A particular shop that I really enjoy now requires that shoppers you GeoVerify.

I had a data plan on my phone, but realized that I didn't need it to upload photos, because I could wait until I got home to use my home's WiFi to do it. So I cancelled my data plan.

The lack of a data plan excludes me from a few shops, but I've been okay with that. Now a shop I really, really, really like requires GV. Is it 100% necessary to have data to use that app? Not a technie, so just figured I'd asked people who are more tech savvy tham myself.

Appreciate it guys.

If it's between data (cheapest I've seen so far is $50/month) and none of these shops anymore, it'd be a tough one.

No, you just need an internet connection. If the location you are shopping has free WiFi you should be fine. You can download an app, I get GeoVerify for free. It's in the app store and it's a green logo.

That would be the tricky part, since many of the locations being shopped that require GeoVerify might not have free WiFi. Most of the time I do Geoverify, I am in the parking lot of the location, or if the store is in the mall, I am in the foyer/entranceway when I click on Geoverify. No WiFi there except for the one provided by AT&T, my carrier.

By getting rid of data you are hindering your ability to properly perform shops. What happens if you are unsure of something and need to access the MSC website to verify things? How do you double check an assignment is still assigned, as some MSCs have been known for cancelling assignments at the last second; or a email about a last second change/update may have been sent out.

I take it you have no desire to perform any real time audits? You are potentially limiting the types of opportunities available.

Yes, you will need data to use GeoVerify. There are many options for less expensive data/cell plans if you own the phone. I have ultra mobile and it's $29 for unlimited text, call and 2 GB of high speed data. After the 2GB the data goes down to slower speeds. They even have a $19 plan that only includes 100 MB of data if you use it very occasionally.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2017 08:25PM by nilennovy.

@nilennovy wrote:

Yes, you will need data to use GeoVerify. There are many options for less expensive data/cell plans if you own the phone. I have ultra mobile and it's $29 for unlimited text, call and 2 GB of high speed data. After the 2GB the data goes down to slower speeds. They even have a $19 plan that only includes 100 MB of data if you use it very occasionally.

Hi, nilennovy

I do own the cell phone. I have a T-MOBILE non-data phone plan that is prepaid at the moment.

Which carrier has those rates you referenced? I'd be really happy to check them out!!

@isaiah58 wrote:

By getting rid of data you are hindering your ability to properly perform shops. What happens if you are unsure of something and need to access the MSC website to verify things? How do you double check an assignment is still assigned, as some MSCs have been known for cancelling assignments at the last second; or a email about a last second change/update may have been sent out.

I take it you have no desire to perform any real time audits? You are potentially limiting the types of opportunities available.

I doubt I'd be missing any last minute communications, isaiah58, as I check email at home all the time and before shops usually. It's never happened before and doesn't seem like a regular thing that I'd worry about that.

But you're right that I miss a lot of shop opportunities requiring data. I'm okay with that so far, except now I might need/want it. We'll see. Still weighing options.

What TYPES of shops usually require data? (not asking for ms companies or clients, but just the genreal type of shop if you guys don't mind saying and if that's not an ICA violation)

Shoptasic, I have Ultra Mobile (https://ultramobile.com/). I have found their $19 plan to be very affordable, though I did switch up to the $29 plan for the unlimited data. If you run out of data on the $19 plan you can buy more for $5 at a time. I also have Ting on another phone (https://ting.com/), which is post paid. So you pay for what you use then it's billed at the end of the cycle. So depending on your usage, one might be even less expensive than the other.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2017 08:40PM by nilennovy.

Shoptastic, contact the scheduler for the shop you are interested in. Let them know that you do not have a data plan, and see if there are other options for you.

@nilennovy wrote:

Shoptasic, I have Ultra Mobile (https://ultramobile.com/). I have found their $19 plan to be very affordable, though I did switch up to the $29 plan for the unlimited data. If you run out of data on the $19 plan you can buy more for $5 at a time. I also have Ting on another phone (https://ting.com/), which is post paid. So you pay for what you use then it's billed at the end of the cycle. So depending on your usage, one might be even less expensive than the other.

