Gas Staion Shops

I am wondering about gas station shops. After reading the 30 some odd page directions for some some shops it seemed to me it was a hell of a lot of work for 5.00 of gas and 8.00 or 10.00 bucks. There are tons around me. Am I missing something, or is it one those things that after doing a few you can knock them out quick?

Please advise.

Thanks,

Dan

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More About Gas Station Mystery Shopping

Chances are that's why you're still seeing them--because the other shoppers won't take them at that pay rate. You should take one or two to find out, also to prove yourself to the MSC so you might be able to ask for bonuses on them in the future.

Once you get the hang of it they're really no big deal, not quite half an hour on site, another half hour to report and zippo you're done

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

YMMV, but once you've done a bunch of them they get faster and easier. They're never FAST though.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I guess I should probably try a few just to say I did. Does anyone one have a preference for brand of station or company. The good thing around here is the older station won't have bathrooms anyway.

Thanks for your replies,

Dan

The unrevealed shops are easy - it is the mystery shop with audit that can become a pita. Sometimes the simple mystery shop pays the same as the much longer audit. Just watch what shop you are applying for since you do not want to do the revealed audit for the base price. Those may be the ones that have been sitting on the board.

I think the main problem with the audit ones is the pictures. There is one where you have to take a picture of each pump and if the station is busy that can take a while to do.

I'd take a couple just to get an idea of it. The audits get much faster with practice. I typically do several in a day when I"m doing them, which fills up my tank and nets me some good money. Take stations in your area that you know to be clean and well kept to begin with.
I don't do the ones everyone hates where you have to take pics of every pump. I do several other brands though. There is a learning curve with each brand and most of us create cheat sheets so that we can mark things off as we go and not forget anything. Once you get comfortable with them there are usually some opportunities to make some pretty good money.

I too do the other brands for audits. There is one that is total audit and no mystery shop. I love that one.

Since we are not talking about specific MSCs can anyone list there preferred brand of station. Still learning the rules for posting here.

Dan

When I was doing several brands, I liked the Shell Station shops. They were faster and were easier to input. And the employees knew about them.

I too like the Shell shop. I also like the Chevron Audit, no mystery shop just audit.

My favorite are the Kangaroo shops but they appear to only be quarterly.

The unrevealed shops are quick and easy. Do two or three in a route, or with another shop or two, and you'll make a few easy and stressfree bucks for the day. I've never done an audit,and will likely never do one -- too much time -- low pay.

I've never done a Jiffy Trip that took more than 20 minutes, report and and shop together. Just a quick shop, 2 receipts, a name, about 30 yes/no questions, and a brief shop summary. I won't go out of my way to do them, but even at base pay they are well worth it when they're on my route.

Since we are not naming MSC's..I like the 76 unrevealed audits and the revealed ones are not too bad. Arco is my favorite, quick in and out with minimum purchase. I avoid the ones that want a picture of every pump unless a bonus is attached - which is rare.

Also they are much more attractive when gas is cheap. When gas starts to inch up over $3 and you are required to purchase 2 gallons, well you still get gas but it eats into your profit margin.

As Hoju said, once you have a system, they are quicker and easier. I like the fact that I get reimbursed gas, and keep in mind gas prices are on the upswing now, so these shops become more "valuable". It really becomes easier when you cluster stations together, just today I did two stations that were next door to one another and a third that was essentially across the street from it, down slightly.

My favorite station is one that's named in an honor of Texan hero.

I have done Citgo, Cheveron, Sinclair, Sunoco, Mobil, Crosby, Valero, and others. I have done both audits and mystery shops. The easiest by far were the Cheveron mystery shops. I could knock out 35 a day if I wanted to.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

Thank you all. I will do some and yes with gas getting to be more now the ones that require and reimburse for gallons become more lucrative.

Around here the shops with photos of each pump still take me about 20 minutes overall. I do them very early in the day when traffic is less and very little waiting to get a pump photo. Most of those here only have 4 to 6 pumps too.

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

@Cettie wrote:

Around here the shops with photos of each pump still take me about 20 minutes overall. I do them very early in the day when traffic is less and very little waiting to get a pump photo. Most of those here only have 4 to 6 pumps too.

Wow, gas station with only 4 to 6 pumps? My average gas station has 12 pumps with many of them having even more pumps. My least amount of gas pumps has been 8 and they are few and far between.

When I get into rural small town areas, it's very common to have locations with 4 pumps. Unfortunately it's usually Shell and not E/M.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I have only found one place within 50 miles of my home which had more than 8 pumps, I did one near a large city which had 20 pumps but that was the only place I ever did that had that many.

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

@Cettie, we must be living in completely different worlds. You are lucky. Sucks for the rest of us because they do not pay us a higher base fee based on the number of pumps. The PITA locations usually do get bonused though later in the month.

I rarely do the ones with the pumps. We often have 18 - 24 pumps. Also the lots are huge as they will often have rental equipment at one end or some such other business so to get a good photo of the lot or issues found on the lot means a lot of walking.. The result being that it takes forever to do them with my short legs. LOL.

What slows me down is if the location manager insists on walking the entire lot with me to supervise my every move. One certain manager also questions each photo I take and tries to interfere constantly. I tire him out by zig zagging from one side of the lot to another quickly and he finally gives up and goes back to his office. I also throw him off the track by taking photos of odd things I don't really need like "shoes worn by employees"

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

Many of the rural stations I do have only two (some only one) pump so those can be pretty quick. Some do not even have c-stores, just service stations or farm co-ops. It really depends on the brand and size of the station.

@Cettie wrote:

I also throw him off the track by taking photos of odd things I don't really need like "shoes worn by employees"

That's awesome.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

What is a farm co-op? Total city girl here.

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