop???

I just snatched up a shop earlier in the week that promised pay of $70, plus $10 reimbursement. Now, I've applied to this company for shops with pretty reasonable fees in the past, but I was always declined or someone else snatched it up first. I was accepted for this shop almost immediately. Strangely enough, though, the information on the shop still wasn't being revealed.

Considering the fact that it's a pretty hard drive to get to this location on back roads, and that it would put close to 200 miles on my car, I thought it would surely be worth it, though, and waited until I could access the materials.

But only several days later did it allow me to view the review for the project (not the full materials), and it says that I may be required to buy a gift card in excess of $20 during the shop, but has yet to tell me just -how- much we're talking about. "Over $20" is vague, and it's making me uncomfortable being unable to review the full requirements for this shop.

I get that this company wants to remain private, but I'm kind of fed up with playing secret agent over how much money I have to spend for the shop. From what I can tell, it's a pretty extensive questionnaire, on par with Ikea's requirements (if you're familiar). With it costing me $30+ in gas alone, plus a $10 purchase, plus a $20+?? gift card purchase, totalling out to $60 in up front expenses, I'm starting to think this whole $70+10 is a little bit like the $50 cash advance trick.

Not only that, but I've noticed that during the course of the week, none of the other shops are being touched. This time last year, I couldn't even get one! Should I take this as a red flag?