Shop Addict ......AVOID WESTERN UNION SHOPS!!!
Worst experience!
Shop was in a seedy area of town. I did not feel safe. Hoodlums were hanging all over, and I thought my car would get broken into.
The line was very long. The office had a terrible smell and was not fit for humans. I had to get in 2 long lines! Had to return in 30 mins and tell her that I changed my mind! I had to Spend my own $25! And got yelled at, when I returned to get my money back! The Chinese lady refused and threw the paper at me,thru the glass window. "Call Western Union" Not come back!
I called the MS company,They said to call WU to get refund, they never refund $5 of the $25 , its their fee. The shop paid ONLY $12! I Won't do it ever again, no matter how much they pay!!!

Shop Addict agrees......our lives are sometimes in danger. Check out my Western Union experience!!!!

Shop Addict agrees....more people should think like you! Have self respect. Don't get pimped. Smile folks. Loosen up!

Shop Addicty sats....That lead crap is a way for them not to pay!!!!
BEWARE LEAD CAR SHOPS A SCAM !!!!!!
GOT SCAMMED OF 4 SHOPS( can show proof, email me) THAT I DID NOT GET PAID FOR ! AFTER THEY USED LO n REPORT!!
THEN GAVE ME A SCORE OF 1/10 !!!
1.If you dont pay me, dont use my report.
2. If you dont pay me, dont SCORE me!

Are you aware your username shows up automatically when you post which means there is no need to type it again?

wow, I know what you mean. I just picked up a couple and all the rigamaroll you have to go through. Then waiting for bonuses. I really dislike when I'm going to an area and the front says it starts on let's say 1/10 then you go in and the first date available is 1/25. I just feel I'm going now and you just wasted my time by not having good information for me to follow. Frustrating. That place must be run by a control freak or something.
Then this morning I was wonder how I was going to get my security code, my computer was in shop and was using my lap top that doesn't have the use of the printer. I thought all night what was I going to do. But my tech guy had my desk top done this a.m. early so was able to get it and be in business once again. But all that worry for something so silly. I should call and see how people work this if they don't have a printer.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2017 07:54PM by Kate20105.

I like the acting part of being a mystery shopper myself, except sometimes I don't know who I am.
I have not done a reveal shop mainly because some editor are so picky and I'm not driving back to get pictures if they don't like what I send. I stop working for companies if I don't get paid. Especially when I know I was in the right and someone changed the info after I first read it and applied. this happened with a cell phone shop for Verizon. I only do T mobile so I know I didn't sign up to do a Verizon.... never ever I don't like them as a company and they don't work in my home. So yeah I never would. But they insisted I was wrong and didn't pay the 30.00 for the two shops. Bye......

@E.Nygma wrote:

I have a separate account solely for shops. I use money paid by past shops to do p/r or reimbursement shops. It's just easier for me to track what my pay and expenditures are.

Great strategy. If I did higher volume I would do it that way too but lately I haven't been.

I try to avoid fast food shops. They were fine when I was getting started, but I am trying to eat healthier now. Reveal shops and audits are good for me, as these do not require a purchase (Unless $2 or less). I have done a couple car shops, and later actually bought a car at one of those dealerships! There are some restaurant shops that do not pay enough to cover the meal, much less the tip. Those I try to avoid as money is tight enough for me in the first place. Other restaurant shops I have enjoyed as they give me a chance to try out a new place and come up with new favorites. I would love to do hotel shops, but am afraid they will put a hold on my card and I cannot afford that.

Not surprising, Maritz is love 'em, hate 'em. BBB apparently in the same category and almost everyone dislikes Ikea shops.

I don't work for food so I don't do restaurants or grocery stores and definitely not fast food.. I don't really enjoy shopping in real life so purchase and return is double the aggravation. I did car dealership shops when I first started and enjoyed the presentations and car info but then I was actually in the market for a new car. Unfortunately, I received follow up phone calls and emails for about a year. A lot of work for not too much money.

I live in a highly populated suburban area and generally do mini routes within a 30 mile radius. I can do 5 or 6 gas stations or 8 or 9 banks or a combination of the two, leave home at 10 and return around 2 o'clock or so, having earned around $100 unbonused. If I travel outside of my 30 mile area I negotiate bonuses. I have and will, fill in with ice cream, cell phone, business inspection and diy shops if they fit into my daily route.

Actually I have been promising myself to find another income stream and have been considering valet parking or storage shops. I'll test a few as I normally do when I try something new.

