Greetings to all fellow Mystery Shoppers! I have been shopping for only 3 months, so I guess I'm a "Newbie" around here.
To get started, I joined Shadow Shoppers using their low cost trial option. I would never pay big bucks for job possibilities, but at such a nominal cost, it was worth using temporarily. Every time I open up my email, there are several job notices.
I have gone pretty slow and have only completed 8-10 jobs. I got really, really lucky and was offered a 5* beach front resort hotel stay close to my home in Florida. I had a gorgeous room. To beat it all, part of the job was to order room service and eat by the pool.
It was a reoccurring job that could have potentially been offered to me on occasion. However, when I was there, they were having an Iron Man Triathlon. The Iron Man Association was serving complimentary h'ouderves on the beach. (It was the Closing Medal Ceremony open to all) It was not related to the hotel. My hubby and I ate something there which gave us food poisoning and boy did it throw us for a loop!
We went home earlier than planned the next day. I phoned the Shopping Service I was working for explaining my illness and they kindly gave me a 24 hour extension on my report. However, I was feeling worse by then. I wrote up the extensive report which was a bear to do. They format was bad and it was the type that gave you a limited number of space to respond to a very detailed question, so it took a lot of planning just to get the main ideas to fit in the allotted character space.
Boy did I bomb on it! It was an O.K. report, but it was not a complete, well written evaluation that was worth the $500.00 hotel bill they reimbursed me.
It still hurts, because they gave me a rare, wonderful opportunity and I had every effort to "knock them out" with the final product review. I was just soooo sick.
To end this sad sap story. (I know I'm rambling.) I went to the E.R. the day after the report was due. The Dr. said he had saw a least 50 other people who had been at the Iron Man Ceremony. People were cancelling their flights home because they were to ill to travel. I wish the scheduler could have know this so she was not so disappointed in me and my work....
Embarrassed and wanting to plant my head in the sand. I did email the scheduler, apologized for the review and briefly explained. She said she would give me another try sometime, but I never heard from her. I knew I wouldn't and I can't blame her.
Since that one in a million opportunity, I have had to return to Earth and have reviewed a Movie Theater, Steak Houses, Bose and a few boutiques. I myself do not get involved in small change ($5.00 - $10.00) Shops. In agreement with my fellow shoppers, you just break even with those. They are usually the ones with the longest, detailed evaluation form which takes you a considerable amount of time to complete. Some shoppers do it for a hobby, but most used it as needed income. I find people will put fourth great effort if they feel they are being fairly compensated. I know that the Mystery Shopping Services contract their jobs from big corporations, so they set the pay to the Shopper. I would rather pay a decent and fair wage (not extravagant), so that I could build up a roster of dependable, willing and qualified reviewers. It would have to save them time, effort and last minute headaches. It has to be worth $5.00 or $10.00 extra dollars per shop to ensure you keep you reviews in check, running smooth and keeping your contracted account happy. It a no brain-er!
I actually just wondered into this website a short time ago. I am very happy to see Jacob working to build a community that we can all gather knowledge to benefit the trade.
I live in Tampa/St.Pete/Clearwater, Florida area and would be grateful to Veteran Shoppers or anyone who would like to offer suggestions to me at
interiorconceptsflorida@att.net. Passing the knowledge, please feel free to contact me with your questions and I will help you any way I can!
Anne B
Palm Harbor,FL