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How often are hotels (Super 8) shopped?

April 16, 2011 02:27AM
Just wondering because I plan to visit back home next weekend so I'm going to take a local hotel to shop and from what I can see it is the only hotel shopped up there (there's also a Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn if anyone wishes to let me in on what MSC does those....). Anyways, I was wondering how often this type of hotel is normally shopped...there doesn't seem to be a restriction on the MSC's page for how often I can shop it, so are they shopped like, every quarter or once a year or what? It'd be awesome if it is once per quarter or more often cause I'd love to go home more and be able to stay in a hotel instead of at my parents (they're a little cat crazy, if you kwim!).

Thanks for any info you can share with me!
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More About Hotel Mystery Shopping
April 16, 2011 03:19AM
If you are planning to shop a super 8, would it really be worth your time? Hotel shop jobs are very time consuming. Perhaps you could check on hotels.com, if you are looking for a cheaper rate.
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April 16, 2011 03:49AM
Well, it's not like I am on vacation or something. It's my hometown and I'm just visiting family and stuff. I read the checklist and it doesn't seem all that time consuming...check for normal cleanliness issues inside and out as well as customer service stuff and then call my room to leave a message and make sure the message feature works. I can't imagine it would take me more than an hour to check for everything and fill out the survey. Maybe I'm wrong though. *shrug*
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April 16, 2011 05:00AM
The Super 8 shops are quite easy to do... I've done several. But, the MSC that does these shops is notorious for being very slow paying. I eventually got my money from them, but it took phone calls and patience. I've heard they might have gotten better recently, so maybe I'd just do one and see how long it takes to get paid before taking on any more.

Steve... smiling smiley
Fresno, CA - and shopping all over the middle part of the state!
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April 16, 2011 12:53PM
Those low end hotel shops are very easy, but pay and reimbursement takes about 12 weeks. Also, check out the hotel on tripadvisor.com to be sure that you are not signing up to stay at a vermin infested place! A few of their shops are in pretty bad conditions.

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.
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April 16, 2011 12:55PM
Like I said, it's my hometown, and it's a small town. I've stayed in this hotel before, so I know it is an Okay hotel. Thanks for the warning.

Also, I read that it takes 8-12 weeks from the time everything is approved (they made sure to point out that it is not from the date it is submitted, but from the date approved), so I'm well aware of the pay schedule too. I have lots of patience, and lots of free phone minutes. smiling smiley

Thanks for the advice everyone!
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April 16, 2011 07:19PM
Yeah, the MSC who has Super 8 pays about once every three months. I refuse to do ANY work for them with that slow of a turn around.
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April 16, 2011 10:13PM
Haha! Guess you've never been broke enough huh? If it's free it's for me. LOL!
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April 17, 2011 01:06PM
I use their hotel shops when I am doing a long route. It's better to get the hotel reimbursement in 12 weeks than never, and the fees buy some fuel for the trip. Otherwise, I do not take threi assignments.

Oh, yes, and then there are the accumulating "frequent sleeper" points, which I use for free, higher end, hotel stays to subsidize more shopping routes of vacations. BUT, what shopper can resist adding a route of shops to a vacation? LOL

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.
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April 17, 2011 09:42PM
This is going to bring you a smile smiling smiley

www.CheckInnCard.com

This is a corporate discount card used for lodging at many major motels. When you register, just give them a "name" for your business, they will ask for a credit card number. I recently paid $43 for a $74 room, using this card.

Now, go ahead and get reimbursed for the room - less money out of your pocket - and your mystery shop fee. smiling smiley
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April 18, 2011 01:11AM
I started registering on CheckInnCard. The site is not secure so I did not want to give them my credit card number. If it were a secure site I would have continued.
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April 18, 2011 03:13PM
Great advice, I would have checked it out, had I not read above post. I belong to Starwood hotel rewards sponsered by American Express. Points add up quickly (only card I use) and I get about 6 nights free a year, and the good news...no report!

Live consciously....
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April 18, 2011 08:01PM
As far as the CheckInnCard.com, I actually work for this company as my day job and I can attest that it is a reliable company. They require your credit card because they will need to charge it for the stay however if you don't feel comfortable entering it on their website you can call them and give it over the phone. Its kind of a crapshoot as far as how much of a discount you will get but its always lower than the lowest rate that the hotel posts. Keep in mind also that most of the hotels that we do business with are low to mid grade hotels. Don't deal with a lot of Hiltons or Doubletrees or botique hotels. Also note if you belong to a rewards club with one of the hotels you can use it as well, you are essentially issued a credit card that use to pay and the stay is then taken out of your credit card of file, most of our customers are business owners that travel frequently.

Triple Platinum Certified - Shopping South Central Kansas


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2011 08:03PM by Brak.
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April 19, 2011 05:13PM
I am scheduled to do a Super 8 next week:-)
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April 19, 2011 05:20PM
Well, I'm going to give the MSC who does these budget Wyndham hotels another try. I have some other jobs I need to spread out over two days over on the Central Coast, so I picked up at Travelodge MS to do for my overnight stay. I'm hope maybe the MSC has gotten their act together and it doesn't take 4-5 months to get reimbursed/paid. We shall see...

Steve... smiling smiley
Fresno, CA - and shopping all over the middle part of the state!
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