Scored one of the smartphone assignments, but having difficulty deciding which phone to buy. I currently have an LG with keyboard that I like, but want to take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade.

Would welcome your suggestions. What features are important to you in your mystery shopping work? Which do you find to be easy to learn and to utilize?

any new android smartphone will do.

If you have ATT/Sprint/tmobile get the HTC One.

If you have verizon get the s4 coming out soon
or the droid DNA that's out now and is on a big
promo instead of 199 can get for free with 2yr renewal
and proper promo code

The available options through this provider are:
Samsung Galaxy SIII 4G LTE $379
LG Optimist Regard $109
HTC On V $139
HTC One SV 4G LTE $279
Apple iPhone 4 $249.99

I'm leaning towards the iPhone, but am still open to recommendations.

I really like my iPhone, and use it a TON, but every cell phone shop I've done recently (and that's a lot of them) recommends the Galaxy SIII.

Thought by now a bunch of you would have picked up one of these assignments, and was curious about what phones you had decided on. Time's running out to hear about this, as I go in this afternoon to make the purchase. So I guess I'll pick up the iPhone.

Thanks, Carrie.

I only see the shops that are a 10$ fee, no free phones will have to keep watching

I just got a Galaxy today. I've only used it for a few minutes and I LOVE IT! Too bad I still have time left on my iphone contract. . After my contract is done...iPhone will be on ebay.

I am want the Galaxy III, but am still waiting to see if I get the shop that I applied for. Just checked and it's still waiting unassigned - probably because I can't do it until Saturday. *fingers crossed*

Thanks for chiming in, Robyn and River. I postponed my purchase until tomorrow in hopes of hearing more responses first.

Robyn, what is it about the Galaxy that you like better than the iPhone?

I love my Galaxy III. Ask to see the graphics on an I-phone vs. Galaxy side by side. I think the Galaxy is superior.

I just applied for one of these but I am thinking I am going to stick within reimbursement amount, still have my contract with my current cell phone provider but this will let me know whether we are to switch. Good luck to all.

I'm asking a serious question; I'm not attempting to be facetious.

In the past, when my phone carrier, AT&T, called to inquire as to what it would take for me to become a cell customer, my response was a free phone, free minutes and $50 a month for the aggravation of carrying a piece of equipment for which I didn't have the slightest interest; that quickly terminated the discussion. Now, along comes an MSC, while only paying $30 a month, has almost met my requirements. My question is simply: What is, if any, the profit in owning this electronic gadget? Not to call someone from a car, because I can accomplish that task at home and with a clearer conversation. Not for an emergency, because in 54 yrs. of driving, I've only been stranded on 4 occasions and quickly attended to the problem. Not due to being late, because I always leave early and have no recollection of when I was last tardy. Can this device enable me to increase my profit and how?

I currently own 4 Western Electric rotary phones that have flawless voice capabilities, so I will only judge my conversion on profit, and would maintain my land-line.

Thanks to all who share, as it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, BUT, only if it's to his/her advantage.

Gotta tell ya, Bob, I was an adamant hold-out on getting one of these gadgets for a long long time. I even had to have a battle with one of my previous employers about it. Trust me, I had no desire to have a cell phone - ever. I thought that most people utilized them in a ridiculous manner, and that a good part of the time, the phones were used as a social prop the way cigarettes used to be back in the day.

It wasn't until I started mystery shopping that my husband was very clear about his wanting me to have a resource to use in case of an emergency while out on the road. I procrastinated as long as possible, but eventually acquired the most basic phone on the market four years ago.

I quickly came to rely on it for note-taking on the fly while performing mystery shopping visits. I still fought tooth and nail to upgrading to a smart phone, and didn't do so until about a year ago. Now I would be lost without it as far as my mystery shopping goes. I use it for POV pics, to photograph and send receipts, note-taking, timings, shop notifications, keeping my calendar and schedule up to date, and more. It has improved my efficiency as well as my capability to pick up more opportunities.

I'm still not as advanced as many phone-a-holics, nor do I desire to be. My email is still on my home computer. I rarely use the cell as an actual phone, and still have a separate phone for my home phone. I'm one of the old dogs, too, Bob.

