Test cards

I have seen shops that require the shopper to go into different types of stores and test different companies credit/debit cards. Does anyone have the pros or cons regarding these shops? Thanks in advance.

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Run like the wind. I naively signed up for 5. Exactly one was doable as presented. The scheduler was helpful, but it was some of the hardest money I have ever made.

I have not heard of these. Who is doing them?

I do as many of them as I can get assigned. One of the biggest pros is getting to shop stores (both local and chain) they aren’t normally mystery shopped. The scheduler is incredibly helpful if anything goes awry. For me the biggest con is that the reports are very repetitive and, relative to the very short amount of time actually spent in the location, fairly time consuming. But certainly not so time consuming that I’m not happy to do more shops.

I like them although they are tense and don't really pay much.

I don't understand why they can't be done as revealed shops, as they're simply testing equipment functionality.

Many years ago, at least 10, a poster shared her/his 10 Commandments of Shopping. One of those was to test the water and initially only apply for a single assignment for a new MSC and/or client. An adherence, over time, has saved me grief.

The scheduler who did this about a year ago was extremely helpful. I did a couple of the new ones recently and the new scheduler doesn't respond and is not helpful at all.

I will say - the form is a one size fits all so sometimes it's confusing, but overall the shops are pretty easy to do. I enjoy doing them, but wish the new scheduler responded better.

A shopper may not be able to select 1 to try. The cost of sending live cards to and from the MSC by FedEx is expensive and they may not assign so you can try a shop to see if you like it.

Yes, priority was given to shoppers who could pick up multiple locations.

tstewart3 posts--A shopper may not be able to select 1 to try. The cost of sending live cards to and from the MSC by FedEx is expensive and they may not assign so you can try a shop to see if you like it.

Bob replies--That is certainly possible, but their expenses are not my concern; my avoiding a frustrating experience is what is important to me. As the old adage goes, "To each his/her own." but one exasperating situation definitely trumps 5.

If I remember correctly about one I did a few years ago, the sticky part was to discreetly take a photo of the error message on the card reader if the card was declined. Is this the same shop?

Yes!

Thanks to my fellow shoppers for giving me input regarding test cards.

I have to say, I am really good at following and reading directions for shops. I got really interested into these and had to read the directions multiple times (which are extremely long) to even get half the feeling that I would not screw it up. For that reason I declined a nice route of these. Not to mention they wanted me to go into a hair salon and some how spend only $10. Oh and also use a china pay card? That just seems a little extreme.

If you go to a hair salon and there are no products you can buy under $10, you ask the scheduler to approve a higher amount. If they approve you're going to end up with some nice shampoo, if they don't you still get paid.

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Test cards

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