gas station shops: are they worth the money?

vince · 2012-02-02T07:07:27+00:00

I see a lot of gas station shops posted with a particular mystery shopping company. they pay $11 each, but i notice that virtually none of them are getting taken. however, the bank shops which are posted by the same company are extremely scarce for roughly the same pay. i've already taken many of the bank shops. should i take about 10 gas station shops also? i've just heard some bad stories about them is all. also, i ride a motor scooter in the summer, and wouldn't fill the tank with more than a half gallon per visit. unless i drove my car, but i don't want to put the miles on my car.

gas station shops: are they worth the money?

February 12, 2012 11:52PM

I got really irritated with Maritz a while back. I signed up for a bunch of gas station shops, they (or the client) decided to hold off, but when they reassigned them later, the pay was lower! As it was I thought the pay was barely enough with their really long checklist and the entry always seemed more difficult and time consuming that it needed to be, so I decided not to do them for a while. Same with CORI... they start their pay off at $4 and also require a lot of pics. It's insulting and I can't believe people would do them for that. I won't do them unless they get bonused high.

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February 13, 2012 02:42AM

OMG! What a PITA! I performed 2 out of the 5 shops today. Each one took over an hour each. So, at $10.00 per shop, the 60+ minutes of driving round trip, and the time to edit the photos and submit the report...

I have come to the conclusion that I am not a gas station girl. I'll stick with my high-end retail shops with lots of narrative over this nightmare.

Now what do I do with the 3 remaining shops? Suck it up and perform them or cancel and take the ding to my reputation?

P.S.
I prepaid inside and asked for $9.00 worth of gas which is the reimbursement maximum for this shop. And I am performing the mystery shop/audit. You HAVE to perform the mystery shop first, then reveal yourself, then take the pictures. If you take the pics first, you will most likely be questioned and get caught as a MS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2012 02:56AM by Shop2LiveinFL.

February 13, 2012 02:48AM

You already know the answer to that question even if you don't want to admit it

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

February 13, 2012 03:02AM

But MOMMY, I mean LisaSTL, I don't wanna gooooo. {Trying to give my best whining child impersonation.} ;-P

February 13, 2012 03:05AM

You are my worst kid!

February 13, 2012 06:06AM

I assume you are referring to the Maritz yellow stations. I did one out of three I had scheduled too and I sooo don't want to gooooo to the others, mommy!!! It took me an hour for the first one. Admittedly, the others will go faster since the first is usually the longest. Now, I (we) know the report, so suck it up and do like I will do and get them done. I did so many last quarter, but it looks like these three will be my only three for this company for this round. I could have done 3-4 CoRi gas stations in that hour and made triple the money or more. (bonused well) Not all gas stations are like the ones mentioned in your post. BTW, it's 2 GALLONS of reimbursement, up to $9.00. If your two gallons was less than $9.00, that's what you get.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

February 14, 2012 02:43AM

MsJudi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I assume you are referring to the Maritz yellow
> stations. I did one out of three I had scheduled
> too and I sooo don't want to gooooo to the others,
> mommy!!! It took me an hour for the first one.
> Admittedly, the others will go faster since the
> first is usually the longest.

if the first one takes an hour, then i don't want to start doing them in the winter time. i'll wait until it's summer.

February 14, 2012 03:50AM

MsJudi~ I don't feel so bad now since you and I spent about the same amount of time performing the first shop. I thought it was just me. But LisaSTL just looooves to hear us whiiiiine. ;-)

February 14, 2012 04:01AM

Warning: This User Has Been Banned or Is No Longer Active

Here in my place, I think it's not. Because they are overpricing the gasoline, eventhough it's just cents per gallon still if I am going to have a full tank I pay big. It really matters to me because if the gasoline continuing to be high in price, all the goods in the market especially the one that needs to be deliver, may high there price also.

February 15, 2012 06:09PM

john16 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here in my place, I think it's not. Because they
> are overpricing the gasoline, eventhough it's just
> cents per gallon still if I am going to have a
> full tank I pay big. It really matters to me
> because if the gasoline continuing to be high in
> price, all the goods in the market especially the
> one that needs to be deliver, may high there price
> also.

this is a mystery shopping forum. we do not pay for the gas.

February 16, 2012 02:00AM

"Re: gas station shops: are they worth the money?"

