hi, im new to mystery shopping.

i've gotten good ratings so far with the mystery shopping companies that i've worked for.

however, is there some universal shopper rating accessible somewhere (like at the mspa), where companies can check the ratings for a particular shopper from all of the other companies that they've worked for?

one time i had cancelled for a shop and they said that there would be no penalty, but i'd just like to make sure. since i had never worked for that particular company before, i just want to make sure that they didn't give me a bad rating for cancelling that is accessible to other companies. again, they told me that there would be no penalty for cancelling, but i just want to make sure.

the reason that i ask is because i've recently applied for a number of jobs at one company that i've worked for and they didn't give me any jobs, despite having an average rating of 9 out of 10. and they were easy phone jobs too. the jobs were still available for other shoppers, but they didn't accept me for them.

is there some universal shopper rating that is accessible to multiple companies somewhere?

In a word, no. In a way this is a good thing not to have a mystery shopping "big brother" keeping an eye on us. It's enought that we have people with "issues" who either own companies or spy and tattle for the various MS companies out there. The MSPA's purpose is to be an organization FOR the MS companies. The purpose of certification with them is to make you think that somehow you will get better shops or be more likely to get shops because you paid them $25-100. My advice is to keep your money in your pocket and get out there and do the shops to gain experience.

Cettie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In a word, no. In a way this is a good thing not
> to have a mystery shopping "big brother" keeping
> an eye on us. It's enought that we have people
> with "issues" who either own companies or spy and
> tattle for the various MS companies out there. The
> MSPA's purpose is to be an organization FOR the MS
> companies. The purpose of certification with them
> is to make you think that somehow you will get
> better shops or be more likely to get shops
> because you paid them $25-100. My advice is to
> keep your money in your pocket and get out there
> and do the shops to gain experience.

okay, thanks.

i was surprised when a particular shopping company (i won't mention names) didn't give me any shops after i had completed 5 shops with them that all had 9/10 or 10/10 ratings. i had applied for about 15 shops for a particular wave recently, and was given none of them, even though some of them are still available for other shoppers to apply for. did something bad happen, or is this normal? i realize that they are not obligated to give me shops, but it seems strange to me.

You learn not to get bent out of shape about such things. It may well be that other shoppers with 6+ shops and a 10/10 rating asked for them first. It may be that the shops are already assigned but they left them on the board to pick up more potential shoppers as 'backup'. They may have had quotas of how many in your gender and age group they could have overall and your demographic filled with those perfect score shoppers and for the remaining work they need different gender or age group folks. You can make yourself crazy trying to figure out why YOU were not given the shop.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You learn not to get bent out of shape about such
> things. It may well be that other shoppers with
> 6+ shops and a 10/10 rating asked for them first.
> It may be that the shops are already assigned but
> they left them on the board to pick up more
> potential shoppers as 'backup'. They may have had
> quotas of how many in your gender and age group
> they could have overall and your demographic
> filled with those perfect score shoppers and for
> the remaining work they need different gender or
> age group folks. You can make yourself crazy
> trying to figure out why YOU were not given the
> shop.

okay, thanks. that's fully understandable. i just wanted to make sure that i didn't do anything wrong that might compromise my potential for assignments later. i called the company and they can't get ahold of the scheduler.

Companies are looking for competent, reliable people who raise no dust, just as shoppers are looking for competent, reliable companies who raise no dust. Dust is raised by shoppers when they cancel, reschedule, need too much hand holding and fail to perform. Dust is raised by companies when they fail to communicate, don't pay as per contract, cancel or reschedule jobs too frequently and have editors who are just too nit picky. Paying too little for expectations is a whole other issue, where shopper standards of what is 'too little' vary.

Emergencies will happen and by their very nature are unpredictable. It is unfortunate when they happen early in the relationship with a company and you must cancel a job. On paper a cancellation rate of 1/1 looks a whole lot worse than 1/250 or even 1/5. With the company where you needed to cancel, try to get some jobs so that you can show them that you truly are competent and reliable and the cancellation was a one time fluke.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Companies are looking for competent, reliable
> people who raise no dust, just as shoppers are
> looking for competent, reliable companies who
> raise no dust. Dust is raised by shoppers when
> they cancel, reschedule, need too much hand
> holding and fail to perform. Dust is raised by
> companies when they fail to communicate, don't pay
> as per contract, cancel or reschedule jobs too
> frequently and have editors who are just too nit
> picky. Paying too little for expectations is a
> whole other issue, where shopper standards of what
> is 'too little' vary.
>

the company that i had cancelled with had advertised that no cancellation penalty would occur. a 45-minute phone conference had first been scheduled and people were given the option to cancel without penalty if they felt that the assignment was too hard for them. it was a negotiation shop for a $100,000 car, but i felt ill-suited for it. i had never done any shops for them before, nor applied for any shops with them afterward.

the company to which i've recently been applying is another company altogether which i have already worked for. i called, and apparently the scheduler is sick today and tomorrow. therefore, 100 shops haven't been scheduled even though today is the due date. i can't/won't reveal the name of the company.

Then indeed your cancellation should have no effect on your rating with the company at all. The reason they have those phone conference calls is because indeed they are not for everyone. I was comfortable pulling off the shop a couple of years ago, but am never thrilled with the negotiations. Both dealerships I shopped were arrogant SOBs that acted as though if you wanted to negotiate you didn't deserve the opportunity to purchase their product.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then indeed your cancellation should have no
> effect on your rating with the company at all.
> The reason they have those phone conference calls
> is because indeed they are not for everyone. I was
> comfortable pulling off the shop a couple of years
> ago, but am never thrilled with the negotiations.
> Both dealerships I shopped were arrogant SOBs that
> acted as though if you wanted to negotiate you
> didn't deserve the opportunity to purchase their
> product.

thanks. now i don't feel so bad, lolol.

This wasn't mentioned but maybe there was a rotation if it was a restaurant job...this happens. I wondered once why I couldn't get a job the following month only to find out the job had a 3 month rotation. Your getting 9/10 grades means you certainly didn't do anything wrong. I've never been outed for a cancellation, as long as I give them enough time to re-schedule. I recently had to cancel a small shop that I scheduled 2 weeks in advance, but a hotel job came up for the same day, and I applied. I immediately cancell 1st job and got an email job has been cancelled, please continue doing other scheduled jobs...no problem.

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This wasn't mentioned but maybe there was a
> rotation if it was a restaurant job...this
> happens. I wondered once why I couldn't get a job
> the following month only to find out the job had a
> 3 month rotation. Your getting 9/10 grades means
> you certainly didn't do anything wrong. I've
> never been outed for a cancellation, as long as I
> give them enough time to re-schedule. I recently
> had to cancel a small shop that I scheduled 2
> weeks in advance, but a hotel job came up for the
> same day, and I applied. I immediately cancell
> 1st job and got an email job has been cancelled,
> please continue doing other scheduled jobs...no
> problem.

that's good to hear.