This might have been discussed before, but I see a boatload of gas stations on the job board. They pay $10 with a $2 in store reimbursement.

2 Questions:

Are they worth it once you get used to the paperwork, etc.? I understand that any new shop is usually a pain in the rear the first couple of times.

Are your purchases limited to $2 in store (and NOT gas?) If so, what do you buy for $2? I don't want a bunch of candy bars & gum.

These shops seem to rarely get bonused, so I'm guessing someone loves them. I tend to like MF shops because they're pretty easy for me to input and don't require a lot of narrative. (I'm capable, I just prefer not to when MSing.)

Thanks for your feedback!

Joytron Wrote:
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> This might have been discussed before, but I see a
> boatload of gas stations on the job board. They
> pay $10 with a $2 in store reimbursement.
>
> 2 Questions:
>
> Are they worth it once you get used to the
> paperwork, etc.? I understand that any new shop
> is usually a pain in the rear the first couple of
> times.
>
> Are your purchases limited to $2 in store (and NOT
> gas?) If so, what do you buy for $2? I don't
> want a bunch of candy bars & gum.
>
> These shops seem to rarely get bonused, so I'm
> guessing someone loves them. I tend to like MF
> shops because they're pretty easy for me to input
> and don't require a lot of narrative. (I'm
> capable, I just prefer not to when MSing.)
>
> Thanks for your feedback!

Good questions! A bunch came up in my area and I was wondering about the work required. I'm interested to hear people's thoughts as well.

I used to do a lot of them. In town, I'd do them for $10 (even though I tried waiting for them to go up anyways), and they only take me about 25 minutes each.

I buy a soda. I wouldn't do anything requiring a bunch of photos for $10. I will for $20. I did do one of the for MF but it was in a remote town and bonused up to $50 so THAT was worth it.

Messed up station. One of the pumps had been hit by a car and it hadn't been repaired yet and it had snowed a few days before so there was snow all over the landscaping and on the roof. Floor inside needed repair in several places. I would NOT have done that station a second time for any $10. For $50 it was worth it but there were too many things to documents and photograph for just $10.

The thing most of the gas station shoppers do is figure out which stations are compliant and do THOSE and pass over the ones they know are a mess. So keep that in mind. If everything goes well, sure, you can be in and out in 25 minutes. But I was more than an hour at that one station.

I used to do all of them in my part of the state. It is not bad when in a good route.
I cannot do them anymore now. MF for no reason cut me off as auditor. They said it is not true, but for over 6 months I haven't see any gas station on my job board...but my wife does those audits so they are available. Nothing against being cut off, I just would love to know why.

There are lots of variables to consider, but I would not personally do these assignments for $10 - not worth it. $20 would be my bare minimum, and only then if I could put a few together into a route. For me personally, I like to do them at once so I can get into a groove & knock them out.

I cannot complain. With gas stations in 6 months last year I gathered close to $1,800. MF gets time consuming when it comes to match pictures. Other gas station brands I do have a much faster picture matching system. I usually get my route with 6 or 7 gas stations a breakfast and lunch FF, a couple of Post Office. Sometimes I can throw in a couple of stores (like Kmart or Staples).
But for sure with MF for the first times I wouldn't do too many of those shops together. Reports can become long till you learn all the quetions->pictures by heart.

TowerOrchard Wrote:
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> There are lots of variables to consider, but I
> would not personally do these assignments for $10
> - not worth it. $20 would be my bare minimum, and
> only then if I could put a few together into a
> route. For me personally, I like to do them at
> once so I can get into a groove & knock them out.

MF's Chinese food shop is a pain to upload just 2 pics, so I never did these gas station shops at $10, knowing there would be more than 2 pics. Most of the bonused shops aren't near me, so I still didn't try them. But when a large gas station near me was bonused for $50, I gave it a shot. Whoo boy, was it a lot of work!

I knew the gas station - it's in front of a large, fire-damaged empty apartment complex that the city took from the owner. The gas station owner has been in the paper complaining about how long it's taking for the city to tear it down and all the vagrants he has to deal with.

