Really? What about all the newbies who have been advised by the respected pros here not to despise humble beginnings? They are advised to complete the lesser or lower shops in order to establish their name, their shopper ratings, and their skills for other (bigger/badder/bonused/advanced) assignments. Some shoppers had to start somewhere-- such as with the lower paid assignments. Over time, they worked their way up to routes, bonuses, and/or shops that are never shown on the boards.

@Niner: If these are the same shops that I completed recently, the fee has been lowered at least once. Was the fee at one time more than $7 and then did it decrease to $7 before reaching this new $5 amount? I think the reimbursement and the work are the same at all price points. Great example of a lowered shop fee for a known shop!

@Niner wrote:

Intellishop in genersl pays very low. Now it's $5 pay and $2.50 reimbursement for a convenience shop/gas station.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Really? What about all the newbies who have been advised by the respected pros here not to despise humble beginnings? They are advised to complete the lesser or lower shops in order to establish their name, their shopper ratings, and their skills for other (bigger/badder/bonused/advanced) assignments. Some shoppers had to start somewhere-- such as with the lower paid assignments. Over time, they worked their way up to routes, bonuses, and/or shops that are never shown on the boards.

Then they should expect a much lower quality report.

@johnb974 wrote:

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Really? What about all the newbies who have been advised by the respected pros here not to despise humble beginnings? They are advised to complete the lesser or lower shops in order to establish their name, their shopper ratings, and their skills for other (bigger/badder/bonused/advanced) assignments. Some shoppers had to start somewhere-- such as with the lower paid assignments. Over time, they worked their way up to routes, bonuses, and/or shops that are never shown on the boards.

Then they should expect a much lower quality report.

Noooo...... they should reasonably expect that shoppers with integrity will submit a report that accurately reflects conditions as they were at the time of the shop. And, shoppers with savvy probably know that they might have to complete a few more humble shops before they are shown other, "better" ones.

@johnb974 wrote:

The lower the pay, the less careful people will be with the reports. Lower the pay and you get a bare minimum report.

That perspective is not mine at all nor is it the perspective of many on the forum. If I take a shop for little pay for whatever reason I do the same professional job that I do on a high paying shop. If I find, after doing it, it is not worth the money paid I will not do it again. By the way, whether the pay is okay is a very relative amount. It means something different for different people.
And as for fun in my previous post about fun, I was talking about those who do this purely for fun. So far those who have mentioned they enjoy the jobs have also mentioned the fee/reimbursement aspect as well.

If they're lower lowering the pay, expecting the newbies to take them, instead of someone with experience, they will get a much lower quality report. I put in more effort into shops that pay better. I don't give my best work for a cheap shop.

Writing a non acceptable report says I will not take the job especially for the low fee....I have my standards for all work I do, and do not work for pennies, normal has gotten lower than it should be...example: Ipsos for whom I worked (notice past tense), has gone down from 17.00 a job a few months ago, to 11.00, not doing them for anything less than I got on my last job (17/00). Intellishop (I believe) has two paint jobs with different places for (tighten your seat belts) $22.00, however it becomes 11.00 for one, another trick and that job is not easy, having to get the target. So it goes, the point is many new shoppers take these jobs and bring the entire industry down.
Working so much less, restaurants look better everyday.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Writing a non acceptable report says I will not take the job especially for the low fee....I have my standards for all work I do, and do not work for pennies, normal has gotten lower than it should be...example: Ipsos for whom I worked (notice past tense), has gone down from 17.00 a job a few months ago, to 11.00, not doing them for anything less than I got on my last job (17/00). Intellishop (I believe) has two paint jobs with different places for (tighten your seat belts) $22.00, however it becomes 11.00 for one, another trick and that job is not easy, having to get the target. So it goes, the point is many new shoppers take these jobs and bring the entire industry down.
Working so much less, restaurants look better everyday.

Experience shoppers are being pushed out for and replaced with inexperienced shoppers. I assume they want low quality reports, since their target shoppers are inexperienced.

