Any shop where the report does not match the instructions. After swearing off BBB shops for the past 18 months, I stupidly agreed to try one again because I thought the shop couldn't possibly be as tedious as I remembered.

Wrong! A few of the questions on the shop report are for a different scenario than the one I was assigned to.

I was looking forward to the free shower caddy, but at this point I can't even submit the stupid report. What a colossal waste of time and energy. I hope the email I sent to the Help Desk will help clear up the confusion, but I'm not feeling hopeful.

Jack's Drive Thru shops

Way too much detail required for a fast food drive-thru shop. They want five or six sentences for each category that applies to the drive-thru areas, customer service and food items ordered.

Jack's Dine-In shops are a close second for the same reason. Way too much detail is required for a fast food shop. The MSC uses the same format for fast food restaurants as it does for fine dining restaurants and taverns.

whosear Wrote:
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> Buffalo Wild Wings. Grabbed one after a productive
> afternoon in the downtown area. Reviewed the
> requirements: buy 1 item from 4 categories. Had
> not ever eaten at one. Take out. Arrived, looked
> at the menu. The lowest items added up to $30,
> reimbursement: $15 & $5 fee. Then the scheduler
> emails me to say that management is a stickler for
> the 12 hour deadline and will drop the shop if I
> don't make it. Got it in.
>
> Scheduler does email personal emails asking for
> help. But no more of these shops.

The first time I did BWW, I tried doing it without exceeding fee and reimbursement and failed. I then decided that if I were going to do it, I would do it knowing I (and hubby) would likely exceed anticipated payment so I really was just doing it to cut down on the cost of going there. I had a much better time with that in mind. Same with grocery shops -- I learned that trying to keep to the amount I expected to get paid was often too difficult so I just look at them as a way of saving money on something I have to do anyway (and, actually, lately, I have been keeping my purchase total to very close to the payment amount because I often don't need very much from the store but want to get paid for it).

risinghorizon Wrote:
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> Upscale restaurant shops that do not offer a fee
> but require a minimum expense and reimburse only a
> maximum of $25.
>
> Shops that require a picture of the cashier or the
> food or the menu on the board. Practically
> inviting trouble.
>
> Grocery shops.

That reminds me I recently completely a shop where I had to take pictures of the menus of three FF competitors. The guidelines said to be inconspicuous while taking the pictures. I was wondering how in the world someone is supposed to be inconspicuous taking multiple photos of the menus? Anyway, they allowed for taking pics of the drive-thru menus so that's what I did. I also bet on the fact that FF places are frequently employed by teens and figured they really couldn't care less about me standing out there taking pictures of their menus (I also used my iPhone so I figured they might also conclude I was some whacko nutter taking pics of FF menus to post or something).

My most hated shop is IKEA -- both for the shop & report and the MSC who does them; they are the winningest combo of suck I have ever encountered. I think that is the ONLY shop I will never do again, and I ceased shopping for that MSC last summer (they STILL owe me money).

Once I was to take pictures of the drive thru board at Burger King. The manager came out and asked what I was doing. I told him my mother was not able to get out and she wanted to know what was on their menu. He went inside and returned with a paper menu.

Nina--just so long as Jennifer is not a shoplifter or a check forger. I had a friend who had to carry around a statement from the police department that she was not "that" person of the same name and did not forge checks. This was the only way, in the days when almost everyone used checks, that she could purchase something.

Banks and car dealerships....I feel kidnapped when I do dealerships!!

Any cell phone shops where one has to retune the phone by mail.. PIA!!!!

No kidding... I provided War and Peace for the redundant narratives (phone and in person) and recorded call and recorded visit. I only recorded 80% of in person visit so got paid nothing. Never again.

Too funny. I love 5 guys. And you're supposed to spend 15 minutes for the shop. Don't eat so fast!

Yes, they do everything not to pay you. Then lie (the report had fuzzy pictures - my Note 3 does not take fuzzy pictures lol)

Hsbc Bank shops, the pay is ok the report is forever and repetitive, by the time the report is finished you're averaging $3.00

Almost anything from Maritz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did one this week. I was deciding what my second item would be when I saw a customer with one bulky and one small item in her hands as she browsed. It made me want to check the address of where I was supposed to be. LOL

MDavisnowell Wrote:
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> My least favorite shop of all time was Bed Bath
> and Beyond because of the scenario carrying bulky
> items around the store (what sane customer would
> do that?) and the difficulty of gathering
> required information such as names off name tags
> that could not be read due to placement. No more.
> No way. No how.

The way I look at these is that 15 min is for ALL the tasks involved in the job, not just the eating portion.

Evaluating the entrance, the washroom the service and eating. So you should be able to get away with spending just 10 min of eating time there, if you are a gobbler.

gwingman2002 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Too funny. I love 5 guys. And you're supposed to
> spend 15 minutes for the shop. Don't eat so fast!

Assisted Living shops, probably similar to apartment shops, only much more time consuming.

The apartment shop I did (mentioned above) took at least 6 hours, recordings etc. - and I didn't get paid... so much for EPMS... I haven't done any of their video shops but stay away from written or written/audio shops. As someone just said, they suck big time.

If the recording cut off why did you spend time filing out the report? Video shoppers contact the company if ever there is a problem like that. If the MSC will not be able to accept the shop we don't upload anything and don't fill out a report. Naturally the time for the phone call and onsite will be a loss, but normally the call and onsite should be well under an hour.

Dislike any shop that is low-paying but requires many pictures. Photos all have to be edited, and it can take hours to select and edit photos. This nightmare happened to me on a Jack-in-the-Box menu audit. I had to go into a McDonald's in Wal-Mart and photograph the menu. Well, the menu stretched across the wall and around the corner. I had to take 6 photos of all the different menus. And I had to take extras. The MSC couldn't see the Shakes menu, so I had to go back and shoot it. Then edit all these photos. All for $5. Never again.

I filled out the tedious report before I knew that the audio had cut off. Go ahead and do one and see how long it takes you.

Hazel Eyes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pammie8223 Wrote:
>
> > I decided to leave Chipotle alone after have
> done
> > the training, the pay was not enough for the
> > detail involved imo.
>
> I totally understand your decision. I went to a
> local Chipotle for training last week and also
> decided this mystery shopping gig was not for me.
> Too much detail and not enough pay for what they
> want overall.


when I first was trained for Chipotle and did my first three or so jobs I swore to myself I would quit soon but wanted to do several jobs first as I felt an ethical need to help out after they did a paid and fed me training. AT the time I was not blown away by the food. But by the time I put in what I considered an adequate amt of shops so I would not feel bad about quitting I was addicted to their burritos. It's been years now and the months I skip I miss them. I am a Chipotle addict now.
My least liked jobs are the mega multi interaction ones, especially in a store where you cannot find a salesperson to help you. Those for me have been grocery stores. Just not worth the hassle. I did one at a health food store where I had to wait on line to speak with people in each dept and find every out of date item on the shelf and keep a list with specific item names. It took forever and I ended up purchasing some over priced items I could have found for the same price at a restaurant where they cooked it for me and served me and washed the dishes too.

Ikea and chipotle