What do you love or hate about mystery shopping?

Personally, I love the ability to schedule my own hours and giving out rewards. I hate narratives that require a paragraph on whether John Doe said hello or not. lol. I hate being scheduled at the last minute and searching for shops to add to a route. I love shopping.

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More About Love & Mystery Shopping

Shopping as in going to a store to find a specific item on my own time is not something I particularly enjoy. Spending money is not anything I ever found particularly therapeutic. So I love the internet, where if I need a particular thing, I can order it and it will be on my doorstep in a day or two. But doing shops I love because so frequently I get to, "Catch 'em doing good." And yes, the business' idea of 'good' may not jive with what I as a real world customer would prefer, but there is a satisfaction in reporting that an employee is doing exactly what they were trained to do.

I love the independence ms'ing affords me.

Having run an independent manufacturer's rep group for 35 years I enjoyed then and enjoy now running my own business and being my own boss. Although the income is not nearly the same, I can still organize, plan and achieve goals. What I don't like, unlike my past career, there are no residuals, no continuation. Each shop is totally on its own and when completed I get paid and move on to another shop. It's like pushing a car with no gas, it goes only so far and then I have to push again. In the past, the car had some gas and would run on its own for a while.

I love being able to work when I want to. We are retired, so this is for extra money, not our livelihood. I love looking for jobs and GETTING them! I like meeting new people and seeing businesses that I might not otherwise encounter. I like giving an employee a pat on the back in my reports, especially those on commission who give me their time without knowing that I'm not buying a car or whatever. I like learning about all kinds of products and services that broaden my horizons. I even like writing narratives when they aren't onerous. It's nice to use skills now and then that I used to need on a daily basis. I like reading about all the other shoppers' experiences on here. I've learned so much and been entertained all at once!

I love it came along at a time I was undecided about what to do with my future. I love it has given me the opportunity to have enough flexibility to watch the Cardinals in the postseason with my soon to be 98 year old grandmother for the last eight years. I hate it is tedious and often unrewarding work. I hate it now bores me to tears. I love it is allowing me to make a living while giving me the freedom to pursue other opportunities which may prove to be more rewarding.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@pampet: Onerous! Great word!

I love to self-schedule. There is always something for me to learn. This business is a third job comprised of as many jobs as I can do. (Remind me not to do so many jobs next month.)

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

The flexibility to be a stay at home mom but make some extra money when I can.

I loved that when I was a stay at home mom, I could still enjoy the luxuries I missed before having children, when we had two incomes and could afford to dine out and travel often. I love that my outcome still seems to stay at about 90% reimbursed even though I'm fully employed now. I love that if I didn't enjoy a shop, I don't ever have to do it again.
I hate being asked for clarification when I checked the yes or no box and wrote a narrative. And then I'm dinged because the editor had to reach out to me... Even though nothing in the report changed! I also hate when schedulers send out urgent notices only to ignore your replies to help out. Or to see the shop remain on the board a few days after the urgent notices get sent out! Very frustrating. I also hate when I need to get in touch with someone at any given company on the weekend and can't get a response until it's too late.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

Love self-assign. If self-assign is not an option, love being able to ignore or apply. Love bonuses. Hate the absurdity of reports that do not allow room to report failure. Love the doors that have opened. Hate scheduling companies who are uncommunicative when needed. Love narratives when the fee is commensurate. Hate being pigeon-holed with pages of pick boxes. Love schedulers who value my worth, reach out and assign accordingly, and respond to requests in a timely fashion. Love companies who pay within their stated terms. Hate to chase payments to those that do not.

You've got it in a nutshell Mert.

One could list all of the reasons Mert mystery shops and all of the reasons I mystery shop and there would be no cross over, lol. Which is great, different strokes and all that. She seems to be much more interested in the providing information to companies part where for me that's just merely a result of the business. I couldn't care less if the interactions go good or bad, that I feel like the client has learned everything they should, or how well the person scores. I give them what they ask for, no more and no less, and have no interest whatsoever in the results or what they do with the feedback. I enjoy doing this because it provides me with the flexibility to work on my own terms, travel if I want, experience things that I normally wouldn't experience, learn things about businesses and companies that I normally wouldn't.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I love the freedom! I love fancy dining, hotels, casinos, apartment shops. I love the money! I hate how long it takes to get the money! Goodness, some of these it's almost two months! If I could get paid sooner, I could do a lot more shops!

I also hate bossy irritating follow up ppl's at a particular company, the good news is though my scheduler with that company is FANTASTIC, or I'd tell them just what to kiss when they sent those rude irritating emails 10 minutes after I agree to do my scheduler a favor and pick up a late shop

Catch me Bloggin' at www.coastalcathy.com

I love the fact I can choose my work. A month ago, I really wanted my 94 year old Dad with me. That didn't happen, but he's decided he wants to hang out. I've been working on fishing holes, so we can fish even if I have to work..

