Marathon Shops
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Like you, I had read the guidelines and caught that a purchase is now required. I had not yet gone through the survey to see that there is also an interior c-store photo required. I did not see it in the guidelines. I may or may not have gone through the survey before doing my shops next week. Excellent catch.
This is a reminder that it is prudent to carefully review the guidelines AND survey before going out on a shop, especially if it is not local, and you cannot easily go back to it.
Thank you, @French Farmer!
This is a reminder that it is prudent to carefully review the guidelines AND survey before going out on a shop, especially if it is not local, and you cannot easily go back to it.
Thank you, @French Farmer!
Never Complain, Never Explain.
Another reason I hate Presto, you can't see reports till you check in onsite. At least Sassie can be seen, if you experimentally check all the yes and no answers.
That happened to me today. I had done 2 and was sitting in the parking lot where I had a Drs. appointment. I went into the report and there it was to upload an interior photo of the store. I didn't have to go back far but if I had gotten home and found this it would have been bad..The only new photo was supposed to be the receipt.
Are these the same Marathon mystery shop/audit that pay $10 and $0 expense? Does expense = reimbursement? There are no guidelines to preview. Perhaps the guidelines are accessible after self scheduling or contacting the MSC via the provided email.
Shopper's Pay $ 10.00
Shop Expense Limit $ 0.00
Special Expense Limit $ 0.00
Shop Comments
Purchase now required for this short mystery shop and revealed audit which can be completed any day or time the location is open. A safety vest is required and is not provided by X. Eligible shoppers can self-assign and adjust their shop date independently one time. All reports are due by midnight on the day of your shop.
To each their own. This is a lot of work for $10 or less.
Shopper's Pay $ 10.00
Shop Expense Limit $ 0.00
Special Expense Limit $ 0.00
Shop Comments
Purchase now required for this short mystery shop and revealed audit which can be completed any day or time the location is open. A safety vest is required and is not provided by X. Eligible shoppers can self-assign and adjust their shop date independently one time. All reports are due by midnight on the day of your shop.
To each their own. This is a lot of work for $10 or less.
MrEd is right. There is no mention of reimbursement, but it does say that a purchase is required. I will not make a purchase if there is no reimbursement for said purchase. I also never do Marathons without a bonus. I don't know why everyone is in such a hurry to sell themselves short. You are worth more than $10 with an unreimbursed purchase EVERY DAY, ALL DAY.
When Marathon was with the previous MSC, an unreimbursed purchase was always required.
These are quick and easy shops. Previously you did not have to make a purchase, just look around, exit, and come back inside for the reveal. Depending on whether the store is busy, it might take an additional minute or so. Still should not take more than 10 minutes, probably not even that. Most of mine are service centers, so I don't have to worry with the c-store at all, so that goes in my favor.
Society's definition of hard work has been so watered down I find it pathetic. This is not brain science. This is not hard work. It's easy work, easy money. Now, would you drive 30 miles to do only one of these? Of course not! That would be stupid. These can easily be incorporated into a route with other shops. I don't point a finger at someone and say they are devaluing themselves. Nobody knows a person's particular financial circumstances or why they do this work to begin with. Some do it for money, some do it just to get out of the house, some like to drive. One thing is for sure, if you are in an area with competition (which I am when it comes to shops from this MSC), I can not do them and miss out on an extra $200 for the month, or I can hold out hope I might get a nice bonus - which won't happen because they'll be long gone by then - or I can add them to upcoming routes for next week and have all my IC work done for January, unless I just want to take on something else.
Edit to add, yes the purchase is reimbursed, per the guidelines.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 12:52AM by ServiceAward.
Society's definition of hard work has been so watered down I find it pathetic. This is not brain science. This is not hard work. It's easy work, easy money. Now, would you drive 30 miles to do only one of these? Of course not! That would be stupid. These can easily be incorporated into a route with other shops. I don't point a finger at someone and say they are devaluing themselves. Nobody knows a person's particular financial circumstances or why they do this work to begin with. Some do it for money, some do it just to get out of the house, some like to drive. One thing is for sure, if you are in an area with competition (which I am when it comes to shops from this MSC), I can not do them and miss out on an extra $200 for the month, or I can hold out hope I might get a nice bonus - which won't happen because they'll be long gone by then - or I can add them to upcoming routes for next week and have all my IC work done for January, unless I just want to take on something else.
Edit to add, yes the purchase is reimbursed, per the guidelines.