I have done several auto purchase shops and they were not bad with one of the MSC's. However, they dropped pay by $20 on 1/1/17 and last week they dropped again. Now only pays $17. Not really worth paper, printer ink, gas, wear/tear on vehicle, time at dealership and an hour or two completeing the tedious reports that are due that night. I would also add that the dealership gets your phone number on their caller ID and won't stop calling! And sadly - these are shops that are 20+ miles from my home - that's 40 miles round trip. I'm thinking I am not even going to break even. Has anyone else noticed this? Seems many of the MSC's have dropped their pay since starting 1/1 and just dropped it more. And we know that in about one month - they will be in a crazy fit offering bonus to get it done that day. This just doesn't make sense to me

I won't even look at a shop for under $20. If you add up the hours, figure your gas and wear and tear on your car, the wages are slave wages - I don't care if I enjoy that job, won't leave the house for under $20.

@roma1358 wrote:

I try to avoid fast food shops. They were fine when I was getting started, but I am trying to eat healthier now. Reveal shops and audits are good for me, as these do not require a purchase (Unless $2 or less). I have done a couple car shops, and later actually bought a car at one of those dealerships! There are some restaurant shops that do not pay enough to cover the meal, much less the tip. Those I try to avoid as money is tight enough for me in the first place. Other restaurant shops I have enjoyed as they give me a chance to try out a new place and come up with new favorites. I would love to do hotel shops, but am afraid they will put a hold on my card and I cannot afford that.

I also avoid shops if I can figure out the reimbursement will probably fall short of the required purchase. I learned this lesson from a Mexican restaurant shop where the reimbursement was $35 with a $10 fee. I barely got out of there for under $45 so it was a de facto reimbursement only shop. Never again.

Those BB shops now are two shops in one. They still only pay $14 now - but require shopping for two items in two different departments and requires a purchase. Crazy. They have cameras all over the store and with two names and descriptions of employees with the exact time you are there - no need for purchase. But more importantly, I hate that they have now combined two shops into one and paying less than they used to pay for a single shop

I don't do MacDonald shop. I dont eat there often, if at all, and i don't think that I would give them a high rating. Another one is phone shops for virtual schools. Too much work for $9. Then one needs to wait 3 days for a follow up call before finalizing and submitting a report. Anything under $10 is to be avoided!

Not sure what you are referring. Bank and wireless shops feel like any other and there are lots of them. But yeah sometimes you have to act and I can feel them not believing me.

I think the worst was with a company called Shopper View. They paid like $4 USD for a phone shop. I am not sure if the call was long distance or 800 number but either way a potential charge with your cellphone. The instructions were like 19-20 pages long and recorded. So inevitably I would make mistakes and not get paid (they were strict on this). I think I only got paid for 50% of my shops and arguing my case almost led to me being terminated. I think they did finally sac me as I have not heard from them in a long time.

At least half of the car shops I've done involved employees who don't work on commission. Supposedly. So I don't feel too bad. Someone else would be shopping them anyway. I think it's a good thing that they can get feedback, though. The dealership and employee can hopefully make their presentation better. I just hate the random shop that takes over an hour, or two...yes, that's happened. Beware of certain foreign car dealerships.

Yeah, I have had that happen at a domestic dealership (and I made the mistake of handing over my keys and license and they trapped me there for over 2 hours). That was a frustrating one. I've also done a couple of the dealerships (usually high end) of sales people who (supposedly) do not work on commission. I find those to be more enjoyable because there's less pressure/aggressive tactics when they are not desperate for the sale.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

@Misanthrope wrote:

I avoid shops that don't "give" me anything. I almost exclusively do food or hotel shops these days because you can't do a purchase-and-return with a steak, now can you?

Oh, I think you could return the steak in a manner that they would not like...if you had food poisoning. If you get my drift, LOL.

Oh, I have had that issue. I did a TR shop out of town and I was dying all night. It's like, do you even report that? And how would you report that? Your report has to be in soon after anyway. I imagine it something like, "I don't know how to gingerly say this, but I had a heinous anus all night after eating at this establishment. It felt like everything I've ever eaten was evacuated promptly over the course of the night. I don't think the $35 reimbursement has covered my pain and suffering."

I still love those shops, though. I've eaten there several times on shops and non shops. I've only had food poisoning once. I just hate that they'll never have feedback that someone is nasty and that they need to double check their food safety protocols and if everyone is following them.

I do not do Purchase and Return and I don't do Reveal. I am fine with banks, car dealers, apartments, etc. as long as the pay is decent.

