I vow that I will NEVER EVER do the Trendsource grocery pricing shops AGAIN. EVER. I've done this shop a couple times before and have gotten more organized in how I do the shop, but STILL it is one of the most time-consuming, aggravating, tedious, ridiculous shops I have ever done. I got them to pay me a hefty bonus to do it this time, but I decided that going forward, they would have to pay me $100 to get me to even CONSIDER going through this aggravation again. It just isn't worth the hassle.

How about you? Are there any shops you've done that you will NEVER do again? What are they?

NEVER is a long time! There are a whole lot of companies that I will never shop for again until/unless there is a massive change in personnel and policies (and perhaps even ownership). There are tons of shops I will never perform again at the fees offered. The price needed to do them may be 'unrealistically high', but generally 'never' is not a normal word in my vocabulary.

Most frequently the issues are way too much time involved for the fee. Sometimes it is the discovery of requirements in the shop instructions that make the shop not worthwhile once you finally get to see the instructions. Sometimes it is the lack of communication response or the quality of response from a company. Sometimes it is the noxiousness of the report. Sometimes it is the failure to pay in what I perceive to be a 'fair and timely' manner. Of late it is nonsense hoops my business is supposed to jump through to obtain work that I neither see as necessary nor appropriate.

I will never do gas station shops for CORI again. I did a few in the fall when I first started shopping and found that with the 4 photos sized to their requirements, plus the tedious report due in 6 hours, it so wasn't worth what I got out of it and the stress to submit on time. I removed my name from the database so I wouldn't be tempted even if they were bonused. That's how much I don't want to ever do them again.

Edit: What I forgot to say was that after my first batch of 4 on one day, I didn't get paid for the first two because the reports didn't make it in the 6 hr. window of time because of doing them far away from home with a few other shops thrown in on the way back. And the ones I DID get paid for, I did not get full reimbursement with no explanation. By then I was already furious and didn't pursue it, I just removed myself.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2011 07:59PM by SpyGirl.

IKEA is my only NEVER again...some I don't do, for various reasons, distance, pay, slow pay and such, but I can't say never. I do agree to an extent about Trendsource grocery, just too much work for 9.00+, but I probably will do them again.

I took what I initialy thought was a mystery shop but turned out to be an audit at a tire store chain. 36 pictures and about 65 question later I had my $10 bucks on the way. I think I made about $3 an hour on that one.

I will never do the Maritz Post office shop ever again ( long instructions, pain in the ass quiz for a measely cheapo fee) and would recommend nobody else do it either....but another msc now has the contract.

Church's Fried Chicken shops. Ever. Even bonused. The shop guidelines are flipping inconsistent with the questionnaire. MSC admits that.

When I am having to watch "questionable activity" on the corner, while completing said shop-then get caught and rejected on the conflict between guidelines and survey? There isn't enough money in the world. Sorry.

Hotels. I would rather rack up $$$ doing other shops than to sit in there and not enjoy myself.

Ditto re Churches but mostly because I think the food sucks at the location I have done.

Yeah, I did some of those grocery pricing audits that were bonused and they are a pain in the butt. I wouldn't do them unless they're bonused.

Btw, what do they mean on the private (store brand) lists by OG. I assumed it was organic and my shop was accepted with correct pricing, but it's confusing cause on the list sometimes organic is written out and sometimes it is abbreviated as ORG....just weird.

I've done one pricing thing for Trendsource, as a means to get into the company. I wouldn't jump at doing one again, but it wasn't as half as bad as one I did for ATH, which I will NEVER do again, even if bonused!

Other shops I will never do again are Ikea, and employee-only cafeteria evaluations (for any company).

Won't go to the gas station where the crazy Arab guy chased me and tried to get my camera, screaming at me in Farsi the whole time! Never, never, never!!!! lololol

First Trend Source grocery audit took me 3 1/2 hours. Thought second one would be easier but it took me 3 hours and had someone helping me hunt! Never again.

LOL, those guys are usually flirting with me. LOL.


iblessyah@yahoo.com Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Won't go to the gas station where the crazy Arab
> guy chased me and tried to get my camera,
> screaming at me in Farsi the whole time! Never,
> never, never!!!! lololol
>
> First Trend Source grocery audit took me 3 1/2
> hours. Thought second one would be easier but it
> took me 3 hours and had someone helping me hunt!
> Never again.

Hi, iblessyah. It's most likely that the "Arab" guy who spoke Farsi was actually Iranian. They usually don't like to be called Arab. They say they have Aryan ancestry. They usually share the Muslim religion with Arabs, but their version is different. They are usually Shiite. Some others are Sunni Muslim. On the border with Iran, other countries might have native-born Arabs speaking Farsi, but that's because it is the border.

Trend source pricing. You got it, NEVER again. And that would be forever and ever, Amen.

Carol

GFK audits that take two friggin days at a location 40 miles from here. Between travel time, gas and actually doing the audit I came out with close to a negative balance on that one.

I don't think I'll ever do the "look at the coffee grounds" convenience store again.

How about "Middle Eastern Guy". lol All I know is I was in a camoflage shirt near Ft. Knox, KY and he was ballistic over me snapping a picture of his store. Guess he thought I was casing his store to bomb it or something. Very dangerous situation.

