I did my very first Shell revealed audit today. The pictures were easy enough to take, but when I showed the LOA to the cashier, he looked at me like I was crazy. He kept asking why I want to take pictures and for me to call the owner. I'm like, YOU call the owner! Finally, they just ignored me and I took all the pictures I needed. This cannot be the first time the gas station has been audited. I almost wished I never handed over the letter and just took pictures anyway since no one was paying attention. Has anyone experienced this? I am reluctant to take more of these shops since the encounter was so awkward. I also pulled the amateur move of not saving while completing the report and had to start over. Sigh. At least the report was approved by the time I got home.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2023 04:34AM by Mellifluy.

Definitely an outlier, IMNSHO. I would not let it deter me from taking on more gas station shops. There's currently a slew of Phillips/Conoco/76 shops out there that are easy and offer the most flexible reimbursement structure. Check them out...

I have completed hundreds of gas station audits, and have had resistance from the managers every so often. It's just part of the game unfortunately. Most of the time they are new employees that don't understand who we are. I always give him the option first to call the manager and if they still refuse I just take my photos and submit the data. All of my schedulers know my refusal pay policy. I always get paid for the shop regardless, even if an employee refuses for the audit to take place. And if I have to go back a second time not only do I get paid the original amount but I also get a bonus added on since I normally do these in a route.

I think out of all the years I've been doing the gas station audits, the worst locations always seem to be in Florida. I used to live in the Orlando area, but would go all the way down to Fort Meyers or up to Georgia if the shops were reaching $100+ per location. The pay was amazing as sometimes I would bring home between $800 and $1,000 a day, but some of the locations were in real sketchy areas. I once was threatened because someone was upset that I was taking pictures of the pump and they thought I was taking picture of their car, and one time even had a police officer approach me wondering why I was taking pictures as he thought I was canvassing the location for a robbery.

Very rarely, this type of thing can happen. There's a reason some stations just sit on the board forever. I think you found out why this one did. Most will not be like this.

I have been asked for ID and even spoken to managers on the employee's phone. New employees, especially, can be wary as it is kind of an odd thing to them especially when they are young (they have grown up where people get out their phones to "get people in trouble") Just remain professional and do what you can to make them feel comfortable. Explain what the LOA says (in my area you are not guaranteed that English is their best language and reading is difficult in a new language) and approach it from the view that we are all just trying to do our jobs and yours is to evaluate the condition and signage of the franchise. Calm and confident demeanor will take you a long way. This is definitely not the norm, they are just being protective of their employer and there is nothing wrong with a little loyalty.

The owners really should explain it in advance so new employees are aware, but many places have such high turnover that they are constantly training new employees, who may only be there a few days or weeks.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2023 05:15PM by mjt9598.

Wait. They released Shells? Not in my area. Yet. I have noticed that Exxons get posted differently in a neighboring state, is it that way with Shell, too?

Oh. I just looked in a NY zip code and see the pricing audit. I've never seen those in my area.

Only shells I've seen so far have been POP audits, and we don't do POP audits..

@Morledzep wrote:

Only shells I've seen so far have been POP audits, and we don't do POP audits..

Me too, unless the price is right, which means more than double original fee!

I have probably gotten employee/manager rejections on about 1 out of every 500 gas station audits I have done. I just keep track of those that cause me issues or unnecessary waste of my time, and I don't volunteer for those locations.

I bit the bullet and bought a safety vest today just to do the Shell in my area - for $200! It was my first, too, and it's already been approved. Yeah baby!!!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2023 05:45AM by shopnyc.

I stopped by Walmart on the way to my shop to buy a safety vest. $200 is crazy high! I usually see $100 for shops that are 3 hours away.

@shopnyc wrote:

I bit the bullet and bought a safety vest today just to do the Shell in my area - for $200! It was my first, too, and it's already been approved. Yeah baby!!!

The $100 locations are best done as a route. I usually will pick 5-8 of those up at a time. They might be in far off locations, but the pay makes them worth it ! I've built up a reputation with my schedulers by asking for high bonuses. I might not be cheap, but I always get the job done.

One time, a large mystery shopping company started a new project with a large grocery store chain. The project required every single store to be visited no matter what the distance was. There was a location so remote that no other shopper wanted to complete it. They were so desperate to get it done that they paid for my plane ticket, rental car, hotel stay and offered a base pay for me just to complete it. Another time the same company needed a business inspection done for a company located on Catalina Island in California. They paid for the boat ticket as well as for lunch when I went out there besides the heavy bonus for completing the visit.

@Mellifluy wrote:

I stopped by Walmart on the way to my shop to buy a safety vest. $200 is crazy high! I usually see $100 for shops that are 3 hours away.

@shopnyc wrote:

I bit the bullet and bought a safety vest today just to do the Shell in my area - for $200! It was my first, too, and it's already been approved. Yeah baby!!!

@drdisney wrote:

The $100 locations are best done as a route. I usually will pick 5-8 of those up at a time. They might be in far off locations, but the pay makes them worth it !

Since this was my first Shell yesterday, I took my time at the station to take extra pics and review my notes several times before leaving, and then it took forever to finish the report. I know I let myself get a bit too distracted by other things while I was doing it, but I didn't think the requirements were difficult and I could see that if I had focused better, I could almost have breezed through it. However, I don't think I could do more than two in one day, especially considering the amount of time it can take to go from one remote location to another!

@Mellifluy wrote:

I stopped by Walmart on the way to my shop to buy a safety vest.

Yup, that's where I got mine. I live in New England, where we have long, snowy winters, so I had to buy an XL so it could fit over my down coat. I'd been resisting getting one because I don't like that they won't reimburse for it, and I didn't want to do revealed audits near me. But this one was a half hour away in a town where I'm not known, and that bonus convinced me! I've seen them go up to $100 or so for the ones that are somewhat off the beaten path, but I hadn't seen $200 before!

.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2023 03:08PM by shopnyc.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Wait. They released Shells? Not in my area. Yet. I have noticed that Exxons get posted differently in a neighboring state, is it that way with Shell, too?

The new ones aren't the same Shells. They are the $11 ones that don't start with a mystery portion from what I can remember from the email. There were not that many and none in my area.

I saw one of those $11 ones on the board. The OP and I are both talking about the ones with mystery shop first, then audit. I guess there are newer ones out there without the MS, but I only got messages for the one with both. I guess mine paid so high because it was one of the last few to be done from the previous round.
.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2023 02:14PM by shopnyc.

Correct. Sounds like I basically had the same experience as shopnyc. Grabbed safety vests from Wally's and went to do our first Shell audit. Then we both took longer than expected to finish the report.

I only took it because it was bonused at $100 and 20 minutes from where I was having lunch. The first time doing any shop is tedious and even at $100, I was cursing myself as I argued with the gas station attendants to complete the shop. I've seen the $11 ones featured and wonder in what world would people do them at that rate (if it's actually the same process without the mystery portion). I'm doing a couple of the buy 1 gallon and $1 item shops at $50 bonus tomorrow. Those are a cinch.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! This is a great forum for learning and venting!

@shopnyc wrote:

@tstewart3 wrote:

The new ones aren't the same Shells. They are the $11 ones that don't start with a mystery portion from what I can remember from the email. There were not that many and none in my area.

I saw one of those $11 ones on the board. The OP and I are both talking about the ones with mystery shop first, then audit. I guess there are newer ones out there without the MS, but I only got messages for the one with both. I guess mine paid so high because it was one of the last few to be done from the previous round.
.

Those are newly branded stations, sometimes even brand new stations. Many don't have experience with mystery shoppers or audits, which may explain their reaction. Those are hard to do.

I took one once with a good bonus. I thought I had won because I was doing the regular inspection on the same visit, also with a good bonus. When I got there I found 48 pumps. Each one had to be photographed, and then photographed again and measured. Took me more than an hour. Set me behind schedule, and I had two small stations left that *had* to be done during daylight that day, but there was only enough time for one. All I could think to do was covertly take the outside pictures of the first, go straight to the second, and then return to finish the first. It worked. Whew.

@mystery2me wrote:

All I could think to do was covertly take the outside pictures of the first, go straight to the second, and then return to finish the first. It worked. Whew.

Ya do what ya gotta do!

@mystery2me wrote: "I thought I had won..."

LOL!!

@mystery2me wrote:

Those are newly branded stations, sometimes even brand new stations. Many don't have experience with mystery shoppers or audits, which may explain their reaction. Those are hard to do.

...All I could think to do was covertly take the outside pictures of the first, go straight to the second, and then return to finish the first. It worked. Whew.

So, did you fudge the time in/time out on the form for the first statiion, or did you convince the client that you were at both stations at the same time?

@AZwolfman wrote:

@mystery2me wrote:

Those are newly branded stations, sometimes even brand new stations. Many don't have experience with mystery shoppers or audits, which may explain their reaction. Those are hard to do.

...All I could think to do was covertly take the outside pictures of the first, go straight to the second, and then return to finish the first. It worked. Whew.

So, did you fudge the time in/time out on the form for the first statiion, or did you convince the client that you were at both stations at the same time?

That would have been a trick. I probably could have had overlapping times with no issue. But I just entered the start time of the first station as the time when I returned and actually began my mystery shop and inspection there. Fortunately no new infractions popped up in the interim that would have required new photos.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2023 03:27AM by mystery2me.