Now,this is not so funny...

The "spotter" assignments for a certain bumper sticker for a (fuel station) I did for $15.. are now being offered by a lower priced company for $10.

This is the one where you find the customer with the certain fuel (bumper sticker) and give them a prize, usually a $10 gas card.

Without reading all the guidelines... I am assuming you spot the sticker and reward the customer...

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they showed as 15 on my screen now? Did you check your glasses?

And couple years ago they were 20 each. Before that more.

But don't do them. I waited last year and got a bunch for a bonus of75 each : )

= + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = +
There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==
When you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody

I'd get my friends to get the sticker....have them go to the station that day...and get it done quickly!

Even better. I was just offered them as a route. You have to do every one of the 5 gas stations. If I lived at one of the stations, the round-trip mileage is 90 miles anbd will take 2 hours of driving, plus a toll bridge and a toll road. So, IRS mileage rate for 90 miles = $51.75, tolls = $4 (could be $12 depending on the day of the week and time). So, $55.75 (or $63.75) in costs in order to receive fees totalling $50 and that doesn't even address the issue of time. 2 hours of driving plus you have to stay at each location for 1 hour. So with driving time, this effectively means an 8 hour day for $50. Not even minimum wage, even if you forget about the cost of mileage and tolls.

Someone will say, but it is only 3 gallons of gas = $11 so I will make $40 and then be surprised (after they accept the shops) to see how much time they have to commit at each gas station. Outside in the summer heat and humidity. Then they will flake.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2015 10:55PM by myst4au.

all the stations are locked into circuits. No doubt including ones in the circuits
that are not logical on some of them

@techman01 wrote:

they showed as 15 on my screen now? Did you check your glasses?

And couple years ago they were 20 each. Before that more.

But don't do them. I waited last year and got a bunch for a bonus of75 each : )

Am I allowed to mention the company, since I did not mention the actual gas station or MSC? Okay, the mystery shopping company begins with an "I" and not a very favorite company for some...and no my glasses are fine......another letter just posted a few moments ago, with a huge slew of cities. (if I should not post this information about the "I" I will remove it if you let me know

And this is NEW, at least to me, that this company beginning with an "I" is doing this fuel sticker assignment and for $10.

It sounds like this fuel company has "other" companies too, performing this shop besides the two I know about?...

Ylou can't get it done quickly. You have to stay at each gas station for an hour handing out reward cards. The details are not there, so I don't know if everyone with a sticker gets a reward card, but it is explicit that you have to stay at each station for an hour. I think that last year with (I think) a different MSC, that people were running out of gift cards, and getting gift cards delivered late (and you had to be home to sign for them), which really messed up schedules. 100 foot pole for me.

@jmitw wrote:

I'd get my friends to get the sticker....have them go to the station that day...and get it done quickly!

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

To top it off, you have to send back the vest and unissued cards. I'm guessing that you get to pay the postage to mail these back?

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

The three in my area were routed, and the price was 15 per shop. Whats the point of routing them if your not going to attach a bonus?

That's right, botched beyond recognition last year with changing start dates, waiting for vests and hats to arrive, MSC screwing up your schedule by not shipping your supplies in time for you to do the shop when you said you would, not having enough supplies, and changing guidelines over and over.
Oh, and don't forget those occasional stampedes when the whole neighborhood grabs a sticker and demands their gift card.
Yes, the spotter shops are back.
I'll admit, I'm pretty psyched. I did 18 of them, but my pay ranged from $30-75 per location during the last five days of the last extended deadline.
Maybe I'll take a couple for their $10 starting price this year, just to get a full hour of beautiful July sunshine and fresh gas fumed air (plus reporting), or maybe just for old time's sake.
But wait, I can't take a couple. You can't either. Yes, they've been bundled into mandatory routes of five.

I think you are more likely to get sunburned or even end up with sun poisoning after your spend 5 hours out in the July sun. Make sure that you stay hydrated. Unless you can line up a medical mystery shop for the end of the day, the trip to the urgent care facility is going to run more than the paltry fee.

WAIT - maybe we should be paying them for the privilege of standing out in the sun for 5 hours! Maybe they can recruit the shoppers who like the tanning shops?

@elcarev68 wrote:

Maybe I'll take a couple for their $10 starting price this year, just to get a full hour of beautiful July sunshine and fresh gas fumed air (plus reporting), or maybe just for old time's sake.
But wait, I can't take a couple. You can't either. Yes, they've been bundled into mandatory routes of five.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

If people won't say the MSC or the company, Someone should for the new shoppers. This may be enough information for anyone who's been around since the fieasco last year, but there are new members all the time.

This is the Sunoco bumper sticker shop. There were many problems and even shoppers that were concerened about safety. Do a search for "bumper sticker" and "Sunoco" and read all about it.

But they are "fun"...

MissChele - Shopping KY, IN & OH
Thread Killer

@MissChele wrote:

But they are "fun"...

