Anyone Shop for Grass Roots Mystery Guest?

I received an e-mail regarding a casual dining Italian restaurant shop. The restaurant is very legitimate and has been in business for many years.

What caught my attention and made me leary was the compensation information. It seems unusual. The date for the shop was 1/24. This is what they said in the e-mail regarding compensation:

You will be compensated by mail within 6 weeks of your assignment date with a pre-loaded Visa gift card DEDICATED TO YOU IN OUR SYSTEM. Please confirm that the mailing address in your profile is correct and up to date so you will receive your compensation in a timely manner.Do NOT dispose of YOUR DEDICATED Visa gift card when you have used the funds. The same card will be re-loaded with future assignments’ compensation. You will be alerted by e-mail when new funds are available on the card. Replacement cards will be charged against compensation at $7.50 plus shipping and handling per re-issue.

MSPA Gold
Shopping Long Island
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Mystery Guest is a legitimate company (also called Grass Roots as they merged a couple of years ago) and some of their shops do pay with a Visa card just like this. They also tell people not to throw the card away as you can reuse it for future shops (just like this one.)

The website for this company is [www.grassrootsmeasures.com]

This offer looks legitimate going by the email you posted but if you are unsure, it is best to go to the known url website instead of a link in a email.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

I haven't done any shops for them that paid by a dedicated visa gift card, but the ones I have done pay by a gift card to the restaurant being shopped. The six week time period is about right. Sounds legit.

Oh. I wonder if this is the big chain of casual Italian. I'd love to find those. As for their restaurant that pays in restaurant gift cards, does anybody know when they those hit the job board? I would have expected Jan by now but don't see anything.

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

Yes, they are legit! I love them. I just did their happy retail shop! My kids take turns going with me.

bgriffin Wrote:
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> Oh. I wonder if this is the big chain of casual
> Italian. I'd love to find those. As for their
> restaurant that pays in restaurant gift cards,
> does anybody know when they those hit the job
> board? I would have expected Jan by now but don't
> see anything.

They went back to the extended rotation. You have to wait 60 plus days before they show up on your job board again. If you did one in November or December, you're out of luck for a month or so.

Ugggg, even for a different location?

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

bgriffin Wrote:
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> Ugggg, even for a different location?

If you have more than one in your area, you should be okay for a different location. We have two here. I can do one each month, but the third month, neither of the other two are available, although it looks like if someone flakes, when they repost later in the month, they're available.

Oh, well I was looking in other areas and don't see them listed there either.

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

I wish they had some more restaurants in my area. I could use an Italian one. We only have the one with the creamy, cheesy desserts! and the Happy store but alas my kids are 5'11" and 6'3" so I don't think they would pass for under 12. Those seem to often be available and every time I see them I feel like kidnapping some kid into going with me. I have been working for them for years and I like them. When they need shoppers near the deadlines they will usually stretch the rules, like allowing you to do a different timeframe (lunch if you did dinner last month) etc. Maybe that Italian place is coming to my neighborhood next month!

I am allowed to shop their national chain restaurant monthly; the restaurant's gift card shows up timely. The chicken chain is paid by dedicated VISA card. You keep the same card and they load it monthly.

Edited to say I like this company a lot! I wish we have the Italian chain (???) here.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2014 03:36AM by cubbiecat.

BGriffin, do we live next door, lol. Although I think I missed the Italian shop, unless it is only in a very, very large city.

Incognito

silver certified

Gosh I hope not, I have enough competition as it is!

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

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, well I was looking in other areas and don't
> see them listed there either.

They must be all taken in your area. The January shops were posted quite a while ago. The February shops haven't been yet.

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am allowed to shop their national chain
> restaurant monthly; the restaurant's gift card
> shows up timely. The chicken chain is paid by
> dedicated VISA card. You keep the same card and
> they load it monthly.

Are we talking about the same chain? I'm talking about the one Sandyf mentioned. It's not a chicken chain. I used to be able to do them monthly, but in October or November, they made the rotation longer so the same location is not available monthly. When I first started shopping them years ago, there was a 60 or 90 day rotation. Then a few years ago they went to monthly. Now they're back to the longer rotation.

Do they not do the bald chocolate restaurant anymore? I always wanted to do one, but just when I was ready to, they disappeared.

When you look at locations available where you check off what you are interested in, in my town they have the same 6 or 7 different chains they have had since I signed up years ago. Right now they are only shopping two of those chains locally, the others are long gone but their locations are available for check off on the website even though they seem to be no longer shopped. I looked about a month ago and they had not added any new groupings of locations in my city. If you check your local list of locations, it will not tell you what store or restaurant it represents but you can usually get a good idea if anything new is added or you can tell who it is by looking at the available addresses. If, for instance, the Italian restaurant is now available in your area and you did not check off the local Italian places you are interested in, you might not see them listed for you individually.

