Hi. I'm in Australia and I've been doing mystery shopping for 6 months now. I have now done mystery shopping for 5 companies, with 28 jobs at 20 different companies in that time. I am about to do work for a 6th company for the first time on Monday. I have signed up with 2 more but am yet to get any jobs with them that match. One of the ones I have never done work for I keep getting rejected for when I apply, while the other one someone else keeps taking the jobs before I can get there.
So these are what has happened with the 5 places so far. Is this typical?
The first place I went to for my first job made me order a hamburger plus milk shake and fries, with a very specific order that cost exactly $26.10 with a $10 payment on top of it, for $36.10 total including reimbursement. The burger was lovely and the place was great, and it remains the best customer service I've ever had. There was an issue with them asking me after I'd done the job to use a geolocator that was not asked in the job requirements, which I complained about, and they said it'd be okay. I made a note to always use a geolocator for every job whether they asked for it or not, just in case.
The second one I went to was a liquor store, with a $10 purchase plus $16 ($26 total). The liquor store were wonderful. I hadn't even noticed before how nice liquor store staff are. I actually spent $63 on liquor because they were so convincing, but that's okay. It was all quite nice. The actual one we bought as the mystery shop wasn't very nice as they didn't have what we wanted.
I then signed up for another one and they took me to a hardware store for $26.10 with no purchase requirement, and I was to look for hooks to hang up a calendar on the wall. It was quite a detailed shop and took me an hour. The staff completely ignored me and were having a chat with each other and didn't want to help me. They eventually, reluctantly did. The evaluator asked me if they were talking about work. I said that they were talking about going to a friend's barbecue on the weekend. They asked me if that section sold barbecues (as the store did sell barbecues) and I said that they were in the hook section, so no. It was approved.
The second mystery shopping place, which I was referring to as "the good one", then gave me a job as an interceptor at the same hardware store I had said were horrible, paying me $300 for 6 hours across 2 days to ask people to fill in surveys about putting in gates for customers to come in and out of.
I did so well at that that they then gave me a second interceptor job at a liquor store drive-through, but then had to cancel it because it was too hot that day (it was 47 degrees that day, and it wasn't safe to be outside wearing all black in that kind of heat).
The second mystery shopping place then stopped having jobs as they seemed to close down or slow down over Christmas, and they've had hardly any jobs since.
I then signed up for 10 others, but of the other 10 only 7 approved it, as the other 3 either closed down or didn't like me or something. Out of the 7 others, one corrupted my account so I couldn't do any work for them. That left 6 others, or 8 total. I have so far done jobs for 3 more, 5 total, with a 6th one giving me my first job on Monday. Of the other 2 who still haven't given me jobs, one keeps rejecting me when I apply for not being suitable for their requirements, while the other one I keep being beaten to apply for the jobs.
The third mystery shopping place was even worse than "the bad one" of the first two.
My first job saw me do a 2-part job for $16, with the first part requiring me to call them with a specific query, and then, a day later, I had to go to the store unrelated to the query and try on some very specific clothes.
The staff member was nice to me, but horrid to my wife when she asked the staff member her name. While perhaps my wife shouldn't have interfered, I was allowed to have a companion and I took the swearing as being her response to other customers.
The response from the evaluator was horrendous and shocking, ultimately culminating in her refusing to pay me, issuing a formal warning because my wife asked the staff member her name, forcing me to delete my comments about her swearing, and making me redo the content 10 times, each time given 10 minutes or less time to do it or else I'd be banned. I had to accept the rule violation or be banned from the system, and I had to promise not to do it again.
I did two jobs at once for them, with the second one being one where I had to go to a jewellery store and do a minimum $10 purchase and then I was paid a measly $8 on top of that ($18 total). Unfortunately, the cheapest jewellery was actually $15, making this a $3 shop. Worse, the jewellery was so cheap and tacky that we can't find anyone at all who wants it, making it worthless. Maybe I can just force it upon one of my young nieces, against their will.
I got told off for this one too, because the staff member took 22 minutes to talk to me, which was well beyond the 5-minute threshold, but the evaluator said that because she was with a customer it was okay. But she wasn't serving the customer. He had already bought the jewellery and they were just chatting, flirting really, while ignoring 3 other customers. After that, another staff member turned up and they had a chat and catch-up that had nothing to do with work. Then she dealt with another customer who just arrived in the store, while I had been there for 22 minutes. She was okay after that.
The evaluator made me delete all of the stuff about her ignoring me and flirting with other customers and chatting to staff members, because she said that that was all okay because it was all customer-related, and flirting with a customer is just good sales. The evaluator also claimed that I had misinterpreted it and it was appropriate.
Okay.
So I wasn't paid for either job, or even reimbursed for the $15 I had spent (or the $10 reimbursement they promised), and was $15 out of pocket, and missing the $34 they owed me. I also had a formal warning on my account, which she forced me to agree to or else I'd be banned.
I nearly quit that one but decided that I didn't have enough work so would just not do any jobs on it. I tried to talk to other people at the company but there was nobody really to talk to, as they only talk to you when they are assigning you jobs.
I was meant to do 2 other jobs for them but I said that I wouldn't because I wanted to be paid, at least the $15 out of pocket for me for useless costume jewellery, but it was just about impossible to talk to anyone.
Eventually, I picked up a job and agreed to do it, and it was about as complicated as you could get, as it was a 2-part job where I had to order some coffee and then after that announce that I was a mystery shopper and watch them all panic, then take 90 photos of them panicking, and for that I was paid just $30.
It was such a complex job that I had a lot of questions, and I shoehorned in whether there was a formal complaint about me and why I still hadn't been paid for the other job. I was told that there was no formal complaint as the evaluator was effectively a spell-checker and didn't have the power, and I was told to ignore it. They also said that I would be paid. Eventually, they found out that there was a hold on my account because I hadn't signed one of the forms. But I had signed it. But they had lost it. So they paid me, 3 months after I did it.
For the $30 inspection job, the evaluator was a lot nicer than normal. She told me that I was meant to take 30 more photos (120 total), but said that it was fine. She was a lot nicer than she had been for the first 2 jobs, and it was clear she had gotten into trouble over it.
So I then signed up for 5 more jobs for them, thinking that her bad behaviour was under control, and I did them all very quickly together. These were worth a total of $77 including reimbursements. I had to buy a $10 beer at one pub, but I actually went to the wrong pub as there were 2 with near-identical names right next to each other, so I bought 2 beers at 2 different pubs, so was $20 out of pocket, but that was my fault.
The evaluator then picked on one job where I was told to be an angry customer complaining that I didn't get my bonuses when I'd switched my phone plan over (they didn't clarify what that meant, but apparently you were meant to get $1,200 in store credit for switching the phone over on a 12-month plan). I did it perfectly, but she said that I did it wrong because I had specified the store, and she said that she wouldn't pay me, and issued a second written warning.
Now, remember, the first written warning was one that she didn't have the authority to give, nor was she allowed to reject payments. She lacked the authority.
So I could have just pointed out to her that she lacked the authority to do that, or the fact that she was completely wrong, as I had followed the instructions to the letter, but I just couldn't be bothered with it and quit.
The company told me that they would pay the $77, including the $12 that the evaluator had rejected, and they said nothing about what I said about what she did, or the various evidence that I presented to them.
The company then removed me from the system, effectively banning me.
While I was waiting to be paid for the third one, the "awful one", I then had one place finally give me a job, and I call this one "the holy grail", as they were amazingly good.
They had rejected a lot of my applications for jobs, but finally accepted one at a gym, because nobody wanted to do it. It was initially offered at $60 but they upped it to $70 because nobody would do it.
This one required me to call the gym and ask about joining, then I had to go in 2 days later and do a tour.
They made me do a mystery shopping gym training program first, which took about an hour, and I soon realised why everyone was saying no to it - not just because of the training program that you had to do, but also because of just how much gyms spam you.
I got around 15 text messages and 8 phone calls, plus 5 e-mails from them with various offers, nagging, and begging me to join.
The gym were great over the phone but horrid in person, as she completely ignored me and focused on other customers. She told me to sign up for 24 months or else don't bother, and that was it.
The evaluator asked me why I rated it 2/10 and said that I can't say that because the gym was too small. So I said that it was because the customer service receptionist completely ignored me and didn't offer me any kind of discounts or alternative offers.
It was approved and, 3 days after completing the job, I had my $70.
I then signed up to 2 more gym jobs for them, which I have done, and had much better customer service on them. The third one I suspect knew I was a mystery shopper, as I think that the second one told them, as they had the same owner. I think I might use a fake name next time. I signed up for 7 more gyms with them plus a pilates. They haven't been approved yet, but fingers crossed. I also put in an expression of interest for some hotel evaluations, which pay from $30 to $300 per evaluation, with either drinks, meals or staying in motels, hotels or resorts. I hope I get a resort! I signed up for like 30 of them, but it hasn't been approved yet.
These guys were wonderful, so good that I can scarcely believe that they are real. The Pilates one I only get $40 for and a $60 reimbursement ($100 total) as I have to buy a 5-lesson set that they then pay for. I only have to go for 1 but I can go to the other 4 after I've completed my report. I mean, that's not too bad, is it?
I started with a 5th one last week, and did 2 jobs for them.
The first one of these had me go to a hardware store and buy some paint. I wasn't reimbursed for the paint so was told to get $1. But the cheapest paint I could get was $7.50. The pay was just $15, which goes down to $7.50 given that I don't get reimbursed. I will never use the paint. Maybe I can find someone who wants a sample pot. I dunno. I hate that they won't reimburse me. That feels unfair.
The second one saw me go to a bank and ask about transferring from my own bank. This also paid $15.
On Monday I am doing a 6th one with a new company I've never shopped with, and I think I am meant to go to a clothing store and try on some clothes. They aren't paying me but are offering up to $35 reimbursement if I buy anything. All good, except that, after accetping the job, the specific store they gave me is a children's clothing store, and I have no children I can take. I tried to reject it but there's no option to do that and nobody to talk to. Maybe I can get something for one of my nieces or nephews. They are interstate though so can't come with me. I will do my best. It looks a bit poorly-managed.
So I have them listed as:
1. The bad one
2. The good one
3. The horror show
4. The holy grail
5. The new one that I'm not sure about yet
6. The badly mismanaged one
7. The one that pays heaps but keeps saying no to me for
8. The one where someone keeps sniping jobs off me
The 7th one have been offering $250 up to $3,000 per job, but they keep saying no to me. For that one, I have to do a survey form to see if I'm eligible. I wonder if it's a hoax but one time they did accept me, for a $3,000 job to test some pet food product for my cats, only they then didn't follow up with it and I never got the pet food. Maybe the pet food will come in the mail and it will all be good. Maybe not.
The 8th one had a job this morning paying $20 plus an $80 reimbursement to eat at a fancy restaurant. I said yes to it immediately but someone else had already taken it.
I quit the horror show. It was so much worse than the others that it's not funny. Even the one that forced me to pay $7.50 for paint that I don't get reimbursed for and is only paying $15 per shop is not like that.
No other evaluator, other than at the horror show, has been like that. Most of them go through without any interference, and some might ask me to change a small thing. I think, of the 28 I've done, I've had maybe 4 or 5 that have had the evaluator ask me to change something - not counting 4/4 by the horror show.
So I'm fairly sure I'm not bad at this, but if I was only with the horror show I'd think I was based on what she says to me and about me.
Maybe she just likes to put people down? I don't know.
I could put the names of the mystery shopping companies in here but I am not sure if I am allowed to.
So these are what has happened with the 5 places so far. Is this typical?
The first place I went to for my first job made me order a hamburger plus milk shake and fries, with a very specific order that cost exactly $26.10 with a $10 payment on top of it, for $36.10 total including reimbursement. The burger was lovely and the place was great, and it remains the best customer service I've ever had. There was an issue with them asking me after I'd done the job to use a geolocator that was not asked in the job requirements, which I complained about, and they said it'd be okay. I made a note to always use a geolocator for every job whether they asked for it or not, just in case.
The second one I went to was a liquor store, with a $10 purchase plus $16 ($26 total). The liquor store were wonderful. I hadn't even noticed before how nice liquor store staff are. I actually spent $63 on liquor because they were so convincing, but that's okay. It was all quite nice. The actual one we bought as the mystery shop wasn't very nice as they didn't have what we wanted.
I then signed up for another one and they took me to a hardware store for $26.10 with no purchase requirement, and I was to look for hooks to hang up a calendar on the wall. It was quite a detailed shop and took me an hour. The staff completely ignored me and were having a chat with each other and didn't want to help me. They eventually, reluctantly did. The evaluator asked me if they were talking about work. I said that they were talking about going to a friend's barbecue on the weekend. They asked me if that section sold barbecues (as the store did sell barbecues) and I said that they were in the hook section, so no. It was approved.
The second mystery shopping place, which I was referring to as "the good one", then gave me a job as an interceptor at the same hardware store I had said were horrible, paying me $300 for 6 hours across 2 days to ask people to fill in surveys about putting in gates for customers to come in and out of.
I did so well at that that they then gave me a second interceptor job at a liquor store drive-through, but then had to cancel it because it was too hot that day (it was 47 degrees that day, and it wasn't safe to be outside wearing all black in that kind of heat).
The second mystery shopping place then stopped having jobs as they seemed to close down or slow down over Christmas, and they've had hardly any jobs since.
