My observations:

1.) Last year, the starting pay on BP Consumer Audits was reduced from $18 per audit, to $15 before being put back to $18. This was despite it having the start pay being set at $18 for many years prior, and that starting pay being something that the mystery shop company could easily pay shoppers with no financial hardship whatsoever.

2.) There was also the offer of "swag" for doing shops that was made. The more you did, the greater your chances of winning "swag" through some sort of lottery system. The idea being that if shoppers could be duped into working for less through "swag" then why offer them incentive or bonus pay. Seemingly this idea didn't gain a lot of traction though.

3.) During previous years for Quarter 2 of the year, which would typically be around summer time, there would be the BP Consumer Audits, and the BP Visual Standard Audits. Both of these audits had a starting pay of $18 each. So if you did both of these you could make $36 per BP location starting out. Now those audits were separate, but you could do them back to back, and make $36 per location. Some people even tried doing both audits at the same time since the photo requirements of both audits were very similar. Of course, they were later told they couldn't do that. Why? Because - well, really no good reason.

Now, you can do that though, but starting pay isn't $36 per location to do that, it's $28 per location. So if we do the math on that, it's about a 22% reduction in shopper pay right off the bat for the MSC's quarter 2 expenses regardless of how you were doing them. And this doesn't even take into account by how much they will further reduce expenses by one - not having that many remaining locations that will need bonuses later on, and two - significantly reducing the bonus amounts offered on those remaining locations. So a reasonable person could conclude that a 22% reduction in pay is only the tip of the iceberg as that's just a starting pay reduction. That's not even looking at the bonus pay reduction, which is also a factor in a shopper's overall pay.

4.) Both the MSC and BP's stock price keeps going up, and up. If you look up their one year stock charts, you'll see a stock price, that like with just about any other stock chart, dips and peaks here and there, but overall, would appear to be trending upward. How could this be?

Question:

Anyone else notice or paying attention to these things? What do you think is going on here? Just curious.

Curious inquires--What do you think is going on here?

Bob comments--There is not any "think" to it. On an annual basis, some shoppers are desperate and/or willing to accept shops that require more work for less money. Therefore,some MSCs increase the level of work and/or decrease fees.

If that were the case, if "desperate shoppers" were really the reason for reductions specifically to the starting pay, then why did the starting pay remain the same for so many years on these BP Audits? These BP audits have been around for a very long time for "desperate shoppers" to just now be affecting the starting pay. So does that really explain it?

My take on it is first and foremost, the MSC's actions are based on quarterly profit targets that they set for themselves, and a part of that involves greed. Secondly, they view cutting shopper pay as a viable way of reaching those profit targets, and hold the opinion that many shoppers are too naïve, or gullible to notice and do anything about it. And to me, it would seem they are mostly correct in their assumption. If you look at the PrestoMap, and look in areas where you would expect there to be many BP pins, in many cases, they are just gone. They are not there. (Cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, which have a ton of BP pins at launch, already have many of their locations already done at base pay.)

I don't think it's really so much "desperate" people so much as it is people that don't know any better because they think $28 is better than $18, thinking that is a pay increase, when really it is a pay decrease from $36 because they hadn't been paying attention. Or in some cases, they don't even know what the pay use to be because it's their first time doing it. So they get hoodwinked that way. Not necessarily because they are desperate but because they didn't know any better or pay any attention to it.

Hence I ask the questions, did anyone notice? What do you think?

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2022 01:31AM by Curious99.

BP's stock keeps going up because their profits keep going up. And, of course, one way to increase profit is to reduce costs.

Like an amoeba's sole purpose in life is to reproduce, the corporation's sole purpose is to generate profit.

Soulless? Yes.

Evil? Depends on your point of view. Stockholders don't think so.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2022 10:51PM by ceasesmith.

Smartphones.

In my experience it's actually less time and effort doing the 2 locations as a "bundle". I only have to go to the location once, don't have to take double the amount of pictures, and don't have extra gas expenses to do the extra assignment. I have found that it's less work and I don't have to go out of my way to make the extra $$. My pay per hour is actually more because I don't have the extra commute time to consider. Typically the ability to do both assignments back-to-back wasn't available for the locations that make sense for me (either due to where the station is or the issues that exist, or don't) so in order to do both types of assignment I'd have to make an extra trip. I prefer how it's being done this quarter because the locations fit into the route of other brands that I'm already doing. Your math is too simplistic for my real world situation and your conclusion doesn't apply. Personally, I'm making more $$ for less work. YMMV

@KarenMSW wrote:

In my experience it's actually less time and effort doing the 2 locations as a "bundle"...

I agree, it's better to do the two audits as one bundle, but I don't see how $28 for a bundle is better than $36.

@KarenMSW wrote:

I only have to go to the location once..,

Even when dong the two audits separately instead of together as a bundle, why would you need to go back a second time if you are doing them back-to-back? Did no one tell you that you could do the consumer audit, and then wait a couple of minutes, and then do the visual standards audit?

@KarenMSW wrote:

Personally, I'm making more $$ for less work. YMMV

The only way that could possibly make sense is if you look at in terms of an hourly rate, but if you look at it from the perspective of a total dollar amount, it's actually 22% less money.

99.99% of shoppers do not put as much time and thought into the numbers as you have, @Curious99. Shoppers generally only see a dollar sign when they accept a shop (i.e., $28 looks much better than $12.50 plus a $1.50 bonus). I have not completed one of these shops this quarter because $28 is base pay and I do not generally perform shops at base pay. It appears that I might not be performing a BP this time around because they are disappearing quickly. My general thought train runs more along the lines of what @shopperbob posted - shoppers are desperate right now and the shops "look" like they are paying more. Many shoppers do not examine the amount of work involved with a shop before accepting it - they tap the pin, lock themselves in, and go to work. People do not consider the bonus potential with these shops (it's HUGE!) because most are worried about today, not next month.

@ceasesmith wrote:

BP's stock keeps going up because their profits keep going up. And, of course, one way to increase profit is to reduce costs.

Like an amoeba's sole purpose in life is to reproduce, the corporation's sole purpose is to generate profit.

Soulless? Yes.

Evil? Depends on your point of view. Stockholders don't think so.

Yeah, but I think it was a little less soulless under the previous MSC's watch because they didn't mess with your starting pay. Yes, they tried to keep bonus amounts as low as possible, and marginally increased work requirements from time to time, but they didn't mess with the starting pay like the current one is.

Another thing that I thought was interesting when looking at BP's stock the the MSC's stock is their market cap. BP which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange has a market cap of $100 Billion dollars, and the MSC's stock which is traded on the Paris Stock Exchange has a market cap of approximately $2 Billion dollars. That's a lot of money.

@patman9760 that makes sense. I've seen these shops go as high as $200 at the very end of the cycle, but for a lot of people, I think you're right, they just see that $28 posted, and think let's go without giving it any further thought.

The good news is that all of the ones that I normally do we do are still available. The bad news is that I had to sell a generator and I have to put some stuff on eBay. At this rate I'm not gonna have any furniture or anything left to furnish my house when I get it built.

It's not all bad though, most of the stuff that I'm going to be putting on the eBay is stuff that Jason got for free in one place or another.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2022 04:25AM by Morledzep.

@Curious99 wrote:

@KarenMSW wrote:

In my experience it's actually less time and effort doing the 2 locations as a "bundle"...

I agree, it's better to do the two audits as one bundle, but I don't see how $28 for a bundle is better than $36.

@KarenMSW wrote:

I only have to go to the location once..,

Even when dong the two audits separately instead of together as a bundle, why would you need to go back a second time if you are doing them back-to-back? Did no one tell you that you could do the consumer audit, and then wait a couple of minutes, and then do the visual standards audit?

@KarenMSW wrote:

Personally, I'm making more $$ for less work. YMMV

The only way that could possibly make sense is if you look at in terms of an hourly rate, but if you look at it from the perspective of a total dollar amount, it's actually 22% less money.

