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I have decided...

August 09, 2023 10:02AM
In my role as collector of gas station bathroom photos, my biggest pet peeve is C-stores with next to nothing with price tags.

Typically most packaged drinks in the cooler will have 2-fer pricing on the shelf inserts, but I've been in stores where none of the merchandise is priced.

Makes it a bit challenging playing the $1 reimbursement game (no matter your approach), especially with some of the wide price discrepancies I've run into lately.

What's your biggest pet peeve when out in the field?

Have synthesizers, will travel...
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August 09, 2023 10:33AM
My pet peeve is $1 reimbursements. Even if you know the price, the $1 doesn't cut it. I can't even buy a cup of coffee anymore.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
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August 09, 2023 11:21AM
Mine is the $2.00 gas reimbursement, when I live in a state where gas is $3.70-$4.20 a gallon. They should give ya at least a gallon of gas and a $2 inside purchase.
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August 09, 2023 02:42PM
I'm not sure if I'd prefer no price tags, or price tags that are wrong. I get peeved when I pick up a can of soda that is marked $0.99 and when I get to the register, it is rung up as $1.59. Stuff like that happens *all* the time for me. It is rare that a casher will agree to charge what the item is tagged for. Grrr.
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August 09, 2023 04:06PM
Places that don't even come close to the standards. There's a travel center by me (4 miles) that lately hasn't kept up to standards. It makes the report 10x longer with pics and explanations. I have done the same store at a location that is farther (23 miles) because its a little smaller, and they keep it A+.
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August 09, 2023 05:26PM
@CoolMusic with your "i have decided" subject... I started thinking of that song "I have decided to follow Jesus" :-)
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August 09, 2023 05:46PM
Yes! There are some c- store chains that have no prices on regular items. I get my revenge by giving low "Satisfaction" scores on reports even with when all other aspects are perfect.

What's with all those end of report satisfaction questions, anyway? They've been added on to most of one MSC's reports. It's like unnecessary busy work. Or maybe They've talked clients into combining receipt surveys into the mystery shops to "Save money" for clients, raking in a tad more for themselves and paying us nothing more to answer those extra silly questions.
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August 09, 2023 06:05PM
Right, I would think a more valuable data point would be "Would you revisit this location on your own dime?" lol

@sestrahelena wrote:

Yes! There are some c- store chains that have no prices on regular items. I get my revenge by giving low "Satisfaction" scores on reports even with when all other aspects are perfect.

What's with all those end of report satisfaction questions, anyway? They've been added on to most of one MSC's reports. It's like unnecessary busy work. Or maybe They've talked clients into combining receipt surveys into the mystery shops to "Save money" for clients, raking in a tad more for themselves and paying us nothing more to answer those extra silly questions.
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August 09, 2023 06:20PM
When first making the restroom check before presenting the LOA and a prominent sign is in place stating the restroom is out of order or "No Public Restroom." Then when you return for the second phase of the visit, they tell you, "By the way, don't mark us off on the restroom, we just let regular customers we know use it." I personally will take a photo of the sign in place and write in the comments what they staff member said.
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August 09, 2023 06:37PM
My pet peeve is doing a mystery shop and getting asked questions about 10-20 topics and none of them even get close to the real problems I noticed at the store. At least some surveys have a comment section but many do not. One of many examples of those I am most bothered about are the post office shops where I might rate the clerk with a high rating but then my package never arrives at its destination or arrives several dates late after paying for fast service. And many more...on channel 4.
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August 09, 2023 07:13PM
@38380 wrote:

When first making the restroom check before presenting the LOA and a prominent sign is in place stating the restroom is out of order or "No Public Restroom." Then when you return for the second phase of the visit, they tell you, "By the way, don't mark us off on the restroom, we just let regular customers we know use it." I personally will take a photo of the sign in place and write in the comments what they staff member said.

