I am done doing GFK cell phone shops.
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Is that the same one you started a thread about because the wait was too long? Why don't you update that thread since people were asking if you had rescheduled. It would allow for some continuity if others can read the whole story from beginning to end. At least I'm sure you hope it's the end and there are no follow up questions
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.
"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.
Unfortunately, sometimes this is the only way to know whether or not a shop is worth it. You did everything that you can to prepare for the shop, including looking at a copy of the form. It is a shame that the copy you looked at did not have all of the questions. By posting this info you have helped other shoppers become more aware of what is involved with this shop.
I agree that there are a lot of questions on this report for $14. I recently did a couple of these and they were the first shops I did for the MSC. I often take only two shops for a new MSC to get the feel for their reports and to get my feet wet, so to speak.
I've gotten emails about several in my area that are now offering rather large bonuses. It's been tempting, considering how low the bonuses typically are, but honestly that report scares me off of them. I accepted one months ago and was so relieved when the location had moved!
I do them regularly. The number of questions is large, but most are yes no and simply report what happened. After awhile, the essays get easier because the questions are always the same, and the answers are either the same (right) or no answer at all. This happens to be one of the shops I always accept. But everyone has their own preferences.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
myst4au, I don't like the fact that when I took the assignment, there it was a two page form. It was simple, and included a couple of pictures. When I went to fill out the form online, the yes/ no questions opened up to drop down menus of 3 or 4 more questions each. Questions that were never mentioned anywhere on the assignment.
When you watch the video or read the guidelines its clear that the form is going to have far more questions than you see at first and its even clear that the form you are seeing has drop down menus. I agree that its a fairly straightforward shop and I didn't find it difficult. I agree that it should pay more, but the base pay is on the premise that you are using a tablet and completing the audit before you leave the store. No having to go home and upload pictures. I don't have a tablet so I only take these when bonused. If I did have a tablet I'd probably do a lot more of them.
There wasn't any video. If there had been, I would have watched it. I saw only one form to download for these shops (name of client removed). There wasn't any mention in the guidelines for these questions.
Mod note: Linking a MSC with its client is a violation of Forum rules and probably a breach of your ICA also.
Mod note: Linking a MSC with its client is a violation of Forum rules and probably a breach of your ICA also.
I've done several of these shops for this MSC and I find them simple to do. I do agree that there are a lot f questions, but most of them require a yes or no answer. There is a few opened questions, but for the most part I like these shops.
The OP is not talking about the audit which has photos and can be done on a tablet. The OP was doing the mystery shop. There is an instructional video to watch. IMHO, the downloadable 17 page guidelines for the shop (accessible from the survey) make it clear what it going to be required.
@CoffeeQueen wrote:
When you watch the video or read the guidelines its clear that the form is going to have far more questions than you see at first and its even clear that the form you are seeing has drop down menus. I agree that its a fairly straightforward shop and I didn't find it difficult. I agree that it should pay more, but the base pay is on the premise that you are using a tablet and completing the audit before you leave the store. No having to go home and upload pictures. I don't have a tablet so I only take these when bonused. If I did have a tablet I'd probably do a lot more of them.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
On my shop I always down load the guide and print out the form. The form did not have any of the questions they were asking once I started filling it out. As I said, when I went to fill in the form, suddenly there were more questions with each answer I gave. They had drop down menus on each "yes" or "no" question. I've never seen any other company do this. All of them have given the questions you need to answer up front. Not hidden behind a drop down menu.
@myst4au wrote:
The OP is not talking about the audit which has photos and can be done on a tablet. The OP was doing the mystery shop. There is an instructional video to watch. IMHO, the downloadable 17 page guidelines for the shop (accessible from the survey) make it clear what it going to be required.
@CoffeeQueen wrote:
When you watch the video or read the guidelines its clear that the form is going to have far more questions than you see at first and its even clear that the form you are seeing has drop down menus. I agree that its a fairly straightforward shop and I didn't find it difficult. I agree that it should pay more, but the base pay is on the premise that you are using a tablet and completing the audit before you leave the store. No having to go home and upload pictures. I don't have a tablet so I only take these when bonused. If I did have a tablet I'd probably do a lot more of them.
Oh well, wrong again. 17 page guidelines? Wow.
I just had my account deactivated by one company. I had 6 reports with an average rating of 8. I sent in one report they rejected and they deactivated my account. LOL Has anyone had this happen before?
John, you can't name the client when the MSC's been named in a thread. That's an ICA violation!
Yes, I did a couple of those a while ago and said that I wouldn't do them unless they were highly bonuses (sadly, I apparently live in a no bonus zone as all the shops get scooped up quickly - and not just gfk's). The continued dropping down of questions after you answer one question is highly annoying. The entire form should be available to view prior to going to the shop. How else can you prepare and observe what is to be required if you don't see the WHOLE form.
