What is the most you would lay out for a shop? What is the most you have lost?

We follow a model where we have to cover expenses and then hope we do a good enough job to get reimbursed.

At first, I was nervous taking a $300 dining shop. I could afford that, but would never spend that much on one dinner (maybe ten or more combined!). The job paid, but it was nerve wracking. All of those similar jobs have paid, thankfully.

I was listening to a podcast about a woman who took a 25k cruise. First of all, you need a 25k credit line. How many shoppers have that? Then, you will spend much of that time writing about it and not truly enjoying it. Imagine that doesn't get accepted? Now you are out 25k and did not enjoy the cruise. How could people take these risks?!?

The most I have lost was around $28. I did not take a picture that I needed. I filled out the entire report and took the other 8-10 pictures, but I missed one. The report took at least an hour. That was $28, not thousands that you could lose out on a cruise or a hotel.

How much of a risk will you take? What is the most you have lost?

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The only thing I have ever lost so far was my time. I have never had a shop that required an outlay of cash rejected (thank God and knock on some wood!).

The most I've ever put out was about 5 grand for 6 nights in Cayman. The most I've ever lost... Not much. It wasn't enough for me to remember. Probably a few bucks worth of gas and the associated fee.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Duplicate.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2019 09:51PM by JASFLALMT.

That was weird... ^^^

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Sometimes the forum does that. I have seen walesmaven's posts replicate 5 or more times in one thread and mine have duplicated more than once.

I took a cruise that was around $32K but they gifted us the tickets, and I only had to front the extra expenses.

Most for one resort shop was about $14k...but I have had over $20k in expenses on my card on many occasions.

I had a 1-night stay at a hotel go belly-up and was out $700 once. That was enough to scare me into making sure it never happened again.

I lost a part of the small fee due to the shop being closed, otherwise, never, but I have lost time like yesterday, so my huge day was brought down, but I try not to focus on that, those things happen in this industry and the % is low. I don't put out more than I could lose, so no Coyle hotels any longer.

Live consciously....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 12:21AM by Irene_L.A..

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I had a 1-night stay at a hotel go belly-up and was out $700 once. That was enough to scare me into making sure it never happened again.

Curious, what went wrong?

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

The most I put out was about $300 and the most I lost was when NSS went out of business. For me it was less than for many others but I got to eat good food so it wasn't too bad. I also lost under $20 once due to going too early and did a re shop so the fee for the second shop paid the $$ reimbursement lost on the first shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 01:48AM by sandyf.

Oh yeah, I forgot about NSS. I lost money on that but overall it was a gain since I got so many great bonuses for them before they went belly up. Thanks for the reminder!

Biggest loss: under $10
Most fronted in expenses: about $1500

This is the reason I don't do the fine dining shops. There would be no enjoyment, and I might get stuck with the bill regardless.

@Niner wrote:

Then, you will spend much of that time writing about it and not truly enjoying it. Imagine that doesn't get accepted? Now you are out 25k and did not enjoy the cruise. How could people take these risks?!?

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

@Hoju wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I had a 1-night stay at a hotel go belly-up and was out $700 once. That was enough to scare me into making sure it never happened again.

Curious, what went wrong?

It was one of the MSC's that require you to get 100% of names...even for employees with no nametag. Rather than being incredibly obvious and chase someone down for a name, I thought it would be acceptable to give the description of an employee who dropped an item off at my door and quickly walked away. The employee had a very bright artificial hair color, tattoos and piercings that I gave an unmistakable description of, but that was not sufficient for the MSC. Even when I offered to call the hotel and collect a name for said employee (since they would be easily identifiable) they refused to accept the shop.

Lesson learned; Don't accept an assignment for that company unless the hotel staff wear nametags + don't be afraid of outing yourself by asking names when your $$ is on the line.

Biggest loss - $1200 for a project for G3

Biggest charge on my Credit Card - approximately $35,000 for a piece of jewelry.

Total charges for the project were approximately $250,000 over a year or so.

Most on my credit card at one time from this was around $80,000.

They paid me by wire transfer. Sometimes, they paid me before I wrote the report. Such a strange concept.

Yes, I got a lot of cash back, airline miles and free points from that project.

Biggest Loss - about $50 (however, had I not won really big on a casino where you could keep your winnings - uncapped - this would have been much larger - over $5K - from when OA went belly up.

Most floated - around $18K for a single resort, though there have been times when I have been floating more than $30K for multiple projects (across multiple MSCs)

Follow your gut and only do what you are comfortable with. Hindsight is 20/20 and looking back, there were so many red flags and warnings about the final OA project I did - the owner actually filed bankruptcy while I was completing the shop. I actually sent an email cancelling about four days prior to going because of all of the red flags (forum posts about late payment, people in the company quitting, etc.) - the owner called me and literally swore on his mother's grave that I would get paid... nope, all along he knew he was filing bankruptcy.

