All gone here, gad, I was one hour late....

Gone here too, went in minutes.

I signed to be a backup for every shop (8) with a 20 mile radius, hopefully someone will back out.

It sounds like they may not be shopped in this area. I am new to mystery shopping and have not found any company offering grocery store shops. Can someone suggest some MSCs that do these types of shops? I am not asking specifically for WF as I know that is against the rules.

I live on the MA/NH border and have Shaws, Market Basket, Hannafords, Trader Joes, & Whole Foods in the area. Thanks.

Whole Foods is shopped by the company that has tons of senior target seminars,
that is one source.

can someone give me a hint who does whole foods?

It depends on your location, bigduck. Three different companies that I know of (there might be others in locations I don't know about) have the Whole Foods client.

I just picked this one up... Wondering how it will go..

Good luck, Dixie! I love these shops!

Thank you! I think it is one of those shops that seem hard but will end up being a piece of cake. I look forward to it!

I love Whole Foods wish I could figure out which MS company does it. drats,

@Mantis wrote:

I can do any shop once (except for that one at Ikea!)

Thanks for your input, all.

Warning!

Ikea is not a shop, it is a scam. Do not be tempted by the high fee Ikea offers.

You walk for miles in their showrooms. They use props from other departments but if you see the item in the wrong department and report on it your shop is invalidated. If you are very careful and resist the bait to report on item in the wrong department you may hit other such ambiguous questions.

You must take money out of your pocket to buy their Swedish meat balls. When your shop is invalidated you do not get reimbursed.

I believe Ikea gets your report with all the hundreds of observations. 99% of the information is valuable to them but you do not get a dime and you are out your time and the money you spent for the meatballs. Shops should not be a contest to avoid getting scammed.

Shop at your own risk. Has anyone else had this experience?

I have found that the grocery store shops are hit and miss. Sometimes it can pay, IF you were going to shop there anyway. But they are a lot of work, shopping that many departments for the fee that is offered. I usually only do them if a bonus is involved or I realize that I have to shop at that particular store that week anyway.

I'll chime in again on this zombie thread. The Whole Foods shop is one of my favorites now.

@Piled Hip Deep, PHD wrote:

@Mantis wrote:

I can do any shop once (except for that one at Ikea!)

Thanks for your input, all.

Warning!

Ikea is not a shop, it is a scam. Do not be tempted by the high fee Ikea offers.

You walk for miles in their showrooms. They use props from other departments but if you see the item in the wrong department and report on it your shop is invalidated. If you are very careful and resist the bait to report on item in the wrong department you may hit other such ambiguous questions.

You must take money out of your pocket to buy their Swedish meat balls. When your shop is invalidated you do not get reimbursed.

I believe Ikea gets your report with all the hundreds of observations. 99% of the information is valuable to them but you do not get a dime and you are out your time and the money you spent for the meatballs. Shops should not be a contest to avoid getting scammed.

Shop at your own risk. Has anyone else had this experience?

RE: MSCs & clients who invalidate shops. I have had ONE shop in my history invalidated...and a couple more challenged. MSCs and clients sometimes forget that they hire us to report the facts. Sometimes, they ASSUME certain conditions exist...like nothing is ever in the wrong department, so how could a shopper be reporting on that, therefore the shopper must have made a mistake and we are invalidating the shop. But usually the shopper is correct. Remember, shoppers report the facts. They may not know something was in the wrong department...they just report what they see. Too many times, I find scenarios, report forms and questions do not consider what might be possible. They only cover "typical" scenarios that the shopper may encounter...or the form was boilerplated from an older version of the shop but not updated to consider changes since that time. Sure, schedulers tell you to let them know...but that takes extra time for which we are not compensated, and usually for a shop that is already underpaid. If you have an out-of-pocket expense to perform a shop and it is invalidated because SOME of it was incorrect, shoppers should still be compensated for their out-of-pocket costs. The only reason they were there in the first place was because the client and MSC contracted for the shopper to be there. Certainly SOME parts of the shop are usable...reports on cleanliness of the parking lot, greetings, uniform compliance, restroom condition. That is certainly worth the cost of reimbursing the shopper for out-of-pocket expenses, since those expenses are the retail sales price, not the "cost" to the client. That is one of the pitfalls of mystery shopping...potentially being stuck with the bill.

@LynnolaS wrote:

I am dying to know who shops WF and Trader Joes... I would love to try these ones...

If you look below the "YOUR REPLY" section on this site you will find:

"Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Looking for companies? Browse our directory of mystery shopping companies here. "

I am not sure if you will find your answer but it is a good place to start.

You will not have to die. The company most likely would be in there but like the chickens in the barnyard, If you do not peck and sctatch no one will feed you!

Oh wow, I did not know that many companies do them! Thanks

I can't even go into an Ikea, the store gives me panic attacks.

Semi-OT,

I did IKEA and lucked out and didn't get invalidated; but it's a *very* arduous shop. Probably the most arduous, time consuming non-revealed shop I've ever done. Will not be doing it again. Plus I don't like how slow that MSC is to pay.