Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> aggiejim72 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> > And until that time that you have wasted your
> > time. Agreed.
>
>
> I do not understand why you are being so
> argumentative with other shoppers who are giving
> you GREAT advice. Are you another forum member
> who likes to argue for the sake of arguing?

Isn't that obvious by now?


> How many hours a week do you spend watching TV?
> You could be registering with new MSCs, doing
> research on the forum and checking job boards
> instead of just sitting on your couch watching
> mindless shows.

Now don't you go dissing one of my two electronic best friends.

And didn't they say something about taking an hour per MSC sign-up? What on Earth for? It takes me a bit longer for the writing sample ones, but only because I don't have a full set of stock writing samples saved yet. Which I totally need to fix.

Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> How many hours a week do you spend watching TV?
> You could be registering with new MSCs, doing
> research on the forum and checking job boards
> instead of just sitting on your couch watching
> mindless shows.

Shop2LiveinFL, I live in a rented SUV when I route shop, and I don't watch TV. Actually, you might laugh, but my argumentative nature comes from enjoying argument and confrontation. Any time that I could spend watching TV I spend instead watching lectures about Arthur Schopenhauer or re-reading World as Will and Representation, or reading Caeaser's Conquest of Gaul, or listening to Beethoven's Pastoral symphony, or anything by Sidney Bichet. My online demeanor is not the same as my polite and generous real world personae. I help stray dogs whenever I see one, and I rescued two injured dogs when near Mosquero New Mexico just two weeks ago. I play the classical guitar and I can play anything by Scotty Moore. Online, though, my style of writing seems to aggravate people. That's okay. But I can't change the way that I use language online.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2014 02:10AM by aggiejim72.

Aggie, that's interesting about living in a rented SUV when you shop. Please, can I ask if that means you also maintain a separate permanent home? If that's the case, you must earn a tremendous amount of money mystery shopping to be able to afford both an established permanent home and the rental of an SUV for your routes. How do you make that work? It seems to me that SUV rental and the low mileage realized on a vehicle of that size would be prohibitive. Wouldn't a small car and motel rentals be a cheaper way to go?

I would add to the worst list - Sentry Marketing - very hard to get guidelines - their site is always giving error reports - the scheduler gives tidbits of guidelines then they have you pay a lot of $ out of pocket and reject shops. No partial pay or explanation just say "rejected." Very slow to pay and they recently purchased feedbackplus which is definitely the worst company. Never pay. Beware of Sentry!!!
I SHOULD NOT HAVE MADE THE COMMENTS ABOVE. I WASN'T PATIENT IN TRYING TO WORK OUT A SITUATION AND DID THIS OUT OF FRUSTRATION. THESE SITES WOULD BE GOOD FOR SHOPPERS TO EXCHANGE HELPFUL HINTS ABOUT SHOPPING NOT BASHING PEOPLE AT THE COMPANIES WHEN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THEM. HARSH AND HATEFUL WORDS ARE HURTFUL AND THESE TYPES OF COMMENTS I LEFT ONLY BRING THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO OUT TO SPREAD MORE HATE. I APOLOGIZE TO SENTRY AND THEIR STAFF. A PERSON TO PERSON PHONE CALL CAN CLEAR UP MANY THINGS AND IN THIS CASE IT DID. JUST BE PATIENT AND GIVE THE COMPANY TIME TO RESPOND. THESE COMPANIES ARE THERE FOR THEIR SHOPPERS, THEY ARE NOT AGAINST US. SENTRY MARKETING IS A GOOD MYSTERY SHOPPING COMPANY AND DEALING WITH JENNIFER AND DAVE WAS A GOOD EXPERIENCE.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2014 02:26AM by deafsigner.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am not going to argue about Intellishop editors
> being difficult at times. For that reason I
> wouldn't necessarily recommend a newbie. When I
> started they were not nearly as harsh or demanding
> as they seem to be now. After all these years of
> knowing what they want, most of my shops are 10s.
> If I was just starting with them that would not be
> the case.

I had similar experience. When I was new, I was very
active witn Intellishop. Then the editors became very difficult.
I took a break and then, they were back to giving me 10s, but then
I became busy with other companies.