No! I've done about 12 of the yellow one's so far this month and I hate, hate, hate them. I am with several others here... I wish I could just not finish the rest I signed up for. Of course I will, but I will never, ever, ever, ever sign up for them again. Actually I take that back. I'll sign up for the locations that were in compliance this month because they aren't too bad. It's the locations that have problems that are absolutely horrible.

Steffi

February 16, 2012 01:03PM

Maritz called me asking me to take some of the shops but I declined. $10 isn't nearly enough for what's involved in those shops, especially when I can make more doing phone calls from home or my car for more with easier data entry. I realize the gas is part of the reimbursement but that gets eaten up with the mileage to get to the shop in the first place. It's also ridiculous to ask for a couple gallons of gas. I hate doing shops where I have to do something or ask a question that screams, "Yes, I am a mystery shopper!"

February 16, 2012 03:48PM

Gas station audits are what I consider my bread and butter. Fair warning, the first 4 or 5 for each different brand that you start doing will take a LONG time, but after that, they become almost robotically routine.

I schedule big runs of one brand (Maritz yellow, Maritz green, CoRI red/white/blue when bonused) in close proximity to each other, and have no problems knocking out 15+ in a day. Plus, if the locations work out right, and I can get to location #1 on a 1/4 tank or less, I will almost always end the day with a 1/4 tank more than I started with.

Like it was stated before, it boils down to what you as a shopper prefer doing. Seeing that I'm a relatively experienced photographer and have access to a DSLR with a zoom lens that will cover a broad range of everyday distances, I can walk around a gas station and rattle off 20 pictures in a quarter of the time that it would take to listen to some salesman give his schtick and write a 500 word narrative about it.

February 17, 2012 01:22AM

I take out my money in advance, go before the cashier, count it out, hold back a couple of dollars, and then give him/her the amount that will cover two gallons. It looks like I'm short for the day.

One time when I had to ask for a receipt, I commented that my husband wants to see all the receipts to see where our money is going. The customer behind me said, "My husband does the same thing!" It made me feel not so much like a mystery shopper.

February 17, 2012 01:36AM

Gas Station shops are great if they are close to home or you can negotiate extra for going further. I am doing one tomorrow for a new client so am taking a dive on it.
It cost $3.00 to print all their literature (my printer died and I had to go to the local office store), it's going to cost $4.00 in gas, some of which is reimbursed - so not worth my time. BUT the payoff is I love the rural routes. Logic is, get one done well and then I'm in a better position to negotiate.

Love working with Maritz, particularly Jamie who is a dream scheduler.

February 17, 2012 01:43AM

Great ruse! I will be sure and steal it

Sandra Sue Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I take out my money in advance, go before the
> cashier, count it out, hold back a couple of
> dollars, and then give him/her the amount that
> will cover two gallons. It looks like I'm short
> for the day.

February 17, 2012 02:08AM

My first couple of gas station shops for Maritz were a learning experience. Now, I find them easy. They "Require" you to spend a minumum of 30 minutes per audit. Actual time, even with noncompliance issues is actually 10 to 15 minutes. The nonaudit mystery versions are even easier. It takes me a few minutes to download pictures to one folder, rename them and then resize them to another folder. Each audit report takes abou 10 minutes including picture upload...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

February 17, 2012 04:34AM

zlinedavid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gas station audits are what I consider my bread
> and butter. Fair warning, the first 4 or 5 for
> each different brand that you start doing will
> take a LONG time, but after that, they become
> almost robotically routine.

i was just called by maritz yesterday for my first gas station. i only took one for the end of this month, about two miles from my home, until i get more comfortable with them. i have to buy a flourescent safety vest. there are a lot of these in my area within even just a few short miles, so if i can get good at them, i can make a bit of money.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2012 04:36AM by vince.

February 17, 2012 04:39AM

mrcomputer101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My first couple of gas station shops for Maritz
> were a learning experience. Now, I find them easy.
> They "Require" you to spend a minumum of 30
> minutes per audit. Actual time, even with
> noncompliance issues is actually 10 to 15 minutes.
> The nonaudit mystery versions are even easier. It
> takes me a few minutes to download pictures to one
> folder, rename them and then resize them to
> another folder. Each audit report takes abou 10
> minutes including picture upload...

do you have to record your time in and time out? do they enforce 30 minutes?