Yeah, fun to read about. The MSC practically lied about what the job required in the job description and everyone who signed up before seeing the full requirements bailed at the last minute, likely do to reading this forum. Then they had to scramble and pay a hefty fee to get people to replace the seasoned shoppers in remote areas who declined the job.

The requirements changed by the day due to lack of vests and paperwork that was sent to the shoppers that abandoned the job. This is what I call a popcorn moment. I signed up as a backup person for a few stations when the MSC was in the weeds and people were picketing the job based on the misleading job description. I'm sure the MSC has learned a hard lesson and lost money on that account.

I don't expect to see those high prices for this shop ever again. This was a rare instance where people practically picketed the job and the MSC was likely in the red when the project was over.

@myst4au wrote:

WAIT - maybe we should be paying them for the privilege of standing out in the sun for 5 hours! Maybe they can recruit the shoppers who like the tanning shops?

Maybe we should be sending them our medical bills when we are diagnosed with skin cancer!

@jmitw wrote:

I'd get my friends to get the sticker....have them go to the station that day...and get it done quickly!

That is totally dishonest. And you still have to be at the station for an hour.

This is exactly the kind of job I would never do. It sounds worse than the door hanging jobs.

Are the door hanging shops really bad? I'm doing my first one next week. Thank you! Night Owl AT 2:44 AM

@jmitw wrote:

I'd get my friends to get the sticker....have them go to the station that day...and get it done quickly!

This is beyond WRONG and unethical. I believe the company mentions, to not call your friends with bumper stickers and have them rush over to the gas station...

I liked it but one hour is a long time at the gas station. But when I was a newbie, I must have done 20 of these over a span of time...

Speaking of "safety" I did one in a bad part of town. I was so scared, I stayed near my car, lol. (yes, I approached everyone that had the sticker) Then, after an hour of agony, I finally left. (whew) Two days later, that same gas station, was robbed and the cashier was shot! Thankfully, she lived, from what I understand.

In this area I did 9 of the locations last year and a grand total of TWO people between all 9 locations had this sticker stuck on their car. I also heard later that the cards had some kind of flaw and weren't working for the recipients.

I also got hassled when returning the vest and cards because the company insisted that I had not sent the vest when it was obviously in the same mailing envelope with the cards. (Hint, I sent their goods back to them while on a post office shop) and I made it the correct weight. They tried to withold payment for the shops because of vest fiasco.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2015 09:07PM by Cettie.

@annelehman wrote:

Are the door hanging shops really bad? I'm doing my first one next week. Thank you! Night Owl AT 2:44 AM

There is nothing wrong with door hanging. Get fresh air and some exercise. Oh ya, they pay!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2015 06:57PM by SunnyDays2.

I cancelled last year after rescheduling twice because I did not receive the vest etc, then the scheduler wanted the three done the week I was going away on vacation. I wrote to the scheduler to explain and she gave me a flake citation times 10.! She wrote on the citation that I flaked "likely" after the vest was sent.

The funny thing is because of the flake citation I can never self assign anything.

So the three jobs I have done since then for the I company have been highly bonused. Apparently the other schedulers don't care that I am a flake when they need something done. Besides the fact that my scores are all 10's and one 9 because I did not write one sentence in the past tense.

I like the door-hanging jobs. I like the ones in high-rise residences, start on the top floor, and work my way down floor by floor. Easy-peasy. And in some of them (particularly the high-end downtown condos) the concierge informs you that you aren't allowed beyond the front desk, so THEY take the door hang materials, sign that you delivered them and weren't allowed upstairs to personally hang them, and you're done! The pay seems fair -- and you get paid for taking your daily walk! :-)

it's the same msc doing them this year so dont count on them being
more organized. They will still end up with some bonused locations no
doubt. Why do 20 for 300 bucks when I can do 4 for 250+?
Less is more.

Last year they never sent me a vest or gift cards. Had me print some
paper to give to the winners saying they would get their gift card in the mail.

I wonder if they ever actually received them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2015 01:35PM by techman01.

@Izzy wrote:

I like the door-hanging jobs. I like the ones in high-rise residences, start on the top floor, and work my way down floor by floor. Easy-peasy. And in some of them (particularly the high-end downtown condos) the concierge informs you that you aren't allowed beyond the front desk, so THEY take the door hang materials, sign that you delivered them and weren't allowed upstairs to personally hang them, and you're done! The pay seems fair -- and you get paid for taking your daily walk! :-)

Are you saying that you submit your report confirming that YOU performed the door hanging? Did you only receive partial pay since you handed them to the front desk personnel? Or did you receive full pay?

Who does the door-hanging ones since the client wasn't mentioned? Just curious. This sounds like robotic work which I am good at and needing right now.

Where are we going... and why are we in a hand basket?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2015 02:56PM by Lexxycon.

@december baby wrote:

I wrote to the scheduler to explain and she gave me a flake citation times 10.! She wrote on the citation that I flaked "likely" after the vest was sent.

So wait. Is she insinuating you wanted a free vest? I don't get the whole "likely" thing. Don't you have to send it back anyways? I'd complain about the 10x flake. That's excessive.

Where are we going... and why are we in a hand basket?

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