Woodforest Bank shops

The job description says that all fees will be refunded for this shop. The MSC is one I have not shopped for previously - is this accurate? Do they actually pay? There's a monthly fee for the account, but you can close it after 18 days... would there be any fees associated with this anyway?

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The company is great. They're a little on the slow side with grading and payment, but they're very shopper-friendly and you don't have to chase them. They're not Nazis on the grading, but it's not uncommon for them to contact you just to add one more sentence on your narrative. Michaela is totally competent and laid back. They've called me to ask for favors and were reasonable in negotiating bonuses, although they do have a cap that I couldn't push them past. It's too bad they don't seem to have any other clients (at least in my area) because I would shop for them more.
The fees do get refunded or reimbursed. I did this one when I started shopping and left the account open as an "expense account" for my other assignments. If I have a dinner shop or need to buy something, it comes out of that account. I never got a checking fee because I linked my direct deposit from my Chipotle assignments to it. Works very well for me.

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

This is my first shop with them also. The guidelines say that you can close the account after 18 days, so the monthly account fees shouldn't hit.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I've only done a handful of shops for this company, but this company is great! The shops are easy and quick. Almost no narratives needed. These shops disappear quickly. You'll be glad you got one.

The type of account I opened didn't have any fees associated with it, so I can't speak to that. But the clients are a pleasure to work with, too, so they will describe any fees and how to avoid them if you ask during the shop.

Like pinchers81, I use this account to hold the money I have to front for other shops. It works well.

These are great shops!

I like the company fairly well. I've done 10 or so shops and got a 10/10 on every shop. The shops are super easy but I have two problems with them. One, they haven't gotten it setup so that the fees are automatically refunded. Each month you have to email them to have the service charge removed. I was only doing like 6 shops a year (so $60) and was forgetting to get the service charge refunded half the time (so $60 a year). I didn't fell like doing reports for break even. The second thing is they had some video shops last year and in my area I think they were only paying like $25 or $30. That's not enough for me to strap on a camera.

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

Also Michaela is SUPER nice.

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

@bgriffin wrote:

I like the company fairly well. I've done 10 or so shops and got a 10/10 on every shop. The shops are super easy but I have two problems with them. One, they haven't gotten it setup so that the fees are automatically refunded. Each month you have to email them to have the service charge removed. I was only doing like 6 shops a year (so $60) and was forgetting to get the service charge refunded half the time (so $60 a year). I didn't fell like doing reports for break even. The second thing is they had some video shops last year and in my area I think they were only paying like $25 or $30. That's not enough for me to strap on a camera.

The video shops are $35 this round. I didn't notice any last round, so they must go fast. They also raised the fee for opening a new account to $50. When I opened my account less than a year ago, the fee was maybe $25.

Those shops really shouldn't be less than $50. And $50 was the rate I got to open mine a few years ago.

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

bgriff, how long did you have to have the account open?

Also, how did you do 6 shops a year? Banks keep your information for 7 years. Did you run into any issues?

@bgriffin wrote:

I like the company fairly well. I've done 10 or so shops and got a 10/10 on every shop. The shops are super easy but I have two problems with them. One, they haven't gotten it setup so that the fees are automatically refunded. Each month you have to email them to have the service charge removed. I was only doing like 6 shops a year (so $60) and was forgetting to get the service charge refunded half the time (so $60 a year). I didn't fell like doing reports for break even. The second thing is they had some video shops last year and in my area I think they were only paying like $25 or $30. That's not enough for me to strap on a camera.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

They also have teller shops and will reimburse your fees if you keep the account open to do teller shops with. My problem is I was only doing 1 a quarter (rarely 2) and they only reimburse your fees each month if you email and ask them to, which I frequently forgot.

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

Just follow the instructions and the fees will be reimbursed. The shops are easy. They have 3 types and I have done all 3. The account open, the teller shop, and the loan inquiry shop. The account open is the hardest but still easy and the account open shops all paid me $50 or more.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

I just saw one in my area and have been debating taking it. I could use a "slush-fund" account to put extra money into to help my son with his college tuition. If it's not in our regular accounts, I won't be tempted to spend it!

Really helpful information here, and I'm going to go apply for that, if it's still available!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I just noticed that this MSC is offering $80 video shops to open a new account (personal or business). You need your own equipment. I've never done a video shop--they seem intrusive to me.

Is anyone else getting shut out of these shops because they visited the same location within the past year?

Thanks!

I ask because I opened/closed an account for another MSC and another bank. The bank, when looking at my history, knew I was a shopper.

When you kept the account open with Woodforest, did you keep it at the same minimum balance? Also, were the shop teller fees worth having the account open?

Thanks again!

@bgriffin wrote:

They also have teller shops and will reimburse your fees if you keep the account open to do teller shops with. My problem is I was only doing 1 a quarter (rarely 2) and they only reimburse your fees each month if you email and ask them to, which I frequently forgot.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Thanks!

