The new $25 cell phone shop....

A famous mystery shopping company is doing cell phone shops and after reading through it, I decided it was not for me:

(I like this company and not trying to be negative).

1. You must purchase a plan/cell phone.
2. You must allow a credit check.
3. You must do a 2-part shop.
4. After you shop this client, you can never shop it {exception/part-2} ...... (in the future) according to the rules; "if you are a customer of XYZ cell phone company, you can not complete this shop. (correct me if I am wrong)..... I am referring to down the road, as they always have plenty of these client's cell phone shops.

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This is not all bad.... Another MSC has an ongoing shop for people who switch to the cell phone company/plan. I do not know if the cell phone company is sponsoring the jobs with both msc's. I merely mention it.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

I don't really do cell phone shops, but I do need a new cell phone and happen to already have this carrier. The second part of the shop is that they reimburse up to $50 for your new phone purchase. In my case, I was considering it because it's basically $75 toward a new phone if I want to buy one right now and don't mind waiting a bit for the money and fill out a form. But it only is valuable if the reimbursement and shop fee are likely going to outweigh the future shops you could have done for this company.... since I don't do very many it's not really a factor for me, but I can see how it would be for others.

Shopper in California's Bay Area

Even if you buy the phone/plan and stop shopping the stores and kiosks, you can still be paid for participating in the ongoing study with the other MSC. someone who is in this position might share the financial impact.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2015 11:58PM by Shop-et-al.

Those are $50 already in my neck of the woods.

I hate cell phone shops. The CSR always makes me feel like an idiot. I am not tech savvy. Young people are so comfortable with the technology that they tend to just ignore older customers (I am old). They also tend to treat older customers like they are idiots, not realizing that it's just that we speak a different language. To me, a "file" is still a manila folder...."keyboarding" is still typing...and a pencil and paper doesn't disappear when your hard drive crashes!

I do cell phone shops once in a blue moon. I've been offered $110 to do one, and turned it down.

They are still sitting here at $25. I suspect the price will go up.

I get that if you were actively looking for a new phone, you might as well sign up for this one....they will do a credit check anyway and you can make a little money for going through the process but I just prefer the revolving cell phone shops, no obligation to anyone

10 days later and they are all still sitting there....they are up to $75-90. Did anyone bite and take one in your state?

Someone took one in my area. There are 3 left on my board. Of course they are the most popular brand here as well, and they are at $60 currently.

I wonder how much of this is for the client to get new customers, and not so much a mystery shop.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I wonder how much of this is for the client to get new customers, and not so much a mystery shop.

I have not read all the rules of this shop but I think you can cancel (the cancellation fee must be waived for shoppers--I hope) or the 3 day consumer rule of being able to cancel. If you try to do the regular mystery shops, I think it asks if you have ever been a customer at this particular cell phone company? This would create a problem because I can make far more shopping all these cell phone stores, than I can just doing this one special shop and worrying about a credit hit...

.

I think the client wants to put you through all the steps of purchase. I really don't think it's about generating new customers. They seem to have plenty of them at all the stores I shop.

They went up to $75 this morning in my area.

You can't cancel:

"You will keep your purchase and complete Part 2 by answering a short survey about 30 days later about your experience/bill accuracy. Reimbursement will not cover the entire cost and will be paid after part 2."

I ask because I inquired about this shop a few weeks ago (and it's still on the board in this area, but is now $60). At the time, it was $25 fee. If you cancelled the service, there would be a $35 restocking charge, so it really is for new and existing customers.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I wonder how much of this is for the client to get new customers, and not so much a mystery shop.
I have not read all the rules of this shop but I think you can cancel (the cancellation fee must be waived for shoppers--I hope) or the 3 day consumer rule of being able to cancel. If you try to do the regular mystery shops, I think it asks if you have ever been a customer at this particular cell phone company? This would create a problem because I can make far more shopping all these cell phone stores, than I can just doing this one special shop and worrying about a credit hit....

I think the client wants to put you through all the steps of purchase. I really don't think it's about generating new customers. They seem to have plenty of them at all the stores I shop.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

They have gone up to $90 now.

When it goes $100, I will do it, as I am with that cell phone provider already and would like to upgrade my phone.

Still $75 here, just looked. But that's good, tomorrow I can go get a new phone most likely. I wish it reimbursed the total amount, since good smartphones are now so expensive!

The shop is now $90 in this area.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I sent Helpdesk a message requesting $100, let's see what happens.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

They have gone up to $90 now.

$90 here too. All of them just sitting there....

@JASFLALMT wrote:

You can't cancel:

"You will keep your purchase and complete Part 2 by answering a short survey about 30 days later about your experience/bill accuracy. Reimbursement will not cover the entire cost and will be paid after part 2."

Okay, let's see: You get the fee for the shop, but let's say the phone is $600.00. How much of that is covered/reimbursed?

Good question.

Remember than a different msc is recruiting people who recently switched to this client. That assignment might bring some financial relief.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

And I guess the price was right at $90. All but one are gone off of my board.

One is at $90 and two are at $75 here.

As far as I can tell, there is no reimbursement, just the shop fee...but since I would like a new phone, I would be willing to do it for $100. There are still 3 here on the board but still only $75. Weird how it varies from region to region.

The quiz states that you will receive a $50 reimbursement toward the amount of your phone bill after the follow-up survey is done. The shop fee is up to $90 in my area. If a person was planning on upgrading or adding a line, it would not be a bad deal.

Still $75 here, though they have added another location to the list and none have been accepted.

The shop is still $90, but there are less slots available.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

They just all hit $100.00

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The new $25 cell phone shop....

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