I didn't loose anything in the Freeman Group train wreck, but I heard stories of some shoppers out over $10K.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 02:41AM by MickeyB.

The most that I have lost was the cost of a QSR meal, (several times) due to not following guidelines.

A scheduler called me to do a last minute shop at a hardware store. I was already scheduled for the same store a few days later. She said I just needed to do it a day early and there was no change in guidelines. She canceled my existing shop and scheduled me for hers.

I bought a hose. It turns out, it was a completely different set of guidelines: a different time range, a different department. The shop was rejected.

A different scheduler called me in desperate need to fill a shop, the one that I canceled. She asked me to name my price. The price I named was the exact cost of the hose I bought.

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

Most I've put out is $500 for a jacket ordered online. The shop was targeting the financing of the jacket. I figured worst case I could return it if the shop fell through, but it wasn't a problem. I of course got to keep the jacket (reimbursed) and got a nice fee to boot.
Most I've lost is a few dollars in gas (well, I got to keep the gas, so didn't lose that much). I didn't take an approved photo, even though it was literally impossible to do except with a drone.
I screwed up a dining shop, but got paid for it anyway. I forgot to take a picture of the desert before I started eating it. Thankfully they accepted a half-eaten cake picture haha. That would have cost me $120.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 02:14PM by quovatis.

Mine are a pittance compared to many of you pros. $1000 for a men's clothing item, but once the in-store evaluation of the SA was completed, the instructions were to head over to the Security Dept and turn in the purchase and get the charge reversed. No real floating of money. No worries of being stuck. And, I can't even remember any losses that amounted to anything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 05:06PM by Monk-N-Nut.

@quovatis wrote:

Most I've put out is $500 for a jacket ordered online. The shop was targeting the financing of the jacket. I figured worst case I could return it if the shop fell through, but it wasn't a problem. I of course got to keep the jacket (reimbursed) and got a nice fee to boot.
Most I've lost is a few dollars in gas (well, I got to keep the gas, so didn't lose that much). I didn't take an approved photo, even though it was literally impossible to do except with a drone.
I screwed up a dining shop, but got paid for it anyway. I forgot to take a picture of the desert before I started eating it. Thankfully they accepted a half-eaten cake picture haha. That would have cost me $120.

When I ate a bite of the dessert without the pic I realized it and ordered a second dessert exactly the same. Fortunately I had ordered one of the cheaper desserts on the menu. It was really good but unfortunately calorific. Saved the day and my reimbursement check.

Losses: $0 (knock on wood)

Highest outlay: around $10K for a 9 day visit to 2 different properties in the Caribbean during Christmas season.

All of these losses are really scarely. I am currently paying around 850.00 a month in interest charges on credit cards and a loan(high medical bills)and I do not sleep well at night. With that being said, the total cost of my losses over mystery shopping was around $200.00 in the past 17 years mostly because I was not paid for completed shops.

$850 in interest? I've never paid credit card interest, so this is an area I don't know much about. What kind of balance would create $850 in interest?

@Niner wrote:

$850 in interest? I've never paid credit card interest, so this is an area I don't know much about. What kind of balance would create $850 in interest?

It shocked me too, but I think that it is credit card interest and a loan for a medical expense, not just the credit cards.

I won't lay out more then $200 but even then the end shop fee must be worthwhile.
Most I've lost on a rejected shop: $3.

I just opened my monthly credit card bill and the stuffer said the interest rate is 29.9%. At that rate a debt of around $31,000 would be $800 a month assuming no penalties. The rates are not as bad as at the Cash advance places but still it would be pretty easy for someone to rack up $31,000 in debt. I happen to have excellent credit. I imagine some people are paying an even higher interest rate.

Why do you have a card with such outrageous interest? 29.9% is the highest I've ever heard for a credit card. I have a rewards card with only 9%. Assuming it is a card with great rewards, with your excellent credit it would just take a phone call to get it lowered.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2019 04:20AM by LisaSTL.

I have never paid interest so I don't worry about it. It probably goes up and down and the only reason I saw that was because I opened the envelope right before reading the post and the slip of paper telling of a new interest rate fluttered out. Perhaps this is the cash advance rate. I notice those are higher. Not even worth it to me to keep track and call them every time they hike it.

Where have you been???

And thanks for the reminder to do my balance transfer.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Why do you have a card with such outrageous interest? 29.9% is the highest I've ever heard for a credit card. I have a rewards card with only 9%. Assuming it is a card with great rewards, with your excellent credit it would just take a phone call to get it lowered.

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

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What is the most you would lay out for a shop? What is the most you have lost?

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