Luckily, no vagrants hanging around - and I didn't find any dead bodies, lol! But the owner won't fix it up until the city tears down the apartments, so the place is in disrepair. That required a LOT of pics. But even if the place is worn, the inside should still be clean, which it wasn't. So MORE pics. I took over 100. After uploading the main set of pics, I had 4 pics to upload for almost every question!

It'll be a long time before I do another one of these!

I did 3 in March one for $35 and two at $50. I guess someone had messed them up pretty bad and they needed a reshop. So I gladly took it. I am going to pay off 2 credit cards on April 14...... The trick though is uploading the pictures and I have 2 digital cameras. My old one was set up with the right size so all I did was took the photos in order of the sheet and then place them in a folder until upload. My new camera, the pictures have to be resized so for me that took a long time and was a pain.

I have several listed on mine also - I looked at the details The one YES or NO question does not set well with me

"I understand the importance of accurate submission of photos with my report. If there are any problems with photos submitted for this shop, I understand that my shopper account may be deactivated."

Why would I even want to do this shop - sounds like if I screw up with the photos, will not be a shopper for them anymore?

I believe that is a warning not to try to falsify, photoshop, reuse or otherwise "cheat" with the pictures. I don't think they would deactivate you over "blurry."

But it is not worded very nicely.

On a MSC thread - someone mentioned they got deactivated for messing up the photos _ I think between 2 gas stations.

Ones listed on my board are hour away, not familiar with the town but if the fee were worth it I might might do it. Wish there were one in my local area ~ I would take it at the rate posted just to see what to do, etc.

Thanks for all of the responses. It sounds like the consensus is that they're overall not worth it for $10. That had always been my assumption, but with so many of them showing up, I thought maybe a route could make it work.

I guess I'll keep watching & maybe take one if it gets bonused just to try it out.

there are plenty of other msc's that do gas stations
for substantially higher pay to choose from rather then
do work for worstforce...

Too much work for $10 - wait until they have a healthy bonus.

I disagree with those saying it's too much work for $10. Was it nice when I did two of them at $75 each, sure, but it also involved driving. The problem I am facing is that 4 of 6 stations of this brand rebranded this year in my town, and are now handled by Maritz. Maritz is paying the same fee, never bonus, and you have to wear a high vis vest...no thanks.

KaiGywer Wrote:
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> I disagree with those saying it's too much work
> for $10. Was it nice when I did two of them at $75
> each, sure, but it also involved driving. The
> problem I am facing is that 4 of 6 stations of
> this brand rebranded this year in my town, and are
> now handled by Maritz. Maritz is paying the same
> fee, never bonus, and you have to wear a high vis
> vest...no thanks.


I get that. I have so many of these shops near me that I may take 'em up and burn the shopper fee on gas at each shop. $10 is fine for shops nearby...

Someone explain what this issue is with the reflective vests? I have one, and have worn it on gas station shops where it wasn't required, just for safety. They're cheap to acquire and good to have in your car in case you break down at night. I had mine from when I volunteered with the sheriff's department and sometimes had to control traffic at night. So I just use that.

Too many photos and too much work. Wait for the bonus. They used to pay $12.

itsasecret Wrote:
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> Someone explain what this issue is with the
> reflective vests?


I know. I will never understand why such a big huge hairy deal is often made about the vests, either. Attractive? Probably not. A big deal? Absolutely not. Sheesh!

I'm with Secret and Tower and some others on thinking that $10 is just too low for a gas station assignment. Let me qualify that statement by saying at least it is for me.

Everybody has their own method of measuring what is worthwhile. I weigh it against doing a 5 minute bank visit for that same $10 fee, or even an $8 fast food assignment that also includes reiumbursement for my meal. Trust me, there are a lot of easier and more enjoyable ways to earn a ten spot than doing a gas station audit with multiple pictures to take and upload.

I wait until those MF shops get up to $35 and $50 like they did last month, and then was more than happy to grab those assignments.

I'll do the couple local ones for that amount. I usually end up getting travel packs of kleenex for my car or pads of paper to use at work.