During the early days, they had very interesting shops and I
managed as a newbie because the shops were challenging, but
I cannot explain about the editors. Maybe I wrote reports better
before when I was new? Then started having typos while
the spell chek deteriorated or they simply had to contact me for info
already in my report. Somehow, everything went back
to the newbie days, but I lost interest in most shops and I
became very picky myself.

Regarding Trendsource, I was an Elite member during my newbie
days. I lost interest in their shops after a couple of years or so, although
payments were clockwork.

One shop in particular, where the shopper had to pay for the reward and
be reimbursed, triggered my distaste. I told them so and I haven't felt
inclined to do any shops for them. I did particularly like the BV shops.

Both CFI and MFI of Market Force have deactivated me when I became
a seasoned shopper but reactivated me without difficulty, citing my prior
request to be deactivated. Not my top but I often find shops I want
to do for them.

I must admit I waited a bit before taking on a job for Coyle, but when I did I had no problems with them and they were friendly and helpfull and there has been no problem getting reports accepted.

And English is only my third language btw. :-D

aggiejim72 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SteveSoCal Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >All of your favorites are also on my
> do-not-shop-for list.
>
> This is a list for new shoppers. You clearly are
> not a new shopper as you say you won't shop for
> MF. That labels you as a likely hardcore long-time
> mystery shopper. But this list is for new
> shoppers. New shoppers won't get the jobs from
> Coyle that you say you get. New shoppers will be
> forced to run on the treadmill to earn the top
> shops.


The first hotel shop I did was for Coyle - it was a B**ch but it was a great experience. I was a new shopper and I had only done one restaurant before I did the hotel. I do not putting $3000 on my credit card because I knew I could get the report completed. It was not easy and I got a bad score. No worries. I got reimbursed. I still got more Coyle shops and always 18 to 20 after the first one. My Mom still talks about the hotel. Yes, I can afford to go to that kind of place but I usually choose not to.

A Closer Look is my all time favorite company to work for. No fee is okay because again, I don't mind singing for my supper.

I would never do a fast food shop - for the re-imbursement and fee they pay, I will not eat alone, check the restroom, take pictures and write a report.

P.S. Before you say I am a hardcore shopper, I will let you know I do about four to 10 shops a month. Maybe. Many months I do one or two.

Intellishop is great and the schedulers are nice to work with and I am in Texas. They do not pay in 30 but in 45 depending if you shopped during the first week of the month. They usually pay out near the 25th of every month so it would put you near 40 days but they are worth it.

Intellishop editors are a real pain! The are really picky and they seem to enjoy telling you that your shop is rejected and they won't pay you. Their editors used to be pretty decent but not anymore.

I find this best/worst list helpful and for the reasons stated. I have been shopping for close to a year now and, while I only shop for a few right now, I hipped a friend to it and she's signed up with a dozen now. I've been lurking on this board for awhile and I hafta say, y'all sound like serious hard-core professional shoppers (as in, this is your job, your only job.) I told my sister about MF and she started shopping with them, but she too has a full-time job and this is because she eats out a lot so it offsets her eating out costs. I would say that it's a very easy and good start for new shoppers who might be on the fence about making this their full-time career. Maybe some of you who are signed up with 75 or 100 shops, could clarify that this might be your full-time careers, so any "newbies" out there reading this post won't get distressed and confused. Again, I think this list is just fine.

Yes. This is my full time job.

No, this is not my full time job but I could make it work as a full time job. The problem I have is I'm elderly (really elderly) and some times I want to take a day or month off and run my rocking chair. Whether you're part time or full time, I recommend signing up with over 100 companies. Who knows when you might want to roll over to full time?

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> aggiejim72 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Four Companies to Avoid.
> > Run from these companies and don't look back.
>
> Yeah…that's much more objective
>
> If you are in Texas, your opportunities with Coyle
> are limited and it may be a long/slow and
> potentially painful process to get situated for
> the best shops. If you are in Phoenix or NYC and
> don't mind putting in a few hours of work in
> exchange for a great meal, then you would be a
> better fit for Coyle.

