I have been doing ms for awhile now but im finding that its the same shops and I really don't like fast food like that but I do them to get the experience and to really know what to look for when I do visit fast foods but I really would like to get into doing hotel shops any suggestions? and also good companies that really pay out and on a timely fashion, am I asking too much? again any suggestions? im need more than $8.00- 17.00 please help

Hi. If you look under your original post, there is a link to lots of info about hotel shopping. That's a great place to start.

To me fast food to hotels is a big jump. It's a good idea to try a variety of shops including those with a lot of narrative. Hotels are a large financial risk so knowing your mystery shopping and writing skills are solid will take away a lot of the stress.

There is a list of MSC payment terms somewhere here, maybe under mystery shopping company discussions. On time is common for most. I don't know your idea of timely, but most pay in the 30 to 60 day range. If you are finding those payment terms uncomfortable for now, concentrate on balancing your schedule with more shops that either don't require a purchase at all or where you can purchase something useful you would be buying anyway. Fast food shops tend to pay less than the required reimbursement amount making you feel like you are in the hole all the time.

@calimac66 wrote:

I have been doing ms for awhile now but im finding that its the same shops and I really don't like fast food like that but I do them to get the experience and to really know what to look for when I do visit fast foods but I really would like to get into doing hotel shops any suggestions? and also good companies that really pay out and on a timely fashion, am I asking too much? again any suggestions? im need more than $8.00- 17.00 please help

How long is awhile? A month, a year, two years? If you have been doing it a month, that's not very long. I would not move to hotels yet. There are a lot of writing requirements and you need good grammar, spelling, and punctuation or you will not get good grades on the reports and you won't get jobs after that. I started shopping in 2009 because my brother had been doing mystery shops to get his tanning booth fees and groceries. He took me to Texas Roadhouse and I was hooked. I did Market Force shops for about 6 months before I tried anything harder. Market Force reports may be the easiest there are so that company is good for newbies. There's almost no narrative so even someone with poor writing skills can be successful. Writing is hard for me and I am challenged with making full sentences with proper punctuation and capitalization. You look like you also have difficulty writing well. I would advise you to work at least 6 months on jobs with easy reports like Market Force. Little by little, start taking casual dining shops that require narrative. A good choice would be Reality Based Group. Their reports require more narrative than Market Force but are still easy.

As for more money, most jobs pay $8-17 unless they are very time-consuming and require a lot of writing. The $8-17 for Market Force and Reality Based rarely take very long and have easy reports. Some companies pay $8-17 and have much harder reports. If you want to try a hotel shop, maybe try A Closer Look. Their hotel shops seem easier than most and their writing requirements are not as much as other hotel writing requirements. But they usually don't pay much. The "pay" is the hotel reimbursement so even if you enjoy the hotel stay you aren't making more money. If you are lucky enough to get a bonused shop, you could make more money.

I think unless someone has been shopping a long time, has good relationships built up with schedulers, works in an area of little competition, is willing to travel, and is very good at writing, they will not make a LOT of money.

@calimac66 I can't add anything else. You would do well to heed the thoughtful advice that was given above. It's GOLD.

I'm trying to add hotel shops to my portfolio....but yea am a bit intimidated by the amount of info and narratives there may be to do. I have gone from MF fast casual restaurants to sit down experiences so I think I could try hotel shops. Thanks for the suggestion to try A Closer Look...perhaps eventually I can work up to a more fancy hotel.

I didn't start doing those until I had been shopping for approximately 10 years, they also were not plentiful in my area.

For the "higher end" or "more fancy hotel," you really have to be on your feet. I have completed several high end hotels and, boy, things can go south quickly. Due to the configuration of the hotel or the multiple line staff, you might have to interact with a handful of people for just one task. I have had to repeat several scenarios just to get the test completed. At times, husband and I have to walk a certain way just so we can get the names of the staff or have to adjust our speech to slow down or speed up to get more information.

At one hotel, we had to drive our car to the room, so the bell service was awkward, yet we still had to play it out. So, now, I actually enjoy the "less fancier" hotel. It actually gives me time to enjoy and relax!

One type of shop I would suggest the original poster avoid is Apartment shops (and anyone else who has issues with narrative reports). They frequently have a bonus added and so the pay is good, but the reports are very long and primarily narrative. It can take 30 min to 45 minutes to do the actual shop - that is after you drive to the location. Then you drive home and I would say in average, the report is an hour. So while the pay can be good, breaking it down hourly it is not so good.

I've considered doing those hotel shops with just reimbursement and balked on the lack of pay.

After careful consideration, I've decided a night with my wife without children is pay enough.

@Jay C wrote:

@calimac66 wrote:

I have been doing ms for awhile now but im finding that its the same shops and I really don't like fast food like that but I do them to get the experience and to really know what to look for when I do visit fast foods but I really would like to get into doing hotel shops any suggestions? and also good companies that really pay out and on a timely fashion, am I asking too much? again any suggestions? im need more than $8.00- 17.00 please help

How long is awhile? A month, a year, two years? If you have been doing it a month, that's not very long. I would not move to hotels yet. There are a lot of writing requirements and you need good grammar, spelling, and punctuation or you will not get good grades on the reports and you won't get jobs after that. I started shopping in 2009 because my brother had been doing mystery shops to get his tanning booth fees and groceries. He took me to Texas Roadhouse and I was hooked. I did Market Force shops for about 6 months before I tried anything harder. Market Force reports may be the easiest there are so that company is good for newbies. There's almost no narrative so even someone with poor writing skills can be successful. Writing is hard for me and I am challenged with making full sentences with proper punctuation and capitalization. You look like you also have difficulty writing well. I would advise you to work at least 6 months on jobs with easy reports like Market Force. Little by little, start taking casual dining shops that require narrative. A good choice would be Reality Based Group. Their reports require more narrative than Market Force but are still easy.

