I won't mention name of MSC but I accepted a shop and after reading the mult page guidelines asking for a picture of every section of the store along with problems I find, I have rejected their 'audit' shop. These jokers were offering $18 for what could have been 100+ photos. To boot, they required a purchase with a purchase reimbursement of $1. You can't buy a pack of gum for $1. Here's the funny part, they want you taking all sorts of pics including the cash desk, but they mention that they don't want you to be seen taking photos. The whole industry seems to be out of whack right now.

Sometimes the clients get crazy and will not listen to the MSC about what to expect for what they are willing to pay. And, that drives the schedulers as crazy as it drives us!

I have had the same problem. I accepted a shop and only had access to the guidelines once that was done. I read them and said no way, then declined the job. A bit shady of the MSC not to provide full details before signing up, in my case.

But some shopper will probably take the shop at the stated price. For whatever reason it may work for them.

Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.

On site, I did everything I could to insist that my wife "good" with the house, that she had seen it online and I had the "go-ahead" if I liked it (which, of course, I did.) The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc." I did what I could without blowing my cover, but the client did not get his desired price negotiation.

Apparently the MSC had had the same discussion with the client about the scenario and had warned the client that this was likely to happen, but the client knew what s/he wanted. So... I got paid and the MSC got to have another discussion with the client about the scenario.

It's frustrating, but not uncommon, for a client to either not truly understand the customer-interface aspect of their own business or to assign folks to create contracts with mystery shopping companies who don't. It's also common for clients not to understand what is and is not reasonable for a mystery shopper to do, especially without blowing their cover.

My favorite will always be the scenario for the one shop I have had rejected: It was a parking shop where I needed to get a photograph of all valets that helped me and the cashier. Plus, I needed to get the cashier to personally sign my receipt.

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

I agree!! It seems as if some clients want to take the mystery out of mystery shopping. They almost expect you to be ninjas lol.. Take a picture of the cashier, front desk, every aisle and menu board ... WITHOUT being seen! Its literally impossible at times. There are shops I literally do NOT take anymore because of the crazy pictures they require you to take.

I took one to check it out. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping the store, but oohhh the shop was ridiculous. I took so many photos and then the thumbnails were too small to see what was to be uploaded. After trying to complete it....the whole form was hokey...I begged off and asked to be removed from the shop. Scheduler emailed asking me to complete it by uploading photos to computer. Okay, I spent the extra time(ugh) to do that (a lot of back and forth through form and photos) and submitted it, but have my doubts if it will be accepted. Glad I'm not the only one who found the shop to be ridiculous. Won't do another unless fee is doubled and then maybe not.

However, the store had great looking baked goods, fruits, veggies and meat. I got a package of Veal Cutlets for @ $5 total. In my regular store they are @$13.99 per pound. Prices were great. So, if I'm ever back in that area, I found a great new store to shop on my own. It was clean and well kept and employees were friendly and helpful. It was one of the foreign grocery stores and the shopping form reflected that as well...

@MFJohnston wrote:

Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

ughhh! Getting called out like this is my nightmare. I guess you could have said, "I don't want my car to get damaged on the street" or whatever. Sometimes I just play like the most naive person I know and it seems to work.

I guess your wife and family could be living elsewhere? You were working in Europe and she's not a US citizen yet so you came to re-establish residency while everything gets processed.

That is kind of an elaborate story. Might as well put her in a coma.

I specifically had to say that my wife and I both lived in a specific area of town - about thirty minutes away. Really, the scenario was set up to be a bit of a trap.

@1cent wrote:

I guess your wife and family could be living elsewhere? You were working in Europe and she's not a US citizen yet so you came to re-establish residency while everything gets processed.

That is kind of an elaborate story. Might as well put her in a coma.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I specifically had to say that my wife and I both lived in a specific area of town - about thirty minutes away. Really, the scenario was set up to be a bit of a trap.

@1cent wrote:

I guess your wife and family could be living elsewhere? You were working in Europe and she's not a US citizen yet so you came to re-establish residency while everything gets processed.

That is kind of an elaborate story. Might as well put her in a coma.

Now that we are in hindsight, what about a surprise? If you were permitted to elaborate on the given story, you might say that you are going to give this house to your wife as a gift. She has worked so hard putting you through whatever big bucks/big salary school, and now she is taking great care of the kids. The ladies would like her to join them in their monthly entertaining rotations, and the place you have now is too small. The least you can do now is give her something big and unexpected that will knock her socks off. And, of course, the ladies will be duly impressed and make her the next president of something or other.

Are you familiar with that part of town? What if the hook (to test the salesperson) is related to the specific area of town?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2019 06:07PM by Shop-et-al.

I took a grocery store once that paid 13 plus a 5 dollar purchase. I got it bonused really well (I thought), basically taking my total comp to almost $40, after I was done I walked out knowing it was not worth it even for that. They called me back the next month to do it again, and I honestly explained to them that it wasn't worth it for me with an explanation of why, and the scheduler said they knew, I was not the only one to complain, and they had relayed it to the client already (before my call happened). Basically, clients be crazy yo! Sometimes, it's not the MSC, or the scheduler, and it was nice to have a very sane, and calm conversation where we could both admit that to each other.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2019 06:13PM by oteixeira.

I discretely took pictures at a shop. When I got home and looked at the pics, an employee was discretely giving me the finger.

MFJ,
Several observations:
Wearing a wedding ring, a solo shopper may well be recently widowed and needing a home for self and x number of children.
Or, I just got off a plane from England. Spouse stayed behind to sell house there; I am tasked with buying house in US to be ready when spouse arrives in x weeks. . We did it the opposite way when we moved to England for spouse's job; so this time it is my turn to pick the house and spouses turn to sell that house.

Real estate agents are RIGOROUSLY trained not to try to close unless all decision makers are present. That client did everyone a dis-service, including themselves.

BTW, being obviously of a "grandmotherly" age, I often shop 4-6 bedroom homes because I am raising my grandchildren. (My daughter is, of course, Deployed" or is spending 9 months a year for the next 3 years at a research station in Antarctica. When she is here for 3 months at a time she will want a large room with private bath.) Oh, and does the builder offer a model with a nanny suite?

(I am such a ham!)

I did a mall pizza shop about three years ago that required a pic of the display cabinet with no customers blocking in front of it so you could easily see everything. The 1st problem was a long line of people that was never ending passing in front of that food display area. 2nd when I snapped a pic from far away I was reprimanded loudly and strictly about their no pics corporate policy. I never did that shop again but it still requires that pic despite their corporate policy and the shop often goes begging at the end of the month.

You are not nuts. I would like to contact some of the companies that are to be shopped and ask them if they know how much we are being offered.

Unfortunately, most of the MSCs do not place a value on our service. There are too many people who do it as a hobby or whatever, and who do not value themselves and are willing to work for almost nothing. They do not help our cause, at all. I can not believe that such people are good mystery shoppers.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2019 06:59PM by jameschicago.

I totally agree that there were several tweaks that would have solved the issue for this shop. The client was just *very* specific on the role I had to play and it caused them from not getting all the information they wanted. I typically play a divorced father looking for space that will allow me to better host my kids when I have custody.

@walesmaven wrote:

MFJ,
Several observations:
Wearing a wedding ring, a solo shopper may well be recently widowed and needing a home for self and x number of children.
Or, I just got off a plane from England. Spouse stayed behind to sell house there; I am tasked with buying house in US to be ready when spouse arrives in x weeks. . We did it the opposite way when we moved to England for spouse's job; so this time it is my turn to pick the house and spouses turn to sell that house.

Real estate agents are RIGOROUSLY trained not to try to close unless all decision makers are present. That client did everyone a dis-service, including themselves.

(I am such a ham!)

@MFJohnston wrote:

Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.

On site, I did everything I could to insist that my wife "good" with the house, that she had seen it online and I had the "go-ahead" if I liked it (which, of course, I did.) The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc." I did what I could without blowing my cover, but the client did not get his desired price negotiation.

Apparently the MSC had had the same discussion with the client about the scenario and had warned the client that this was likely to happen, but the client knew what s/he wanted. So... I got paid and the MSC got to have another discussion with the client about the scenario.

It's frustrating, but not uncommon, for a client to either not truly understand the customer-interface aspect of their own business or to assign folks to create contracts with mystery shopping companies who don't. It's also common for clients not to understand what is and is not reasonable for a mystery shopper to do, especially without blowing their cover.

My favorite will always be the scenario for the one shop I have had rejected: It was a parking shop where I needed to get a photograph of all valets that helped me and the cashier. Plus, I needed to get the cashier to personally sign my receipt.

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

If you can believe it, we had a friend who bought a home without even asking his wife. Needless to say, they are getting a divorce, years later.....

@MFJohnston wrote:

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

You could say" Every time that I have parked on the street my car was hit by another vehicle."

@walesmaven wrote:

Sometimes the clients get crazy and will not listen to the MSC about what to expect for what they are willing to pay. And, that drives the schedulers as crazy as it drives us!

Sometimes too, an MSC is too hungry for revenue to explain the facts-of-life to the client.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.

Did the MSC dictate that your spouse had to be of opposite-sex? Regardless, in similar situations, I've said that my spouse is stationed overseas and due to return but we have to act now...

@MFJohnston wrote:

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

I am pissed at my employer. Screw them. I would rather put it on my expense account than get it for free. Just change meeting a friend to meeting someone.

That would end up being way less than minimum wage. I hope no one takes it!

@MFJohnston wrote:

Recently, I did a new home shop where the client demanded that I go alone, as a married guy with a young family. I had a brief exchanged with the scheduler, hoping I could be divorced, as, barring extenuating circumstances, no married guy in his right mind would buy a house without bringing his wife. I expressed concern that the salesperson would not take me seriously as somebody ready to make a purchase on the spot. Of course, the client's wishes prevailed.

On site, I did everything I could to insist that my wife "good" with the house, that she had seen it online and I had the "go-ahead" if I liked it (which, of course, I did.) The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc." I did what I could without blowing my cover, but the client did not get his desired price negotiation.

Apparently the MSC had had the same discussion with the client about the scenario and had warned the client that this was likely to happen, but the client knew what s/he wanted. So... I got paid and the MSC got to have another discussion with the client about the scenario.

It's frustrating, but not uncommon, for a client to either not truly understand the customer-interface aspect of their own business or to assign folks to create contracts with mystery shopping companies who don't. It's also common for clients not to understand what is and is not reasonable for a mystery shopper to do, especially without blowing their cover.

My favorite will always be the scenario for the one shop I have had rejected: It was a parking shop where I needed to get a photograph of all valets that helped me and the cashier. Plus, I needed to get the cashier to personally sign my receipt.

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

Years ago my Dad had the great idea to build a house as a surprise for my Mom. It took many separate conversations with my sister and I before he abandoned that idea. I'm still not sure that he ever understood what a truly bad idea that really was.

@Rousseau
You missed the point that I have stated repeatedly: In the new home scenario I was handed, I was told that my wife lived with me in the next town.

Can I ask why it wasn't worth it being $40? I'm pretty sure I have completed many of these stores.

@oteixeira wrote:

I took a grocery store once that paid 13 plus a 5 dollar purchase. I got it bonused really well (I thought), basically taking my total comp to almost $40, after I was done I walked out knowing it was not worth it even for that. They called me back the next month to do it again, and I honestly explained to them that it wasn't worth it for me with an explanation of why, and the scheduler said they knew, I was not the only one to complain, and they had relayed it to the client already (before my call happened). Basically, clients be crazy yo! Sometimes, it's not the MSC, or the scheduler, and it was nice to have a very sane, and calm conversation where we could both admit that to each other.

Perhaps the point of the shop is to make sure the agent discourages proceeding without the wife?

@MFJohnston wrote:

The salesperson's close was, "Come back with your wife so that she can decide of she likes the kitchen, etc."

"My Wife's in prison. We need a place when she gets out next month. My mom has been trying to get me out of the basement anyway."

@sueac101 wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

Runner up: A valet parking shop where there was free street parking right next to the valet entrance and for which the only folks who used the valet were hotel guests and mystery shoppers. The exchange went something like this..
Valet: "Good morning. Are you checking in?"
Me: "No, I'm here to visit a friend."
Valet: "Oh, you know that you can park for free right here." (indicates free parking spot on the street, 15 feet away.)
Me: "No, but thank you. This is fine. I'm here already."
Valet: "You must be our secret shopper then? The only people who pay for valet are either hotel guests and mystery shoppers."

You could say" Every time that I have parked on the street my car was hit by another vehicle."

This sounds like a parking job I did once. I got to the valet and he told me that they were going home early that day and said I should park next door in the free city lot instead.The lot was supposed to stay open for a few more hours. I gave the same response that I was there already and did not want to drive out and move my car. He did not insist or call me a mystery shopper but he asked me to come back to the valet stand so he could show me the secret buttons I had to push in order to open the gate on the way out. There were still about 10 cars still in the lot when I left.

@dreemin wrote:

Can I ask why it wasn't worth it being $40? I'm pretty sure I have completed many of these stores.

@oteixeira wrote:

I took a grocery store once that paid 13 plus a 5 dollar purchase. I got it bonused really well (I thought), basically taking my total comp to almost $40, after I was done I walked out knowing it was not worth it even for that. They called me back the next month to do it again, and I honestly explained to them that it wasn't worth it for me with an explanation of why, and the scheduler said they knew, I was not the only one to complain, and they had relayed it to the client already (before my call happened). Basically, clients be crazy yo! Sometimes, it's not the MSC, or the scheduler, and it was nice to have a very sane, and calm conversation where we could both admit that to each other.

@dreemin
I guess I should say that "for me" it is not worth it. My reasoning is that you are required to make purchases at two meat/prepared meat areas, and in the local stores near me those purchases are large, since they don't allow you to get one of any item in the prepared meat area. Then you have to review and report on 9 different stations in the store, and every person you walk near, etc. etc. There is far more work then the other local grocery stores, and you spend most of what you earn at the two meat areas, so that is my reasoning. I do most every other grocery in the area, and all of them are much less complex and I take them for less then half of that money happily.

All that said, I am glad the shops work for you, and honestly I wish you lived near me, since they sit on the board every single month around here and are heavily bonused. You would have as many as you wanted. Now, I do enjoy the food pick up service shop at the same chain, and try to do them when I see them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2019 12:47PM by oteixeira.

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