That means that I have to put up to $600, wait to get reimbursed, take the risk that my shop could be rejected and I would be in the hole for the expenses...and I don't make any money on top of that? Do some Mystery Shopping companies really think people are that stupid?

I feel like shops like that are more feasible if you were going to stay in a hotel in that area anyway.
Granted, I've never done a hotel shop. But if I were going somewhere I would consider it even if the fee was low. I do restaurant shops sometimes that only reimburse.

I'm that stupid.

Read the guidelines and give them what they want. For that amount of reimbursement I am expecting a detailed narrative and having to evaluate numerous areas, restaurants, etc. I am also going to have a really fun time!

Another company is offering a similar hotel visit with a $75 fee to the shopper. That makes more sense...but

Imagine the worst case scenario...

- You stay at the location
- You paid gas to get there
- You spend 2-3 hours filling out the report after you made your observations that may take...another 2-3 hours
- For some reason, some tight-winded editor may deem that your report is not accepted.

Bam!!! You are stuck with the bill and with no where to turn.

Hope...you really are NOT that Stupid!!!!

I saw the $600 shop. You have to be a member of ******* Hotel Rewards. (they will consider you if you are not, but the ******* members get first preference.)

And if they don't pay you, for whatever reason, you are out $600 bucks.

I would rather be out $75 bucks, on the smaller hotels

I saw it too and while I'd love to stay there I couldn't take the risk of being out $600 either.

Those shops are actually very much in demand, and hard to get. The payoff is the large number of hotel rewards points that such a stay generates.

Isn't the reimbursement up to $600? Based on the hotels I saw offered, there is no way one night and any drinks or meals would come close to $600. Plus the charges are reversed on check out.

Hotel shops are not easy to get and preparing the report takes time. I have done a lot of hotel shops and never had a single problem to get the charges reversed. Coyle hotels are the most detailed ones.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 03:59AM by CAscotch.

The pay is in the experience and I have never had a problem getting money reversed off the bill. But a fee would be nice and normally I do get some fee. I was actually considering one of them since traveling to the area for other shops and might need a room in between. But a casino shop with free nights came up instead.

The charges are reversed upon checkout, and 600.00 would be top dollar depending on the location. There are rooms in some locations that are less. My daughter and I will be in San Francisco and I want to do it for one fun night, however it can't be done until the 4th, and we're leaving on the 3rd, and since you can't check in before 4:00, that day is shot. My family lives in Mill Valley and a day in the city with an overnight would be special. I tried but dates can not be changed.
Think of it as a mini vacation (on the house).

That's a normal expense for a hotel shop in my world, and the risk really is the nature of the job the way I see it.

The lack of the shopper fee is insulting, however. Even is it was just a small amount, I would want want a fee for my time submitting the assignment.

I have said this before but it bears repeating; Do not take any assignment you cannot afford to be out the reimbursement for! Sooner or later, a problem will arise and you will be out the $$. In over 300 hotel evaluations I have just one go bad, but that one still hurts when I think about it...

I just took a quick look at those offered in my immediate area and the average room charge for one weeknight is around $150 to $200 for a standard room with no resort charges. I can certainly see it going higher in other areas.

I believe the same goes for any large reimbursement with fee or not, weather a hotel or dinner, the risk of it going south is there. The assignment has to mean more to you, and I say, if I'd go there on my own, it's all good. I don't think anyone of
us wants to risk losing money, we know that's possible. I would say, if your experienced in hotels, knowing the MSC and
Mercantile (in my eyes) is a fair one, chances are you'll be o.k. They accept a 5 rating, so many newbies may be interested.
Do your smaller less expensive hotels first, then jump in....carefully!!!

I would be "that STUPID" and have been. Yeah, there is no fee, but at least I do have the night for a route I need. It saves me the expense of a hotel + dinner + parking, etc.

And yeah, I like being pamered every once in a while.

C

I "could" look at it this way:

It's a "wash." You pay $600 bucks, they give you back $600 bucks.

Where is the *fee* for doing all those hours of observations, front desk requests, meal reports and timings?

At minimum (just my two cents) this job is worth $50-75 in a shopper fee. Seriously...

If the hotel (think about this) has you do all that, they pay nothing out of pocket to you. (fee-wise) The fees are reversed back. They write the food and room off on their taxes.

By the same token, the tiny hotels, give you a shopper "fee" of $35 to $50 plus expenses (room, ect). Speaking of which, hard to find those since Freeman jumped ship.

Does this feel slightly like you are being taken advantage of here?

Yes, you do enjoy the hotel and amenities, so there is the offset...

If you wanted a little get-away... then this would be a "paid-for" perfect trip.

But still....just saying

For a route shopper there is also the savings. For a 2 star hotel on the road the cost is going to be at least $60 and depending on location might even be hitting closer to $100. The savings could then be considered the "fee." On road trips I also have a lot of appreciation for a location that is self-contained and offers both a bellman and valet parking. It gets old having to get in the car to search for food and schlepping the many bags we sometimes need for a working trip.

Bottom line...$0 shopper fee is an insult!!!