Actually I did have to go back to the majority of the locations because the MSC didn't allow them to be done by the same person on the same day until later in the Quarter. Therefore, since most of these locations fit into my routes early in the quarter, I had to go back to do the second type of evaluation. As I said, YMMV. Your analysis may be the case for you but not necessarily for everyone.

And yes, I do look at it as an hourly rate - I'm making more money for less work and therefore my hourly rate is higher. If I were to do more locations I'd make more money in total, again for less work than doing the locations separately. In the end, it's not less money. For example, if I did 5 locations for $20 each = $100 and it takes me 5 hours to drive to the location, take the pictures, and do the reports my hourly rate is $20. If under the bundle scenario I can make $30 per location for the same 5 locations = $150 taking the same 5 hours my hourly rate becomes $30 per hour. Since the bundles are taking a negligible amount of additional time (maybe 5 minutes) but are actually taking the same amount of time. Also, under the previous "rules" I had to do 2 separate assignments meaning that I only saved the commuting time. Since the reporting for the "bundle" is only 3 (at worst) pick boxes, no additional pictures of the pumps, etc., and no additional driving time, which is adding 5 minutes to the basic shop instead of 30 minutes as in past year, it's actually proven, for me, to be more lucrative as a bundle.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2022 05:51AM by KarenMSW.

@ceasesmith wrote:

BP's stock keeps going up because their profits keep going up. And, of course, one way to increase profit is to reduce costs.

Like an amoeba's sole purpose in life is to reproduce, the corporation's sole purpose is to generate profit.

Soulless? Yes.

Evil? Depends on your point of view. Stockholders don't think so.

I believe you are correct.
I always remember that all publicly traded companies, oil companies included, answer to themselves first, their shareholders secondly and thirdly to their customers.
It is why the major oil companies are doing "buybacks of their own stock and secondly answering to their shareholders by doing so.

This MSC is cutting shoppers’ pay via reduced bonuses and/or reduced base pay on very single project. Now when you ask for an extra bonus (even when they say “make me an offer”), you have to explain to them why you’re asking for more (hotel vs mileage etc). A waste of time and demeaning. “I’ll do it for $30 so you don’t have to pay $50 later” apparently isn’t good enough for them.

However, I think it’s probably an incorrect assumption that the MSC is receiving the same for the combined audit as they did for the consumer plus visual. It looks like they’ve reworked it in the contract with BP. I’m sure they’re still receiving more than the increase from $18 to $28, however. And this will be even bigger when bonuses roll around. There were lots of locations (I’ve done them in multiple states and watch the board in all of them) where the consumer audits would go to $30+ and the visuals would go to $40+ (even tho the visuals were easier). I doubt all those locations will go to $70+ combined. Just one bonus/increase in pay per location instead of two will save the MSC a ton of money, probably a quarter of a million dollars right there in addition to the people that have a minimum in their head of a gas station fee of $20-$25 who will do these shops at base pay. And people like me who want to wait, but who need the money and will do a bunch at base. So I’m guessing they’ll save close to a third of a million dollars just on this one project in one quarter via reduced shopper fees. (6,785 BP locations according to Google).

The only good news is that you can now claim the shop for 96 hours. I wouldn’t assume that if the pins are gone that the shops have been done and that they won’t be back on the board this quarter. Or that’s what I’m hoping.

@KarenMSW wrote:

.... And yes, I do look at it as an hourly rate - I'm making more money for less work and therefore my hourly rate is higher. If I were to do more locations I'd make more money in total, again for less work than doing the locations separately. In the end, it's not less money....

What you are saying is you think the current arrangement of bundling the audits together is more benefical because it translates into a higher hourly rate than having them kept seperate, and that if you want to make more money than you simply work more hours. Okay.

What I am saying is if there is less money to go around, and the work is being done more quickly, whether it's by you or your competition, then there are going to be some shoppers that don't make that much money this quarter because of it. That you might run out of work a lot sooner than what you'd like. That there is an unfavorable trade-off being made here between hourly pay, and total amount earned. You can't just work more hours when there is no more work left.

There has always been a trade-off between hourly rates, and total dollar amounts earned with this type of work. The higher you want one to become, the lower the other must become. You can make anywhere between $10/hr to $200/hr doing this kind of work making such trade-offs. You could work 24/7 at what works out to be $10/hr or you could potentially work just 1 hour this quarter and make $200/hr.

But the sweet spot that takes into account both the hourly rate, and the total dollar amount is going to be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. It's not going to be doing a whole bunch of locations at the base pay rate, which is currently $28 per location. The best hourly pay rate has never been the base pay rate.

So even if the hourly rate is increased via bundling, I don't think this change is a good one overall. I think it would have been better if shoppers decided they weren't going to touch these bundles until they are at least $36 or more. Then it wouldn't have been such a bad trade-off. But if you think $28 per bundle is a good deal, then it certainly is a win for the MSC because it's going to mean they pay out less money in the end.

@Curious99 wrote:

@KarenMSW wrote:

.... And yes, I do look at it as an hourly rate - I'm making more money for less work and therefore my hourly rate is higher. If I were to do more locations I'd make more money in total, again for less work than doing the locations separately. In the end, it's not less money....

What you are saying is you think the current arrangement of bundling the audits together is more benefical because it translates into a higher hourly rate than having them kept seperate, and that if you want to make more money than you simply work more hours. Okay.

What I am saying is if there is less money to go around, and the work is being done more quickly, whether it's by you or your competition, then there are going to be some shoppers that don't make that much money this quarter because of it. That you might run out of work a lot sooner than what you'd like. That there is an unfavorable trade-off being made here between hourly pay, and total amount earned. You can't just work more hours when there is no more work left.

There has always been a trade-off between hourly rates, and total dollar amounts earned with this type of work. The higher you want one to become, the lower the other must become. You can make anywhere between $10/hr to $200/hr doing this kind of work making such trade-offs. You could work 24/7 at what works out to be $10/hr or you could potentially work just 1 hour this quarter and make $200/hr.

But the sweet spot that takes into account both the hourly rate, and the total dollar amount is going to be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. It's not going to be doing a whole bunch of locations at the base pay rate, which is currently $28 per location. The best hourly pay rate has never been the base pay rate.

So even if the hourly rate is increased via bundling, I don't think this change is a good one overall. I think it would have been better if shoppers decided they weren't going to touch these bundles until they are at least $36 or more. Then it wouldn't have been such a bad trade-off. But if you think $28 per bundle is a good deal, then it certainly is a win for the MSC because it's going to mean they pay out less money in the end.

What I am saying, and as I keep stressing, it is only for me and varies based on person and their individual circumstances including driving distance and amount of competition, even the type and quality of stations in their working area (are they large stations, are they well-kept), is that for me, and me only, this ends up being a better deal. I can work less time and make the same, or more, than if the evaluations are done separately. No one's situation is equivalent, that's why not only do we have to evaluate whether a situation works for us and why we can't make blanket statements as to whether it is a good or bad deal for anyone. I care whether the MSC makes money because it keeps me employed (and I don't have to hunt for new companies and/or new assignments) but, in reality, the main thing that I care about is if it makes money for me (and, at the risk of sounding callous, I have zero interest in leaving assignments that make sense for me to do just so others can make money). It's the reason why I primarily do gas stations - because I have a lot of experience so my learning curve is limited and I can complete the assignments far more quickly. It's why I rarely do retail or food - because they don't usually meet my needs and the reports take far more time than I have the patience for. Plus, the gas stations pay out quickly so the time value of money is higher than with other assignment types. And, since the work time and effort is actually less when bundled, FOR ME, it's a good deal. It's not "I think", it's a fact FOR ME.

