I've been working for them since they were founded in 1998 (met the founders through a mutual friend). They are 100% legitimate, pay on time, have good communication, and the work difficulty varies based on the project. Most of the shops I've done have been on the phone (they don't have any clients that are local to me right now, so I haven't done any in-person shops in a while.... those are more challenging and time consuming but they also pay a lot more). You do have to have some moderate writing/grammar/spelling/punctuation skills. You are writing a report of the entire conversation with certain touch points to look for and comment on (did the person state their name, did they use your name in conversation, did they thank you for holding, etc.). Some of the calls are easier than others, but they give you a scenario, alias, etc.
Elsewhere I saw the accusation of "free labor." The sample shop they ask you to do is a shortened example of a real shop. It's not based on any particular project or client, it's just to give you a flavor for what you'd be doing and to see your ability to write the reports, and to see if your ratings match your narrative. They're not gaining anything from your report that they can use, because it's not client- or locality-specific.
I'm a professional with a full time job and I can do my shops, type up the reports, and fill out the ratings survey during my lunch hour or in front of the TV at night. It's really good supplementary income for me (around $100/month for work I do on my lunch hour) and I'd say I probably earn about $15-24/hour for the work I do. You can pretty much do as many shops as you can handle, but I keep my workload light, around 4-5 shops per week.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2016 04:58PM by jenlcb.