Sprouts in CA. is growing by leaps and bounds. Are they currently evaluated by an outside source?

Yes, they are shopped here in So Cal and have been for years. Here, the fee is $10, plus $20 reimbursement. The shop includes five interactions (six if there is a bagger), but it's not too intense. It does require that you place an inexpensive bulk item under your cart and see if an employee catches it--if not, you are to leave with it, unpaid.

The shop JenW has described in SoCal is exactly what is shopped in Texas. This is the shop that has caused so many arguments. The bottom-of-the-basket scenario for this client differs from how other clients want it handled. Most clients say if the cashier (or bagger, etc.) does not catch the item on the bottom of the basket, you should tell them or go to Customer Service with the item. The guidelines of this shop require you to leave the store with the item still on the bottom of the basket and report it. I love these shops!

I have actually done 2 shops with 2 different companies. The first was the 5-6 interactions with the bulk item on the bottom of the cart. The second was a 100 item price audit for them with a small purchase. I did both. In the same week.

yes.

I called Sprouts today and asked the question. The answer was no and that they were only reviewed by customer surveys. I guess that I am stuck at this point.

They are shopped. I dread the report. I pick these up on occasion. The amount of time that they take to perform, plus the report, makes them not profitable. I kick myself every time I take one.

The person you spoke with either knows nothing, or they aren't shopped in your area. I do the here in SoCal all the time and like them. They are easy interactions and the reimbursement is good.

We have them here in Las Vegas. I dread the interaction with the Vitamins/that stuff, but it was not that bad. S2

Has anyone seen these Sprouts shops on the board recently? We usually have two waves per month in this area, but I have not seen anything in October, so I'm wondering if they are with the same MSC.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2014 05:32PM by JenW.

I don't see any on the job board for the entire state of CA right now.
Love the shop, hate the editors. It's a constant game of clarifying with them. It's not rocket science, but clearly, I cannot get it right. I guess I need to stick to the huge fee hotel and bar audits and just quit trying.

I've been watching for them, here in Southern California, and haven't seen any in October, either. I'm feeling greatly disappointed--I loved them. (I will say that it's a relief to know that I wasn't spotted as a shopper and banned. I'm just a little paranoid about that.)

I developed a system for the report. As soon as I answered a question with 'No', I jumped down to the narrative space for that section, and put in a short sentence. "The associate did not offer me any other products." When I rated a department, I jumped down to the narrative space, and did the same thing. "I rated this department as Met Expectations because...." Then, it was easy to just write a short narrative covering the interaction, and I never had to worry about getting the reports kicked back at me.

I haven't seen these all month. Hope they have not stopped their shopping program. I love this shop!

Sprouts has stopped their shopping program, at least with the old company. I emailed my scheduler a couple of days ago to ask if I was not allowed to do them anymore for some reason since I wasn't seeing them on my job board. She mentioned in her email back that she thought they had gone to a customer survey program offered on the receipt. I'm crushed, I loved those shops so much.

Boo-hoo! I'm super bummed. That shop was one of my faves.

I suspected that, but I'm crushed, too. As for that customer survey, BAH!

I'm very sad. I hope they don't hold their breath waiting for a customer survey from me.

Ugh, I am sorry to read that what I feared is fact. I wondered why there were none in October. That really hurts--I was buying most of our meat this way. No, I won't be doing a survey for them either.

I went to Sprouts today because I couldn't resist 99¢ Blackberries.

The survey invitation on the receipt says you will be entered to win a $250 Sprouts gift certificate. Do people really do these surveys?

NumberNineteen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went to Sprouts today because I couldn't resist
> 99¢ Blackberries.
>
> The survey invitation on the receipt says you will
> be entered to win a $250 Sprouts gift certificate.
> Do people really do these surveys?

Probably less than 20 a month per store is my guess. We got about 10 per month in our store with the offer of a $500 gift card drawing and the sales associates circling the survey and begging the customers to fill them out.

Austinmom,

I have signed up for over 100 companies, I live in North Austin. I am having trouble finding enough jobs. Any suggestions? Any company that always has a lot of work or lots of jobs with retail clothing? I don't see a lot of those around here.

Thanks!!

There's a tremendous amount of competition in the Austin area, more than a lot of other cities. Keep signing up with companies, and try not to get discouraged. Accept that, because of competition, bonused shops are very rare and there are not as many overall jobs available.

NumberNineteen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sprouts has stopped their shopping program, at
> least with the old company. I emailed my scheduler
> a couple of days ago to ask if I was not allowed
> to do them anymore for some reason since I wasn't
> seeing them on my job board. She mentioned in her
> email back that she thought they had gone to a
> customer survey program offered on the receipt.
> I'm crushed, I loved those shops so much.


Oh no! I really liked these shops too. That's too bad.

Dear Sprouts Executives (who are probably patting themselves on the back and writing big Christmas bonus checks to themselves because of saving money by cutting the Mystery Shopping Program),

I went to one of your locations today, one that I have shopped for you multiple times. It isn't one of your flagships, they missed the under cart item most of the time and other little things, but overall they got right most of what they should. Today? If I had been shopping them today I would have had to write the worst report I have ever written for a Sprouts, and I've done over 50 shops for you.

In the parking lot I was accosted by a beggar as soon as I opened my car door after parking. He had a scam going with the hood to his car up and a sad story about needing repair money.

The restroom had 9 pieces of paper trash on the floor, the trash can was full and overflowing, and there was no toilet paper in one of the stalls.

The cashier had unnecessary conversation with another employee and barely looked at me. She did not thank me at the end of the transaction. She never broke eye contact with the employee she was talking with as she waved the receipt in my general direction. She did not put the grocery sacks into my cart, so if I had "forgotten" an under cart item she certainly would not have caught it. Neither would have her buddy since I was invisible as far as he was concerned.

Are y'all sure you made the right decision regarding your mystery shopping program?

Sincerely,
A former shopper of yours