"Things people say when they find out you mystery shop..."

Thought this would be a fun one. What are some things people say or ask you when they find out what you do?

My favorite:

Them: "Oh send me the info on that."
Me: "...it doesn't work that way."

As if there is a brochure that covers the hundreds of companies. Of course, people don't have a clue and I'm sure I said the same at first

Sometimes I think I should just shut up so I don't have to explain the 80+ companies I'm signed up for, but I love to talk about mystery shopping!

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"Oh, that sounds interesting." (said as eyes glaze over)

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

Oswaltkp Wrote:
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> Sometimes I think I should just shut up so I don't
> have to explain the 80+ companies I'm signed up
> for, but I love to talk about mystery shopping!

You should probably keep quiet about MS'ing. Why would you want more competition in your area? And some friends and family do not know how to keep their mouths shut. Like the friend who runs into you at the store and asks in a loud voice if you are mystery shopping right now. I don't tell people what I do. It is none of their business.

"Oh, that's a real thing?"

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Fancy signature line!

I don't tell anyone exactly what I do.

In the past I've been told "that's all a scam" and once I was told "oh how can I get into that? I only want to make a couple hundred extra per week."

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

"Wow, that sounds like so much fun!"

Little do they know that it's not all fun and exciting. Once they learn that they actually have to do reports and upload receipts and photos, they lose interest.

Very few know I do mystery shopping. The friends/family who know I have a second job know my job title as business evaluator and I don't offer details. Only a friend who originally got me into shopping knows the whole deal. I almost killed my husband when I was at a gathering with him a couple months ago and he asked me to share the details of what I do with everyone. I said tutoring (true) and he says, "Tell them about your other job." I quickly changed the subject.

"Be careful, thats a scam. They send you a check and then end up scanning you out of money. I know someone that signed up for that and they ende up getting taken for hundreds of dollars"

I know I was a little skeptic at first when Oswaltkp told me about it....and now thats all we talk about...and text about...and send packages. We are 2 addicted teenage girls running after the say guy! LOL

My favorite is "you are a mystery shopper. I love to shop."
Me - "I used to love to shop, too. It's no longer fun. This totally shuts them up."

I lie like a rug. I LOVE to shop whether it's to get paid or not.

Ha.

I have only told one person outside of my immediate family that I mystery shop. She said, "That's what I do, so send me information." Aside from the fact I know that's not "what she does", I know she is not capable. Bad writing skills and grammar. Unreliable and will flake. It also annoyed me that she demanded I send her information without any questions or enthusiasm on her part. I am MUM.

I know what you mean. I have a friend who thought she might like to try this.

Nope. Computer illiterate to start off with. Sorry!

An elderly relative who has received packages from me for the USPS assignments said she'd like to mystery shop. Knowing that she is very critical of others, I told her that she wouldn't like it. She defiantly (because I am always wrong) asked why. I told her that she would have to use the computer. She said, "Oh, I'll get the grandsons to do that." Then one day she saw someone merchandising greeting cards and asked the rep if she was mystery shopping.

Oh, I give anyone who wants to know about it the info, mainly because I know that 95% of people are not competent or self sufficient enough to actually become any type of competition to me. It's probably the area that I live in though.

Sybil2 Wrote:
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> Oswaltkp Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sometimes I think I should just shut up so I
> don't
> > have to explain the 80+ companies I'm signed up
> > for, but I love to talk about mystery shopping!
>
>
> You should probably keep quiet about MS'ing. Why
> would you want more competition in your area? And
> some friends and family do not know how to keep
> their mouths shut. Like the friend who runs into
> you at the store and asks in a loud voice if you
> are mystery shopping right now. I don't tell
> people what I do. It is none of their business.

Nope, I love it and love talking about it. I have friends who I have gotten into it with, like 32sarah-- we send each other packages out of state all the time to each other, and sharing this has been great for our friendship! The people I have in my current town that have gotten into it? We treat each other to dinners around our rotations. I have one who likes to pretend to be the person throwing my baby shower when we go to do baby/toy store registration shops. I'm not competitive about it. It's a hobby, I love it, and love sharing it. To each his/her own!

wow Wrote:
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> Oh, I give anyone who wants to know about it the
> info, mainly because I know that 95% of people are
> not competent or self sufficient enough to
> actually become any type of competition to me.
> It's probably the area that I live in though.

Exactly. Once they see that they have to have a Paypal account or need to fork over their SSN, they normally stop cold. And if someone asks about certain shops and actually does want to put forth the effort, I say - "sorry, that's my baby. I'm not sharing that one!"

A woman in my area actually tried it and her husband said to me in shock "there's really work you have to do??" He thought it was just going into a place and tell them everything they're doing wrong, at least that's how they did it while totally ignoring the instructions. THEN she told me that since I was once a journalist I should be glad to do all her reports for her. I'd say here what my response was but my keyboard would melt.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Yeah - I basically just tell them to sign up for marketforce then check out this forum to find out about other companies. The only people who I know have actually started doing anything is my fiance, once of my friends, my mom and my fiance's mom. However the only one of the four who is doing enough to take any type of money away from is is my fiance which is totally fine with me because thats still money coming into my household with less work (or more time for other work) I have to do. Everyone else just does a shop here and there. Also, my mom and fiance's mom live in a part of town that already has a lot of competition so I never really did much over there anyway. For some reason no one wants to go to the southside in my city, which I have no problem with and get tons of bonused shops every month down there.

Oswaltkp, what state are you in?

I've told my family and my financial planner what I do. Right after I 'retired' (started shopping as my job) I was talking to a woman at church. She asked what I was doing now, and I told her projects around the house and some independent market research. With a grin she leaned in and asked "So you're mystery shopping?" Turns out her daughter has a friend who shops, too.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2014 08:54PM by KathyG.

I once told an acupuncturist what I got and he got nervous that I might be mystery shopping him at some point. I had to explain to him why it doesn't work that way. Although I do know that as a real estate agent I have been shopped on at least a few occasions.

nhgirl1970 Wrote:
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I almost killed my husband when I was at a gathering with him a couple months ago and he asked me to share the details of what I do with everyone. I said tutoring (true) and he says, "Tell them about your other job." I quickly changed the subject.

While on a family vacation this past summer somehow we got on the subject of mystery shopping. One sister-in-law told a story of how her son had been mystery shopped (convenience store I think) on the day he forgot his name tag so borrowed a female co-workers. Then another sister-in-law told how she used to do mystery shopping. I stayed quiet on the subject When hubby and I were alone he said "How come you didn't say you are a mystery shopper?" My response, if I told everyone then it wouldn't be a mystery!

If I tell people what I do, they act really interested and ask how they could do it also. I give them a few company names to get started. Later when I talk to them, they say they just haven't started yet. They sound really interested at first, but never pull through to actually do any shopping. I'm not worried about the competition because when they find out it's really work they lose interest!

I don't tell people. My father in law and step mother in law know because of my husband.. and my father in law is a member of Bestmark and always asking me for other companies. I'm just like, "Um, I don't know, I'll have to check my list.." and never get back to him. I don't want the competition, lol.

Mostly, I get that it is a scam and a warning to be careful. I had one person start laughing uncontrollably like I must be the biggest idiot on the planet. I have given MF info to a couple of people since I'm not with them any longer, but no one follows through. Everyone wants the "free" stuff but no one wants to work for it!

.

Also, I find few people can actually put two coherent, gramatically correct written sentences together these days. Writing is becoming a lost art among the general population. If they can't do it by text, they're not too interested. OMG, u have 2 rite a rpt? OMG. LOL.

I was willing to help one serious inquirer but the more she learned about this, the faster she backed up. Not for everyone, nosirree.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

No one says anything because I generally don't talk about it.

.
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

Sybil2 Wrote:
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> Oswaltkp, what state are you in?

Kentucky

I don't tell people. I say I'm a merchandiser, and if they want to know my companies, I tell them to google or search "merchandising" with their town name. Love to all - Night Owl.

When it comes to being indiscreet I don't think it qualifies as "to each his/her own." Even if it is not covered under the contract with a specific company, we are being hired to be discreet and conduct assignments covertly. The problem with openly speaking of it is you never know who can overhear or who the person you are talking to might know. If the wrong person hears you it may be simply a matter of you losing the ability to shop a certain client or it may mean deactivation from a company. If it gets back to the client they may reevaluate their relationship with the MSC in question.

"Nope, I love it and love talking about it. I'm not competitive about it. It's a hobby, I love it, and love sharing it. To each his/her own!"

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

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