Orphan Shop?

What is an Orphan shop?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

I it one that was abandoned by someone else, if I remember correctly.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I always interpreted that as one shop in the middle of nowhere.

I always thought of it as a single location shop that paid too little to make a special trip and was needed soon enough that there was inadequate time to locate other shops in the area to help make the trip worthwhile. An example of a shop I was frequently offered was a location 17 miles away (ie 34 mile round trip) paying $7 with $10 reimbursement that due to it needing to be done at 5PM meant I hit rush hour traffic and disrupted our usual dinner time.

Today, there was an orphan location with two shops. It was too far away for me, but someone probably loved the convenience of two shops in one day there (not to mention a substantial bonus). I do not know why the location was available. It was just a fantastic deal for someone-- especially someone who lived nearby.

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

A shop that is too far away from similar shops to be included in a normal route. If someone (or someones) does all of Shop A in a region except for one shop, that shop has been orphaned.

It was a term used by Ardent. They would assign each month's shops on the 1st. Shoppers could decline an assigned shop. Those unwanted shops were orphaned and available for adoption by other shippers.

Ardent is the only place I ever saw the term. These were not bonused but perhaps were later on if not taken. Almost all shops eventually got taken in my market without a bonus.

@Rousseau wrote:

It was a term used by Ardent. They would assign each month's shops on the 1st. Shoppers could decline an assigned shop. Those unwanted shops were orphaned and available for adoption by other shippers.

I never saw them extend a bonus. I only completed the shops for them because their narrative demands allowed my brain to write in detail. So much better than the miserable multiple-choice and short-answer shops elsewhere.

@sandyf wrote:

Ardent is the only place I ever saw the term. These were not bonused but perhaps were later on if not taken. Almost all shops eventually got taken in my market without a bonus.

@Rousseau wrote:

It was a term used by Ardent. They would assign each month's shops on the 1st. Shoppers could decline an assigned shop. Those unwanted shops were orphaned and available for adoption by other shippers.

I got a travel bonus for the Orphans which required extra travel expenses (i.e. they would give me the extra bus fair I needed to get to and from the location), but never an actual Bonus, Bonus for any orphans I picked up for Ardent.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2020 03:43AM by Lady Marius.

I hope Ardent comes back, bonus or no bonus.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Orphan Shop?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine