I have just been informed by the scheduler for the "Pull out the brew baskets to inspect the coffee grounds in 6-8 large commercial coffee makers" is an activity that normal customers engage in and in fact they personally have seen it many times.
This was after I had questioned them about this requirement and told them I did not believe this was something normal customers did.

Can't remember, but if this pull the basket at convenience stores? I can't imagine anyone doing that. I would never think to do something like that. I would also imagine the employees would have a fit because of liability issues. What planet and plane of reality does this scheduler live on?

Yes these are convenience stores of a type that caters to truckers so they sell lots of coffee. The urns have a brew basket about 4 times as large as a home coffee maker and there are 6-8 of them. I was amazed that I was told that by the scheduler as the only person I've ever seen doing that was me when I did the shop for the first and only time.



avitoots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can't remember, but if this pull the basket at
> convenience stores? I can't imagine anyone doing
> that. I would never think to do something like
> that. I would also imagine the employees would
> have a fit because of liability issues. What
> planet and plane of reality does this scheduler
> live on?

I might be prone to pull it out late at night to make sure it hasn't been sitting there for hours on end. But if I pulled that in my local gas station I know that the guy would go ballistic on me.

One of the things I thought about was what would looking at the used coffee grounds actually tell me or them. Unless I stuck my finger in the used grounds to see if they were cold I wouldn't know if the coffee was 20 minutes or 2 hours old.

It has to do with the heat and also if there is a "ring" through the grounds (like they have been sitting and starting to fade a bit. I've seen them pull them out and thats my guess, same as at home when we had filtered coffee. Now we have a Keurig and never looked back!

suzieboz -- How many people would actually know that? It still doesn't answer the question of how valid the scheduler's claim is.

I know it from throwing out coffee grinds for years on end. But I think that the scheduler is being completely unreasonable. One I could see checking - but all of them? Who does that?

I was in one of those stores today. I did not see anybody checking the grounds! LOL I had signed up for one back in the spring. Thank goodness the place was still under construction and not open. I got paid for the shop anyway and had to take pictures of the site. But, I also wondered about the ground checking. I will not try again.

With regard to why I did the shop in the first place.

1) I was going there anyway as I had some things I needed to buy.

2) Purchase and return --- I some how glossed over that when I read the description.

3) It said you will interact with associates in different departments, but did not specify how many. They just had to be of the "where is XXXX?" type, but with the minimum wait before searching someone out and not always able to find someone it was no fun.

I have never refused an assignment after taking it. Maybe I should have, but I just take the agreement to do things seriously. I just won't do it again.

Live and learn

I had to do some personal shopping tonight at AC Moore (off duty!) and let me tell you guys, if I had been shopping that place it would have been the worst report I ever wrote up on someone. 9 people waiting in line for one cashier while the others just chatted. A manager who I asked where something was who told me "over by the flowers" - and was wrong. And the cherry on top of the sundae? Waiting 19 minutes in line, getting to the front, having my purchases scanned and the idiot saying to me "our credit/debit card machine is down, we take cash only". THANKS FOR THE ADVANCE NOTICE. I HOPE there was a shopper in there tonight to write that report.

I had a gas station evaluation in a not-so-nice part of town. It wasn't that far from home and the bonus was worth it. I have no problems going to this area normally. As I got out to pump my few gallons, an older man of a "different race" took the pump handle and started to open my tank. He wanted tips and wasn't taking no thanks for an answer. Scared the heck out of me as I noticed the whole place was full of what looked like homeless guys.

I then had to make the usual in-store purchase and get the ridiculous receipt for $1. I moved my car away from the pumps and went back to do the rest of the overt evaluation & take pictures. A younger guy the size of an NFL linebacker asked for a handout, so I gave him the soda I'd just purchased. I got out of there asap with only one more request for a handout from the only other female around the place.