There is a big turnover in mystery shoppers. This is not the kind of job most people are looking for. When they come across it some will take it and find it works well for them but most I would bet see gold and silver in them thar shopping hills. Once they find out there is work involved they will find another source of income. I do not know what the stats are but I would bet there is a much higher turnover rate in this field than in most. So there is a constant influx of inexperienced shoppers who start out with those jobs. Yes, higher pay would make the turnover rate lower but evidently this works for the msc in the end.
I often wondered why some of the package delivery services would just drop off a box, sometimes with an expensive item inside, that they will reimburse for if it is stolen off a porch. (some will do that). Then I figured out the reimbursement amts they spend are probably less than the cost in time for the employees to ring ten thousand door bells a day. Same for the airports who got rid of people checking your baggage tags to make sure you were not walking off with someones bag. None of these approaches make sense to me but financially evidently it does to the companies doing so. So too with low paying ms jobs. The cost savings of new shoppers available to take the low paying shops must outweigh the cost of re doing some shops with bad reports.

SandyF...does this mean, experienced shoppers as a whole are not important and can/should be dropped.
What then do new shoppers have to look forward to, honing in their skills, only to be kicked out when someone else comes alone....fickle business sense, bad reports over and over, newbies not detail oriented or on time, or following instructions, at least until they learn the ropes and want more money when they smarten up, brings this business to a full stop. Exception would be Coyle who has the prime clients, but are impossible to do for the pay...just too much work, yet there are many doing them. I see companies not able to survive due to poor quality reports. Clients won't accept this.
p.s. glad I'm retired, it was a good run while it lasted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2019 07:56PM by Irene_L.A..

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

SandyF...does this mean, experienced shoppers as a whole are not important and can/should be dropped.
What then do new shoppers have to look forward to, honing in their skills, only to be kicked out when someone else comes alone....fickle business sense, bad reports over and over, newbies not detail oriented or on time, or following instructions, at least until they learn the ropes and want more money when they smarten up, brings this business to a full stop. Exception would be Coyle who has the prime clients, but are impossible to do for the pay...just too much work, yet there are many doing them. I see companies not able to survive due to poor quality reports. Clients won't accept this.
p.s. glad I'm retired, it was a good run while it lasted.

And Irene this quote is from John### and not from me...I never said this and do not believe it. I am constantly targeted for low paying jobs. The company does not care who takes them but would probably prefer the better shoppers. John#### said, "Experience shoppers are being pushed out for and replaced with inexperienced shoppers. I assume they want low quality reports, since their target shoppers are inexperienced."

Irene I am not suggesting that good shoppers are kicked out. The turnover is not due solely to shoppers getting fired or kicked out but due to new shoppers firing themselves for getting into something that does not fit for them. And some of them are good shoppers some are bad shoppers. The bad shoppers will probably get kicked out,yes, if they stick around long enough. One by one if they are not doing the job correctly the msc will let them go, even the most lenient of companies will probably not put up with a shopper who messes up constantly. And some good shoppers who have been around for a while will leave for other reasons so new people will come to fill all those spots. I never said experienced shoppers are not important. I am experienced and still can choose low paying or better paying shops and so are you.
As far as new shoppers go, yes I think there is a learning curve for some of the more detailed jobs and for those people who cannot or will not pay attention but I do not remember any of the entry level jobs being hard to do if one knows how to read and actually does read the guidelines and pay attention or ask questions if they are not sure. I only remembered being nervous the first few jobs...and still sometimes with a more difficult new job wondering if I will miss something. I have never had an issue following instructions. I bet there are thousands out there who could easily do a shop for the first time with no problems at all. I did not get any beginning shops ever kicked back or scored low and I would bet a lot of us experienced people also rarely had these sorts of shop issues. Even a great shopper once in a while will mess up. It is no different than any business. If you take a job that starts at 8 AM and come to work at 8:30 every morning it will not take long before your new boss will do something about that. That does not mean they get rid of the good and experienced people so they can hire the person who comes in late and spends the day on personal phone calls. And to top it all off in this industry it is not geared to raises. In other industries if you are there for a while you might get a raise in income for the same exact job so some companies might look for ways to get rid of some high earners in the same job. In this industry the $3 job will still pay $3 if someone who is around 20 years accepts it. You have to change your job duties such as specializing in re doing failed jobs or picking up last minute jobs or doing a route to the middle of nowhere or taking more difficult assignments if you want to give yourself a raise. The msc is probably not going to do it for you. So there is no reason to get rid of the good people just because they have experience. They still will get the same $3 rate as the new people.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2019 08:22PM by sandyf.

