What do you think of the 70 page guide for Maritz gas shops?????

Normal for Maritz.

Standard for Maritz and certainly one reason I terminated from them. It escapes me why any MSP would think we want to read a history of the company. With the places that are shopped, even a newbie is generally aware of the outfit. As for specific observations, their information of what a grease spot does or doesn't look like is perhaps useful to some who are eager beavers and would count off for a drip the size of a quarter. But overall their detailed photographic instructions are just so much schlock to shuffle through that give you no credit for good judgment, much less half a brain.

Speed read. Skim and skip.

I like that speed read, skim and skip. Have to remember that.

What about the two pages that instruct you to disreguard the information in the guide for some of the statements because the information is wrong? This brings the other question. Is the test based on the wrong infromation in the guide or the two pages we had to print to find all the goofs?

What I found hysterical was that the "test" was more of a common sense thing with the "trick" of were you paying attention to 'which one is NOT' versus 'which one BEST' . . .

I guess that is why it can trick me if I let it. It is a trick and I never, as many test as I gave, tried to trick my kids. If I do not think about it I can get it right the first. It is when I think about it I am in trouble so I guess it pays me not to think.

Yes there are 'tests' designed to evaluate knowledge and there are 'tests' designed to exclude. One would think that the MSPs would be using the exclusion tests in signing on shoppers and then knowledge tests for certification for clients, but I guess Maritz just marches to a different drummer.

The written word is not always interpreted the same by any two people, so the test question can be uncertain. That can lead to over thinking, when of course, if the question were worded clearly, you would have no problem answering correctly.

Oh Lordy thanks for this timely discussion as I just signed up w/ them and have been putting off getting back to them after I saw the manual...."and what are you gonna pay me for all this reading? "......ya thats what i thought...no thanks...but thank-yous go out to all of you for contributing to this discussion.
dee

I've made money off Maritz but sometimes $10-$20 for a Bp shop is not worth it after my gas, driving time and uploading time. They pay $4 for gas, whoopee. That makes me want to drive all day. LOL. I am about to start a round gas shops. Whats up with the required bright orange vest. At times I have had managers say my photos and shops were good but one lady called me from there one day and said I always waited to the last minute to do my shops and my pics sucked. I quit working for them for a year and just started back because I need a little cash. Mystery shopping is little cash. The should send you a voucher or gift card instead of me paying up front but that's the way it goes. I got a call for a courrier shop the other day. The catch, $25 to shop something. I got a big empty box to ship. I told her they would have to come up with some extra money. They did. They did. I wait until the end of the month and they call me and offer more money because they need to get the shop in

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2009 07:21PM by johnnyrocket.

Johnnyrocket, please take the client names out of your post. It is a violation of your ICA with the company to mention their clients in a thread where the company is mentioned. You can certainly use "gas shop" or "new gas shops" etc. but you have mentioned no less than 3 of their clients in this post.

Maritz is cute. If you do not send in their invoice by mail and they do not get it, you just chase your money. The Gas shops are a joke for the money. Find a better company. I got out of there quickly.

I've been with Maritz over 10 years and while quirky sometimes they don't shaft you like Marketforce. I also found the new copy of the guide useful quite recently. I swatted my great nephew's behind with it rolled up and got to the seat of the matter.

Maritz and I get along quite well. They were the first company I shopped and I have been with them ever since. I agree with Cettie about being quirky. I have never had to look for my money and if they asked for a copy of the receipt I sent it to them. I have always been paid. The guide is rather large and the test is a bother but all test are a bother sometimes. When I take the advice of Flash and read it for what is says and not what I think I do just fine. If I have had a problem with a test I have called and they help me with it. I do not shop a large area and they are the most consistant with offers. They keep me as busy as I want or need to be.

I like the company that I do the "gas shops" for. I can do 4 gas shops on my way home and get gas and get paid for just driving home. I always work in my shops with my errands or going to work.

Has anybody noticed that four of the above posts are suspiciously positive toward mystery shopping companies that are proven bad by posts in other threads on this forum? Curiously enough, said posts follow a warning by Flash to JohnnyRocket about listing client names in his posts. In case you haven't figured out the obvious, the trolls are active on this forum, folks... Spies from mystery shopping companies posing as shoppers...duh! Even Homer Simpson could figure this out..."Doh!" I wonder if this site's admin. can bootlog the i.p. addresses of said posts, they probably originate from the same network...LOL

Okay all of you! I need help and fast. I elected one of those gas audit deals and am desperately trying to upload 52 photos to this report. It's my first and if I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, it will be my last. I've spent hours, passed the quiz, drove an hour and 1/2 each way to get there and was in hopes of getting the first one under my belt, which would make future ones, easier. Well, I've emailed, called and desperately trying to reach editors to get some help, but so far no help. PLEASE>>>>>> Does anyone have an idea what I might be doing wrong? Please feel free to email me privately so I can call you and hopeufully someone can walk me through this what's turning out to be a nightmare. I'm praying someone comes to my aid.......

In this case I wouldn't worry too much about the positives. One of these posters I have known for a very long time from other forums and two have been very active here on other topics. But yes, there is cause to wonder with the 'one post wonders' who come in to slam a specific company or sing the praises of one. We all have our favorites--the companies that are treating us well at the moment. Once we have an issue the blush comes off that rose. When we have had multiple issues, then it is time to move on because the 'fit' is bad. When a lot of shoppers find the 'fit' bad, it is time to wonder about the company and warn others.

unitechpetro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anybody noticed that four of the above posts
> are suspiciously positive toward mystery shopping
> companies that are proven bad by posts in other
> threads on this forum? Curiously enough, said
> posts follow a warning by Flash to JohnnyRocket
> about listing client names in his posts. In case
> you haven't figured out the obvious, the trolls
> are active on this forum, folks... Spies from
> mystery shopping companies posing as
> shoppers...duh! Even Homer Simpson could figure
> this out..."Doh!" I wonder if this site's admin.
> can bootlog the i.p. addresses of said posts, they
> probably originate from the same network...LOL


Who specifically are you referencing in this thread? I would bet my regular paycheck that some of these people are not spies. I am not sure about Johnny Rocket, since he never returned, and I don't know about you as I have never read anything from you before. But I feel quite secure that Flash, Mert, Deech, msplantladi and Hell Bent are not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2009 12:47AM by dee shops.

unitechpetro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anybody noticed that four of the above posts
> are suspiciously positive toward mystery shopping
> companies that are proven bad by posts in other
> threads on this forum? Curiously enough, said
> posts follow a warning by Flash to JohnnyRocket
> about listing client names in his posts. In case
> you haven't figured out the obvious, the trolls
> are active on this forum, folks... Spies from
> mystery shopping companies posing as
> shoppers...duh! Even Homer Simpson could figure
> this out..."Doh!" I wonder if this site's admin.
> can bootlog the i.p. addresses of said posts, they
> probably originate from the same network...LOL




I have been called many things but never a spy. Oh Well. I still like Maritz and so far I am still shopping for them. As for most of the posts on this forum, We know who we are. We do not know who you are.

joanhampton If you still need help shoot me an email. mrcomputer101@hotmail.com

As I haven't specifically mentioned any posters by name but only my suspicion that some posts seem eerily positive toward mystery shopping companies that are known by many shoppers to be less than ethical, I have that most precious right to freedom of speech, just as others here do, to voice my own opinion too.

Besides, you may know who you are. But, as you say about me, I don't know who you are. Trolls can join and post several messages to many forums over long periods of time to build credibility. Not that I think that credibility precludes defending truly great companies worthy of such defense. But, we all prove or disprove our merit with every post.

So, while you may not know me, and I may not know you either, our words will speak for themselves. Mystery shopping companies do assign employees to monitor and post to message boards like this one. The companies you support in your posts are companies I've personally dealt with, and have chatted online with other shoppers who have also dealt with said companies. Some experiences were good, many were not. Every company has both good and bad employees/managers.

I do leave room for the possibility that these companies have good schedulers and bad schedulers. But, the posts I mentioned above don't suggest that their authors also allow room for that probability. In fact, their over-zealous, somewhat-agressive defense of specific MSP's character and ethics just seems too rich and somewhat troll-like, especially given the frequency with which said-post authors sing their praises on this forum. Don't pick a fight where there isn't one.

If I've offended other members on this forum, I'm sorry and I apologize. But, how good can this forum be if we have to walk on eggshells with each post. Fortunately, I'm using a public Internet terminal. So, even if you were able to trace my masked I.P. address and forward my message to said MSP's as potential slander, the first amendment in the Bill of Rights would be my defense. And, this forum would become a ghost town.

Finally, your reply to this post will undoubtedly be poignant and memorable. And, the fact that I struck a nerve only serves to further illustrate my point. In other words, take a chill pill...LOL Thanks!

unitechpetro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anybody noticed that four of the above posts
> are suspiciously positive toward mystery shopping
> companies that are proven bad by posts in other
> threads on this forum? Curiously enough, said
> posts follow a warning by Flash to JohnnyRocket
> about listing client names in his posts. In case
> you haven't figured out the obvious, the trolls
> are active on this forum, folks... Spies from
> mystery shopping companies posing as
> shoppers...duh! Even Homer Simpson could figure
> this out..."Doh!" I wonder if this site's admin.
> can bootlog the i.p. addresses of said posts, they
> probably originate from the same network...LOL

Okay children. Today's word is "paranoid."
Most admin panels have IP indicators, but why would Jacob want to waste his time looking for "spies?"

Of course the MSCs monitor the message boards. Every shopper who belongs to one knows that. Some MSCs actually designate someone to monitor the boards. So what? I doubt greatly that most would be bothered enough by 99.99% of shopper criticisms to have someone create a "pseudo-shopper" to post. In the case of the other .01%, most MSCs are professional enough to respond publicly.

Most of us are realistic enough and savvy enough to realize that the only opinion regarding an MSC that really matters in the long run is our own.
Every shopper has at least one horror story about a MSC or scheduling company that they would NEVER work for again-and most likely it's the same company that another shopper raves about as being wonderful to work for.

So don't waste your time looking for, and worrying about, the boogeyman.

PS...And yes, I do schedule, but I'm also a shopper who knows many of the longtime shoppers on this board.

Thanks, Joan. Very enlightening comments. Sorry if I sound annoyed in my posts. When you do as many assignments as I have, you take the good with the bad. But, it seems like there has been more bad experiences, as of late. Yet, I continue to conduct myself professionally, while on the shop. I would never badmouth the mystery shopping company to the client or it's customers. Unfortunately, I have it on good authority that the reverse is not always true (whether warranted or not). But, at least my rants are confined to forums like this one. Of course, whenever possible, I first try to work out my problems with the scheduler. It doesn't always work. But, I try, anyway. I'm not going to stop mystery shopping. I have 4 I'm doing tomorrow (2 before work, and 2 after). Most go as planned. But, I won't be doing any more gas station audits. Too much work for too little pay. In any event, thanks for your post.

You have not up until this last post conducted yourself professionally here.

That's my "poignant yet memorable post." I could really care less if you think my opinions are off or if I am a spy. Those who know me here know I am not. Those who know you-who would those be? You have been with us ONE WHOLE DAY.

This is the FIRST thing you have written here that is human. More like this, and less negativity. We don't care about your paranoia nor your lawsuits or your bitterness.

Regarding Unitechpetro's comment about gas station audits too much work for the money. I thought I was the only one that thought that. It does seems like it would pay more than it does.

Common sense tells you that it is unproductive to take just one of these (and the forums let you know that you are gonna get to read a book to do them). I took a string of about a dozen one month, read the manual, took the test and hit the road for a route of them with a gas tank on fumes. I was able to route them with no more than about 5 miles between them and I thoroughly expected the first one or two to take some time. The first was about an hour and a half. I found that the shops did not get significantly faster. Then I got to deal with uploading the stuff--which was on their old site but I don't know that the new site is any better. And then I got to deal with the photo editor. I wasted about a week of my life on about $100 worth of work. Definitely NOT a good use of my time, especially in a distrustful environment that was warning at every turn not to attempt to submit photos from previous shops or dire consequences would befall you. Gee, I had never done the shops before, so that hardly applied, but my sense was that if they had problems with shoppers doing that, they needed to terminate those shoppers rather than beat up on the rest of us.

Just nailed 11 more of those gas station shops, both the green kind and the orange kind. It's gotten so that it takes about 20-30 minutes there and 10 minutes per report. I remember what that kind of shop was like back in 1994 when you took more pictures, had to get them developed from FILM and mailed them along with a written report along to the MS company. Oddly enough the pay was still low---$7 per shop.

I finally got a system down so it doesn't take me too long and the chic orange vest that's such a fashion statement came in handy to let me be visible with the snow we've had.