IPSOS New $12 Smart Phone job Warning

I saw some new smartphone shops that look a lot like the last set. BUT It has a requirement that you are not to leave the store till you talk to a sales associate or the job won't be accepted. The scenario and questions are also somewhat different. I'd definitely recommend reading the guidelines before taking the job.

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I haven't done any shops for IPSOS, but I do many cell phone shops.

Don't you always have to talk to a sales associate?

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

For these shops you could previously leave after waiting for 10 minutes with no assistance.

Honestly, I found the scenario on these (and the appliance and tablet shops for the same client) too ridiculous to be worth the effort.

I didn't mind the last set of scenarios. At my age, I could pull off being unknowledgeable in the areas required. This round, I didn't think I could do the new one with a straight face and for $12 I'm not committing myself to an unlimited amount of time. A few phone shops I've visited had waits of 30 min or more. Then there would be the actual shop and report on top of that.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 03:25AM by wwin.

The current scenario requires being ignorant of both Android and Apple phones. If these get bonused, I will show up with my vintage LG EnV dumb phone and easily play the part. (For those keeping tabs on me, I also have a Samsung Galaxy S5.)

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

Guess it depends on your MS area. I've completed two shops so far. On both, I was the only one in the shop. Approached right away. I just stated I had an old cell phone and one of the buttons no longer worked. Need a new phone. Tell me about the new Android/iPhones. Which should I buy and why, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Since one was near an apartment building I was doing for a bonus and another was near a payday loan shop I was scheduled for, I just looked at it as more money. Cell phone shop takes maximum 15 min if the associate is knowledgeable and a 10 - 15 min write up. Win-win in my bank account.

I have seen this push back about waiting to talk to an associate in other threads. Not sure what the big deal is. Almost every cell phone shop I have walked into, I am approached immediately. I ask a couple of generic questions per the guidelines and let the associates do the rest. Im in and out in about 20 minutes. The reports are easy.

I start at 10:00 AM, do 4 shops. I'm home by 12:30-1:00 PM. $50 for 2-3 hours my time and I'm in my lounge chair taking a nap by 2:00.

I personally hope everyone keeps avoiding these because of the requirement of waiting to talk to an associate. If I could schedule 4 a day, 5 days a week for a month, I would be a happy guy.

They've just bumped some of these up to $17 in my general area (although there are none quite close enough for me to do for that), and the new guidelines make this look a helluva lot easier than the old one. You can choose your scenario based on what type of phone you actually own (as opposed to having to pretend you own one or the other), and it looks like the feature sets are streamlined. But I haven't done one of these in ages, since before IPSOS got them, so maybe were "downsized" already. I think there used to be three features in each set, now two.

These say that you must approach an associate if you're not helped in 5 minutes, and if not assisted within 10 minutes, you can take a business card and leave.

I've done one cellphone shop in the last six months, not for IPSOS, because I don't think they're worth the pay. But if a $17 one comes my way, I'll try it!

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

BirdyC I'm not sure we are talking about the same shop. The new shop has a different title with the company name that sounds like a very large number. You have to say you're ready for a new smartphone but open to either and the 5/10 min max wait is not included. I'm sure they'll get picked up quickly. For me, $12 (and the possibility of a 45+ min job) I would struggle acting as smartphone owner that is clueless about basic smartphones one second then discussing preferred music and other services the next.

Mostly I wanted to warn others to read the guidelines and decide for themselves since the survey summary looks similar to the other smartphone shops.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 03:10PM by wwin.

I have only done one phone shop in my life. I would have no issue being dumb because I am an infrequent cell phone user of any type. However, I have been in various brands of phone stores many times with family members and every time the wait was over 30 minutes to get help. You cannot approach anyone as there is a wait line to even approach someone or a number system like at the deli counter. I suspect the wait issue varies from geographic area to geographic area. If not for this issue I would probably do them.

In the past for one cell phone client, MFI required 1/2 hour wait max. Now it is unlimited. Basically the new smart phone inquiry had a 15 minute wait time, at least for two companies I performed them for. One company has no time limit and used to pay $14 now $9. I self- assign as I enter the store and know I'm getting waited on quickly. It seems like you are drawing a sign saying, "I'm a secret shopper" if you wait longer.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

@wwin wrote:

BirdyC I'm not sure we are talking about the same shop. The new shop has a different title with the company name that sounds like a very large number.

Must be a different shop, for sure--and one I wouldn't touch for $12.... Those are the only ones I see in my area, so maybe they either all got taken (hard to imagine, with no limit on how long you have to wait) or they're just not being offered around here.

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

It is all about the wait time. I have done numerous cell phone shops and went over the 30 minute wait time only once. A couple of months ago there was one with a 2 hours wait - which is just ridiculous. Luckily I did not have to wait the 2 hours. Never go on a weekend, try and go when the store first opens and avoid lunch hour and when people get off work. I have driven by a shop and seen tons of people inside then I try and reschedule. If you are waiting 30 minutes you are losing money IMO.

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IPSOS New $12 Smart Phone job Warning

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