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

I hate the silly assed threads started by newbies thinking they're on to something "new" without doing a Search. Nothing is new on the boards, but new posts are welcome - just not silly assed threads.

I've always liked being self-employed. I like the flexibility. However, my schedule is often dictated by when work is available and deadlines, so it's not completely flexible if I want to make the most money at it.

I noticed that when I am an employee I love learning all about the new job. After a while when I've learned all there is and taken on all the work there is related to the job, I get bored. I typically only last two to two and a half years at a job. With this kind of work, I am always learning something new. New kinds of audits come up, new clients, new companies to work for. Then, I have the familiar jobs that I can do quickly and fill in the rest of my schedule. In October I'll have been doing this three years, and my business grows every year, thank God.

I love the majority of reimbursement shops, because they're as close to regularly finding hundreds of dollars on the sidewalk as I'll ever get.

I'm conflicted about shopping morally bankrupt companies I personally would never patronize, like payday loan shops and Papa John's. Ultimately I'll happily take their money, but I would never give them a dime of mine.

I'm strongly considering giving up auto negotiation shops altogether, because in that case I'm actively and directly harming other human beings for money and going against my own sense of morality. There's no way for me to spin that to myself.

Likes: Fine dining and casual dining. Items that I would not splurge for on a regular basis such as candles, chocolate, shoes, bakery, yogurt, latte's, clothing. The pocket money made from shops that are local, en route or around the area I'll be at. Spending the pocket money on my kids. MSC companies and their staff who are organized and readily available for communication. Feedback from editors; good or bad.

Dislikes: Completing reports that are not well thought out. Completing reports for bad shops. When things go wrong. Guidelines that are not clear. Scheduling jobs in the winter where one never knows if inclement weather will occur.

Madetoshop..Yes, the winter has been weighing heavily on my mind. Whether to shop or not? lol. I live in the hills of West Virginia, so sometimes traveling is not always safe. It could be weeks after a bad snowstorm for the roads to be clear. Plus I hate driving in it, even if it is only a dusting. I have had too many accidents with snow and icy conditions. Partially, because my mother lives out one of those roads that doesn't get cleared.

Schedulers and the MSC's are usually pretty understanding about inclement weather, candi. You don't want to work for those who aren't. No shop is important enough to risk life and limb.

The ones that I worked for 10 years ago were. Just wasn't sure about how they are now. Of course, I did them lots of favors. Like traveling 100 miles out of my way to do grocery or drug store shops in small towns nestled deep in the mountains, etc. lol

I like the independence, flexibility and money earned, I don't like the reports that require a really detailed narrative after after you've answered the same question in a section. and then reach the end of report to find that you need to do a narrative that includes the previous narratives. oh my I really don't like those naratives

May I love more? Oh, thank you I love certain places in certain seasons. Doing shops in those places is a bonus in itself.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

like to shop at the movies, ad checks, nothing to buy.

Don't like Car shops, will do if bonused.

Love: When someone is genuinely nice and also aces their shop, and I get to write up how fantastic they were. Also, the many fun experiences, getting positive feedback from editors, getting called with a nice bonus.

Hate: When an employee does something for me with the best of intentions but I know it's going to ding them in the report. Equipment failure. Estimating height, age, occasionally race (and, one time, gender) and knowing the person will see it if I get it wrong. Realizing when I'm writing up the report that I forgot to check for one little thing.

Love: Signing up with a new company and discovering that they're the ones who shop that one place I love to go.

We are all here on earth to help others....What on earth the others are here for I don't know.

--W. H. Auden

I also love it when scheduler's call me...so I do not have to do not have to spend time searching or responding to emails.

I love mystery shopping for a variety of reasons. The extra source of income has enabled me to pull myself from the grips of poverty. It has done wonders for my self esteem and having a can do attitude. I work full time but still needed the help of various social programs. I can now proudly say that I no longer need any type of public assistance. My daughter will be a freshman at college and has started mystery shopping as well.

There really is not anything that I hate about mystery shopping. There are a few things that I dislike about specific types of shops. I do not care for shops that are extremely narrative heavy or price negotiation shops. I tend to avoid shop scenarios that require extensive memorization. I have some cognitive challenges due to a diagnosed mental illness. Most schedulers have been very accommodating of my medical condition. I have had a few even encourage me to try new things such as revealed audits. The beauty of being an independent contractor is that I can avoid accepting shops that I am not comfortable with.

@ wrote:

I can now proudly say that I no longer need any type of public assistance.

Well done! Kudos!

I love love love days I can stay in bed and just do over the phone shops and make $150 -$200 without leaving the house.

I HATE HATE HATE the MSC CEO's that are bored and feel its necessary to start arguments with random shoppers on message boards to pass the day.

(perhaps these CEO's should be making time to pay shoppers whose payments are ten days late! 8-0)

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