I shop this chain fairly regularly. In the past month, they have added an "on line" segment to do besides the actual site visit. Of course they offer no more money for this added task which can take 15 minutes and includes a photo. Your thoughts?

Carol

Same here. I now wait until the bonus is higher before I bother with these locations...;p

Yea I've done the Lowe's shop before and it is pretty time consuming as it is, but when I heard they added the online part it is going to take a lot more money for me to take it. They have one in my area at $20, and I'm thinking they need to up that another $5 before I even consider it.

Well I am not thrilled with it but honestly I just load up that page as I start my input and finish it up at the end of my report. It doesn't seem to be a problem. I don't do the shops until they are at or close to 20 though and the in store part is pretty easy.

Liz

I was amused because my non-shopper sibling was in the garden department at Lowes the other day and was talking with the garden manager. He was talking about the latest shopper results were posted in the break room and for once his department had done well. My sister expressed surprise that they would ever do poorly because she found the garden folks helpful and everything always fresh and nice. The garden manager indicated that the shoppers were super picky and management took their findings very seriously.

What puzzled me was that back when I did these shops garden was never included. Has that changed? It also made me wonder that so many lives were impacted by a cheap shop that I suspect many shoppers treat as a 'throw away'.

This month is garden equipment. You have to ask about lawnmowers.

I have done a few of these ...and nicely bonused!! I think they are quite easy and keep doing them. I had garden department for my last shop visit!! I got 3 vinca vines.

In my area, I've found that since they added this new requirement, the fees go up a lot faster than they used to.

I did the garden center in May. Now it's outdoor power equipment for a "walk behind lawn mower". I did three of them on Friday for around $25 each. Added four post offices, lunch at Zaxby's and a teller shop and it was a very productive day.

I don't like that extra piece on the report though.

Ron

I did these a few times and gave up--too many interactions for too little pay!

I've got them down to a science. I enter through the garden center or commercial enterance to get an observed checkout. There is always a register open there and nearly always a customer with a few minutes. Then I go find three employees and practically stand on their feet if I have to to force an interaction. Then I head for the sales interaction area and wait the five minutes. I can nearly always get someone there in less than 10 minutes. Many of the interactions only take a few minutes. I did three lawn mower interactions on Friday and the longest one took a total of 7 minutes from the time I entered the department. When I finish the sales interaction, I always leave with a printout or model number written down by the associate of the thing he/she recommended. I then proceed to checkout. There's always a place to stop and jot a note down in those huge stores. By the time I'm in the car again, I staple my notes and my receipts to the first page of the instructions (I only print out that sheet because it has the address and job number on it), and take any additional rememberances down and I'm ready to roll to the next location. None of them take me oer 30 minutes anymore, usually less. I don't take them unless they exceed $20 anymore or unless it's really slow and we're starving. Then I might do one in town nearby for $15. I've made as much as $54 for one before. I just don't take them when they are for peanuts. I don't like the reporting system the MSC uses. Sometimes I write a bunch of narrative and hit submit and get an error. Wish they would come up with a way to save the reports. Lowe's are a bear mostly because of the reporting system, not the actual shop now.

I agree. There is no save button, and I got wiped out on the report. I am going to do another one on Tuesday because it was bonused to about $25.

I will do them all day long for $25 but the ones left in town right now are still $4.00. lol I think I'll let them mature a while.

Ron

I like the way you describe that. Letting them "mature". How cute!

iblessyah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will do them all day long for $25 but the ones
> left in town right now are still $4.00. lol I
> think I'll let them mature a while.
>
> Ron

Those are the new ones. They do two sets now each month. I think the first day those can be shopped is the 16th or 17th.

in my area they only get up to about 15 before people snap them up. I guess its 'market' rules..... (I'm in greater toronto area//canada)

lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> iblessyah Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I will do them all day long for $25 but the
> ones
> > left in town right now are still $4.00. lol I
> > think I'll let them mature a while.
> >
> > Ron
>
> Those are the new ones. They do two sets now each
> month. I think the first day those can be shopped
> is the 16th or 17th.


Which makes me think the commissions are going to be increasing more quickly on these as they want to get them finished out. YAY.

Liz

Not sure what the point of this is. Not worth the effort unless pay is higher.

I wait until they hit around $15, sometimes more. I don't mind these shops, but with the reimbursement was a bit higher, say $10, instead of a buck.

they are right around 11 but not interested... im pretty much only doing the car washes for them...

I do these shops on a fairly regular basis. I think we have gotten some more shoppers in my area because I used to get the for $50 on a regular basis, now I have to jump on them when they are about $30. As for the saving issue, I have lost many reports with their system but I have finally learned to save the page as a .mht file before pressing submit. It looks like it is written in some type of code but if you look long enough you will find the things you typed in the blank. I tend to write alot so it is easier for me to look, copy, and paste rather than retype it all. Hope this helps.

On a side note... how the heck do you get an employees name if they do not greet you! Sometimes I have to find another employee who will interact instead of reporting about the one who ignored me all because the report is not accepted without names!

I keep forgetting to paste the website page so when I do the report I have to close out (they have no save option!) and go to the website ....do the copy of the page and go back to redo the whole report again. Arrrrg.

I've never done Lowe's but around here they start at $4. Are they nuts??? You have to interact with 6 employees (& get their names and descriptions), count the # of people in the aisles, present a specific goofy scenario, count the # of registers etc. The fee in my area is now up to $18 and I still wouldn't touch that assignment with a ten foot pole!

I won't do them for less than $20. Interacting with 6 employees sounds like alot but after a few times you get the hang of it. I shop at Lowe's about once a week anyways so I just go and let myself spend the fee on something extra I want! Last week I got a new light fixture and while exciting to me, my husband was not nearly as thrilled about putting it in

lucky7s Wrote:
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> I keep forgetting to paste the website page so
> when I do the report I have to close out (they
> have no save option!) and go to the website ....do
> the copy of the page and go back to redo the whole
> report again. Arrrrg.


Can you open up another tab and keep the report page up?

I have done this so many times that I could do it with my eyes closed. But it has to hit somewhere between 15 and 20 for me to jump on it. I swear it always seems I do them for 18 lol

I actually don't mind doing the one down the street for around $10 because I have done it so often. But now that there is the extra part, I think it should be at least $15.

I've done this shop maybe 6-8 times and each time I say I won't do it again. The last one I did was bonused to $54 and was in a small town about 75 miles away. I was able to pair it 3-4 other shops in that area and make a pretty good day out of it. I just don't care for all the interactions you must do and to me the report is also picky. They very seldom get to more then $12-15 close by me so I just let someone else have them. The amazing thing to me is that people take them at the initial price of $4. I bet they don't take a second one for that price.

$4 is laughable beyond all belief!