I will point out again, that there is a 17-page set of guidelines, and a quiz, and a video. There are no surprise questions despite all the dropdowns. I have two more scheduled for mid-April, and have already done 10 of them this year. Of course, the fact that I enjoy them does not mean that you should also. I hate, absolutely hate, the funeral phone shops. And the payday loan shops, both in person and on the phone. And the Halloween store shops, and others. I have tried them, and no one will convince me to ever do another one of them. My advice is what others have said. Read all of our opinions, and then try one of them yourself. They always get easier over time (but I will still not do Halloween, payday loan, or funeral shops, so there!).
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
myst4au, there may be videos and a 17 page guide line for the audits, but NOT for the mystery shops. My only job was to comment on the customer service and take a few pictures.
@PA Shopper wrote:
Yes, I did a couple of those a while ago and said that I wouldn't do them unless they were highly bonuses (sadly, I apparently live in a no bonus zone as all the shops get scooped up quickly - and not just gfk's). The continued dropping down of questions after you answer one question is highly annoying. The entire form should be available to view prior to going to the shop. How else can you prepare and observe what is to be required if you don't see the WHOLE form.
I know, I'm being told I need to answer questions like 52, 65ii, 70i, .....these are questions from a drop down menu you don't see until you finish your visit and start filling out the form.
As I said, I recently conducted two of these shops. There absolutely were guidelines for these shops. Maybe you somehow managed to miss them. I do not recall any surprise questions.
There most certainly is a 17-page downloadable guidelibne manual. I literally just looked at it. You click on "View/Submit" and there is an extensive information area at the top of the survey. Among the many things in that area is a link to the 17-page guidelines, a link to the video including a code required to actually view the video, and a a link to the quiz. I am doing two of these in mid-April. Both of them are set up exactly the same way, which is typcial of GfK. Every cell phone mystery shop which I have done for GfK, regardless of the scenario, this year and last year was set up exactly the same way. The frustrating thing for me is that every round of shops (quarterly?) requires watching the same video, finding the codes which pop up in the video, and taking the quiz.
I say again, after the 17-page manual and the 30 minute video, there are NO surprise questions.
I say again, after the 17-page manual and the 30 minute video, there are NO surprise questions.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
I did see the LINK for the 15 page questionnaire. and a link for a video. The 15 page questionnaire should be part of the survey...NOT a separate link. They need to put all of it on the survey, you take with you....like all the other companies do.
I've done car shops and Western Union shops the video is embedded in the survey...NOT on a separate link. The shop is still way too much for the amount they are asking.
I've done car shops and Western Union shops the video is embedded in the survey...NOT on a separate link. The shop is still way too much for the amount they are asking.
Some shops I make a note not to do again. Some food shops are like this, unless you can find a way to mass produce all the junk questions. I use Roboform, which costs a little money but is well worth it.
@gwingman2002 wrote:
Some shops I make a note not to do again. Some food shops are like this, unless you can find a way to mass produce all the junk questions. I use Roboform, which costs a little money but is well worth it.
Thanks, I will look into RoboForm.
Considering there are other phone shops that have vastly smaller questionnaires I can do twice as many of those shops in the time it takes to do one of gfk forms
Not really... I can do twice as many gfk forms as you can the smaller questionnaires.
What I really hate is what kind of phone does the person you talked to personally use. Like I would even think to ask that normally.
I totally agree with your post. I did one today and it took me a grueling 1 and 1/2 hours to finish it after running across town and talking with the salesman for 45 minutes and it only paid $14.00. Really not worth the time and effort not to mention gas money. I will not be doing any more GFK phone shops either. The whole time when I was doing my report my husband was looking at me wondering how much longer as he had work to do also. Could not believe it took that long!!
I've done two of them bonused to $40. It is as bad as you write. GfK has a complex system. I received 7's for each but can still self-assign.
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
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
If it took you 90 minutes to fill out the report you are grossly incompetent!
Aside from 90% of the report being simply checking boxes, The few small narratives. ( there are only 2 narratives on what features you were shown) are limited to 600 characters.
The last narrative box states OPTIONAL
The phone plan box is a simple one sentence answer . the XYYZ plan.
The whining is GROSSLY over stated.
Aside from 90% of the report being simply checking boxes, The few small narratives. ( there are only 2 narratives on what features you were shown) are limited to 600 characters.
The last narrative box states OPTIONAL
The phone plan box is a simple one sentence answer . the XYYZ plan.
The whining is GROSSLY over stated.
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