Beware of the insane narratives and long reporting...

I've recently widened the revenue base and decided to seek out new MSC's that I uncovered thru previous posts on this forum. Some have been great in terms of short reports with little or no narrative. Ipsos has been a good one. Maritz is another that has fair reporting. Then there's the ugly - service check! For an $18 buy and return shop that is already a time drainer, the reporting is an absolute monster. They ask that I answer yes/no questions then write out narratives to support the yes and no's, in addition to supporting facts; in other words -- REDUNDANCY! These things take up about 45 minutes to an hour, making those $18 fees seem useless. Then there is the editing and re-editing that is almost certain once the narrative natzi's view the report. I spend less time reporting a $200 bilingual bank shop than I do these electronic store buy and return low fee fillers. I've completed two of these shops and I am certain that I am done with service check. There editors are no better. If you don't like the long ridiculous reporting, service check is one to avoid. Maritz, ipsos, market force, and certain intellishop ones have more fair reporting that doesn't drain time.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Reports

I haven’t worked with Servicecheck for sometime but I always factor the reporting time. I’ve also had more issues with browsers than previously, thus spending more time on reports. I avoid retail shops because they tend to have more narratives.

@Lattegal wrote:

I avoid retail shops because they tend to have more narratives.

There are a few easy ones I like but same here. The time investment to pay ratio is almost always too bad to consider them.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Try Technology Store Shopper for $14 electronics store fillers. Also, BMA (through iSecretShop) for quick cell phone fillers, and Sinclaire Customer Metrics for quick bank fillers for $14.

When I shopped full time, I knew which MSCs had draining narratives and which ones had the easy ones. Now, you know what to stay away from, as well as which ones would be the best use of your time.

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

I only do the electronics store when the bonus gets high enough to justify the crazy narrative. I agree that the requirements and the editors are unreasonable.

I have never found Service Check too demanding in narratives. Besides that they are upfront about what they want, very receptive to inquires, and pay well. Try Coyle out for demanding narratives.

I'll take some of the silly, short narratives of Tech Shopper, Maritz, & et.al. for the cash, but find no non-monetary satisfaction in them.

Sentry requires a lot of narrative for the price. So do most of the hotel companies.

Ipsos, Maritz, RGB, RCMS have some shops with very little narrative.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

Royal Canadian Mounted Shoppers?

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Reality Check ;-)

One thing I've started to do with the long narratives is use my smart phone to complete the reports. I use the voice thing to narrate my answers so I don't have to type. 10x faster for me!

Be careful about that.... Quite a few MSC's specifically disallow this as voice recognition programs are notorious for poor grammar, spelling and punctuation.

@jsalli wrote:

One thing I've started to do with the long narratives is use my smart phone to complete the reports. I use the voice thing to narrate my answers so I don't have to type. 10x faster for me!

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

Jancyn also has retail shops with little narrative so easy reports. $15 unless bonused. Watch out for the audit shops that are sprinkled in there among the retail shops unless you prefer doing those. They only pay $2 more and IMHO not worth the extra work.

What's done is done. An egg cracked cannot be cured.
There are 3 kinds of lies. Lies, Damn lies, and statistics.

MFJ - Oh yes. I know one company specifically that does that which I'm signed up with. I'm fairly certain companies know the device you use to complete reports, so for that one, I voice the answers into my phone, send to my e-mail, then copy and paste into the document (and edit of course). It has saved me a ton of time, mainly those with extra long narratives like the apartment shops.

But yes - people should definitely check the rules for each MSC before doing the above!

The real issue is how much gets screwed up when you try to do this.

"It was ten the grease outside so I wore my thick grape ants. I just don't have a taller ants for cold weather."

Those kind of problems are a dead giveaway that you've used speech-to-text, and many MSCs prohibit it. It's a headache for the editor to decipher.

@jsalli wrote:

I'm fairly certain companies know the device you use to complete reports, so for that one, I voice the answers into my phone, send to my e-mail, then copy and paste into the document (and edit of course).

@jlovesnyc wrote:

I've recently widened the revenue base and decided to seek out new MSC's that I uncovered thru previous posts on this forum. Some have been great in terms of short reports with little or no narrative. Ipsos has been a good one. Maritz is another that has fair reporting. Then there's the ugly - service check! For an $18 buy and return shop that is already a time drainer, the reporting is an absolute monster. They ask that I answer yes/no questions then write out narratives to support the yes and no's, in addition to supporting facts; in other words -- REDUNDANCY! These things take up about 45 minutes to an hour, making those $18 fees seem useless. Then there is the editing and re-editing that is almost certain once the narrative natzi's view the report. I spend less time reporting a $200 bilingual bank shop than I do these electronic store buy and return low fee fillers. I've completed two of these shops and I am certain that I am done with service check. There editors are no better. If you don't like the long ridiculous reporting, service check is one to avoid. Maritz, ipsos, market force, and certain intellishop ones have more fair reporting that doesn't drain time.

I agree with you for the most part, except that there are a couple of their shops that I like, so I put up with her. I have to keep track of the "no's" and confirm each one. Otherwise, I know I'll get an email. Editors comments are ridiculous: "make sure you check your work..." No kidding.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Beware of the insane narratives and long reporting...

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine