Lowe’s Home Improvement

Oh and they want you to time your cashier interactions to the second.

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@Chilo wrote:

[They are time consuming because you have to go to two different departments plus make a purchase and then return 20 minutes later. ....You have to record everything from the moment you enter the store (timing everything) and what was said,etc. The bright side is you get paid within two weeks.

I totally agree with this. Way too time consuming for the pay, which is $20 here. It is four tasks in one, as you have to wait to talk to reps in two departments. But also, then you have to do a purchase/return AND there is some special scenario question you have to ask, at help desk or clerk to see how they react. LOTS of timing, LOTS of data entry. These are awful.

@cjbstar wrote:

I consider any purchase and return shop as two shops. Unless the price and bonus reflect that I stay away from them.

Count this as FIVE shops then.
1. Dept 1 item with question for associate
2. Dept 2 item with question for associate
3. Purchase with very detailed timing.
4. Scenario question for clerk or help desk
5. Return at least 20 min later.

Not profitable at all. I did one, as they dont tell you this until after you have committed to one, confirmed doing it. I did steps 1-4, then hid in bathroom doing report until I could return. 50-60 minutes of my life gone for $20. Plus I have to keep an eye out on my credit card for my refund for my own sake.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2019 03:03AM by MavenMom.

I wish they didn't have the no shopping for 60 days restriction. I did one in the appliance dept last month. We only have 1 Lowes in our area and all mystery shops with all companies is sparse. A $20 one is pretty good around here and I can't take it. It's driving me nuts.

Interesting reading all that is required for this shop. I personally do not consider this to be 5 shops as many shops ask for interactions with more than one person and pay less than this one does. The issue I see is the impossibility of finding someone to speak with in these types of stores causing so much time (time is money) to go by. The last time I returned something to the other big box hardware store (which in my experience has similar wait times) I waited behind two construction runners who were returning about 50 different individual items that had to be individually scanned in and then some typing for each item left over from a construction job. The second return person was on break. I waited at least a half hour just for the return. I would put all shops of this type on a 10 foot pole in my big city. The same issues as with the cellphone shops...the waits are interminable and there are no bonuses more than $1 or 2 and even those are rare.

I used to do the Lowe's shops for the old MSC years ago. I dug up fees I got in 2016, and the lowest was $30 in my home town. The current shop sounds very similar, except now they've added the return scenario. My issue with all the Lowes shops was all the waiting to get an Associate - either they were nowhere to be found, or the two associates in the store were already helping someone else. I suspect these will get bonused up from $20 after a couple of rounds as the "new" shoppers stop picking up these jobs when they realize what the old shoppers know from the last MSC - way too time consuming for the pay.

Way too much time out of my life for $20. Opportunity cost is too high; I could be doing much more fruitful things, like working my other self-employment job or having a glass of wine while reading a good book. Far more "fun and easy."

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

The shops are not bad to do.

@colleeny25 wrote:

I wish they didn't have the no shopping for 60 days restriction. I did one in the appliance dept last month. We only have 1 Lowes in our area and all mystery shops with all companies is sparse. A $20 one is pretty good around here and I can't take it. It's driving me nuts.

The shop you did for the appliance is a very different shop! Those do not pay $20. The shop that this thread is discussing is very different - you have to go in and shop for two very specific items (which they will tell you which items they are) and they are in completely different departments. Therefore you are doing two shops, then you have to make a purchase (3rd shop), and then wait at least 20 minutes to return the item (4th shop). You are literally shopping 4 different people - and that doesn't include the mandatory wait times. It is a complete waste of time - worse than working for free. It is costing you because you had to pay for gas and wear on your vehicle. I was also told by a shopper that he was told you have to be eligible for a military discount. (but they don't put that in the emails - they don't put much of any of the requirements in the emails for these shops). I refuse to do them. I will sit out at the pool and relax.

What is it with this new trend for a few MSC's to now make what used to be one shop, now a two department shop, but not even a dollar more in pay. I call bull****. I refuse to waste my time doing that. If they want their shops done they can double the price it used to be; and in this Lowe's shop - they can pay the $50 a previous poster quoted.

