I did something I almost never do today, I passed on a shop I had already been assigned. It was for the purchase of a gift card at a convenience store chain (although the job description made it seem like it could also have been at a check cashing place). Turns out the $10 reimbursement only covered the fee for getting the reloadable card, and you had to load your own money onto the card (around $20, not reimbursed, and paid in cash). Not only that, but the card has a fee for using it, and they said in the guidelines that the $1-2 fee was already "included" in the $15 shop fee, which was not mentioned prior to taking the shop. So basically what I expected to be a $25 shop turned into $13-14 and I had to make a payment using the card to get my money back out of it. Oh yeah, and I may have had to make a call to activate it, they didn't tell you if you were assigned to do this by phone or online until you saw the form, which I could not see without confirming the shop.

I was kind of surprised that Sassie did not automatically unassign it when I did not confirm it within 24 hours of being assigned it (I still have not confirmed it and it's been almost 48 hours). They claim it will be removed if I do not submit by midnight, so we'll see if that happens since it was scheduled for today. I did write to the scheduler earlier today using the "No I have questions" in the confirmation page, but have not heard back, and the shop is still there.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2021 02:36PM by MisterBill.

I’ve passed on that same shop for the same reason.

I rarely “confirm” Sassie shops. Pre-Covid a few schedulers would write their shoppers requesting confirmation. I’m not currently doing any regular shops where the scheduler has such a policy. So you did the right thing by contacting the scheduler directly instead of waiting for some automatic removal (which could have done with a citation).

Coincidentally (or not) but after posting this, I got an email saying that my shop had been cancelled. Then I received an email for the shops again and I noticed that not many had been taken. Not a big surprise.

I should have known better than to think that the shop would be worth the price given that their restocking jobs pay even less than this purchase shop did. I always get upset when the listed reimbursement amount is inflated (a supermarket sushi shop comes to mind, although at least in that case there was SOME usable reimbursement, even if it was not close to the advertised amount)

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2021 03:38AM by MisterBill.

Mister Bill, I did one of those shops about 3 years ago...no more. It's not worth the hassle. And yes, you have to call to activate the card. It's a big no-no to me. I think you did the right thing as well.

Yeah, it just has too many "what a pain" components to be worth doing. If I didn't actually have to load money onto it to get the card, I might have considered doing it, since I had requested the shop. But being stuck with having to use the card to get my money back and having to pay an unreimbursed fee to do so was the final straw.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2021 03:53PM by MisterBill.

Many consumer complaints on this brand of card also. Did once, was mad at myself once I paid all the "fees" to basically get my money back. So yes, bad deal all around.

Update -- the shop is still available at the same price, as are the others in my state.

Some merchants have provided feedback for me regarding various gift cards. With that in mind but not in print, may I suggest that you might consider merchandising gift cards instead of purchasing them? The work is easy, recurring, and in a variety of retailers. The pay varies according to brand and MSC. Sometimes, it takes longer to sign in and out of a vendor log than it does to complete the tasks. This could fit neatly into some people's larger routes or schedules.

I did a gift card merchandising shop a few months ago. I only took it because the fee went up to a reasonable level, like $25. It was a pain because my glasses kept fogging up with my mask on. Would not do another one until the store (and I'm guessing the shop rules) allows a mask not to be worn.

The merchandising shops for these locations pay $9.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2021 04:09PM by MisterBill.