I live in Texas. I am fairly new. I was signed up on my first attempt with Coyle. I have done many fine dining shops for Coyle, hotel shops for ACL, and video shops for MSP. As a fairly newbie, I still put a lot of time in to reports, but I am getting quicker. I have the advantage of being able to record all of my shops in Texas, which with my "CogFog" (see explanation in next months Mystery Shopper Magazine!) helps out a lot,. For all the companies that take a while to pay, the bright side is that I like getting checks when I'm having a slow work week.

I'm so glad to see the rebuttal you guys put in for Coyle. I was afraid of them too at first but have worked up to getting the best shops and have eaten at places in my city I would never have dreamed of. I do not mind a 3 hour report. I do them in chunks. Just save and go back if you get tired. A fabulous memorable 200 dollar dinner reimbursement can be the payoff. The more you do, the easier the reports get if you stay organized and carefully do what you are asked. I love them.

Intellishop has the easiest reports for beginners such as the (client name) shops. However, getting anything above an 8 is impossible. They say they had to reach out to you, when in essence it was in the report and they missed it. Then you can't reach out to the reviewers. However, they have such a vast variety of shops that I think it would be good for new shoppers. It was one of the first for me when I first started. Feedback plus was a good one for newbies, but now that they have been taken over, the reports are a little more taxing for newbies. The smartphone shops are not easy for new shoppers because the instructions can sometimes be a little intimidating and it really can take up a lot of time. I say stick with fast food shops as a newbie, they are the easist. Marketstat--extremely easy report and instructions

Mod note: linking a client name with an MSC violates the Forum rules and probably also violates your ICA

Regarding Coyle, it is not a good company for a new shopper because the report takes 3-4 hours. During the time it takes to complete one Coyle report, a new shopper could complete 4 or more shops. If the average shop fee is just $5, the new shopper earned at least $20.

But at Coyle, the new shopper spends time reviewing the shop guidelines, driving to the shop location, performing the shop, then returning home, then 3-4 hours to complete the shop. If the shop is rejected, then the new shopper is out the entire cost of the meal, which is often expensive.

This company is not a good company for a new shopper. If a new shopper did have a good experience with Coyle, then the new shopper is the type of shopper who just wants to eat expensive food and isn't as concerned with making money as a shopper. But the typical new shopper wants to make money, in which case, Coyle is a terrible choice for a new shopper. Many hours to perform a single shop. Risk of significant money lost if the shop is rejected and the shopper is not reimbursed.

Coyle is a bad company for a new shopper. It's really only a good company for the the people who actually earn a paycheck and are employed by Coyle.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2014 02:31PM by aggiejim72.

You know what? There is no one type of new shopper. Claiming to know what a new shopper wants or needs is foolish.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Aggie, that's interesting about living in a rented
> SUV when you shop. Please, can I ask if that
> means you also maintain a separate permanent home?
> If that's the case, you must earn a tremendous
> amount of money mystery shopping to be able to
> afford both an established permanent home and the
> rental of an SUV for your routes. How do you make
> that work? It seems to me that SUV rental and the
> low mileage realized on a vehicle of that size
> would be prohibitive. Wouldn't a small car and
> motel rentals be a cheaper way to go?

When my parents were murdered by a drunk driver in 1994 my brother and I inherited several hundred acres of land in Texas. That's a lousy way to get land, since my mother died from burns sustained in the accident three months later. There is a house on the property but I prefer to stay in my Casitas trailer which I park on the south side of the property near the dirt road. I am happy every month when I break even. Yes, expenses are high. Rental of an F-Class SUV with the LDW is $900, but I get to drive a newer car and break it in on the road, and if it breaks down they replace it. And I deduct the cost on my taxes, so I pay almost no taxes each year. Driving sometimes 14,000 miles in a month, gas is now about $120 per 1000 miles. In a typical month my expenses are $1900. I video shop and because I travel I can get out to the sticks at the end of the month and pick up the bonused straight-up mystery shops in the western states where I can camp outside at night. I get a cheap hotel once a week in dumps like Memphis, Texas where rooms at roach hotels cost $27/night, just to take a shower. I used to drive trucks professionally some time ago so the route shopping life the way I do it is much like the life of an independent trucker, which I enjoy. I'm happiest sleeping at truck stops and the darkest corner of rest areas so the flood lights at those places don't keep me awake, or on the side of the road. I am armed when I'm inside my vehicle, and though I've never been attacked I'm waiting for the day and will be ready. This is a bad life for anyone with family but of course my wife left me a few years ago because I couldn't get excited by her body anymore thanks to her complaining about lack of money all the time, which caused her to cheat on me and find someone who could get excited by the site of her naked.

Yesterday on I-80 a man was running down the median between the 4 lanes outside Kimball, Nebraska. I pulled over and asked him if he needed help and he ran away from me. He was running away from a van. I though about calling 911 but decided to go back to the van first to see what was going on. By the time I got to the van the first police were arriving, where a man had been stabbed in the arm by the guy who was running. The man who I saw running had nowhere to run, but had panicked. He surrendered to police down the road. There was a woman and a child in the van, too, and the man was somehow related to them and they had a fight in the car while driving.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2014 02:59PM by aggiejim72.

Okay, thanks, it sounds like that works for you. I have one more question about the SUV at $900. Are you talking about a monthly rate? I just came off some days in a rental car and that sounds like a great deal to me. Where can I go for that kind of rental rates?

I love Market force. They pay every month on the 11th and the shops are actually easy once you understand the needs of the report. There is always a window to change the date so say I need to do a shop on the 15 but I will be in that area on the 13th I can reschedule myself without contacting someone or getting an attitude for changing the date. My feelings were getting hurt from Intellishop because they always getting me for grammar and as I changed my structure to short sentences I started getting good score with complements. I don't like getting paid thru pay pal and not into my bank account from a few companies.

I am mostly in agreement with aggiejim72 about these mystery shopping companies.

I have done many shops for Bare International and Market Force, and have found the members of their staff to be helpful and mostly easy to deal with. Both companies pay regularly and on time. I have never had to chase after payments.

I do not have much experience with GFK, but the few shops I have done for them have gone smoothly. With regard to Maritz, there were a few glitches when I first started doing shops for them, but now that I better understand how they work, things have gone smoothly.

I have done some great hotel shops for A Closer Look. If a newbie shopper is, however, looking for monetary payments, they are not the company to start with as all of their shops do seem to be reimbursement only. The good thing about them is that they do let you keep the rewards points that you earn when you do the reimbursement only hotel shops.

I became frustracted with Coyle Hospitality, and I removed my name from their shopper list. They have high expectations for their shoppers which is understandable, but I felt they did not have the same high expectations for themselves. While I was working for them I did only phone shops because there were no onsite shops available in my area. These should have been reasonably simple to do, but too often I found myself putting additional time into completing these shops because of issues that should not have occured. For example, sometimes I was told to email a certain individual for further questions. This would have been fine if the individual had checked his email every so often and deleted some of it. Instead, his box was full and my emails to him would come bouncing back. Another time Coyle had me call a hotel and make a reservation. I was then to cancel the reservation. Coyle said I could cancel by email which was what I did. Apparently Coyle's instruction was wrong because a month later my credit card was billed for two nights in Bahrain. In the end, I did not have to pay this bill, but still fixing this problem took my time. Then there were the times when I emailed the scheduler and got no response, and there were times when I submitted a report and they asked for additional details which I gave them, and they then still refused to pay me because my reports supposedly lacked detail. If they change their attitude and fix themselves, I might consider working for them again, but right now I do not do shops for Coyle.

With regard to Intellishop, I have just become more selective about which shops I take from them and which schedulers I deal with. I got some flake citations, too. This happened when I self assigned some shops that were already passed the due date when I self assigned them. When I went to the website I found that I had been issued flake citations for not doing the shops on time. I emailed the scheduler about these citations and never received a response. I tend to avoid that scheduler now.

I haven't done any shops for Trendsource recently because I have not applied for the Ein. I did have success with them before, and I will probably apply for the EIN at some point in the future.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2014 04:23AM by alannajm.

I am not a full-time shopper. Outside of my seasonal job, I shop about a half-day, every day. I try to take Sundays off, but sometimes cave for shops too good to say no to. I like to travel, but not for shops. I have family, pets, am involved in my community, and want to stay close to home, except when we plan getaways. I love MSing, but if I required a fulltime job with bennies, shopping would not be my answer. As is, I enjoy the hustle and awesome advantages.

My favorite companies are the ones with excellent schedulers...most of the time they make or break the company for me. Obviously pay and reimbursement play into it, as well as the type of shop and length of report. For me, I do Coyle shops for the experience, not the pay. Similarly, I do Informa shops for the pay and not the experience. I also love Buckalew Hospitality. The shops are great, the pay is decent, and the whole team over there is fantastic! I love the fact that they take the time to go over each shop with me so I don't miss anything when I go.

I'll just keep this post positive...

Just checking back in on here after a little break. And after reading all of these posts again I ask myself " Why does someone sharing their opinion spark such negativity with the seasoned shopper?" The OP clearly stated the opinion was subjective.


Am seeing the same old posters with the same negative comments. And to this I think these judgement police need to step off their soapbox. Its no big mystery what works for one person doesn't work for everyone. Why does it bother you so much that someone is trying to be helpful to newbies. Afterall this isn't the oldtimers forum... Its open to everyone right? Didn't we all have to start somewhere?

If the original OP were your friend or family member would you answer the same way you do here?

For the record I would recommend ICCDS to any newbie. They keep things simple. Does my statement mean everyone here would agree? Not at all. It is my personal opinion based on 20+ years working with them.

@aggiejim72. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself here. I am so sorry for the way you lost your parents and acquired your land.

ishoparound, the problem is that this is a relative newbie attempting to give advice to other newbies who did not even ask for his advice, and who would not have the background to even realize how irrelevant his best and worst list really is. So the more experienced shoppers have appropriately pointed out just how useless anyone's best and worst list is when it comes to advising others. What did you expect them to do? Let his unfounded advice stand unchallenged? At least now if a newbie finds this thread they'll get opposing viewpoints from more experienced shoppers and won't assume that just because he started the thread that means he knew what he was talking about.

And that's why he sparked such negativity with the seasoned shoppers.

Somewhere on this forum is a thread that was stickied for several months titled "Before you ask for a list of the best companies, read this" and the top post explained why we don't give this kind of information. aggiejim would do well to find that thread and read it before he follows this up with his "25 best" list he promised to deliver up later.

Actually, I'll do his homework for him and spoon-feed him the link:

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Notice how many members "liked" that post, thus agreeing with it.

@dspeakes I see your point. Thank you for taking the time to post. It helps me to "get" the thought process going on.

The OP wrote "My" top 4 favorites for newbies not "The" top four. An opinion was shared.

Am all for a healthy debate and I liked that the majority of responses with an differing opinion were stated very
tactfully.

Its been great being able to read the experiences members have with different companies. Its amazing how 5 people can
have 5 different perspectives of the same company. Before I take on a new company I find myself checking in on here
to see what the feedback has been. It has become my "go to" place. Its been fantastic to ask for help and get it
from members. For this I have benefited tremendously.

What I oppose is when a member repeatedly bashes another on a personal level just because they can. When I see this
over and over with a members post I consider them to be a "repeat offender" and wonder what positive contribution
could they possibly be making here. And why are they still here. If topics annoy them then refrain from replying. That's
what any good shopper does on a daily basis.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2014 11:26AM by ishoparound.

ishoparound,

DId you read the entire thread? The title may be "My Four Best Companies…" but the post states "Here are the 4 best, and 4 worst MSCs." & "Four Companies for New Shoppers to Avoid."

I also contained much more inflammatory language that was edited down by the OP after experienced shoppers expressed a dissenting opinion.

It's one thing to say you like working for a particular company and feel like it's a good place to start. It's another to say that anyone who doesn't agree with your opinions or reasons for shopping is wrong.

Steve, thanks for bringing up all the editing. Drastically changing posts multiple times after many responses are recorded also changes how the tone of those following posts is perceived.

Edited 13 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2014 10:24AM by aggiejim72.


Good grief.