Wow. Never heard of those carriers. Are they very small companies?

The pay-as-you-go sounds very interesting! I'll take a look, but will have to check reviews too. I have honestly never heard of those. I've only heard of TMOBILE, AT&T, and Verizon.

I thank you very much, though, for those recommendations!

Some MSCs are very emphatic about no exceptions to the Geoverify thing. I wish you luck on that.

I can't tell you how many times I have been somewhere and checked my email on my phone only to discover that the round of shops I want to do had been released just moments before I looked. Thank goodness for my Smartphone, because I was able to snatch them up quickly by applying or even self-assigning using my phone. I can also tell you that there were many times in the past before I had my Smartphone where I got home to discover that the round of coveted shops had been released and had already been assigned. There is one particular company I do shops for that I pick up a round of 40-50 locations with each month, but other shoppers in my area are just as quick to grab them if they can. They are self-assign so if I snooze, I lose.

They are MVNOs. Here's what google says: "MVNO stands for “Mobile Virtual Network Operator“, and as such, an MVNO does not own or have it’s own infrastructure (wireless cell phone towers), but rather leases or rents them from the major carriers i.e. Verizon, Sprint, T-mobile, AT&T, etc."

So basically I am on the T-Mobile network though Ultra Mobile but I don't pay the T-Mobile prices.

You will need to buy a SIM card from whichever MVNO you go with and your phone will have to be unlocked and make sure your phone is compatible with whichever MVNO you end up choosing. (Like Verizon is CDMA while AT&T is GSM)

Some other ones I keep on reading about are Republic Wireless and the Google one (https://fi.google.com/about/)

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Some MSCs are very emphatic about no exceptions to the Geoverify thing. I wish you luck on that.

I can't tell you how many times I have been somewhere and checked my email on my phone only to discover that the round of shops I want to do had been released just moments before I looked. Thank goodness for my Smartphone, because I was able to snatch them up quickly by applying or even self-assigning using my phone. I can also tell you that there were many times in the past before I had my Smartphone where I got home to discover that the round of coveted shops had been released and had already been assigned. There is one particular company I do shops for that I pick up a round of 40-50 locations with each month, but other shoppers in my area are just as quick to grab them if they can. They are self-assign so if I snooze, I lose.

That's interesting. I never thought to myself that maybe there are plum assignments I NEVER see, b/c they're always snatched up. I am technically in front of a computer all the time, so I feel I would see anything that came through email pretty quick.

JAS, I use Verizon Wireless. Their network is very reliable. I was in an area for a shop, and I had no data, not even 3G, but I did have a limited signal for calls. I don't know how that worked.

The shop that I was doing required GV. I called the MSC (thankfully, they answered) and told them my problem. They told me to take a photo with the location tag activated.

Huh? I explained the flaw in that logic.

They told me to take a picture and make a purchase. There has to be a back up plan for when things go sideways.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Some MSCs are very emphatic about no exceptions to the Geoverify thing. I wish you luck on that.

I can't tell you how many times I have been somewhere and checked my email on my phone only to discover that the round of shops I want to do had been released just moments before I looked. Thank goodness for my Smartphone, because I was able to snatch them up quickly by applying or even self-assigning using my phone. I can also tell you that there were many times in the past before I had my Smartphone where I got home to discover that the round of coveted shops had been released and had already been assigned. There is one particular company I do shops for that I pick up a round of 40-50 locations with each month, but other shoppers in my area are just as quick to grab them if they can. They are self-assign so if I snooze, I lose.

Their loss. It's stupid to require it. Maybe give an extra incentive to use it. Requiring it means losing good shoppers. Dumb business decision.

how is using an app a dumb biz decision? Its a free app so no xtra incentive needede.