February 17, 2012 11:08AM

The report records a timein/timeout. It needs to show 30 minutes...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

February 17, 2012 03:10PM

mrcomputer101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The report records a timein/timeout. It needs to
> show 30 minutes...

what if somebody completes everything in less than 30 minutes? don't they have cameras to verify the length of stay? i'm doing my first gas station shop at the end of this month.

February 17, 2012 03:48PM

Here in Canada we fight for them. Generally, you get $15 to $20 worth of gas with a very easy report. Ususally only a $2.50 to $5.00 shop fee, but the gas itself is well worth it. Here I pay $1.19 per litre, which works out to $4.76 per gallon, so I love the free gas. This allows me to do the other shops virtually for no cost.

February 17, 2012 03:49PM

vince Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> what if somebody completes everything in less than
> 30 minutes? don't they have cameras to verify the
> length of stay? i'm doing my first gas station
> shop at the end of this month.

I do these all the time green, yellow, aqua, for this particular MSC. I love them and sometimes I am there only 15-20 minutes. I have not seen where is says I am required to be there 30 minutes. Maybe I am missing something Mrcomputerman is seeing, but I have never been rejected for only being there 20 minutes. If it is a good station, very few infractions you probably will be there 15-20 (more so 20) if there are alot of infractions or alot of pumps you will be there longer.

My advice on these is to make yourself a checklist up of the required photos (yellow has a print out). They tell you in the book, but it is so helpful to have a list that you can physically mark off each. Sometimes in the heat of the audit it is so easy to forget one pic. I have done over 80 of these and last week I still forgot a counter photo. I could have kicked myself. Checklist...priceless.

February 17, 2012 04:04PM

The reports for the red and blue locations require a minumum of 30 minutes recorded. Vince - Not to worry...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

February 17, 2012 07:58PM

I recently did a bunch of shops over a 3 day period. Since it's necessary you spend a bit of time inside the stores, taking various pictures, I was surprised to notice how many customers actually do come in and prepay odd amounts. At one station, there were 4 (!) customers within that time, that paid in change. Afterwards, when I awarded the gift card to the employee, I asked her about that, voicing that I'd always be worried about being spotted beforehand. But she assured me that it is quite common especially in this economy, and seemingly moreso at the much higher priced famous brand stations than at the discounter down the road a ways. Looks like people just buy enough to get home or to the bank or whatnot more often than we suspicious mystery shoppers think.

Even when I prepay with card, I might mention I didn't want to overdraw the account, payday is tomorrow or somesuch. Seems to work.

February 17, 2012 10:16PM

Grrr. Took a movie of one pump today instead of a photo. Should have known better. I knew I was on movie and went back to take a photo of the peeling paint. Should have spen the extra 10 seconds for an extra pump photo.

Reshopping tomorrow. Lucky it is less than 3 miles from home. It had a big bonus because the previous shopper missed something. GRRRR! Kicking myself.

At least all the issues are fresh in my mind. Maybe they'll stick the missing number in the sign and save me a shot!

~~*~~*~~*~~ kal ~~*~~*~~*~~
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just forget to load the film.

February 17, 2012 10:20PM

Don't kick yourself. We all do it from time to time...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

February 18, 2012 01:19AM

I have been doing gas shops for 2 years. 4 different stations and a lot of pictures. I feel a bit burned out. How do I tell a MSC that I am taking a break from gas shops when they call me?

February 18, 2012 01:47AM

Just tell them...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

February 18, 2012 02:10AM

vince Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mrcomputer101 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The report records a timein/timeout. It needs
> to
> > show 30 minutes...

>
> what if somebody completes everything in less than
> 30 minutes? don't they have cameras to verify the
> length of stay? i'm doing my first gas station
> shop at the end of this month.

As far as Maritz shops go, only their Red & Blue/Red & Black shops require 30 minutes. If your time equals less than 30 minutes, you just need to explain why. Also, as far as their yellow shops go, in addition to the $10 fee you get paid for two gallons of gasoline...that's $7 to $8, tax free, and they do not require you to spend 30 minutes there. I've been doing all of their gasoline store shops for three years. I know the forms by heart, what to look for by heart, and the photos required by heart. With experience you can do the same thing...if doing this is something you enjoy.

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin Disraeli

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gas station shops: are they worth the money?

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