I described this situation when I did my report saying it was too dangerous for any lone female to do this assignment. But, lo and behold, there it was the next month on the list of available shops. I pity the fool...

cvb42jeb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a gas station evaluation in a not-so-nice
> part of town. It wasn't that far from home and the
> bonus was worth it. I have no problems going to
> this area normally. As I got out to pump my few
> gallons, an older man of a "different race" took
> the pump handle and started to open my tank. He
> wanted tips and wasn't taking no thanks for an
> answer. Scared the heck out of me as I noticed the
> whole place was full of what looked like homeless
> guys.
>
> I then had to make the usual in-store purchase and
> get the ridiculous receipt for $1. I moved my car
> away from the pumps and went back to do the rest
> of the overt evaluation & take pictures. A younger
> guy the size of an NFL linebacker asked for a
> handout, so I gave him the soda I'd just
> purchased. I got out of there asap with only one
> more request for a handout from the only other
> female around the place.
>
> I described this situation when I did my report
> saying it was too dangerous for any lone female to
> do this assignment. But, lo and behold, there it
> was the next month on the list of available shops.
> I pity the fool...

i generally notice that shops tend to be more difficult in the poorer neighborhoods. just a general observation. if i travel far east or south of where i live, it'll often be a problem shop in a poor neighborhood. it's harder for companies to get professionally acting employees in the poorer neighborhoods. but if i travel north or west, it'll be a shop with more professional employees in a richer neighborhood. just in general. this then affects how much detail that i have to put into a report.

A scheduler posted some apartment shops on FB. She did not post the exact addresses. She didn't even have the complete and/or accurate street name. When I asked for the exact address, she copped an attitude and didn't provide the address. One of the locations that I was ultimately assigned was in an area I didn't want to go into because of distance and safety issues. It was very annoying because if she had provided the address I wouldn't have accepted it in the first place. I know a lot of the schedulers don't live in the area where they are scheduling that is why it is so important that they provide all the information. I don't understand why they don't. It just makes things more difficult for us and I can't imagine they're making their jobs any easier.

avitoots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A scheduler posted some apartment shops on FB. She
> did not post the exact addresses. She didn't even
> have the complete and/or accurate street name.
> When I asked for the exact address, she copped an
> attitude and didn't provide the address. One of
> the locations that I was ultimately assigned was
> in an area I didn't want to go into because of
> distance and safety issues. It was very annoying
> because if she had provided the address I wouldn't
> have accepted it in the first place. I know a lot
> of the schedulers don't live in the area where
> they are scheduling that is why it is so important
> that they provide all the information. I don't
> understand why they don't. It just makes things
> more difficult for us and I can't imagine they're
> making their jobs any easier.

the scheduler likely knew that if she provided the address beforehand, then you would turn down the shop.

All I know is I ended up having to communicate with three different people to explain the situation. Very annoying and if the pay wasn't so good, I probably wouldn't work with this company again.

Intellishop had car dealerships and electronic (Big screen TV) shops that required a shopper to get a business card. Obtaining a business card is a deal breaker requirement. You do not get paid unless you get a business card.

This fits very easily into the dumb shops that scream "Mystery Shopper". The Scenario is such where you DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS! You only evaluate the information the salesperson proactively gives you.

Imagine! The salesperson is telling you about a car or a TV and mentions a benefit or feature and you, as a shopper, do not ask the salesperson to elaborate. After a few minutes of this, the salesperson becomes frustrated, like the salesperson is talking to a wall.

The salesperson knows you are a shopper because normal shoppers ask questions or asks the salesperson to explain or demonstrate that feature. Again and again, each time you do not ask for a further explanation or demonstration you leave no doubt you are the mystery shopper.

If you were a salesperson would you give your business card to someone who was so totally disinterested in everything you pitched? If you do a shop and do not get a business card, DO NOT give Intellishop the report for free hoping they will pay you. They will not!

Wait until Intellishops changes the guidelines and accepts the shops with a description or simply the first name of the salesperson. Most salespeople are not so paranoid that they will not give you their name when they introduce themselves. Cell Phone salespeople think everyone is a mystery shopper.

I do the oil change shops because the service advisor must give you a bill.

I've done several auto dealership shops and cell phone shops and have never not asked questions about the vehicle or phone and I've never had a problem getting a business card from either shop. I'm not even sure I've read guidelines that said to not ask questions. My problem usually comes in when they tell us to ask questions that a normal shopper would never ask, i.e., what is the first and second choice of cell phone case of shoppers.

