Shop Ratings

I've done several Lowe's shops where you visit 2 departments with a purchase and return. (I've done a couple hundred of these with another company and different stores so I'm experienced.)

For these shops I've been watching my scores and they are mostly 10's with one 8 and now a 6. I do them all thoroughly with plenty of narrative so I'm confused as to why I rated a 6 on one that matches the quality of the rest which are 8-10.

I emailed and asked them but I've seen from the past they are lax on returning messages.

I'm just curious, do any of you watch your ratings? My husband said I should just be happy to be paid (which I am) but it bothers me to get a 6 when it was the same quality as the others. (They all are exactly the same scenarios.)

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I just did two shops for Confero that required almost no narrative. It was to check for POP. I got 7 on both shops and it took them a week to review them. No mention at all on why the scores were not 10’s. I am slightly disturbed but not enough to ask about them. They have more of these shops listed so you would think they would give some feedback in case I selected additional assignments.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2019 10:24PM by kenasch.

@titus25.5 wrote:

I've done several Lowe's shops where you visit 2 departments with a purchase and return. (I've done a couple hundred of these with another company and different stores so I'm experienced.)

Sort of off-topic, but I've seen references to these in other threads, but can't find much about how long they take and if they're worth it at the base fee. I'm trying to build a small route for end of this week, and the Lowe's shop near my house is taken. But the one on the west side of town, where I hope to get 2 other shops, is open. I'm just not sure they're worth $20, unless the report form is short and easy. I can see spending at least 1/2 hour in there to do the purchase, then another 15 minutes to do the return (unless they're busy like my local one usually is; then it could take 1/2 hour for that). By then, $20 of my time is pretty much spent.

Do you think a person can complete one of these, prep time, in-store time, and report time, in a max of 1 1/2 hours? TIA!

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

I got an 8 recently for not getting a picture that was described as optional. The guidelines said something to the effect of "if possible, get a picture at the cash register while checking out." Yeah, right. Like there's a discrete way to do that. The report didn't give an "oops" if you didn't upload anything either. Ugh.

For the Lowe's shops I can get in and out of the store in about a half hour, then I do the return after waiting 5 minutes. The report might take 10-15 minutes. They are simple to do and I actually enjoy them.

I still haven't heard back on my '6' rating. I'm not holding my breath on it though and have signed up for several more as we travel through this state to the next.

I just received an email reply stating that they saw no errors on my report and changed it to a 10. I'm glad I asked:-)

@titus25.5 wrote:

For the Lowe's shops I can get in and out of the store in about a half hour, then I do the return after waiting 5 minutes. The report might take 10-15 minutes. They are simple to do and I actually enjoy them.

Thank you for that information. I might apply for the one near my two other shops this week.

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

Sure, no problem! The report is very simple with multiple choice answers and a few brief narratives. You do have to do some timings for each department but that's simple too.

I travel all over the country and of course some stores are busier than others but the max time I've spent on the shop and report (total) is less than an hour. Hope yours works out well for you!

Well, I can do the return on my way back from the last shop, so at least I'm not sitting around in the parking lot for 5 minutes twiddling my thumbs or going for coffee and a snack (as I've done on some purchase & return shops).

I'm still hesitant because every Lowe's or Home Depot shop I've done has so not been worth the fee. But the one right near me gets snapped up every month, and I'm guessing it's probably the same shopper (since there doesn't seem to be an abundance of shoppers in my area), so maybe it's not so bad. Can't hurt to try, right?

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

Lowe's isn't the fastest for having people help you but mine have been turning out just fine. Hope it goes well:-)

@titus25.5 wrote:

I just received an email reply stating that they saw no errors on my report and changed it to a 10. I'm glad I asked:-)

Sooo glad to hear this! I'm glad that they responded to you

I do keep track of my scores too

I made this same comment on a different thread about picky editing. I just received the lowest grade I’ve ever received in my life! This was the comment: “ Shop accepted. Grade 3/5. The shop contained consistent information and the receipt validated the shop. Thank you!” I’m baffled, but also upset.

Maybe you should email and ask them what was incorrect and what you can do better. They may find nothing wrong with it like when they double checked mine.

@titus25.5 wrote:

Maybe you should email and ask them what was incorrect and what you can do better. They may find nothing wrong with it like when they double checked mine.

I sent them an email yesterday, and the person who answered said she passed my question onto a supervisor, but it might be some time before I hear back.

@Ercokat wrote:

I made this same comment on a different thread about picky editing. I just received the lowest grade I’ve ever received in my life! This was the comment: “ Shop accepted. Grade 3/5. The shop contained consistent information and the receipt validated the shop. Thank you!” I’m baffled, but also upset.

Was this on the toy shop for ICU Associates by any chance? I have received that exact quote on all 7 of my reports for that client/MSC and I have gotten one 3, five 4s, and one 5. The only added comment was 'the report required very little editing (or simliar wording) on all but the one I got a 3 on. (The comments were completely different for that one, except for the part about the consistent information and receipt).

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

OMG yes!

" it might be some time before I hear back."
like never! I like ICU but have never ever received a response to any e-mails.

After you wait a while, check your shop again to see if they changed it and didn't tell you. I had that happen with another company who claimed I had to correct a department that wasn't even in the store. I emailed and explained the situation and they never responded but I checked my shop and saw they sent it through for payment.

