As of today, I am done with these tedious shops. I'm shaking my head at my own willingness to continue these for the pay with the amount of time it takes for TWO of us to go, then the required and non-reimbursed purchase, plus the absolute TEDIOUSNESS of the report receipt requirement (you must enter all the stupid numbers off of 2 receipts and then scan, resize, and upload them as well). If the cashier does the right thing and does not allow the sale, then it's much faster and easier, but we've done 6 of these and 4 of them have allowed the sale. Those clerks are still working there, so what's the point??? Today I had my husband return the purchase because I think they're getting familiar with me and my immediate returns, and he unwittingly said "yes" when they asked if his daughter wasn't 17. Oops. At this point, though, I really don't care if it's rejected because I've already emailed the scheduler asking that my name be removed from these. Why didn't I wake up sooner? *whacks forehead repeatedly* Anybody else fed up with these?

I never had a kid the right age, so haven't got to experience this one. I did take two 19 year olds out before Christmas on a few tobacco compliance shops. They absolutely hated them, and reporting was difficult because there is a code for each store and forms to print out and you have to have a manager sign, etc., etc. Never again!

SpyGirl Wrote:
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> As of today, I am done with these tedious shops.
> I'm shaking my head at my own willingness to
> continue these for the pay with the amount of time
> it takes for TWO of us to go, then the required
> and non-reimbursed purchase, plus the absolute
> TEDIOUSNESS of the report receipt requirement (you
> must enter all the stupid numbers off of 2
> receipts and then scan, resize, and upload them as
> well). If the cashier does the right thing and
> does not allow the sale, then it's much faster and
> easier, but we've done 6 of these and 4 of them
> have allowed the sale. Those clerks are still
> working there, so what's the point??? Today I had
> my husband return the purchase because I think
> they're getting familiar with me and my immediate
> returns, and he unwittingly said "yes" when they
> asked if his daughter wasn't 17. Oops. At this
> point, though, I really don't care if it's
> rejected because I've already emailed the
> scheduler asking that my name be removed from
> these. Why didn't I wake up sooner? *whacks
> forehead repeatedly* Anybody else fed up with
> these?


WOW. I only do those for one company and they haven't traditionally required much at all in the way of documentation. In fact, I just looked at the guidelines and they allow me to say that my son is under age as a reason for return??? I am just not supposed to make a huge deal about it, is all.

The other company who requests these asks for 15-17 year olds only so I can't use my 13 year old 6' 1" son. They make no exceptions, even though he successfully does them with me for other MSCs.

The report itself isn't bad, and they've actually shortened it since I first started, but, the fact that you have to enter all of these numbers from the receipts and upload the receipts as well just seems ridiculous. If they want all of the info off of the receipt, then isn't that enough? How would you get all of that info if you didn't have a receipt? So, if you have it and can report all of the numbers, then why attach, too? Or just attach and not record all the info. PLUS, to get to the report, I had to do a quiz again. Same ol' thing I'd done the first time I did the shop. Nothing has changed, but I could not get into the report without completing the quiz. I wish them luck in finding others to do this because I keep getting contacted when no one grabs the shop. They'd have to double the fee to even get me to consider whether I'd take any again.

Im only been shopping for about a month and this shop was one of my first shops that i have done. The cashier did sell the video game to my child. I wrote a very detailed report and I was contacted for even more info so I replied with more info, then they sent me another more info. For what this shopped payed it was not worth it. I split the money with my child sine she had to go with me to do the shop.

GregP Wrote:
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> Im only been shopping for about a month and this
> shop was one of my first shops that i have done.
> The cashier did sell the video game to my child. I
> wrote a very detailed report and I was contacted
> for even more info so I replied with more info,
> then they sent me another more info. For what this
> shopped payed it was not worth it. I split the
> money with my child sine she had to go with me to
> do the shop.


That must be a different MSC because the one I do only asks for a 3 to 4 sentence narrative. I'm just annoyed with the non-reimbursable purchase requirement (mine only paid $11, then you must spend at least $1, but it ends up being closer to $2) and then the info from the receipts when you have to scan and attach them anyway. It's redundant and tedious, that's all there is to it, and the place I do is 20 miles away! Forget it. :-)

Since we aren't naming an actual business where you are doing this shop, can't we name the MSC? I've done two of these shops for Bestmark and I didn't find them that tedious or difficult at all. My son enjoyed doing them and liked that he got a pack of gum and $5 of my fee out of the deal.

I wonder if some locations in different areas are more careful who they sell to. My daughter has never been sold the game.

That may be true, but my 16 year old daughter could pass for a much older girl (much to my chagrin, as she's my baby). One of the clerks that sold to her asked her what her major was (the store is located right between two universities) and just chatted it up with her while they waited for someone to bring change (there's a tip - don't have them pay with a $100 bill, which was all I happened to have with me - oops!) But the fact that some clerks took the time to ask for ID would make me believe it isn't "100% obvious" that she's old enough to buy the M rated game. But when this store services two universities, it's probably hard sometimes to tell the difference between an 18 yr. old college student and a 16 yr. old high school one. I would love it if they'd just ask her for ID!!!


lisams901 Wrote:
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> I wonder if some locations in different areas are
> more careful who they sell to. My daughter has
> never been sold the game.

We did these years ago - my daughter is 24 now and she did them to make money for a school trip to Hawaii probably about 9 years ago. They paid 25.00 each and were a breeze. She was able to do 400.00 worth one summer! Oh those were the days.

Liz

We'd keep doing them for sure if they paid that well! I only wish that were the case. My daughter has lots of things to save for, and that would really help. But 11 dollars with it being 20 miles away really just isn't worth it. If they bonus it a good 8 to 10 dollars, then I'll reconsider.


Traveliz Wrote:
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> We did these years ago - my daughter is 24 now and
> she did them to make money for a school trip to
> Hawaii probably about 9 years ago. They paid
> 25.00 each and were a breeze. She was able to do
> 400.00 worth one summer! Oh those were the days.
>
> Liz