Last year you could do both audits at the same time right from the beginning, or very close to it (it wasn’t that way the year before, the only other year I’m familiar with).. There’s just no way that one $28 shop that is 1.5 x as much work is more hourly than doing two for a total of $70. Most locations around the country went to those rates. For whatever reason, most people did them separately in the locations I looked at or shopped, I guess because they did the easier one first, which was the Visual. Especially if they were close together it did make more sense in many cases to do it that way. But the consumer AND the visual went up to $30-$40 apiece throughout much of the country. Last quarter after the MSC was already trying to penny pinch, and when there was an experiment with quite a few visual questions, most locations in the country were still available when it went up to $30.
The MSC is doing fine. The multinational corporation increased their profit in 2021 over 2020, and 2021 was also higher than 2019. Of course you should make your own choices for yourself, but the more everyone, including me and you, does at base rate, the slower they’ll be to add bonuses the next quarter. It will affect you too, in the long run, the more people do them at base. Especially these, which are much less likely to go past the deadline. They are working extremely hard to lower shopper pay so I don’t think we should make it easier IF we have a choice. I do understand, though, that there are also always new shoppers claiming the shops too soon, so if $28 is adequate, then you don’t want to miss the opportunity. So it’s like a game of chicken, always. And of course, if like me you’re broke and the monthlies for another brand are at $14, then these for $28 are a better deal.

@KarenMSW wrote:

@Curious99 wrote:

@KarenMSW wrote:

.... And yes, I do look at it as an hourly rate - I'm making more money for less work and therefore my hourly rate is higher. If I were to do more locations I'd make more money in total, again for less work than doing the locations separately. In the end, it's not less money....

What you are saying is you think the current arrangement of bundling the audits together is more benefical because it translates into a higher hourly rate than having them kept seperate, and that if you want to make more money than you simply work more hours. Okay.

What I am saying is if there is less money to go around, and the work is being done more quickly, whether it's by you or your competition, then there are going to be some shoppers that don't make that much money this quarter because of it. That you might run out of work a lot sooner than what you'd like. That there is an unfavorable trade-off being made here between hourly pay, and total amount earned. You can't just work more hours when there is no more work left.

There has always been a trade-off between hourly rates, and total dollar amounts earned with this type of work. The higher you want one to become, the lower the other must become. You can make anywhere between $10/hr to $200/hr doing this kind of work making such trade-offs. You could work 24/7 at what works out to be $10/hr or you could potentially work just 1 hour this quarter and make $200/hr.

But the sweet spot that takes into account both the hourly rate, and the total dollar amount is going to be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. It's not going to be doing a whole bunch of locations at the base pay rate, which is currently $28 per location. The best hourly pay rate has never been the base pay rate.

So even if the hourly rate is increased via bundling, I don't think this change is a good one overall. I think it would have been better if shoppers decided they weren't going to touch these bundles until they are at least $36 or more. Then it wouldn't have been such a bad trade-off. But if you think $28 per bundle is a good deal, then it certainly is a win for the MSC because it's going to mean they pay out less money in the end.

What I am saying, and as I keep stressing, it is only for me and varies based on person and their individual circumstances including driving distance and amount of competition, even the type and quality of stations in their working area (are they large stations, are they well-kept), is that for me, and me only, this ends up being a better deal. I can work less time and make the same, or more, than if the evaluations are done separately. No one's situation is equivalent, that's why not only do we have to evaluate whether a situation works for us and why we can't make blanket statements as to whether it is a good or bad deal for anyone. I care whether the MSC makes money because it keeps me employed (and I don't have to hunt for new companies and/or new assignments) but, in reality, the main thing that I care about is if it makes money for me (and, at the risk of sounding callous, I have zero interest in leaving assignments that make sense for me to do just so others can make money). It's the reason why I primarily do gas stations - because I have a lot of experience so my learning curve is limited and I can complete the assignments far more quickly. It's why I rarely do retail or food - because they don't usually meet my needs and the reports take far more time than I have the patience for. Plus, the gas stations pay out quickly so the time value of money is higher than with other assignment types. And, since the work time and effort is actually less when bundled, FOR ME, it's a good deal. It's not "I think", it's a fact FOR ME.

@French Farmer wrote:

@ceasesmith wrote:

BP's stock keeps going up because their profits keep going up. And, of course, one way to increase profit is to reduce costs.

Like an amoeba's sole purpose in life is to reproduce, the corporation's sole purpose is to generate profit.

Soulless? Yes.

Evil? Depends on your point of view. Stockholders don't think so.

I believe you are correct.
I always remember that all publicly traded companies, oil companies included, answer to themselves first, their shareholders secondly and thirdly to their customers.
It is why the major oil companies are doing "buybacks of their own stock and secondly answering to their shareholders by doing so.

Actually in way too many cases comapnies answer to the shareholders first, even in detriment to their own well being and long-term profit potential. (The CEOs are rewared with shares, so they go along.)

@Notme2021,

I have noticed the same things, and agree. When I look back on my past earnings over the years, I have noticed that some of my most profitable mystery shopping periods have been during the BP Quarter 2 time periods. I think that has been because of the Consumer Audits, and the Visual Standards Audits being treated separately during Quarter 2 of each year. And for those of us that looked forward to Quarter 2 of each year for this reason, I think it's sad to see that go. Other people can think, or "know", or whatever they want to, but you can't beat getting $70 to do those two audits with $28. It just doesn't work that way.

Quarter 1 and the Dark Audits don't pay jack in my opinion, and Quarter 3 isn't much better because you don't even have the low paying Dark Audits to do. So if you were going to make any money with BP Audits, Quarter 2 always seemed like the time to do it. But now, I don't know that Quarter 2 is necessarily going to be any better than Quarter 1 and Quarter 3 moving forward. And it's discouraging because you know the people with the money could easily pay us what they have in the past forever if they wanted to. Yet the profit they get from that is not good enough. It absolutely must be less, and less, and less pay every quarter, every year, every time. No matter what. Apparently it can't just stay the same. That would be asking for too much.

As for the $14 monthlies, I know what you are talking about. Personally, I'd consider going for the monthlies, and quarterlies when they hit at least $35. It's not get rich money, but I find that brand nicer to work for, and a potential substitute for doing BP Audits if I don't want to, or feel like I'm being short changed.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2022 03:35AM by Curious99.

I personally do the monthlies for $20 or so in more populated areas, and wait until they go higher in areas with more driving or where there aren’t many shoppers. But they’re done monthly, not 3 quarters per year, and are not nearly so picky on the editing side. That same brand, yes I wait until at least $35 for the quarterlies (4 quarters a year, not 3). It looks like they won’t be going over $35 anyway, sigh.

P 2 of one of the BP dox makes it clear that the audits help their business. So they should pay accordingly and the MSC should pass that through to the shopper. Especially considering the gas reimbursement that even in a Prius is no longer nearly enough, even if I’m doing 10 a day. The store reimbursement no longer pays for a bottle of water in most stores.

@Curious99 wrote:

@Notme2021,

I have noticed the same things, and agree. When I look back on my past earnings over the years, I have noticed that some of my most profitable mystery shopping periods have been during the BP Quarter 2 time periods. I think that has been because of the Consumer Audits, and the Visual Standards Audits being treated separately during Quarter 2 of each year. And for those of us that looked forward to Quarter 2 of each year for this reason, I think it's sad to see that go. Other people can think, or "know", or whatever they want to, but you can't beat getting $70 to do those two audits with $28. It just doesn't work that way.

Quarter 1 and the Dark Audits don't pay jack in my opinion, and Quarter 3 isn't much better because you don't even have the low paying Dark Audits to do. So if you were going to make any money with BP Audits, Quarter 2 always seemed like the time to do it. But now, I don't know that Quarter 2 is necessarily going to be any better than Quarter 1 and Quarter 3 moving forward. And it's discouraging because you know the people with the money could easily pay us what they have in the past forever if they wanted to. Yet the profit they get from that is not good enough. It absolutely must be less, and less, and less pay every quarter, every year, every time. No matter what. Apparently it can't just stay the same. That would be asking for too much.