But the 3.00 rate doesn't work for an experienced shopper, that's the point.

Something to think about, when the jobs have to be done over again, because of a newbie doing it wrong, we'll get the job at a higher pay. I worked in aerospace for 30 years. One time we were told one of our products would be sent to Mexico to be built. Those of us on the production floor warned upper management not to do this. The company wanted to cut cost. I told my manager, "You tell those managers upstairs to go ahead and send the parts to Mexico. I'll be here to rework the parts making time and a half in over time" I made a ton of money repairing the parts they sent to Mexico.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

But the 3.00 rate doesn't work for an experienced shopper, that's the point.

But the point is you have a choice to take it or wait for a better fee. A $3 rate does not work for a brand new first time shopper either in my view. For some it will work when new or when experienced. That is why they have them. You will not be kicked out for not taking the $3 jobs. But for someone who is purposely sloppy because they feel the pay is low they are at risk of not getting paid at all and getting kicked out no matter how experienced they are. Those people need to be careful about how they fill out even the simplest of shops. Just clicking what you think they want to hear, observing for 0 minutes instead of 10 minutes, not going at all and picking up a receipt in the parking lot and any other short cuts used for cheapo pay jobs is putting lots of people at risk. The shopper and the observed person who was not observed and the mystery shop company's contract are all at risk..of course only if you are caught.
So Irene I do not think you will be replaced by a newbie. You might be slowed down if a few newbies who do a good job come to your area and you might yourself decide it is not worth it anymore but if you want the better jobs they will be there for you if you stay up all night to grab them from the west coast when they are published on east coast times.

The problem is not me being replaced by a newbie, the problem is I don't want to deal with it, which puts me in a situation of giving it up, but there is no other choice, I'm not fighting with the companies that dare to offer 3.00, even If I get 10.00, it's still not enough at this point......along with the age demographics, like the pizza place wanting 45 yrs., but that's a natural problem, and that's o.k....#getting lazy and deserving it. Time to call it quits.

Sorry to see you go Irene. If you ever get tired of paying for lunch and playing cards or whatever, come on back. There will be some job waiting for you. Who knows ..perhaps a lucrative one just around the corner.
If it does not work for you anymore this is a great time to leave but we will miss you. Sandy.
Now I am going to go to something more lucrative financially than writing posts for free. I am off for free tacos to celebrate my newly refurbished local El Torito. And I am sure those tacos will be prepared expertly even though they are free today.

Recently, one company did not pay me as they usually do for the distance that I had to travel to perform their work. Mmm? I can never make up the monetary difference with other shops. I do not have time for that! However, they are paying me very well to go to yon upcoming assignment. This helps. After the near apoplexy about the missed money had subsided, I wondered about their situation. Did they have a newbie doing the pay? If so, they might not have reached the lesson about how costly and time-consuming it is for some of us to reach their locations. The very next sentence in the lesson should say something like, 'we pay them for their time and travel. These are rural locations. Weather and road work slow them down, they do not have infinite time, and they have to leave from one job to do this and-- somehow-- make it back awake and in one piece to do that job the next day'.

So while we are thinking about MSC and/or client situations: does anyone know about the situations? Are any of them having difficulty with the costs of their programs? Is it a general bean-counter decision to offer less and less for shop fees? What.

p.s. Irene never retires. She just takes a little time off for other things and then shops again!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2019 11:12PM by Shop-et-al.

@sandyf wrote:

Sorry to see you go Irene. If you ever get tired of paying for lunch and playing cards or whatever, come on back. There will be some job waiting for you. Who knows ..perhaps a lucrative one just around the corner.
If it does not work for you anymore this is a great time to leave but we will miss you. Sandy.
Now I am going to go to something more lucrative financially than writing posts for free. I am off for free tacos to celebrate my newly refurbished local El Torito. And I am sure those tacos will be prepared expertly even though they are free today.

I am still doing restaurants in my town and the groceries, just stopping there....free tacos at El Torito, we have one, not a shop right.....

I no longer do restaurants with no fee, hence, no ACL, not even with a whopping bonus of $5. $5 is a bonus? In 2019? I do out of pocket in many of their shops before. Schedulers kept sending emails with, "Can you help? I need this done today." Help? Really? I don't do work for charity, not this type anyway? I do volunteer work for worthy causes, though.