I take a picture of the sign and report that the restroom is not available to the public. And I write in the comments why the restroom is not available to the public.
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August 09, 2023 07:37PM
When nothing is marked, I don't hesitate to lower my rating scores a bit with a comment that "looking for an item to purchase was difficult due to the lack of items marked on the shelf". Have never had MSC pushback, as long as it's a slight deduction for it (and not an overboard deduction).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2023 07:37PM by KA047.
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August 09, 2023 07:39PM
@38380 wrote:

When first making the restroom check before presenting the LOA and a prominent sign is in place stating the restroom is out of order or "No Public Restroom." Then when you return for the second phase of the visit, they tell you, "By the way, don't mark us off on the restroom, we just let regular customers we know use it." I personally will take a photo of the sign in place and write in the comments what they staff member said.

Sign or no sign, if it is not locked, I just go right in. If it is locked, I ask for the key before the reveal.
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August 09, 2023 07:40PM
@sestrahelena wrote:

Yes! There are some c- store chains that have no prices on regular items. I get my revenge by giving low "Satisfaction" scores on reports even with when all other aspects are perfect.

What's with all those end of report satisfaction questions, anyway? They've been added on to most of one MSC's reports. It's like unnecessary busy work. Or maybe They've talked clients into combining receipt surveys into the mystery shops to "Save money" for clients, raking in a tad more for themselves and paying us nothing more to answer those extra silly questions.

The MSC does other, larger, surveys. I think those questions are a part as something on a larger scale that the MSC does (and is actually irrelevant, for them, to the specific shop assignment at the location), and uses our reports for a little more data.
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August 11, 2023 04:24PM
Don't you love pulling up to a full service station and asking for a half gallon of gas?
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August 11, 2023 04:53PM
Oh, no! half gallon might exceed your reimbursement!
You could pay in small change if it makes you feel better, like you just dug it out from under the seat. I take every opportunity the let the station know how little the reimbursement (and pay, if the subject comes up) is after the reveal. Like saying, "That's why I needed a receipt for such a small amount, that's all they allow us to spend."
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August 11, 2023 07:25PM
@emm2131 wrote:

Don't you love pulling up to a full service station and asking for a half gallon of gas?

I haven't seen a full service station in 40 or more years..
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August 11, 2023 07:35PM
@Morledzep wrote:

@emm2131 wrote:

Don't you love pulling up to a full service station and asking for a half gallon of gas?

I haven't seen a full service station in 40 or more years..

There is no self service for gas in NJ for one place.
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August 11, 2023 07:40PM
I've heard that. Thankfully, the one time I had to drive through NJ I didn't need to stop for gas..
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August 11, 2023 09:28PM
@Morledzep wrote:

@emm2131 wrote:

Don't you love pulling up to a full service station and asking for a half gallon of gas?

I haven't seen a full service station in 40 or more years..

There are a couple in DC -- I felt weird asking for $5 and would only do it when it was over $25 pay despite being a tiny station with no canopy so fairly quick and easy.
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August 11, 2023 10:01PM
It depends on the total compensation. One with $3 total reimbursement has a $25 fee. Another has $12 and $10 compensation. Others are in between. I usually do these two at regular fee. The others I wait for bonused shops.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
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August 12, 2023 03:34AM
I'm glad I don't have to pump my own smelly gas...uck...can't stand the smell of it on my hands or anywhere. I hope NJ never changes that law. I don't have a problem asking for $5 gas and a receipt. Just be confident if they give you attitude. Most know me anyway and some gas guys greet me with "$5 premium?" I won't go below $5 though with the price of gas here, $5 barely gets me 1 gallon. If I really need gas, I'll splurge for $10...lol. A $2 or $3 reimbursement then becomes a very slight discount. When needed, I go to Costco where it's much less expensive than the name brand stations that I shop.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain
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August 12, 2023 04:00AM
Oregon just made self-service a local community option. That leaves NJ as the only state which requires full-service state-wide.
@wrosie wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

@emm2131 wrote:

Don't you love pulling up to a full service station and asking for a half gallon of gas?

I haven't seen a full service station in 40 or more years..

There is no self service for gas in NJ for one place.

Shopping South Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware above the canal since 2008
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August 12, 2023 11:38AM
One I've had is a report that's due the same night of the shop, but it's not reviewed until up to 2 weeks later and if there is a question, I need to respond in 12 hours lol.

Life was passing like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on
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August 12, 2023 04:13PM
I would never do that. The least I ask for is $20.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer
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