Qwest mall-kiosk shop. $12 pay for 4 pages of verbatim narrative after spending an hour talking about phone service in the mall. NEVER AGAIN. Apparently it's not just me because the scheduler sends about 35 emails a month begging for "heroes" to do this shop for her at 15 different locations.

I agree with Flash about Never being too strong of a word. Everyone has their price - me included.

But a list of shops that I will probably never do again.

Ikea (even at the high bonsues that it gets to around here)
Drug-testing shops (where you pee in a cup and get tested for drugs) - the fee would have to be SUPER high (I am talking in excess of $1,000) for me to ever do this shop again.
Joe's Crab Shack - eaten their twice. Gotten sick twice. Nuff said.
Dental Shops (i.e. free exams or cleanings) - um no, I hate the dentist and I have to be put on gas to get through the experience... I doubt I could remember much to write the report.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2011 07:24PM by MickeyB.

Can you elaborate on the drug test ones? Never heard of this and now I am curious.

Thank you guys for your input re: Shops to never do again. These stories really help the new people shoppers as well as us old people shoppers.

Drug test shop (Not sure if it is even offered anymore, I did one in 2006 or 7). Basically it tests the procedures of the drug-testing facility (i.e. do they enforce the rules about searching you before you go in to pee, do they ensure that you don't flush the toilet, etc.). I was told that they would fax overpaper work "faked" to make it look like I was applying for some job and my prospective employer required the drug test. I never saw the "fake" paperwork.

When I got there, they had me fill out my basic info - fine, and then I was left to wait for a LOOONNNGG time - like 90 minutes after my appointment time. I questioned the reception desk and she told me that it was going to be a lot longer (like another hour) and I asked about rescheduling. The lady raised her voice at me and said that if I ever wanted to see my kids again, I better sit down and wait my turn! Apparently, the faked paperwork indicated that I needed the drug test to prove to the courts that I was clean for a custody hearing!! I did not have children at the time - but STILL - most embarressing thing ever.

Then when I actually did the test- I flushed the toilet (I was taught well by my mother - I did it without thinking). The lab person started yelling at me (it is a big no no because people smuggle in bags of pee I guess to swap out)... anyway, I apologized all over the place and kept thinking crap - now I am going to have to do this all over again- but in the end she accepted the original sample (so much for them following guidelines).

Worst.Shop.Ever.

That does sound really unpleasant, to say the least. Hope the pay at least covered the time spent.

I'm with you on the grocery pricing shops, CheeChild. I did one early in my MS career and thought I had died and gone to hell. It took forever and I was totally frustrated. I like TrendSource and do their sandwich shops and a couple of others but never again on the pricing shop. So far that's the only shop I've done that I will absolutely say NEVER again. There are others I've taken that I thought were too much work for the money, or I didn't particularly like the client, etc., etc., but pricing was horrible to me.

Oh and I won't do the design my kitchen shop via e-mail again either. It was WAY too much work for $15.

MickeyB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Drug test shop (Not sure if it is even offered
> anymore, I did one in 2006 or 7). Basically it
> tests the procedures of the drug-testing facility
> (i.e. do they enforce the rules about searching
> you before you go in to pee, do they ensure that
> you don't flush the toilet, etc.). I was told
> that they would fax overpaper work "faked" to make
> it look like I was applying for some job and my
> prospective employer required the drug test. I
> never saw the "fake" paperwork.
>
> When I got there, they had me fill out my basic
> info - fine, and then I was left to wait for a
> LOOONNNGG time - like 90 minutes after my
> appointment time. I questioned the reception desk
> and she told me that it was going to be a lot
> longer (like another hour) and I asked about
> rescheduling. The lady raised her voice at me and
> said that if I ever wanted to see my kids again, I
> better sit down and wait my turn! Apparently, the
> faked paperwork indicated that I needed the drug
> test to prove to the courts that I was clean for a
> custody hearing!! I did not have children at the
> time - but STILL - most embarressing thing ever.
>
> Then when I actually did the test- I flushed the
> toilet (I was taught well by my mother - I did it
> without thinking). The lab person started yelling
> at me (it is a big no no because people smuggle in
> bags of pee I guess to swap out)... anyway, I
> apologized all over the place and kept thinking
> crap - now I am going to have to do this all over
> again- but in the end she accepted the original
> sample (so much for them following guidelines).
>
> Worst.Shop.Ever.


Sounds like something Peter would write about. Except I actually believe you

That shop actually sounds sort of fun, in a weird way.

I'm not too sure that Peter could pass that drug test.

Massage shops. Report way too long for me.

Amen. I did ONE of those and won't do them again either. I have done similar ones that the report was so much shorter with just a dollar or two less pay. Those were tolerable, this one was not. No Qwest for me!


boingo82 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Qwest mall-kiosk shop. $12 pay for 4 pages of
> verbatim narrative after spending an hour talking
> about phone service in the mall. NEVER AGAIN.
> Apparently it's not just me because the scheduler
> sends about 35 emails a month begging for "heroes"
> to do this shop for her at 15 different locations.