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's a normal expense for a hotel shop in my
> world, and the risk really is the nature of the
> job the way I see it.
>
> The lack of the shopper fee is insulting, however.
> Even is it was just a small amount, I would want
> want a fee for my time submitting the assignment.
>
> I have said this before but it bears repeating; Do
> not take any assignment you cannot afford to be
> out the reimbursement for! Sooner or later, a
> problem will arise and you will be out the $$. In
> over 300 hotel evaluations I have just one go bad,
> but that one still hurts when I think about it...


Good advice, never mystery shop with money you cannot afford to lose.

rardon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bottom line...$0 shopper fee is an insult!!!


Agreed!

These are not just check-in/out shops. There is work to be done at the hotel, so your free time will be limited and it's not a vacation at all. Without even a small fee to cover gas and such, it's taking advantage of shoppers that want to get into hotel work.

The MSC offering these is also one that while having a professional demeanor, has not been generous with shoppers. I would seriously doubt they are working for free, so they probably negotiated a low pay rate for the client and are sticking it to the shoppers, rather than sharing the fee with us.

This is on my 10-foot pole list of shops...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 03:58AM by CAscotch.

CAscotch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm curious about the one that went bad. Can we
> learn from your misfortune?

If I can offer any additional advice, it's to take the shop requirements seriously. If the instructions ask for something, do it!

The one that went bad was 100% my fault because I got lazy. The MSC was very clear about the fact that all interactions required an employee name, and I made an assumption that offering a detailed description of the employee that included their piercings, tattoos and hot pink hair color would have been sufficient. It was not.

While the hotel manager would have had no question about who the employee was from my description, rules are rules and I was asked to get names, but did not get 100% of the names. I made an attempt to not be so obvious and learned that the MSC in question was not that concerned about the shoppers being made. If they want the name of the doorman, look him straight in the eye and say, "Hey, what's your name?"

What about the beloved MSC that has all those good restaurants (CPK), they never pay a fee and are beloved by all.....
They have a lower class hotel with no fee. Why pick on this one MSC who is my opinion is the same as most.

It all comes down to value - how much value does the shop have to me.

My going rate is $250 per night of "value" to me. Value is measured in a) the fee, b) points - either hotel points or airline points or both and c) money that I would have had to spend on the hotel otherwise but do not because it is a shop.

So a hotel shop must provide me $250 per night of value. It is possible that these shops might provide that - but unlikely as a) I am not guaranteed I will keep the points - most likely I won't becuase charges are reversed which in my experience means that points are reversed UNLESS it is the local hotel management sponsoring the shop and not the brand sponsoring it - the ones we speak of are the brand sponsor, which is almost a gurantee that points will be lost and b) I don't need a hotel night in any of the cities they are offered.

The vast majority of the shops I do are in hotels that pay a fee of $200 a night and let me keep the points earned at the hotel as well as buy my flight to and from the city (allowing me to earn points on my airline carrier as well).

Everyone has different needs. There is nothing wrong with someone finding value in these shops. The only thing I preach is to figure out what you need to make it worthwhile and stick to it.

*I do also agree with Steve that don't do the shops unless you can afford it if things go really bad and you end up not getting reimbursed. I also have had one go bad (which was totally my fault/decision - but I was unable to complete a shop due to outside circumstances beyond my control, but not the fault of the MSC - and had to eat the cost including the entire hotel stay, F&B bought etc. etc.).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2013 12:41AM by MickeyB.

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What about the beloved MSC that has all those good
> restaurants (CPK), they never pay a fee and are
> beloved by all.....
> They have a lower class hotel with no fee. Why
> pick on this one MSC who is my opinion is the same
> as most.

Irene, the MSC you refer to does actually pay a fee for some shops, and those are the only ones I do for them. I would not touch their no-fee fee low-class hotel shop with a 20 ft. pole.

I'm not picking on either of these MSCs, BTW. It's been said many times that shops pay what the market will bear. When we take the crappy free shops, we set the market value at $0! I choose to get paid for my work. To each his/her own, however....

I've shopped the available hotel nearest me from the MSC in question for another MSC. I was paid $100 and felt robbed because it was such a poor quality hotel/food experience.

I would love to know who does CPK!

Way back when, I did my first hotel for Grantham, Orilio and Associates. If any of you worked for them, you know what their reports were like! And yet, overall, the hotel report was easier than their restaurants! It was a boutique hotel in downtown Chicago and was a nice end-of-summer trip for the family. Expenses plus a fee.

If we all said "No way!" to no shopper fee, the MSC would certainly come up with some money to get it done. As it is, they think that staying at the hotel and spending every waking minute doing shops is somehow worth the "experience." After doing several of these (for $70 - $100 in shopper fees) I decided I would work from home doing my normal batch of shops then take the money and take a real vacation. These two night jobs require a minimum of 15 hours in reporting. These resorts certainly pay the MSC big bucks to do 40+ evaluations. They could fork over $50 or so to the shopper.

I remember them Sandi - The very first hotel shop I ever did was also for GOA - back when they were GOA and not OA (which of course is also long gone as they are out of business).. Aww... memories...

I actually got most of my "experience" from GOA and then later OA. And I also lost money when they went out of business.

Regarding reporting time - Two night jobs do not always require a minimum of 15 hours in reporting. In fact, I don't think I have ever had one take quite that long... although I think that some of the three night jobs I have done might have taken that long.