As for more money, most jobs pay $8-17 unless they are very time-consuming and require a lot of writing. The $8-17 for Market Force and Reality Based rarely take very long and have easy reports. Some companies pay $8-17 and have much harder reports. If you want to try a hotel shop, maybe try A Closer Look. Their hotel shops seem easier than most and their writing requirements are not as much as other hotel writing requirements. But they usually don't pay much. The "pay" is the hotel reimbursement so even if you enjoy the hotel stay you aren't making more money. If you are lucky enough to get a bonused shop, you could make more money.

I think unless someone has been shopping a long time, has good relationships built up with schedulers, works in an area of little competition, is willing to travel, and is very good at writing, they will not make a LOT of money.

Please note that with the high-end hotel shops you can easily be on the hook for over $2000 for just a single shop. Can you play the part of someone who would spend $500 a night for a room and $80 for breakfast without blinking?

Next remember the report has to be accepted and then you will have to wait for the charge to be reversed to your credit card. I did loads of these hotel shops while I was "homeless".

I have done loads of these shops and my advise is to get loads of experience with long narratives and don't accept the hotel shop if you can not afford to pay for it if the shop is not accepted. Make sure you leave plenty of time after the on-site part of the shop to do the report and be ready to replay to any follow-up required by the MSC.

These shops are glamorous but also a lot of work. If you have a reason to get away, go for it. Otherwise, just do a really nice restaurant and head home to your comfortable bed that has the right kind of pillows you love!

Regal does offer payment in addition to hotel reimbursement, but like other people have posted, you have to wait for reimbursement from most companies that do hotel shops (there are a few that reverse the charges immediately). I have waited up to three months to get payment from some of the hotel shops I have done. You generally have to put the folio expenses on your credit card, and then need cash for the bar, breakfast buffet, and room service (integrity portion of the shop) so you need to have a few hundred dollars in cash if that's the case. I fortunately can afford to do that, and I pay off the credit card the following month (unless I have a new 0% promotional cc that I am using). If you can't do that, consider that you will have to pay the interest on your credit card until you receive the reimbursement and be out-of-pocket for that cash you spent doing the shop until you get paid. It's also a lot of work for the fee that they give you. I have done some hotel shops that required approximately eight different interactions with hotel staff for a one-night stay, all requiring play-by-play detailed narratives. Coyle has some high end hotel shops that do pay as well, but expectations are high with any high-end shops.

I did my first hotel shop after 6 months and though it required a LOT of pictures and narrative, it was not bad. There was only reimbursement, no fee. I took it because I wanted to get a hotel shop under my belt and to see what it was like. The next hotel shop I did was at a 5 star hotel and required more than a lot of narrative and was critiqued to death. I decided that I would not do any more shops for that MSC. I have another hotel shop coming up next weekend where hubby can go. I decided to take it because it is near a comedy club that we frequent and I have free tickets to the club. Except for the "shop work", it's going to be a fun night. It has a nice fee. Unless I can bundle it with something that I want to do, hotel shops will have to have a nice fee as they are a lot of work. They also require a rather large up front expense that is at risk, so that has to be taken into consideration. As everyone has said, your writing skills in addition to your observation skills must be excellent. Plan your hotel shop to be work with a little time off. A lot of shoppers look at it as the opposite, a fun night at a hotel with a little work. If you are traveling, it can be a nice way to cover expenses, provided you can find the hotels that need to be shopped along your route.

Lack of pay?

Well, the rewards points for my hotel shops last year paid for 10 nights of very nice hotels on a recent vacation, and I still hvae many tens of thousand of points "in the bank."

That's true, wales. I was recently able to redeem some rewards points for the hotel in Ponte Vedra, FL for my niece's wedding next month. I wasn't counting that into the equation.

I'm surprisingly a decent writer, so narratives don't scare me that much. I have to be in the groove and I can get it done in a decent amount of time....just have to make sure that I keep good notes (although I have a good sense of recall).

What MSC besided closer look offer motel shops? I travel a lot and cannot find any motel shops but would like to do more if I could. Any help would be appreciated. thanks Kassy

Coyle (higher end) and Intellishop once in awhile....

This is a nice perk... The only thing for me is that the hotel chains continue to devalue the points year after year, making much more difficult to cash in the points for a decent stay.

@walesmaven wrote:

Lack of pay?

Well, the rewards points for my hotel shops last year paid for 10 nights of very nice hotels on a recent vacation, and I still hvae many tens of thousand of points "in the bank."

@kascadya wrote:

What MSC besided closer look offer motel shops? I travel a lot and cannot find any motel shops but would like to do more if I could. Any help would be appreciated. thanks Kassy

Data Quest has hotel shops that I love doing, I recommend them.