North Fork Research

Hi has anyone had experience with North Fork? Are there any special tips to completing their reporting required. And there is a lot of it. I'm scheduled 6 department audits at 3 locations to a major grocery store chain here in Michigan, tomorrow. I'm afraid I overbooked myself. I have electronics, meat and pharmacy.

Does anyone know when & how their payment process works? Can't find any information out about them in the forums.

Thanks!

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@LeslieKay111 wrote:

Hi has anyone had experience with North Fork? Are there any special tips to completing their reporting required. And there is a lot of it. I'm scheduled 6 department audits at 3 locations to a major grocery store chain here in Michigan, tomorrow. I'm afraid I overbooked myself. I have electronics, meat and pharmacy.

Does anyone know when & how their payment process works? Can't find any information out about them in the forums.

Thanks!

hi, i have done many assignments for north fork, mostly supermarkets but never more than 3 departments. make sure to comment on every "no" answer or they will request additional information a few days later. north fork pays very quickly and they have been receptive to additional $$$ when requested.

Make the questions fit in your narrative. Don't overwrite. Do comment on every, "no" answer. Give the team member a good opportunity to volunteer. I had difficulty with the meat department. Then I pointed to the shaved beef to ask the question. Goes much smoother now. RX: be sure to get the name of the team member who helped you. Same with Electronics. If they just take me to the item, I ask a very general question to see if they describe it further.

I try to give the team member a good chance to perform their job.

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

Love North Fork (ICCDS). I have done many shops for them over the years, though none recently. Can't remember much about the pay. Somewhere in the forum there is a thread with info on MSCs and when they pay but I don't know where to find it.

I have done many of the shops for North Fork. It's tricky to do 3 departments as you do one then check out.. then do the next and check out.. and then do the 3rd and check out... I would try to plan out my trip in the store so if I asked why I had bags I had a reason.. Usually I'd hit the pharmacy first and check out buying a candy bar or something I could put in my purse... then do the next department and check out and buy something else small... then do the 3rd department... You have to also use 3 different cashiers... I would use a note app so that when I walked away from the department, I would pretend to be texting and quickly write the names, descriptions, the welcome, and the closing statements so I wouldn't forget. They can be tricky.. I like them when bonused... Always had zero problems with North Fork... Good company!

Thank you everyone. I did 6 at 3 locations. Took 3 1/2 hours and I'm beat! Now I know there's still a couple hours to do the reports right! And they want them in 12 hours!

Did Meat, Rx and electronics. Went to the car and wrote my notes between shops...I just think they are worth more than $10 a shop! I want to ask for more. Doing this during the week before Christmas was very challenging!!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2016 11:44PM by LeslieKay111.

Why would you check out after each one? I've done many shops with North Fork and have never had to do this. Seems like a waste of time.

I actually find my North Fork shops go pretty quickly and easily with the departments and checkout.

@nixkit wrote:

Why would you check out after each one? I've done many shops with North Fork and have never had to do this. Seems like a waste of time.

Jtack wrote that they had to use 3 different cashiers, so apparently her store and scenario were not the same as yours. Pretty much gotta check out 3 times if you have to use 3 different cashiers.

Edited for typo.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2016 01:33AM by JASFLALMT.

Yes, each department includes a cashier interaction at the front of the store.. so if you do 3 departments, you have to check out 3 times... That is what these shops state in the guidelines... North Fork does several different grocery chains though, I believe... The one that I do in Michigan requires you check out...

Ditto. The cashier lines were longer at one store. Another managed the lines better. I did six at two stores. These shops come every two weeks. They have actually cut back the stores. Seems like they do one twice in a month then skip a month. They had Garden Center shops and gas station shops last year. Morning and Afternoon/evening shops. These are simpler.

Yes, the lines were long and stores were busy. I still feel it's more work than $10 covers. I provided what transpired, like they requested. Kept it factual, so we will see what they say. The reports took a half hour a piece. So that's $10 an hour. I make phone calls for that much. But I enjoyed doing this retailer. It was interesting to look at my own stores from a different point of view.

I usually try to do three. It takes some work and attention not to be made as a mystery shopper. I try to select two short and one long. After my second shop, I exit the same entrance, move my car to the other entrance and come through that one.

I usually spend an hour which includes walking through the entire store and looking at clearance. I have purchased a hard suit case for 75% off regular price, a sound bar, blue tooth speaker and more. I like being able to have nice things at the fraction of the cost.

I did one for them a couple of months ago. They had to come back to me for a clarification. They gave me a 5 rating. So I won't be doing any more North Fork!

Well, I'm getting these emails that say thank you, etc... but NO grade. I like to know what I did right or wrong so that I can adjust for that clients needs. All that work and I have no idea of my status with them.

@Shopographer wrote:

They gave me a 5 rating.

I don't think I have ever gotten a rating from them. Usually the Reviewer Comments just have a canned blurb thanking me for the well-written report. They will tell you if there is something to improve. I once said something that they considered to be speculation. They politely (and rightly) explained to keep my comments objective.

@Shopographer wrote:

I did one for them a couple of months ago. They had to come back to me for a clarification. They gave me a 5 rating. So I won't be doing any more North Fork!

I'm really surprised to hear that you got a rating. I haven't ever gotten any kind of rating. There isn't even a line showing Average Rating/Last Project Rating on my home page like many other MSCs have.

No ratings.. and there are some stores, like the ones up north, that no one seems to go to and get bonused if you wait..

We are adults not in high school.

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

Well, I'm getting these emails that say thank you, etc... but NO grade. I like to know what I did right or wrong so that I can adjust for that clients needs. All that work and I have no idea of my status with them.

Canadamommy! Enough of following Leslie all over the forum and making critical comments about innocent questions. This was an entirely legitimate concern that she expressed.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Grades ARE overrated... just like citation heros

quote=walesmaven]
Canadamommy! Enough of following Leslie all over the forum and making critical comments about innocent questions. This was an entirely legitimate concern that she expressed.[/quote]

I've completed over 100 shops for North Fork. They give some grammar and writing information. I simply use the grammar and words in their questions when I write a narrative. I make sure I address all the questions in some way. Some do not have to be direct.

I picked up a couple of $100 space heaters for $22. I love finding deals for things I need or can resell when I do these shops.

Those shops were my mainstay when I lived in Michigan, and I miss the major grocery store there. It could be very easy to some shops, and some I'd spend an hour waiting in line. It just depends on how busy the store was and how hard it was to check out. The reports got shorter and easier at some point. That was nice. I never had a problem working with them. I don't recall how they paid, but I think it was some point the next month.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2016 04:36AM by msmsmshopper.

They don't have too many shops where I'm at, but occasionally I shop for them at the trendy "outdoor outfitter"... you have to make a $5 purchase (which is really hard there) and the pay is like $10 (sometimes a $5 bonus). It's relatively quick, and they pay very fast. The last one I did had confusing instructions -- you were to go in and say you were shopping for a small gift (not clothing) and see if the associate would point out the gift section and give some ideas. Usually they want you to come up with an excuse to use the fitting rooms, but on this particular shop they didn't, and it was for "gift ideas" not clothes -- when I filled the survey it asked about the fitting rooms, I marked no, and noted that the gift area didn't have clothes. I got an e-mail back that the client requires all shoppers to visit the fitting rooms at this store and try on something, but that they realized how confusing this seemed on this shop so they paid me anyway even though they said the client couldn't take it... so they got points for that. That said, they have no supermarkets here -- that particular store is about the only thing I see pop up.

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