As for the $14 monthlies, I know what you are talking about. Personally, I'd consider going for the monthlies, and quarterlies when they hit at least $35. It's not get rich money, but I find that brand nicer to work for, and a potential substitute for doing BP Audits if I don't want to, or feel like I'm being short changed.

Yeah, in a lot of places, the competition simply isn't going to let you get more than $20 with the monthlies for that brand.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2022 04:40AM by Curious99.

I don't mind the duplicate photo issues. It is what it is. But on many of these is gas stations they say to disregard 15% of the dirt. And they say to have some leniency when it comes to the diesel pumps because diesel is just dirty and leaks. And then they reject your shop because there is a few black stains from diesel fuel hose on a pump skirt. Not more than 15% of the pump skirt or the entire pump for that matter, and it's from the diesel hose, but I lost $60 that day.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2022 10:31PM by Morledzep.

Was that recently? Because both BP and the other brand should be sent back if you miss an infraction and not rejected outright. (Tho idk what it was like more than two years ago).
Editors have always been more particular for BP, though less so now. Someone said in another thread that the editors are picky for the yellow brand but I never found that to be the case, just a long and annoying report for that one. This past month the editors for the blue brand seemed to be more picky and lower scores but I don’t think they sent reports back more, just lower grades to accompany the lower pay.

@Morledzep wrote:

I don't mind the duplicate photo issues. It is what it is. But on many of these is gas stations they say to disregard 15% of the dirt. And they say to have some leniency when it comes to the diesel pumps because diesel is just dirty and leaks. And then they reject your shop because there is a few black stains from diesel fuel hose on a pump skirt. Not more than 15% of the pump skirt or the entire pump for that matter, and it's from the diesel hose, but I lost $60 that day.

Ok, point A this quote below: How in the world would you drive 5 hours to only do 5 shops?? for 20 each? 5 hours driving time + 5 hours work time=10 hours for 1 shop/or 5+10 (hours driving time) which is a 15-hour route + input time (30 minutes to 2 hours depending on shopper freshness/rested ness, lack of distractions, etc). To drive 5 hours would have to be a 500-dollar "route" all shops combined. I'm not driving 2 hours to do 5 shops for a hundred dollars normally (rarely) but never ever 5 hours. I've made overnight and two-day routes before (originating or in Georgia the cheapest state in the country I think), but every shop was worth 50 and shops were no more than 1 hour apart normally. I did an overnight to Augusta including South Carolina by Augusta and made almost 600 and Augusta is only 2 hours from here. Normally if I drive 2 hours to a location, I can make the route worth 200+. If I make a route of BP's 2 hours away with five shops at 31 each then I would make 155 that day minus gas and food. At that price, it's only worth it IF it's slow and there are no other routes to be made. In the last two weeks, I've made a route to Augusta for 500 +, and a route to Blue Ridge for 280 which I thought was LOW! (Route was 14 hours/ish and about 5 more hours for inputting.180/19=14.74 an hour minus gas. technically speaking I LOST MONEY. even though 280 in one day sounds good in theory. I worked my A$$ off for that 280.

Even when doing the two audits separately instead of together as a bundle, why would you need to go back a second time if you are doing them back-to-back? Did no one tell you that you could do the consumer audit, and

And yes, I do look at it as an hourly rate - I'm making more money for less work and therefore my hourly rate is higher. If I were to do more locations I'd make more money in total, again for less work than doing the locations separately. In the end, it's not less money. For example, if I did 5 locations for $20 each = $100 and it takes me 5 hours to drive to the location, take the pictures, and do the reports my hourly rate is $20. If under the bundle scenario I can make $30 per location for the same 5 locations = $150 taking the same 5 hours my hourly rate becomes $30 per hour. Since the bundles are taking a negligible amount of additional time (maybe 5 minutes) but are actually taking the same amount of time. Also, under the previous "rules" I had to do 2 separate assignments meaning that I only saved the commuting time. Since the reporting for the "bundle" is only 3 (at worst) pick boxes, no additional pictures of the pumps, etc., and no additional driving time, which is adding 5 minutes to the basic shop instead of 30 minutes as in past year, it's actually proven, for me, to be more lucrative as a bundle.[/quote]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2022 10:49PM by F and L TeleComm.

Point B, (separate topic). I don't have any BP stock. I've looked at all of them and will be adding more stocks but currently, I only have Shell Midstream Partners (SHLX) it is currently (and has been for a while) paying 8% and is by far my highest paying stock. I've been holding. (and collecting quarterly dividends).

@Notme2021 wrote:

Was that recently? Because both BP and the other brand should be sent back if you miss an infraction and not rejected outright. (Tho idk what it was like more than two years ago).
Editors have always been more particular for BP, though less so now. Someone said in another thread that the editors are picky for the yellow brand but I never found that to be the case, just a long and annoying report for that one. This past month the editors for the blue brand seemed to be more picky and lower scores but I don’t think they sent reports back more, just lower grades to accompany the lower pay.

It was over a year ago.. I was surprised this year when I tried to do BP again, they actually sent the shops back to me for a for corrections rather than just deny denying them out right like they did before.

@Morledzep wrote:

I don't mind the duplicate photo issues. It is what it is... And then they reject your shop because there is a few black stains from diesel fuel hose on a pump skirt...

Higher Pay Was The Reason for Putting Up With Problems

It was because pay was higher than other brands of gas station mystery shops that I put up so much aggravation for so long. But with the pay being continually cut like it is, it's like why put up with the aggravation then? Yeah, the MSC has gotten a little better about things since they first took over the BP contract, but it always seems like it's something. It's like they can't just leave things alone whether it's the pay, the work requirements, or both. It's like they constantly have to nick pick, and make adjustments to something.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2022 04:43AM by Curious99.

Point C, I have issues forcing me to take shops for 30-35 (trying to pay bills) but I will not drive long distances for 20-dollar shops that is not economical at all. The heat is forcing the usage of the a/c in the car which combined with high gas prices you will not make as much money. Businesses like to pay the least they have to for the most work. We are the same way if I need work done on my rent house I either high unskilled labor or take bids and read reviews and decide who made the best bid with the least or least concerning bad reviews. I do local shops for base pay sometimes when I don't have higher-paying work available. For 30-minute drives, I start at 25 dollars minimum but I try to do multiple shops in the area so that I do 3-4 assignments in that area. Then for an hour drive, I try to get at least 35 and tale 3-5 assignments in the area, and so on and so on. Things aren't the way they were for Maritz because now they are making us pin down one exact date and we lose the flexibility to move the route around in the week to maximize our profits. We also run the risk of losing our rebound time (you schedule a big route on Monday you need to Tuesday to regroup after driving back and inputting projects.) Another issue that I just found out today from a scheduler that in two weeks they are going to pull all projects not inputted by midnight. Even if the shop was done LATE at night 9-11:30 PM. So this means you can only do half as much work because you have to have time to get the project inputted at the same exact time. I wonder who they think is going to drive way out in the middle of nowhere to do one shop especially if there is no wifi there! Even shops that are over 90% completed! So if you are not the driver and every chance you have a signal you are inputting if that shop is not 100% completed by midnight they will pull it. This means you can not schedule as many shop (or I can't) because I can't just go do the shop take the pictures and then get in the car and drive to the next location. I can't build a route that will pay half as much so that means I will either be doing more shops for other marketers with more flexibility or I will be scheduling shorter, less lucrative routes or not scheduling them at all. I am not happy to hear this.

@F and L TeleComm wrote:

... even though 280 in one day sounds good in theory. I worked my A$$ off for that 280...

I bet you did. In the past, I would say $300 a day is a good goal to strive for, but $300 is getting harder and harder to make.

As for owning gas station brand stock, I can't bring myself to do it over dislike for how they pay their independent contractors. The only reason why I brought it up in this thread was to show how they have plenty of money.

@F and L TeleComm wrote:

....Businesses like to pay the least they have to for the most work. We are the same way...

Yeah, but a difference between us and them, is that most of us are not millionaires, and billionaires. We can't afford to pay more for goods and services. They can.