On the Kroger report for pickups there is a question as to whether you received a message when you submitted the order and then again when the order was ready.
I always get a confirmation of the order. I also get an email each time saying to remember to pick up my order with the times designated which I consider a message that my order is ready.
There is nothing in the shopper guidelines as to whether such a message to remember to pick up your order at a set time is confirmation it is ready or not.
What is your opinion?

If you order same day, it seems like you only get one email. If you order ahead, it seems like you get a confirmation and a reminder to pickup on on the day of.

That's what I get, the order confirmation and then a reminder to pick up my order. But to date, I have never received an email telling me that my order is ready, nor have I received any communication at all about substitutions, ever. But I guess other folks know what's in my email and text messages better than I do.

Anybody else love the tips and tricks email?

What tips and trucks email?

The body of the email sent today:

Hi Shoppers ~


As many of you are aware, our new Kroger shops are on the xxxxx (Our app is called xxxxx and our website is xxxxx). Please look at the bottom of this email for a list of all open shops as of the time this email was sent.


If you are a NEW SHOPPER, please visit the xxxxx, click on MY ACCOUNT, then click on PAYMENT INFO & TAX INFO and enter your information into these sections so you can be paid for shops you perform, and so you can self-assign our shops. If you have already done this, you are one step ahead! After you do this, you should be able to self-assign. If you need help, please reach out to me so I can help you.


Kroger In-Store shops - $9 pay + $9 reimbursement (a few locations pay more and the bonuses are listed below)
Kroger Pick-Up shops - $32 reimbursement
Kroger Fuel shops - $10 pay + $2 reimbursement

If you are a CURRENT KROGER SHOPPER, please note that it is that time of the year where many of you have hit your limit for being able to self-assign in-store and pick-up shops at some locations. The annual limit for self-assignment is 15 per year for in-store shops at the same location and 8 per year for pick-up shops at the same location. I CAN OVERRIDE THIS, but you need to let me know the following:


Assignment ID # for each shop you are interested in
Your maximum availability for the next 3 weeks for each of the shops mentioned in #1.

Also, here are a few other rules/notes that need to be followed:

Please make sure that for every pick-up shop you take, that you also take a minimum of one in-store shop. If this isn’t adhered to, the system can automatically remove pick-up shops from your assignments.

Fuel shops DO NOT take the place of in-store shops. In-store shops are self-checkout shops and full-service checkout shops.

In-store shops and pick-up shops may not be performed by the same person at the same location on the same date. This new rule is a client rule because too many shoppers were being ID’d by store employees.

If you are a new shopper on this project, please only take no more than 3 shops until you have successfully performed these shops.

**IMPORTANT** Only perform up to 1 pick-up shop per day for the same store/brand. (If shopping QFC, don’t do 3 in the same day – HUGE RED FLAG – and corporate knows you are a shopper). Honestly, who would realistically visit 3 separate QFC stores in the same day and place 3 separate pick-up orders?

As always, please make sure that all email correspondences contain the following:

Your shopper ID #
The Assignment/Shop ID #
A clear synopsis of the issue/problem/need.
If you need your shop dates changed, include all of your available dates, not just a single date.

As always, thank you for your hard work and detailed dedication on these shops. You guys rock!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2023 11:20PM by olympia tennenbaum.

I have always received two emails. Usually I place the order the day before, but have ordered on the same day many times. I vaguely remember seeing a notification regarding substitutions. It has only happened once or twice and I think it was from a competitor.

@olympia tennenbaum this is crazy. I've never gotten an email like this. I didn't know some of these rules either.

@nolimitem wrote:

@olympia tennenbaum this is crazy. I've never gotten an email like this. I didn't know some of these rules either.

I REALLY they would just put these restrictions on the jobs themselves. And then code it so that we can't schedule them. I have to schedule as quickly as possible just to be able to get jobs. It's usually impossible to be able to reschedule jobs in my area. By some miracle I was able to.

I wonder how far away one has to travel for it to be considered a route. Does anyone happen to know?

These jobs have been a blessing for the budget but I don't think I'll be able to justify these far drives for a single shop.

I never received this list of rules. Very interesting and good to know. Just counted up how many pick ups at each location and I am good seems I do a lot more in stores as pick ups are hard to come by

My opinion comes from questions I received on other shops. When in doubt, give the client the benefit of the doubt. In this case, I would count it as confirmation. I am getting email confirmations as well, which previously I did not receive.

i want your scheduler, olympia tennenbaum! mine’s nowhere to be found when i need to ask a question and i never receive informative emails like that about the kroger projects.

For the first time yesterday I received a text message that my order was received, as well as an email.

Twice I've gotten texts about items that are unavailable, from Kroger.

It takes awhile and the reply is short. There are 15K grocery shops each month. I try to keep emails down to a minimum.

The notices that my order is ready and that I have an out of stock item come only to my phone by message. If there is no cellphone number in your profile, maybe why you are not getting those. I had a substitution notice recently and I was worried that it would be my 'big ticket" item but it was just a little one. And they gave me the specified Backup Item at the lower price of the out of stock. (I think someone asked about this once).