I then signed up for 10 others, but of the other 10 only 7 approved it, as the other 3 either closed down or didn't like me or something. Out of the 7 others, one corrupted my account so I couldn't do any work for them. That left 6 others, or 8 total. I have so far done jobs for 3 more, 5 total, with a 6th one giving me my first job on Monday. Of the other 2 who still haven't given me jobs, one keeps rejecting me when I apply for not being suitable for their requirements, while the other one I keep being beaten to apply for the jobs.
The third mystery shopping place was even worse than "the bad one" of the first two.
My first job saw me do a 2-part job for $16, with the first part requiring me to call them with a specific query, and then, a day later, I had to go to the store unrelated to the query and try on some very specific clothes.
The staff member was nice to me, but horrid to my wife when she asked the staff member her name. While perhaps my wife shouldn't have interfered, I was allowed to have a companion and I took the swearing as being her response to other customers.
The response from the evaluator was horrendous and shocking, ultimately culminating in her refusing to pay me, issuing a formal warning because my wife asked the staff member her name, forcing me to delete my comments about her swearing, and making me redo the content 10 times, each time given 10 minutes or less time to do it or else I'd be banned. I had to accept the rule violation or be banned from the system, and I had to promise not to do it again.
I did two jobs at once for them, with the second one being one where I had to go to a jewellery store and do a minimum $10 purchase and then I was paid a measly $8 on top of that ($18 total). Unfortunately, the cheapest jewellery was actually $15, making this a $3 shop. Worse, the jewellery was so cheap and tacky that we can't find anyone at all who wants it, making it worthless. Maybe I can just force it upon one of my young nieces, against their will.
I got told off for this one too, because the staff member took 22 minutes to talk to me, which was well beyond the 5-minute threshold, but the evaluator said that because she was with a customer it was okay. But she wasn't serving the customer. He had already bought the jewellery and they were just chatting, flirting really, while ignoring 3 other customers. After that, another staff member turned up and they had a chat and catch-up that had nothing to do with work. Then she dealt with another customer who just arrived in the store, while I had been there for 22 minutes. She was okay after that.
The evaluator made me delete all of the stuff about her ignoring me and flirting with other customers and chatting to staff members, because she said that that was all okay because it was all customer-related, and flirting with a customer is just good sales. The evaluator also claimed that I had misinterpreted it and it was appropriate.
Okay.
So I wasn't paid for either job, or even reimbursed for the $15 I had spent (or the $10 reimbursement they promised), and was $15 out of pocket, and missing the $34 they owed me. I also had a formal warning on my account, which she forced me to agree to or else I'd be banned.
I nearly quit that one but decided that I didn't have enough work so would just not do any jobs on it. I tried to talk to other people at the company but there was nobody really to talk to, as they only talk to you when they are assigning you jobs.
I was meant to do 2 other jobs for them but I said that I wouldn't because I wanted to be paid, at least the $15 out of pocket for me for useless costume jewellery, but it was just about impossible to talk to anyone.
Eventually, I picked up a job and agreed to do it, and it was about as complicated as you could get, as it was a 2-part job where I had to order some coffee and then after that announce that I was a mystery shopper and watch them all panic, then take 90 photos of them panicking, and for that I was paid just $30.
It was such a complex job that I had a lot of questions, and I shoehorned in whether there was a formal complaint about me and why I still hadn't been paid for the other job. I was told that there was no formal complaint as the evaluator was effectively a spell-checker and didn't have the power, and I was told to ignore it. They also said that I would be paid. Eventually, they found out that there was a hold on my account because I hadn't signed one of the forms. But I had signed it. But they had lost it. So they paid me, 3 months after I did it.
For the $30 inspection job, the evaluator was a lot nicer than normal. She told me that I was meant to take 30 more photos (120 total), but said that it was fine. She was a lot nicer than she had been for the first 2 jobs, and it was clear she had gotten into trouble over it.
So I then signed up for 5 more jobs for them, thinking that her bad behaviour was under control, and I did them all very quickly together. These were worth a total of $77 including reimbursements. I had to buy a $10 beer at one pub, but I actually went to the wrong pub as there were 2 with near-identical names right next to each other, so I bought 2 beers at 2 different pubs, so was $20 out of pocket, but that was my fault.
The evaluator then picked on one job where I was told to be an angry customer complaining that I didn't get my bonuses when I'd switched my phone plan over (they didn't clarify what that meant, but apparently you were meant to get $1,200 in store credit for switching the phone over on a 12-month plan). I did it perfectly, but she said that I did it wrong because I had specified the store, and she said that she wouldn't pay me, and issued a second written warning.
Now, remember, the first written warning was one that she didn't have the authority to give, nor was she allowed to reject payments. She lacked the authority.