One of the reasons I am thinking of upgrading once more is that with one of the phones I am considering purchasing on my assignment, you can use it as a mobile hot spot. This would enable me to hook up and do reports while on the road.

Hope that helps.

Shopgal,

Thank you for quite a rapid reply. I read all your manners of use, but none apply to me. I have a PV-500, a Kodak digital camera and an audio recorder that will accomplish many of the advantages you list. In addition, my shops are of the higher paying variety, which means fewer individual jobs, so scheduling isn't a problem and the majority of my assignments are such that attempting to enter them through a phone would be very difficult. Finally, I'm not a road warrior, so that use wouldn't apply.

I'm going to continue investigating this idea, but it doesn't appear to be a direction for me.

I, too, disliked and put off getting a cell phone. I had one for work but only because it was forced on me. And then the last few years of working, I couldn't carry it to my office anyway because of clearance reasons but had to lock it up outside the "fence."

So I didn't have one for a whole 1 1/2 yrs. after I retired and then I had a medical problem arise. Because I had my daughter go with me to some of my med. appts. (2 heads are better than one and she has her RN) and we would meet. My appts. were at the university hospital which is large or at the cancer center. Since we live on opposite sides of town we would just meet at the facility. After the second time of dealing with the frustration of finding one another, she insisted I get a cell phone so we could at least communicate.

It has turned out to be of use for me with that but I've also used the GPS feature when I go to Santa Fe as that little city is one of THE worst for finding places. And I also check my email for postings.

I am also a single woman and love to go to the casino and play the pennies. My preference is to go late Sun. night and I just like the comfort of having a phone with me - just in case.

BUT I am not glued to it like most people are today.

In the end, I have decided to go with the HTC One SV, as per TechMan's earlier recommendation. I did online comparisons between the choices available, and the HTC is much more phone for a similar price to the iPhone 4. I didn't see any real advantage to paying an additional $100 or so to get the Samsung. The other nice thing about not going with the iPhone is that I don't have to change operating systems, as my current phone is also an Android.

Looking forward to doing the assignment now that I've made my choice.

shopperbob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm asking a serious question; I'm not attempting
> to be facetious.
>
> In the past, when my phone carrier, AT&T, called
> to inquire as to what it would take for me to
> become a cell customer, my response was a free
> phone, free minutes and $50 a month for the
> aggravation of carrying a piece of equipment for
> which I didn't have the slightest interest; that
> quickly terminated the discussion. Now, along
> comes an MSC, while only paying $30 a month, has
> almost met my requirements. My question is simply:
> What is, if any, the profit in owning this
> electronic gadget? Not to call someone from a car,
> because I can accomplish that task at home and
> with a clearer conversation. Not for an emergency,
> because in 54 yrs. of driving, I've only been
> stranded on 4 occasions and quickly attended to
> the problem. Not due to being late, because I
> always leave early and have no recollection of
> when I was last tardy. Can this device enable me
> to increase my profit and how?
>
> I currently own 4 Western Electric rotary phones
> that have flawless voice capabilities, so I will
> only judge my conversion on profit, and would
> maintain my land-line.
>
> Thanks to all who share, as it is possible to
> teach an old dog new tricks, BUT, only if it's to
> his/her advantage.


I would love to see those phones Bob. I got a cell phone for myself & my severe asthmatic son who was only 10 at that time since the school nurse & some teachers continuously kept my son in school despite specific & written instructions to call me if he felt sick clearly stating his diagnosis & that he showed no symptoms. These landed him in the ER & a week @ home (written doctor's excuse) simply because it was not taken care of on time due to their belief that he was spoiled, needless to say I had to move my children to a school where the people responsible for my child were not ignorant (well there are no words that would do justice here). And you probably said it well, I only wished those dogs @ that school could have been taught new tricks, smh. BTW my son was assessed for special education & the school phyciastrist congratulated me that his ADHD was thru the roof but he was so well behaved and followed instructions so well, which aligned with other teacher's observation.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2013 02:04PM by txwahchick.

Don't know too much about my new phone yet, but am loving what I've found out about it so far. Hoping to have time to play with it later.

But I do miss having a slide-out keyboard. I have no idea how the rest of you type without one. I am not getting it. Ugh.

shopgal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't know too much about my new phone yet, but am
> loving what I've found out about it so far. Hoping
> to have time to play with it later.
>
> But I do miss having a slide-out keyboard. I have
> no idea how the rest of you type without one. I am
> not getting it. Ugh.

There should be a way to bring up an on-screen keyboard that you can use.

I always feel like my fingers are too big on the phone touchscreen and personally prefer the Treo/Blackberry-style phones with the little keyboard below the screen, but it looks like I'll be giving that up with my next phone.

Trying to get used to the on-screen keyboard is a chore for me. So different from the real keyboard, and definitely a lot lot lot slower.

I am much quicker when using swype that typing one key at a time. Just be sure to read before sending.

Shelly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am much quicker when using swype that typing one
> key at a time. Just be sure to read before
> sending.

Read and then correct... I spend more time correcting swype than if I just type it one letter at a time!

I actually have very few errors; however, the ones I do have are usually very interesting.

I'm getting a bit quicker with the on-screen keyboard, but it's still tedious compared to the slide-out keyboard. Tried out swype. Ha! That was a mess.

I'm with you - I HATE Swype. I don't have much trouble with the touch-screen keyboard, though. It's probably just getting used to something new. A few months from now, you'll probably have trouble even remembering the slide-out!

I am totally attached to my smartphone for it's GPS. As someone who is constantly lost in the same city I've lived in all my adult life, it's really embarassing. If you print the directions from Google Maps or Mapquest, but miss a turn and get confused, that printout is useless. I can't tell you how many times I've pulled into a parking lot, Googled the address of the business, and re-entered this new starting point for updated directions.

I know some of you are really anti-cell phone, and that is your choice. As long as you are comfortable doing your jobs as is, you are definitely saving money! I would never begin to criticize anyone's decision one way or the other any more than I expect to be criticized for my decisions!

Happy shopping, everyone - with or without a cell phone, smart phone, laptop, or rotary dial!

I'm hoping I get better at the on-screen keyboard before the end of the month. That's when I am switching off my old phone.

I used my old phone today while out on assignments, but told myself I couldn't use the slide-out keyboard. I have to admit, I got a bit anxious about making sure I had all the names and descriptions in my head. I'm thinking I'm going to have to start audio recording.

More changes! Arrrgh. I really like my new phone, but I have a lot to learn to make it work for my mystery shopping.

By the way, Lisa, I saw some of these assignments out in your locale. Did you pick up one of these?

New phone shops? No, I didn't. My son used to work for Diamond Wireless (third-party for Verizon), so we have phones he got us (with accessories) for less than nothing. Plus, we both have "grandfathered" unlimited data packages, so we're not willing to do something different right now.

Actually, I've backed down my mystery shopping lately. I really overbooked the last few weeks and got behind. Between shopping, reporting, and scheduling, I was working harder and longer than I did working full-time in an office! Plus, I'm trying to help my parents with some of their issues from 2,000 miles away, one of my (grown) kids is having major problems, and I just lost my medical insurance - I'm exhausted and burned out. I'm actually considering going back to full-time work so I don't have to think so much!

I'd like to try to put together some routes in the area, but it doesn't seem they are paying enough to make it work - they are all so far apart here! Mostly, I just try to go into the same area of town on the same day of the week. I've also learned that 8 shops in a day is beyond my ability - I don't know how some of these shoppers do 15-18!

I'm going to have to take a lesson from you and start holding out for the bonused shops. Considering the time to book and review the shop instructions, drive, shop, and report, $10 really makes no sense. I like your idea of having a chart to quickly see if a shop is worth it based on all the criteria.

Lisa, sounds like you are overdue for some "me" time. Rest up now, because I'm going to be jetting out of town in a couple of weeks for awhile. That should open up a lot more opportunities.

It's a challenge to put together routes in our area. We have one major urban center, and then a lot of little burgs surrounding it. But for the most part, we are isolated from any other decent-sized communities. So I plan directional routes, going only in one compass point such as north for a whole day's worth of assignments. You can pick up some money if you wait for the assignments in the burgs to get bonused.

Glad you are placing a value on your time and effort spent. The only one that can do that is you.

Have fun and enjoy your trip!

I use my i phone a lot for shops, and on occasion even write my report on it. I just wish I could upload the pictures. Anyone know of a phone, or even tablet, with the capability to upload pictures onto msc websites?

Thanks