I have shopped for many years for the restaurant side of Grass Roots. They are great! Always send the restaurant gift card to use on time towards the restaurant only. You need to speak to them about how many shops you can do. Just change the locations and you could be doing many. I do not like the gift card offer. Read the fine print. There could be a charge if you don't use it.

I would love to do their restaurant shop that is always available in my area. I just don't like the idea of spending money and being paid with the gift card, not cash.

Sandyf, the happy shops, if they stay on the board for a long time then call and ask them if you can do them without a child. They do allow that if needed. I stock up on dolls and clothes for holiday and birthday gifts.

shopper8 Wrote:
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> I do not like the gift card offer. Read the fine print.
> There could be a charge if you don't use it.

This shouldn't be a problem if you shop them every 60-90 days - use your gift card to pay for the next meal. Gift cards, if they expire, don't for at least a year.

NOTE: I'm not on the forum every day. If someone comments on my post, I might not reply right away. I've been a shopper since 1991. I've never done any work for a MS company in any other capacity.

Depending on the state some gift cards do have expiration dates and still get reduced by service fees and other such garbage.

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.

Lisa, I thought they made the non expiration a federal rule a while back. If not, you can send them all to me in California where gift cards never expire or you can even come visit and stay at my house and we can have a spend all your expired gift cards wonderful time. Promo cards they give you for free ($10 if you spend $100 on a gift card type of thing) can expire.

KateH. in Los Angeles they never seem to lack shoppers. They used to call me all the time with bonuses but that even stopped a couple of years back. But I will try next time I see one at the end of the month! I know several adult friends who would love a bday gift with a mouse on it.

They don't expire here and there are no longer any service fees. I thought someone here said they have gotten gift cards with an expiration date and figured it must not have been a federal law yet.

DRJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cubbiecat Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I am allowed to shop their national chain
> > restaurant monthly; the restaurant's gift card
> > shows up timely. The chicken chain is paid by
> > dedicated VISA card. You keep the same card and
> > they load it monthly.
>
>
> Are we talking about the same chain? I'm talking
> about the one Sandyf mentioned. It's not a
> chicken chain. I used to be able to do them
> monthly, but in October or November, they made the
> rotation longer so the same location is not
> available monthly. When I first started shopping
> them years ago, there was a 60 or 90 day rotation.
> Then a few years ago they went to monthly. Now
> they're back to the longer rotation.

I am talking about the chain with the dessert in the name. I am allowed to shop each restaurant monthly; there are two in my area. Each restaurant is shopped multiple times due to the different shifts. I never counted, but I believe it's 5-6 times per month for each restaurant.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

KateH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sandyf, the happy shops, if they stay on the board
> for a long time then call and ask them if you can
> do them without a child. They do allow that if
> needed. I stock up on dolls and clothes for
> holiday and birthday gifts.

Those never stay on the board for more than a day here. I don't have a child to take.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> KateH Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sandyf, the happy shops, if they stay on the
> board
> > for a long time then call and ask them if you
> can
> > do them without a child. They do allow that if
> > needed. I stock up on dolls and clothes for
> > holiday and birthday gifts.
>
> Those never stay on the board for more than a day
> here. I don't have a child to take.

It's good to know they don't always require a child. I remember when I first saw them, I opted not to do them since I didn't want to be paid in gift cards. Now, I've decided to make my mystery shopping cover my Christmas shopping so getting a gift card there would work out, but, in the past week, the shops required a child (and I have none). Oh, well. I did do the restaurant shop, finally, the other day, specifically to get the gift card at a discount (I told my husband we were going to spend as little money as possible on this shop, which was fine since we'd just gone to brunch elsewhere for another shop, so neither of us was hungry -- I felt bad for the server, though, so I tipped him a little more to make up for us ordering almost nothing).

lbw1000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mystery Guest is a legitimate company (also called
> Grass Roots as they merged a couple of years ago)
> and some of their shops do pay with a Visa card
> just like this. They also tell people not to
> throw the card away as you can reuse it for future
> shops (just like this one.)

Interesting shopper agreement they have. Apparently shoppers are volunteers, not independent contractors, and receive gifts or reimbursement subsidies (not shopper fees) for their participation in market research studies. Fascinating.

Yes, I've done several of the Italian restaurant shops. I have one scheduled for this weekend. And I have my dedicated Visa card that gets reloaded each shop. No problems at all. Except for the food, this Italian restaurant serves such big portions! but very good.

Go hungry.

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