Most salespeople will give you a business card without blinking - they WANT to give you their card. My line is usually 'I know you're probably on commission, how can I ask for you when I come back to purchase?' I've NEVER had that not result in being handed a business card at places where they have them.

I have done this for 7 years off and on and found that 80 percent of the shops are not worth the money they put out.

ces1948 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have just been informed by the scheduler for the
> "Pull out the brew baskets to inspect the coffee
> grounds in 6-8 large commercial coffee makers" is
> an activity that normal customers engage in and in
> fact they personally have seen it many times.
> This was after I had questioned them about this
> requirement and told them I did not believe this
> was something normal customers did.

I had this shop too...horrible! I mean how many times have you guys walked into a convenience store and saw a customer pulling the baskets and checking inside them?

To me, this is the FASTEST way for an employee to say, "HEY, what are you DOING pulling baskets out?" "BUSTED"....

I would never agree to doing that shop again.

Why does the shopper have to look at the coffee grounds? I have never had an interest to do these so I was just wonbdering. I find it hard to believe that a lot of customers go look at the brewing stations and pull out the baskets to see the state of the coffee grounds. If I worked there and saw a customer pull out the basket I would be at their elbow asking if I could help them if I was not checking the register.

SpyGirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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.

CoRI is certainly notorious for low-pay, but not no-pay. If they didn't pay for reports submitted after 6 hours then I probably would never have gotten a dime from them I've completed over 500 shops for them and only had a handful invalidated for some reason or another. I also vaguely remember a missing bonus or something, but a quick e-mail and it was rectified the following week.

Welcome LisaSTL...good to talk to you, glad to see your here.

I stopped working for Bestmark and don't do the "coffee grinds" and of course IKEA.

Thanks Irene!

I really appreciate this input. I just did my first 2 shops this week. The two I did weren't too bad but the pay wasn't great either.

I'm noticing that shops posted on jobslinger.com are for several companies and some of them that I have signed up for. The pay shown on jobslinger is higher than the actual pay shown on the company site. Does this happen often?

Also, has anyone done the investigative shop where you have to crawl in and out of a dumpster for $25/hr? I'm wondering how bad it is. I'm so broke that I'm tempted but 4.5 to 6 hours in a dumpster sounds a bit much.

I've found that postings on Jobslinger often have the reimbursement lumped in with the fee. MSC's consider that part of the compensation package. It's up to us whether the item we're reimbursed for actually has any value

It can also happen if the Jobslinger info is something posted when they had an extra incentive for certain shops or locations, but they're no longer offering it. You have to watch for when the posting was made sometimes.

I saw that dumpster shop. I'd just as soon not.

cpstandre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I really appreciate this input. I just did my
> first 2 shops this week. The two I did weren't too
> bad but the pay wasn't great either.
>
> I'm noticing that shops posted on jobslinger.com
> are for several companies and some of them that I
> have signed up for. The pay shown on jobslinger is
> higher than the actual pay shown on the company
> site. Does this happen often?
>
> Also, has anyone done the investigative shop where
> you have to crawl in and out of a dumpster for
> $25/hr? I'm wondering how bad it is. I'm so broke
> that I'm tempted but 4.5 to 6 hours in a dumpster
> sounds a bit much.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2011 09:34PM by TechSavvy.

I'm reading all these and learning a lot. I have a question though, how do you surreptitiously take photos or videos?

I wish I had found this site a few days ago. I signed up as back up on two grocery shops just yesterday. Now I find myself praying the first shopper comes through.

If you have a smartphone, there are apps for photos and video. I know Android has one which will capture video without the video app showing up anywhere on the screen. You can hold the phone up and "text" to someone with the SMS app open, but the whole time, the phone is actually recording video. I don't know if there's a similar app for iPhone.

[market.android.com]

I've not tried any of them yet.

cpstandre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm reading all these and learning a lot. I have a
> question though, how do you surreptitiously take
> photos or videos?
>
> I wish I had found this site a few days ago. I
> signed up as back up on two grocery shops just
> yesterday. Now I find myself praying the first
> shopper comes through.