I regularly was paid $40 -$50 for these with the old MSC and I did not like them at all...did them for the $$ only. They might be easier, report wise, but still a definite NO for me. I'll do the easy appliance credit card shops all day, any day however.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

I did my first two based on comments on this thread on Saturday. I will have to be pretty desperate for $20 to do them in the future. The wait time was ridiculous. I honestly was almost in tears because my back hurt so bad from standing on that hard floor for 20 minutes trying to get help.

Seriously, it should be five minutes and then you get to find someone. If I were a regular customer, they'd have five minutes to help me or I'd be out of there.

These are with a MS company that will bonus some shipping shops that pay $12 up to $50 to get them done by a deadline sometimes, so I have them bookmarked. If $20 becomes $80, I would return. Lord knows my husband has me in Lowes enough anyway. lol

@Rucker13 wrote:

Does Lowe’s use mystery shoppers anymore?

Yes, last month saw great bonuses I had several close to triple digits. Too bad there was a limit of 10.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

I need to go to Lowe's for a personal purpose. I need to keep the items I purchase. Ah, well...

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

I did one far from my home while I was traveling. The ones in my area require that your request a military discount, so I can’t sign up for them because I don’t have a military ID. ????

@Shop-et-al wrote:

I need to go to Lowe's for a personal purpose. I need to keep the items I purchase. Ah, well...

Simple: add one item you don't need, then return the item you don't need.?.?

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

I frequent Lowes a lot and actually had stuff to return. We do a lot of home improvement at home. I asked and unfortunately you have to return the thing you bought from at least 20 minutes ago.

For this audit, I simply buy something $5 (drain pipe etc) and say I bought the wrong size because I measured wrong. It has not been declined yet.

I hate the 90 day wait period between shops at the same location but I understand its so we do not get flagged as scammers because we are returning so much.

I attempted to do a lowes yesterday. My assigned scenario indicated a particular brand with two sets of features. The salesman had no idea what I was talking about with the two sets of features. He actually walked me over to some pads for the bottom of the washer. I sent support a ticket and haven't heard back. I sure hope they pay me a stipend for even going there. Wonder if I should fill out the report as is, given that support hasn't gotten back to me yet.

My advice is to report exactly what happened. If you encountered a poorly trained salesperson, they need to know. Just report it.

@wildherbs wrote:

I attempted to do a lowes yesterday. My assigned scenario indicated a particular brand with two sets of features. The salesman had no idea what I was talking about with the two sets of features. He actually walked me over to some pads for the bottom of the washer. I sent support a ticket and haven't heard back. I sure hope they pay me a stipend for even going there. Wonder if I should fill out the report as is, given that support hasn't gotten back to me yet.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I did one of these shops and couldn't find anyone in either department to help me, even after hitting the button and waiting. When I left one of the departments, another customer was waiting and didn't expect for anyone to come over to help him.

Lowes recently cut employees and claimed it was going to improve customer service. It hasn't my store (which is actually a fairly new store).

I don't care if I never get anyone to help me. That's less questions to answer. I just detail my steps in waiting and trying to get help. Every shop has been paid.

IMO they need to know that getting assisted in their stores is not easy.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 12:23AM by CoffeeQueen.

This shop is pointless. Hang out in the aisle for 5 minutes, then go hang out in the outside aisle for 5 minutes, then push the red button and hang out some more, then go try to hunt somebody down.

If this is how you have to design a shop, then you don't need a shop. What are you going to learn? That your customer service sucks and your employees are unmotivated and unsupervised? You already know that. That's why you had to design the shop this way.

Why not train the employees, supervise them, then design a simple shop where the customer gets help or doesn't, within X minutes. That way you find out whether you're making progress or just banging your head against the wall. Useful information, some would say.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 01:32PM by panama18.

Yes, I am doing 2 Lowes shops tomorrow and did one last month as well. This one, I don't have to buy anything wait 20 minutes and do a refund like I had to do last month.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2019 09:47PM by blackgold78.

I did receive an e-mail from the MSC that said "Return no longer required".

Does anyone have the answers for the Lowe's Quiz - Q4 2019. I failed it twice but swear that I read the regular guidelines and military guidelines several times. Or is there a way to view the incorrect answers? Thanks

Yes I just did one a week ago.

If I remember correctly you can review your answeres to previos tests by clicking on the tests in question. If Im wrong, contact the scheduler offering the assugnment. Often times they will help you pass it.

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