I ask because I opened/closed an account for another MSC and another bank. The bank, when looking at my history, knew I was a shopper.

When you kept the account open with Woodforest, did you keep it at the same minimum balance? Also, were the shop teller fees worth having the account open?

Like bgriffin, I opened a Woodforest account a couple years ago for the $50. I planned to close it a month later after I got the money but I actually liked the bank. I kept the account open and I use it as my mystery shopping bank account. I get several direct deposits from MS companies each month and I keep a balance so I don't have fees. I do most of my banking online and every now and then I do a teller shop.

The teller shops only pay $10 but the MSC removes fees from the account if you do teller shops. So, if I chose to keep the account open and if I had fees associated with the account, doing a couple of teller shops would eliminate the fees. If I had not liked the bank, I probably would not have kept the account open.

JayC, thanks!!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2016 12:26AM by HonnyBrown.

Well, I got the shop, and am really glad this thread came up. I was thinking about opening an account with Santander and doing the teller shops, but glad I didn't, since those shops seem to be gone for now.

I like the idea of having an account not with our regular bank, and that if I do teller shops, the MSC removes the fees. Sounds like a pretty good deal.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

There is a MSC that keeps emailing asking to open an account at a bank and they're willing to pay me a whopping $15.00. I must have made a mistake and put my birthdate at 4/20/16

I'm seeing two shops for this bank in my area, the 'open an account' scenario, and the 'inquire about an account', scenario. For the second, would it be possible to do several of these at different locations? Do they collect/store personal info for that one? I want to do the one where I open an account, but I'm hoping to pick up as many of the inquiry kind as I can before I open an account.

You can only open one account but do different scenarios.

Actually, you can open up to 3 accounts. I opened 3, personal, business, and household account, and was paid the $50 fee for each. I had planned to close the account after I opened the first one but found I liked the bank so I kept all 3 accounts. Except for teller shops, they only allow you to shop a location every 365 days.

Not allowed here... but then I am expecting them to end soon! I only see one employee most every time. Hard to imagine a bank with one visable employee.

quote=AustinMom]
Actually, you can open up to 3 accounts. I opened 3, personal, business, and household account, and was paid the $50 fee for each. I had planned to close the account after I opened the first one but found I liked the bank so I kept all 3 accounts. Except for teller shops, they only allow you to shop a location every 365 days.[/quote]

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

Not allowed here... but then I am expecting them to end soon! I only see one employee most every time. Hard to imagine a bank with one visable employee.

Bummer. It was really sweet to grab $50 for the 2nd and 3rd accounts I opened (I did open them at 3 different locations). Their bank locations are pretty dead here, too; usually I see 2 employees in a location, maybe 3 on weekends.

I recently did the account open shop. When the banker read the disclosures, there is a $25 fee for closing the account before 180 days.

How is the fee for this reimbursed? From the guidelines, it sounds like your account has to be open for the fee to hit, and the MSC will close it when the balance is zero.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I opened my Woodforest accounts (3 of them) in 2012 and 2013 on shops. I loved them and didn't close the accounts. I'm not sure if you are still required to get a debit card with the account, but there is a fee for that, which is reimbursed by the MSC. You have the option of closing the account after all shop requirements are completed (after 3 weeks), and the MSC pays that fee, along with any monthly fee.

In the guidelines, there is a special section called "Fee Refunds and Closing Account" that will give you all the info you need on this. There is what I thought was a generous fee for opening the account and the MSC pays all fees so it shouldn't cost the shopper anything.

Great information, AustinMom, thank you!!!!

During the disclosures discussion, I was not told about the debit card fee. I logged in to my OL banking, and it was there. I emailed the scheduler with the required information.

I may keep the account open if they will reimburse the fees.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I opened an account a couple of months ago on a shop too. So far I have kept it open as a Mystery Shopping account but I have not yet decided whether I want to keep it long term. I keep a high enough balance that I don't have any monthly fees but I hat having to fill out a deposit slip every time I want to deposit a cheque. Lol, I have gotten lazy now that my other bank takes cheque deposits by ATM.

I am hoping to find some teller shops to make keeping the account worthwhile but I haven't seen any in my area. Is anyone else seeing them? I only see account opening ($50), account opening video ($80) and account inquiry ($10)

I only see the $50 and $80 shops in this area.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

There are a few of the $15 assignments around here but they are few and far between.

I have a question for you guys that have done this shop... Because I have applied for this shop today but not been accepted yet.. Is the checking account free to open for this bank? If it requires direct deposit to avoid a fee how often do u have to have a deposit? I would like a mystery shop bank account so would like to keep this account open but really don't want the fees as I very part time mystery shop. Thanks guys!

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