Higher Education Phone Shops?

Anyone have experience with these? Despite my vow to cut back on shopping till after the end of the year, I just took one.... The pay ($20) seems pretty good for what I anticipate the time involved will be. But this shop must have been taken by someone else, as it disappeared from the job board for a week or so, but just popped back up. So I'm assuming the other shopper either flaked or had the shop rejected.

The institution offers a program I'm interested in anyway, and would probably major in if I were to go back to school, so I think I can play out the scenario pretty believably.

But, maybe I'm missing something, especially if a shop was already rejected or not completed on this? They seem to give you pretty clear instructions on what you have to do and ask, and how to record the call. I thought there would be a long laundry list of questions to ask, but it looks like you only have one that's mandated.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Phone Shops

Give us the name of the MSC. That will probably help in answering the question.

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

About Face (I assume since I'm not mentioning the educational institution, it's OK to name the MSC?)

Thanks!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I did two of them this year. Pretty easy. The call is lengthy and recorded. Have your backstory and (if appropriate) your alias (including an address commutable to the institution's specific location) ready. The call is recorded, but you have access to the recording until you submit, so every quote and detail can be accessed by you when reporting.
It would be easy to screw up if someone messed up the recording sequence, forgot the magic question, or used an unacceptable alias.

My "real" address is commutable, so I meet that requirement anyway, but I need a name alias as well? I didn't read that in the guidelines, so I'd better go back and review them again!

I have my backstory already--and it's true, so I won't forget it, LOL! And I would need to ask those magic questions in any event; hopefully I won't forget to.

Sounds a bit more complex than I anticipated but still not too bad, and less time consuming than some lower-paying shops I've done!

elcarev, bottom line--do you think the time invested was worth the pay? TIA!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Bottom line, yes. I would estimate a half hour of prep. 15-20 minutes on the phone. 45-65 minutes for a good report - there's a decent amount of narrative.
Next to the bottom, you don't need an alias for your first one of these. After that, though, you're in their system and will need a different set of personal info, and maybe the scheduler's permission.

Thank you! That sounds like a decent return for the work involved--especially since I won't be spending any time in my car or on gas! I like doing narratives, but they take me a long time because I review and proof, edit and proof, review again, etc..... And I probably give more detail than necessary in most reports, but if this one requires a lot of detail, I should be fine!

elcarev68 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bottom line, yes. I would estimate a half hour of
> prep. 15-20 minutes on the phone. 45-65 minutes
> for a good report - there's a decent amount of
> narrative.
> Next to the bottom, you don't need an alias for
> your first one of these. After that, though,
> you're in their system and will need a different
> set of personal info, and maybe the scheduler's
> permission.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

What about Onsite High Education Shops. They seem to be well paid but require visit and 1.5 hours of recording. Do you know if report requires a lot of narratives? Are there any tricks that you have to be aware not to mess up with the visit?

I did one, and you can only ever do one per school (not per location, *per school,* with the couple of schools on their list having many locations each). They pay amazingly well, but require an astonishing amount of narrative. Completely kicked my butt, but in the end it was worth it, I'd do it again at that price, and I've seen them go as high as double that price. If I could do one again, I'd schedule it as early in the day as possible, schedule nothing else for the day, go straight home and work on the narrative for the rest of the day. Sucks that after you plow through it the first time, you can't take what you've learned and do it again with greater ease.
You can screw it up by forgetting your magic questions, messing up the recording (practice this!), or botching the file transfer.

The onsite visit for the same location I'm doing the phone shop for is still open, but it's only $85. Sounds good, but the drive is close to an hour each way, I don't think I have the proper recording device, and by the time you figure in the time for the visit and report, it's not worth it. So, I chose the phone shop!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Never mind....

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2013 11:17AM by BirdyC.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Higher Education Phone Shops?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine