I was wondering if anyone knew about the new revealed audits GFK has out? I really do not like it when they will not let you see the "simplistic and quick" forms before scheduling the assignments!

Did not know if they were horrible or as this was revealed the forms can probably be taken into the location and won't be difficult?

Paula

It's not simple or quick, IMHO. I'm thinking it might take me an hour for the first one. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't like the way they are trying to build them up and hold them back from shoppers unless you do a different one of their more terrible, unpopular, low paying shops. Seems like they are trying to build up hype for something that isn't as great as they say in order to get other shops done. That's just the vibe I am getting, though... Haven't actually done one.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2013 04:22AM by Jv1988.

I took a quick look at the printed questionaire and it doesn't seem to bad. It's real similar to Market Force's cell phone audits if you have ever done one of theirs. Of course the first one will always take the longest.

Except the newest round of MF's cell phone audits came out for July. Opening pay is $3 less than it used to be.

F'ing MF. >:{

Found it funny to see the email today grab them they are going fast.... no not too fast .... A bonus will be posted soon!

these will take alot longer then they claim. Having to observe transactions,
provide detailed narrative on what was said is not simple or easy as they claim....

Does not surprise me since those that remember when they had
the other companies audits that they lost....did not live up
to their standards either

I can easily make triple the amount of money they are offering
for this audit doing other shops in the same amount of time.

It all comes down to how you value your time



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2013 03:20PM by techman01.

I sent them an email saying I guess they don't want any females over 45 doing these since only men under 45 can do the other shops and they are only letting the wing shoppers have first crack at them.

No reply.

Not surprised.

I don't even check their board any more. I find the constant discrimination on the wing shops irritating, especially given the number of emails they were sending out every day to shoppers they knew full well didn't meet the demographic.

anyone can assign the shops now. They gave the wing shoppers
a one day head start on choosing the ones they wanted...that was it

They are not going as quickly as they thought they would and I suspect
once people start doing them there will be lots of cancellations

All,

I usually do not jump into conversations as I know we all have our different views on things and what I might consider a ten foot pole shop, you may think it's your favorite shop in the world. Just so you know on these audits, the guidelines are long because they are full of pictures and specific details, however, once you see the questionnaire you will see that this is a quick audit. I have completed every one of our shops here in the US and I know how long they each take. This audit is no different. Just so you know, I did the audit near me in 30 minutes (now I am more familiar with the guidelines than a first time person but I can see a person's 2nd audit taking them only 30 minutes).

I recommend going in off peak hours (not during lunch or evening), make sure you are familiar with the guidelines ahead of time, and just in case take your scheduler's phone number with you. That first one may cause you to open up your guidelines and check them a time or two, but after that one you will realize why we've had some people take a route of 50+ of these. Also, 81.4% of these audits are already booked less than one week after we released them and none of them are bonused (I think the poster was confused with our June mystery shops that we are booking) so I really do think this is going to be a popular program. Personally, I am actually very proud that we can offer such a great paying program to our shoppers/auditors and it's programs like these that make my day as the scheduling manager.

Thanks for the chance to put in my two cents and I appreciate all of your feedback too!
Donna Goodwin
Scheduling Manager | GfK Mystery Shopping | Consumer Experiences North America
GfK Custom Research, LLC | 401 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor | New York, NY 10016
Mystery Shopping Website: www.gfkmysteryshops.com

There audits take over an hour and a half to do, require numerous photos of anything that is non compliant and if you miss anything, you are S.O.O.L Stay out of this morass.

Sue Lloyd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There audits take over an hour and a half to do,
> require numerous photos of anything that is non
> compliant and if you miss anything, you are
> S.O.O.L Stay out of this morass.


These don't start until the 1st so how can you be so sure they take 1&1/2 hours? I am signed up for 3, I fully expect the 1st one to take about an hour, but I am sure the next 2 will go somewhat faster. The 1st one of any kind of audit is always the "learning" one and always takes longer.

Unless she is one of those that performed the audit before the starting date and now she is mad because she got banned from the project (GFK sent an email around about it).

We all know that a first audit can take a long time. I remember my first Conoco taking 90 minutes or a bit longer...now I could do them in 20 minutes. I signed one for the first and I am nervous as I always am for new jobs....but I am sure it can't be that bad

GfK is about the third company to have those audits.

Sue Lloyd has stated in another post that she has a problem with GFK. IMHO her comment in this thread might be biased based upon her previous issues with GFK.

All,

These audits do not start until July 1st and on one on this board has completed one. The only people who have done these audits completely are our internal staff who were followed around during the audit by our client's staff and the location employees.