I have no data plan and do not even use a cell phone and the only thing I miss is not being able to get a Blaze when I shop at Blaze. But I do work part time and have another job to pay the bills so I am not under the pressure some of you are to pay the rent. I got a tablet so I could use wifi in stores if I needed it but do not accept shops that require wifi as whether or not the wifi will be working at any store location seems to be very iffy. That said, I did one audit years ago and have zero interest in ever doing another one again.
So for me if I shopped as my only job I might feel I needed a smart phone with a data plan but alas at the rate of pay I would not feel I could afford it. I can afford one now but just have no interest in having one.
So far in many years of shopping I have never had the need to check rules or anything else while on the road. A shop I had accepted has never disappeared from my list of shops...Once I had to call the scheduler and I do have a pay as you go phone. So I turned it on for the first time that year and called. Good thing the battery was charged! One of these days a cell phone will be the only choice available. I am not looking forward to that day.
It is possible to get along without a cell....

A lot of the shops I do requires taking photos. A cell phone is much easier and lighter to transport than a huge tablet. Not to mention, less obvious. Everyone snaps pictures with their phones but using a tablet or professional camera would cause some eyebrows to raise especially if you have to take discreet photos.

I have a few shops where the shops are submitted using apps (no or very little narrative). The shops are entered a few minutes after I leave each location so there is less compute work later. I usually have a group of shops of 6-10 in an area each day for various MSCs so not everything can be done on my phone but it is very nice to only have 1-2 hours of reporting when I get home instead of 4 or more. There is one short covert audit I do every month of 5 minutes in the store where I do the whole thing on my phone. I am also a merchandiser...one company I work for required is to check in on our phone and upload photos to the website.

Shoptastic, there are some shops I pick off the job board that the MSCs don't send out emails about unless the shoppers haven't self assigned them all. And there are a few who never send out emails, shoppers have to look at their websites frequently to look for assignments.

Ting, Republic Wireless, Consumer Cellular:
Contrary to all of their favorable advertisement satisfaction claims, when you go online to Yelp, etc. all you get are bad reviews of these services which I especially wanted to try out and applaud them for what they offer to those of us barely using phone, text and data on the road...

Instead, ended up with a $3.00 per month, 30 mins of text and talk via T Mobile where I already was with a wasted $40.00 plan. Anything above any beyond those 30 mins get billed at ten cents per minute.

And T Mobile's data coverage was no better than using free WiFi readily available at McDonald's, Panera, Starbucks, etc. In fact, even in midtown NYC it was hard to get a strong phone connection with T Mobile...so far, not at all enough Geo required shops to justify a data plan for now.

Website reviews are notoriously unreliable. People post reviews when they need to complain about something. You don't read the same amount of reviews from the everyday happy customer.

I posted a review for a new (as in new to the market, new formulation, etc.) hair product on Sally's website. The product has been out for a year last month. I went to their website and there were reviews that were 5 years old for this product.

I would never try to get along without my phone and data. I switched my service to Verizon, because I'm in the boonies a lot and they have the best coverage. Just recently I was about 50 miles away from home in the mountains, my truck decided to quit on the side of the road and my phone rescued me because I had coverage. I do limit my data to what I actually need, but with Verizon if I need more I can add it for $15. So far I haven't had any issues. I check my mail and my top 3 MSC's on the road and several times have picked up highly bonused shops along my route which significantly padded my bottom line to the tune of $75-$150 on top of an already profitable route.
Phone service and data are a tool that allow for more profit. Do they pay off every month? Maybe not, but when they do it more than makes up for it.

@MSNinja wrote:

how is using an app a dumb biz decision? Its a free app so no xtra incentive needede.

REQUIRING it and losing good shoppers is the poor decision.

@iShop123 wrote:

@MSNinja wrote:

how is using an app a dumb biz decision? Its a free app so no xtra incentive needede.

REQUIRING it and losing good shoppers is the poor decision.

They are not losing good shoppers. Good shoppers invest in their business based on research and development, identifying opportunities and growing.

I can not access my email or the MSC websites from work. I do have plenty of small spans of time to use my smartphone. The wireless there is limited and sporadic.

I identify and apply for over 50% of my preferred opportunities during my working hours. I see communications from MSCs, and respond in a timely manner, because of my smartphone. The little bit extra that my unlimited data plan adds to my phone bill is paid for several times over, in additional opportunities as well as preserving existing ones. Long term it helps me also come across, with the MSCs, as more prepared and reliable.

Two phones ago, I had a BlackBerry. I was using the public wifi in a bookstore, and someone tried to hack my phone. My BB gave me a pop up showing me what the hacker was doing, the path.