Karen IL Wrote:
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> I'll do the couple local ones for that amount. I
> usually end up getting travel packs of kleenex for
> my car or pads of paper to use at work.

That's a good idea. I usually get a soda, then leave it in the car for the reveal and by the time I'm done the ice is all melted. Kleenex doesn't melt.

itsasecret Wrote:
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> Someone explain what this issue is with the
> reflective vests? I have one, and have worn it on
> gas station shops where it wasn't required, just
> for safety.


My issue with the vests had been that they seem to be a complaint-magnet for disgruntled customers. It gets wearisome, and to stop to listen just takes up precious extra time.

My issue was magnified when the photo of me wearing the vest became a requirement. It's not so much that countless copies of my photo are out there in some electronic folder, but it felt like they were questioning my integrity, as if I wouldn't wear the vest unless I knew that I would have to prove it.

My attitude was improved the last time the topic came up, when you posted a response similar to yours here. I'm sure it is actually safer to wear the vest in busy lots, and I've never been run over when wearing one. (I've never been run over when not wearing one either. Not yet, at least. Post hoc ergo propter hoc? )

Another upside to the vests is that they sure do seem to positively affect the dispositions of staff on site, more readily inclined to answer questions, turn on lights, etc.

I'll wear the vest and choose to emphasize the positive, take comfort in the extra safety and the improved staff attitudes, practice grace with complaining customers and not take the photo requirement personally.

The vest MS told me that they were getting lots of restroom shots that accidentally caught a bit of the mirror, showing the shopper without the vest on. Because of those shoppers, the rest of us have to take pictures of ourselves.

I think them requiring the vest could open themselves
up to liabilty if something happened to you while on the
premises and you were wearing it. By having you wear it
they are acknowledging there is a danger and with the right
judge you could argue they did not do enough to minimize
that risk. At the least, they would settle with you rather then
risk being found guilty...

Except that I'm an IC who accepted wearing a vest as a requirement for the job....not sure their liability would extend that far.

These shops are definitely not worth $10, and I even hesitate at $20.
For one thing the report you have to print out is pages long, and the way they organize it requires flipping back and forth through papers fighting the wind.
At one point I made up my own report with all the questions asked for each spot so I didn't have to keep backtracking.
Also, resizing and uploading the photos takes forever.
The audit itself always takes over 30min between waiting for customers and checking everything, photos of problems etc. Then at least 30 minutes doing the report, and dealing with the heat.
It'd have to be $25 and a small station to consider it.

Well, I've had older people stop and ask me where to get a reflective vest... They say they need one for walking their dog! I even was out gas staions one day and saw a gentleman walking his dog with a vest on.

No, the vests are not a big deal. Yes, the photo thing is a big deal! They are picky about them. They ask for such a low resolution, when they ask to resubmit a the purchase receipts as they cannot read them I resubmit at a higher resolution. I'm sure one day they'll complain, but for now it is what I do.

elcarev68 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> itsasecret Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Someone explain what this issue is with the
> > reflective vests? I have one, and have worn it
> on
> > gas station shops where it wasn't required,
> just
> > for safety.
>
>
> My issue with the vests had been that they seem to
> be a complaint-magnet for disgruntled customers.
> It gets wearisome, and to stop to listen just
> takes up precious extra time.
>
> My issue was magnified when the photo of me
> wearing the vest became a requirement. It's not
> so much that countless copies of my photo are out
> there in some electronic folder, but it felt like
> they were questioning my integrity, as if I
> wouldn't wear the vest unless I knew that I would

minuet00 Wrote:
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> These shops are definitely not worth $10, and I
> even hesitate at $20.
> For one thing the report you have to print out is
> pages long, and the way they organize it requires
> flipping back and forth through papers fighting
> the wind.

I agree. The report actually repeats itself. With the exception of the validation slip, I only print out pages 5 through 8 that contain the summary of audit questions, and output them two-up and double-sided. Otherwise, you're printing out 32 pages, which is ridiculous.

I also rarely do a gas station audit for less than $20. There are many other assignments that pay $15 for a lot less work.