Thanks!
Donna

Donna Goodwin
Scheduling Manager | GfK Mystery Shopping | Consumer Experiences North America
GfK Custom Research, LLC | 401 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor | New York, NY 10016
Mystery Shopping Website: www.gfkmysteryshops.com

italiano Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We all know that a first audit can take a long
> time. I remember my first Conoco taking 90 minutes
> or a bit longer...now I could do them in 20
> minutes. I signed one for the first and I am
> nervous as I always am for new jobs....but I am
> sure it can't be that bad

Italiano,

I agree with you! I think the first ones always take longer, because you want to make sure you are right and that you are getting the job done correctly. And like any new program for us, I'm sure we'll learn ways to make our instructions easier and the process quicker. As you noticed on the form there is only really one area that consumes the time you are there, the first several checks can be done in just minutes. Especially as you get used to what to look for, you'll find these speed along. I really am excited about this program and being able to offer it to our shoppers/auditors. All companies dream of having that shop that doesn't make the ten foot pole list.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any issues!

Thanks!
Donna

Donna Goodwin
Scheduling Manager | GfK Mystery Shopping | Consumer Experiences North America
GfK Custom Research, LLC | 401 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor | New York, NY 10016
Mystery Shopping Website: www.gfkmysteryshops.com

Thnk you Donna. I am exited too...mainly because I prefere audits to mystery shopping. I just wish you had more near my area

italiano Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unless she is one of those that performed the
> audit before the starting date and now she is mad
> because she got banned from the project (GFK sent
> an email around about it).
>
> We all know that a first audit can take a long
> time. I remember my first Conoco taking 90 minutes
> or a bit longer...now I could do them in 20
> minutes. I signed one for the first and I am
> nervous as I always am for new jobs....but I am
> sure it can't be that bad

I too kind of thought she might have been one of the ones to do one before the start date hence the reason for being dropped from them.

I hope they're easy--I'm doing three of them, two in one day.

Robinv, praying for the best, expecting the worst ;-)

I have taken four, because given the time to study for the quiz, print out the audit and guideline, it would make sense to do more than one. I have done the MF audits, so I know it is not that bad, after the first one. It's a matter of knowing what the walls, brochures and phones you are looking for. I am also thinking they will take approximately one hours each. Some of my stores are in tiny towns, so hopefully not too busy on Monday. I would not want to do any cell shop on weekends! Donna from GfK is awesome, having contact with her from previous shops.

It's an investment of time to review all the guidelines and take a quiz, so I can only invest that time if I am assigned several shops within the same area. I've done the same type of shops for other MSCs without the pages of guidelines and quiz.

I did four today. They were easy and took 25-30 minutes per store. I had little stores with few customers inside.

I am flabbergasted. I am in Missouri and it is 10:36 pm and 5 minutes ago a GFK employee called my landline. Luckily I am still up, printing my shop reports and such for tomorrow morning. I just checked my email and I got the "ACCEPTED" emails at 4:22 pm, so it's been 6 hours since I applied - they were self-assigning.

I was so stunned that I got a call this late that I didn't make a particular note of who the caller was, perhaps Sharon something? The whole reason for the call was to tell me to make sure I act professionally as this is an audit and I am an employee of GFK... she said someone did one wearing a Hawaiian shirt, and I have to make sure I am dressed professionally, and she gave me a list of things I should not say such as "I don't care, I'm just an auditor" and things that **should** be things you already know if you've been doing mystery shopping very long.

I really don't have a point I guess, I'm just really irritated that they called me this late for something like that!! Thanks for letting me vent. LOL She *did* apologize for calling so late, but STILL...

Yeah, I'd be really ticked being called that late.

And since when are we "employees" of GFK or *any* MSC?! What the hell is *that*?!

I was pissy when I wrote that and didn't re-read it before I posted it. She mentioned dealing with the company's employees, using that term, several times, and i believe she said "representative" of GFK, and I wasn't thinking about the words I used when I wrote, sorry about that!

I shop rural areas and it is taking a lot of time to complete one of these. It might not be a terrible assignment within a city, but I'll never do another one in a rural area without a major bonus. I feel seriously burned!

Apparently the audits have been cancelled? I received an email stating that was the case "effective immediately". An update was promised for later today, but does anyone have additional information about payment for previously completed audits or rescheduling for upcoming audits? TIA

I go the cancelled email just as I finished my audit!!!!!

There are still audits on the board. I finished mine on the first day and it was reviewed the next morning. I did not get a cancel notice.