From that point on, I stay away from public wifi networks.

@isaiah58 wrote:

@iShop123 wrote:

@MSNinja wrote:

how is using an app a dumb biz decision? Its a free app so no xtra incentive needede.

REQUIRING it and losing good shoppers is the poor decision.

They are not losing good shoppers. Good shoppers invest in their business based on research and development, identifying opportunities and growing.

I can not access my email or the MSC websites from work. I do have plenty of small spans of time to use my smartphone. The wireless there is limited and sporadic.

I identify and apply for over 50% of my preferred opportunities during my working hours. I see communications from MSCs, and respond in a timely manner, because of my smartphone. The little bit extra that my unlimited data plan adds to my phone bill is paid for several times over, in additional opportunities as well as preserving existing ones. Long term it helps me also come across, with the MSCs, as more prepared and reliable.

I'd agree that most shoppers have smart phones. Quite honestly, the elementary school kids around here all have iPhones with data plans. It's the older people who don't have phones.

The prepaid cell phones like MetroPCS, have data plans as low as $30 a month (total including taxes) and uses T-Mobile's system. They also offer a free smart phone up to $100 in value. So a ZTE with 32G storage, 2G memory and 13 MP camera or the LG Stylo 2 Plus with 16 G storage can be had.

I know a lot about cell phones -- part of my day job What was said about MVNOs is right on the mark... They are basically smaller companies who wholesale access from the major carriers and provide their own data service and customer support... The easiest analogy is the local ISP - - you can still buy DSL from a local ISP, but the actual phone line is provided by the phone company, but the ISP provides their own servers to get you online, and when you need support you call them and not the phone company... EarthLink actually does the same thing with cable. My Internet comes in on a Comcast line but I have an EarthLink email, my DNS servers are from EarthLink, and I call EarthLink for support - - I also save about 20 a month because I have DirecTV for TV... EarthLink doesn't care if I have TV or not... Comcast charges a 'no TV fee' if I get my Internet direct from them. It's the same service.

As for Geoverify... It doesn't use much data at all... So you don't need a huge plan.

So three MVNOs I would recommend in your case:

1. Google Fi: If you like Android phones and van get your hands on a Nexus phone (doesn't have to be the newest... Any nexus phone up to 3 generations back will work), this is the absolute best for low data use. It's a flat 20 bucks a month for voice and text and 10 bucks per gig - - but you only pay for what you use. So if you use 100 megs, your data bill is $1 and the total is $21. They also do something absolutely no one else has done: they cut deals with T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular -- and your phone picks the tower with the best signal out of the 3 wherever you are.. It's like having 3 carriers in 1. It's seamless and you just notice you have more bars in more places.

2. MintSIM - - this is a sub brand of Ultra Mobile (also a good choice) except you can buy service in 3, 6 or 12 month chunks... And it's cheap... Right now the 3 month plan is half price... So like 18 a month for a gig of data. They seem to be a little cheaper than Ultra because you can buy in bulk and save. This runs in T-Mobile... Any T-Mobile phone, unlocked iPhone, and many unlocked Androids as well as all Nexus devices except for the AT&T Nexus 6 can run on it.

3. FreedomPop - - they have a 'free' plan with a limited number of minutes and 500 megs of data... This is rock bottom cheap (free)... But the downside with the free plan is it routes calls over VoIP and they aren't as clear... You can get an unlimited calling plan, a gig of data, and their "premium voice" which routes the calls over the regular voice network for like $18 a month. They use the Sprint network... Any Sprint phone, unlocked Sprint or Verizon compatible iPhone, or unlocked nexus phone can use it....

Hope that helps!

N

isaiah58,

Just beware that if you are using your employer's WiFi while on the job, they have the right to see what you are looking at no different than them looking at any web surfing on their desk top computer...

@Arch Stanton wrote:

isaiah58,

Just beware that if you are using your employer's WiFi while on the job, they have the right to see what you are looking at no different than them looking at any web surfing on their desk top computer...

Isaiah stated that he has an unlimited data plan so I doubt he is using his employers WiFi.