Sometimes if I need a discreet photo I will make sure that my flash and camera sounds are turned off before I go into the store and then take the pic while pretending to be texting, Ill say something like "UGH! my kid has been texting me like, every 5 minutes all day! Excuse me for one minute so that I can tell him that the extra rolls of paper towels are in the exact same spot that they have been in for his entire life." Usually they just laugh and don't think anything of it.

@titus25.5 wrote:

Sure, no problem! The report is very simple with multiple choice answers and a few brief narratives. You do have to do some timings for each department but that's simple too.

I travel all over the country and of course some stores are busier than others but the max time I've spent on the shop and report (total) is less than an hour. Hope yours works out well for you!

First, congrats on getting your score changed--it never hurts to ask when you think something is awry in the editing process.

And, second, this may be a really stupid question, but in the list of "needs behind the need," do they actually want you to use all of those reasons when asked, or are these examples of what is allowable to say when asked.

That is, you must choose reasons from that list, and as stated, but you don't have to use all of them? I assume the point is that they don't want you saying certain things, perhaps such as, "My (item to be shopped) needs repair but I'd rather replace it."

Am I reading those guidelines correctly? As usual, with this particular part of this company, their guidelines aren't the clearest. Ambiguity reigns.

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

@Lady Marius wrote:

@Ercokat wrote:

I made this same comment on a different thread about picky editing. I just received the lowest grade I’ve ever received in my life! This was the comment: “ Shop accepted. Grade 3/5. The shop contained consistent information and the receipt validated the shop. Thank you!” I’m baffled, but also upset.

Was this on the toy shop for ICU Associates by any chance? I have received that exact quote on all 7 of my reports for that client/MSC and I have gotten one 3, five 4s, and one 5. The only added comment was 'the report required very little editing (or simliar wording) on all but the one I got a 3 on. (The comments were completely different for that one, except for the part about the consistent information and receipt).

Sooo glad to see this before I picked one of those up! I hate low scores; I work hard to get high scores. It would bother me tremendously to have such "random score assignments..."

My understanding of the "need behind the need" is that they want the associates to show enough interest that you end up giving them all of the needs. It's up to the associates to show that much interest, not up to you to make sure you tell them.

@BirdyC wrote:

@titus25.5 wrote:

Sure, no problem! The report is very simple with multiple choice answers and a few brief narratives. You do have to do some timings for each department but that's simple too.

I travel all over the country and of course some stores are busier than others but the max time I've spent on the shop and report (total) is less than an hour. Hope yours works out well for you!

First, congrats on getting your score changed--it never hurts to ask when you think something is awry in the editing process.

And, second, this may be a really stupid question, but in the list of "needs behind the need," do they actually want you to use all of those reasons when asked, or are these examples of what is allowable to say when asked.

That is, you must choose reasons from that list, and as stated, but you don't have to use all of them? I assume the point is that they don't want you saying certain things, perhaps such as, "My (item to be shopped) needs repair but I'd rather replace it."

Am I reading those guidelines correctly? As usual, with this particular part of this company, their guidelines aren't the clearest. Ambiguity reigns.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

My understanding of the "need behind the need" is that they want the associates to show enough interest that you end up giving them all of the needs. It's up to the associates to show that much interest, not up to you to make sure you tell them.

I did one yesterday, and that's what I did. Good luck trying to get any of them to ask questions about your needs beyond the most simple and obvious ones! Each interaction was pretty short, but the waiting was ridiculous. If everything goes well, I can see getting in and out of there the first time in half an hour or less, but I had to wait 10 minutes in the first department and almost 25 minutes in the second. Then the return took a long time because I had to wait in line behind three other people. I was in-store, in total, for about an hour. And the report took twice as long as it should have due to my having to explain what steps I took to be assisted.

Never doing that shop again for $20. I'm sure after Christmas it will get better, but between prepping for the shop, doing it, and reporting it, I made a little less than nothing. LOL. Good thing I did the Christmas tree shop along with it. That was pretty quick, although I spent almost 15 minutes waiting after the first associate tried to help me. Then I was with the guy for a whopping five minutes!

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 best way to deal with a low job score is to get 10s on the next ten you complete. A "6" rating followed by ten "10" ratings becomes an average job rating of "9.6" very quickly.

Birdyc...I'm sorry, I just saw your question about the 'behind the scenes' information. Not one of the associates I've dealt with asked questions in a thorough manner. Some were more complete than the others but I keep that information in my back pocket (so to speak) to keep the conversation moving if need be. Sorry about your long waiting times, you must be in a bigger city than we venture into. We hit the outskirts (suburbs) of big cities but never go in them so my time inside normally isn't that long. I'm glad you had that other shop to do while in there, I was able to do some FA app jobs while I did mine. I'm off to go sign up for more as we travel through this state to the next. :-)

The Lowes nearest me is smaller than the one I shopped yesterday and there's usually not much of a wait to be helped or for returns. But the one across town is ginormous. I've never been in such a huge one! And they obviously don't have enough help (in fact, the girl at the customer service desk said that to me). That store always has a problem filling shops, whereas the one near me doesn't. Now I know why! LOL.

I pretty much memorized the list of needs, but it became clear early on during each interaction that the associates weren't going to ask enough questions for me to have to use them. So I fretted needlessly (as I usually do on a new-to-me shop).

As a shopper, sometimes I feel like a dentist.

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

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