I won't touch car dealerships, cell phone shops, or anything where you have to purchase and return. I live near some outlets and it's amazing to me that there are so many low paying purchase and return shops -- two reports for $10? Really? Absolutely no on IKEA. Did it once, never got paid. I actually like a lot of bank shops -- teller and account opening -- but I won't do the ones where they ask you to simply inquire about an account -- the pay is too low to make myself look like an idiot at a local bank branch. Also no on the co-op grocery stores shop. Never again. Tiny store, crazy long report, and the reimbursement for the grocery purchase covers very little at prices higher than Whole Foods. I also don't touch anything where the MSC has lowered the pay. I know some people take low priced shops but I really think that if we don't all hang together the MSC's will continue to push the prices down to the point where there'a no profit for shoppers.

A shop has to pay 15.00 or more before I will consider a shop. I do a few fast food because I like their food & hadn't been there for a while. I like Zoup & Bufflo Wild Wings because of generous reimbursement & short reports. No long narratives.
I stopped doing Coyle restaurant shops. They had nice fees & reimbursements but reports were too long. Took longer to do all the narratives than to do the shop. Plus was very repetitious. They wanted you to include their checklist into the narratives. Plus the editors didn't read your comments throughly. They would ask you for stuff you already put in. They were rude at times.
I do not do car or bank shops. Used to do a lot of both. The bank shops required to much scanning & uploading of documents. It's ok if have one or two banks but I was doing 4-6 in one day. I would create a route to do different cities in one or two counties.
I don't mind reveal shops. But I will not do audits. Due to some mobility issues, I can't stand for 7-8 hours, do a lot of bending or kneeling.
I have gotten very selective & picky about the kind & type of shops I will do. I am phasing out mystery shopping to concentrate on other activities I am involved with.

The new instructions do make it easier. Previously, you had to pick up a gift registry, and that felt so unnatural. It's still somewhat hard because you have to find a certain number of individuals, but with a reasonable fee, it's good, and the reimbursement is more generous than other similar shops.

@alygildap wrote:

BBB--I did one and did not find it all that difficult. Got a shop rate of 9 on it, but it took me 3 months to get paid for it.

You say you did 4 shops? Cheat me once shame on you. Cheat me twice, Shame on me. I hope you applied for all 4 shops together and did not go back for more abuse having been cheated.

I only take one location to see what it is. Sometimes I get the guidelines and discover the client wants me to perform other things not originally revealed. I am only obligated to perform what was revealed originally. I contact the client and negotiate if the client failed to reveal the entire requirements . An "easy" shop turns into 100 questions and multiple visits etc.

If the client is obligated to "specific performance" if I agreed to perform just as I am , but those items NOT specifically mentioned is not part of the understanding. We did not have a "meeting of the minds" The client MUST either offer me more money or release me without penalty.

I usually wait until the DAY of the shop forcing them to pay more.for the extra work. If they want pictures where none was requested previously, I suggest to them that I will offer only the pictures . If they are not acceptable, there is no reason to submit my work product They do not get a free report.

If they wanted Names and there are no name tags and they will not accept descriptions or business cards and I am told the company does not give them business cards and the client will invalidated the shops without such items, they do not get the report. Shops like Ikea that ask ambiguous questions where they omit to say that the item must seen in a specific department and Not evaluated if used as a prop in a different department is a SCAM beware. your whole shop can be rejected. you get no money and they get a free report.

I lose the time and expense of going to the shops but they get no value from me. If they will not give me further shops I do not need shops like that.

I would not want to work for a company that attempts to cheat the independent contractor.

Car dealer shops and cell phone shops are my least favorite. I agree that most car dealer shops have a very low fee. I won't do any more for Intelli-Shop, I have been shopping for more than ten years and always get 9 or 10 ratings, but they wanted so many rewrites of my comments that it took me three times as long. The narratives that they wanted were almost word for word of the entire conversation. I'm also getting hesitant about purchase and return shops, for the same reasons others have stated. I don't like cell phone shops or clothing retailers that require you to be in the store for a minimum of 20 minutes. If it's a small store with no other customers, I feel stupid having to just wander around looking at the same things, whether not I've been assisted.

BBB shops....Did one a last Month. Same thing. Grab something big and see if you are offered a cart and a lot of questions still. In Canada it goes through another company so you are even paid less. I might do one again if I want to buy something there but that's about it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2017 07:41PM by robertmanship.

IKEA Shops are huge and can take hours. I got one and immediately dropped it after reading the pages and pages of the 5 different departments I had to visit plus the restaurant and the Bistro. Way too little pay!

IKEA was a huge report. It could take hours to do. 5 departments and both Restaurant and Bistro. Considering you had to try and talk to someone in each department...you could be there a looooong time!!!

I was lured by the IKEA bonused shop, but it was not worth it at all. Thankfully, it was removed after I requested it to be.