I am can FAR FAR more on online surveys than shops. And I have been shopping for years, trends change, not worth the gas and time when a survey is right at my computer.

@ShopperFun99 wrote:

I no longer do restaurants with no fee, hence, no ACL, not even with a whopping bonus of $5. $5 is a bonus? In 2019? I do out of pocket in many of their shops before. Schedulers kept sending emails with, "Can you help? I need this done today." Help? Really? I don't do work for charity, not this type anyway? I do volunteer work for worthy causes, though.

I needed dinner one night in San Francisco. There was a shop 10 yards from my hotel. I would have done it for less than reimbursement only, but I got a full reimbursement and a small fee. Took 15 minutes to write-up. No questions. Sailed right through editing.

There's a lot to be said for easy self-assign shops.

@CANADAMOMMY I used to do online surveys too but those usually only paid 0.50 to $1.00 per survey. Those weren't worth the time .. at least with mystery shopping you're getting a little more unless you're talking about a different type of survey.

I noticed that a fried chicken client moved from Coyle (with a fee) to ACL, where it is reimursement-only. I really like that place, but I won't take that on principle.

@hotsauce1 wrote:

I noticed that a fried chicken client moved from Coyle (with a fee) to ACL, where it is reimursement-only. I really like that place, but I won't take that on principle.

Yes, a casual dining/bar that I really like moved a couple months ago from Customer Impact with a fee and reimbursement to ACL with reimbursement only. ACL has made the report longer and added the requirement for multiple photos and a recorded phone call. I liked it there but it wasn't one of my real favorites. I wasn't tempted to do it the last 2 months. Not sure whether I will do it for ACL or not.

I am talking several hundred dollar surveys. You do the littles to get the bigs...

@Kristylynnr wrote:

@CANADAMOMMY I used to do online surveys too but those usually only paid 0.50 to $1.00 per survey. Those weren't worth the time .. at least with mystery shopping you're getting a little more unless you're talking about a different type of survey.

It is good to see participation in this discussion by so many folks.

Just returned from my 14$ grocery and prices on food have increased, which means your not getting as much for your money...will the MSC adjust fee's to offset this (I think not), hoping for a yes. I ended up spending much more than normal...not worth the work, thanks Trump, these tariffs are sending us to the poor house. The .99 store is now uping many items to 2.99, so, shoppers need a raise.

Removed

Hadn't you heard, no how could you...CA avocados had some disease and not being sold, and not only talking about food, although food has risen, if you grocery shop, you'll see. We here in CA get many food items from Mexico. Being Jewish, I have relatives living and wealthy in Mexico City, there are 500,000 Jewish folks living and working there, having fled from holocaust but get it right as far as what I'm writing. Avocados are the one thing that haven't gone up, just our local supply not available, funny, how you jump on me.I 'm not for criminals coming in, nothing I mentioned was about that, just prices.
Don't put words on my mouth Tweety bird, oh forgot you and your name.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2019 10:38PM by Irene_L.A..

Some observations, before this goes sideways:

1. Walmart, Target, and Dollar General have all announced that they are raising prices as a result of the tariffs that have been put on all Chinese imports. This is not a pro- or anti- Trump statement. It is a fact: So, it is also not going to be surprising if other retailers raise prices - we get a LOT of goods from China. If Irene's grocery bill has gone up, it is a reasonable presumption that the tariffs are at least a part of the cause.

2. Yes, *if* the tariffs on Mexico go into effect next week, prices will go up more. This has not happened yet. I believe there is a June 10 date on such a move.

3. Our country gets a tremendous amount of produce from Mexico - and other Latin American countries. The quality of that produce is good and does pass enough inspections that we can be comfortable eating it. The Importing of produce from these nations allows us to have access to a wider variety of healthy foods year-round as they have very different growing seasons that we do. **I** think this is a good thing.

4. I have lived among many Mexican folks throughout my adult life -some here legally, some not. As a whole, they are a wonderful, hard-working, honest people. They are no more prone to crime than the average white U.S. citizen. Blanket statements that paint them as criminals are, to be very generous, unfortunate. No, this is not meant as a stance on immigration in any shape or form. I'm simply pointing out that we cross a line when we start labeling groups, any group, as "criminal."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2019 11:14PM by MFJohnston.