So I could have just pointed out to her that she lacked the authority to do that, or the fact that she was completely wrong, as I had followed the instructions to the letter, but I just couldn't be bothered with it and quit.
The company told me that they would pay the $77, including the $12 that the evaluator had rejected, and they said nothing about what I said about what she did, or the various evidence that I presented to them.
The company then removed me from the system, effectively banning me.
While I was waiting to be paid for the third one, the "awful one", I then had one place finally give me a job, and I call this one "the holy grail", as they were amazingly good.
They had rejected a lot of my applications for jobs, but finally accepted one at a gym, because nobody wanted to do it. It was initially offered at $60 but they upped it to $70 because nobody would do it.
This one required me to call the gym and ask about joining, then I had to go in 2 days later and do a tour.
They made me do a mystery shopping gym training program first, which took about an hour, and I soon realised why everyone was saying no to it - not just because of the training program that you had to do, but also because of just how much gyms spam you.
I got around 15 text messages and 8 phone calls, plus 5 e-mails from them with various offers, nagging, and begging me to join.
The gym were great over the phone but horrid in person, as she completely ignored me and focused on other customers. She told me to sign up for 24 months or else don't bother, and that was it.
The evaluator asked me why I rated it 2/10 and said that I can't say that because the gym was too small. So I said that it was because the customer service receptionist completely ignored me and didn't offer me any kind of discounts or alternative offers.
It was approved and, 3 days after completing the job, I had my $70.
I then signed up to 2 more gym jobs for them, which I have done, and had much better customer service on them. The third one I suspect knew I was a mystery shopper, as I think that the second one told them, as they had the same owner. I think I might use a fake name next time. I signed up for 7 more gyms with them plus a pilates. They haven't been approved yet, but fingers crossed. I also put in an expression of interest for some hotel evaluations, which pay from $30 to $300 per evaluation, with either drinks, meals or staying in motels, hotels or resorts. I hope I get a resort! I signed up for like 30 of them, but it hasn't been approved yet.
These guys were wonderful, so good that I can scarcely believe that they are real. The Pilates one I only get $40 for and a $60 reimbursement ($100 total) as I have to buy a 5-lesson set that they then pay for. I only have to go for 1 but I can go to the other 4 after I've completed my report. I mean, that's not too bad, is it?
I started with a 5th one last week, and did 2 jobs for them.
The first one of these had me go to a hardware store and buy some paint. I wasn't reimbursed for the paint so was told to get $1. But the cheapest paint I could get was $7.50. The pay was just $15, which goes down to $7.50 given that I don't get reimbursed. I will never use the paint. Maybe I can find someone who wants a sample pot. I dunno. I hate that they won't reimburse me. That feels unfair.
The second one saw me go to a bank and ask about transferring from my own bank. This also paid $15.
On Monday I am doing a 6th one with a new company I've never shopped with, and I think I am meant to go to a clothing store and try on some clothes. They aren't paying me but are offering up to $35 reimbursement if I buy anything. All good, except that, after accetping the job, the specific store they gave me is a children's clothing store, and I have no children I can take. I tried to reject it but there's no option to do that and nobody to talk to. Maybe I can get something for one of my nieces or nephews. They are interstate though so can't come with me. I will do my best. It looks a bit poorly-managed.
So I have them listed as:
1. The bad one
2. The good one
3. The horror show
4. The holy grail
5. The new one that I'm not sure about yet
6. The badly mismanaged one
7. The one that pays heaps but keeps saying no to me for
8. The one where someone keeps sniping jobs off me
The 7th one have been offering $250 up to $3,000 per job, but they keep saying no to me. For that one, I have to do a survey form to see if I'm eligible. I wonder if it's a hoax but one time they did accept me, for a $3,000 job to test some pet food product for my cats, only they then didn't follow up with it and I never got the pet food. Maybe the pet food will come in the mail and it will all be good. Maybe not.
The 8th one had a job this morning paying $20 plus an $80 reimbursement to eat at a fancy restaurant. I said yes to it immediately but someone else had already taken it.
I quit the horror show. It was so much worse than the others that it's not funny. Even the one that forced me to pay $7.50 for paint that I don't get reimbursed for and is only paying $15 per shop is not like that.
No other evaluator, other than at the horror show, has been like that. Most of them go through without any interference, and some might ask me to change a small thing. I think, of the 28 I've done, I've had maybe 4 or 5 that have had the evaluator ask me to change something - not counting 4/4 by the horror show.
So I'm fairly sure I'm not bad at this, but if I was only with the horror show I'd think I was based on what she says to me and about me.
Maybe she just likes to put people down? I don't know.
I could put the names of the mystery shopping companies in here but I am not sure if I am allowed to.