The following is now posted in the Guidelines Overview in our region, YMMV. :

"NEW! Pickup shops may not be self-assigned on the same date as a Store shop at locations that offer both for protection of your anonymity as a mystery shopper. If you are interested in this shop combo due to traveling a distance out of area, please contact your scheduler."

That doesn't work. I know it says that and I have been told that by my scheduler. But all of the shops are gone before she gets around to answering the emails.

@melg wrote:

The following is now posted in the Guidelines Overview in our region, YMMV. :

"NEW! Pickup shops may not be self-assigned on the same date as a Store shop at locations that offer both for protection of your anonymity as a mystery shopper. If you are interested in this shop combo due to traveling a distance out of area, please contact your scheduler."

I wonder how they define "distance" and "out of area" - I had been doing half to three-quarter day routes in the past but I can't justify those distances with only one pickup per day.

Is anybody else noticing some jobs just languishing on the boards? The distant and less desirable locations near me still have availability.

My son had a very interesting pickup shop today. We were about an hour late, but Kroger holds your order all day, so it's no big deal. We got about 6 mile from the store and my son went to tell them that he was on his way, and his order had already been picked up and finalized. He tried to call the store and no one would pick up the phone, not the service desk, not the pick up area. And when a random courtesy clerk picked up the phone, he just said he would get someone and put my son on hold. It took him 5 tries and all of the remaining drive to the store to get some answers.

Apparently they pissed off two customers with one Stoopid move. Someone has a "similar name" and they scanned and gave my son's order to another person. Who took it home and then brought it back to the store because it had nothing to do with what they had ordered. I believe there is a courtesy clerk or one of the pickup people that has some reading difficulties.. probably the same guy last month that finalized my order without asking me for paper coupons.

And there is still no place in the survey to tell them all the things that happened.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2023 01:31AM by Morledzep.

Where you comment why you don't have proper documentation for your order (N/A) there is a small space to share issues. I always report issues there as briefly as possible.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

Where you comment why you don't have proper documentation for your order (N/A) there is a small space to share issues. I always report issues there as briefly as possible.

Last time I tried that it kicked it back out and told me I could only put N/A in that spot. So I haven't tried to comment again.

I did not know about the 8 shop limit for Pick Up shops nor the requirement to do both an in-store and Pick up shop at the same location.

Doing the pickup and the in-store shop at the same location is no longer required. In fact, they will not allow you to self-assign a pickup and inside the store shop on the same day at the same location starting this month. But the 8 pickup shop limit is still in place last I heard. Only time I can do more than 8 is when we have competitor shops. There are only 7 Krogers total in our area.

It's been a real scramble here, me and my son trying to work it out so that we can still get the groceries that we need without driving into town 10 times for stuff that we use to drive into town twice for. After reworking our schedule today I managed to eliminate 2 trips. We did shops yesterday and today and we have a bunch of shops scheduled for tomorrow. But the rest of the shops we got down to three more trips into the big city north of us. And he has a few more shops the following week, but I managed to get them all into a single day.

It's six more trips than we normally would have made. 40 minutes just to get to the city. Not including all the driving around once we get there.

Hopefully next month will go smoother.

I do the same as Olympia Tennenbaum for issue reporting but if it can't be compressed to a 100 character limit, I email the scheduler with a more complete report, referencing the shop number.

Also, in my area shops also go really fast but if you keep an eye out, some are thrown back (not sure if it's the mystery shopping company yanking them or cancels) but you may have a second opportunity at them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2023 03:51PM by ipotter.

I straight up asked my scheduler about the one that I do that I would truly deem out-of-area, and they allowed me to do in-store and p/u on the same day, but I had to wait a few hours between the two shops. I was told that a number of shoppers around the country have been recognized/cover blown at the store level, hence the new rules.
It makes me curious how these shoppers were behaving that they were recognized, unless they live somewhere where there's one store and they're doing all the shops each month for that location.

I believe that our being identified as nothing to do with our behavior inside the stores, or very little anyway. I also think that doing all three shops together at a location doesn't have anything to do with us being identified either. I believe that the mystery shopping company is giving them all of the information they need to identify us. And I think the mystery shopping company could put more effort into not letting them identify us, rather than restrict our ability to do the jobs. (Yes, I'm very frustrated with my darling child's mystery shopping and it shows)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2023 02:57AM by Morledzep.

Oh no, what happened?

@Morledzep wrote:

(Yes, I'm very frustrated with my darling child's mystery shopping and it shows)

@MSF wrote:

Oh no, what happened?

He chooses not to read at every opportunity.. did not read the guidelines for a shop he did this afternoon and I spent all of the time since he got back fixing his mistakes..

@Morledzep wrote:

That's what I get, the order confirmation and then a reminder to pick up my order. But to date, I have never received an email telling me that my order is ready, nor have I received any communication at all about substitutions, ever. But I guess other folks know what's in my email and text messages better than I do.

There is a box that needs to be checked to get texts. Maybe you have not checked that?

@melg wrote:

There is a box that needs to be checked to get texts. Maybe you have not checked that?

I checked the box and in less than 24 hours I got more than 25 texts, NONE were about my order just advertising, and "suggestions.". So I turned off the text messages.