Never Complain, Never Explain.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 12:52AM by ServiceAward.
@sestrahelena wrote:
When Marathon was with the previous MSC, an unreimbursed purchase was always required.
yes, and I also didn't do them until they were very bonused, or at least very bonused for that MSC. I was happy to do the shops when there was no purchase required, but still with a minimum of a $5 bonus.
Service,
You are right, everybody does this for different reasons. I do this for a living, I was a fleet technician for the phone company making $40+ per hour when the insurance company said they wouldn't continue trying to fix the damage my job had caused to my knees and hands. I am disabled, I can't do a lot of walking or standing, so Marathons work well for me. But doing 20 of them in a day is not possible, there aren't 20 to make a route out of within 30 miles anyway. There is stiff competition from the city folks north of me, I don't get to do many gas stations in the city because they come off the board early, and almost no Marathons. I do the rural stations, and make long routes after they have bonuses that make a route profitable, and I do less than 10 per day, usually less than 7 because I simply can't do more with my knees and my heart.
And like in December of last year, I was busy cleaning up the leftovers and rejected shops that others didn't do, for significant $$. I was able to buy a new water heater when the old one died before Christmas, with just the money I made on gas station shops the previous week. And pay the cell phone bill, and the electricity bill all inside of 3 weeks at the end of the year. Without making myself sick or hurting myself in the process. This month will be tighter than usual, but the bills are paid, and my cupboards are full.
I said that doing these Marathon shops at $10, with a $2 unreimbursed purchase is devaluing yourself. That is LESS than the federal minimum wage, even if they are able to do 2 in an hour. And with driving and input time, it is impossible to do more than 2 in an hour. Input time is PART OF THE SHOP. Doesn't matter if you do it onsite or after you get home. So if you don't input the info onsite and save it for home, then you may be able to do 3 or possibly 4 in an hour, if there aren't a lot of infractions to take pictures of, but you are still spending the same amount of time inputting the information, so you either spend less time on your route (so you can get the reporting complete at a reasonable hour), or you stay up all night on your computer at home still working, but not earning any more money. Which will, again, bring your total time involved in the completion of your jobs to under the Federal minimum wage.
It does not list a reimbursement on the job board, it only says $10 for the pay. If they don't list the reimbursement amount on the job board, they are not going to pay a reimbursement.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 02:17AM by Morledzep.
You are right, everybody does this for different reasons. I do this for a living, I was a fleet technician for the phone company making $40+ per hour when the insurance company said they wouldn't continue trying to fix the damage my job had caused to my knees and hands. I am disabled, I can't do a lot of walking or standing, so Marathons work well for me. But doing 20 of them in a day is not possible, there aren't 20 to make a route out of within 30 miles anyway. There is stiff competition from the city folks north of me, I don't get to do many gas stations in the city because they come off the board early, and almost no Marathons. I do the rural stations, and make long routes after they have bonuses that make a route profitable, and I do less than 10 per day, usually less than 7 because I simply can't do more with my knees and my heart.
And like in December of last year, I was busy cleaning up the leftovers and rejected shops that others didn't do, for significant $$. I was able to buy a new water heater when the old one died before Christmas, with just the money I made on gas station shops the previous week. And pay the cell phone bill, and the electricity bill all inside of 3 weeks at the end of the year. Without making myself sick or hurting myself in the process. This month will be tighter than usual, but the bills are paid, and my cupboards are full.
I said that doing these Marathon shops at $10, with a $2 unreimbursed purchase is devaluing yourself. That is LESS than the federal minimum wage, even if they are able to do 2 in an hour. And with driving and input time, it is impossible to do more than 2 in an hour. Input time is PART OF THE SHOP. Doesn't matter if you do it onsite or after you get home. So if you don't input the info onsite and save it for home, then you may be able to do 3 or possibly 4 in an hour, if there aren't a lot of infractions to take pictures of, but you are still spending the same amount of time inputting the information, so you either spend less time on your route (so you can get the reporting complete at a reasonable hour), or you stay up all night on your computer at home still working, but not earning any more money. Which will, again, bring your total time involved in the completion of your jobs to under the Federal minimum wage.
It does not list a reimbursement on the job board, it only says $10 for the pay. If they don't list the reimbursement amount on the job board, they are not going to pay a reimbursement.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 02:17AM by Morledzep.
I would do Marathon for $20 well $22 now that a unreimbursed purchase is required only because of the simplicity of this gas station shop. This of course would have to be local or on a route. Pretty much every other gas station I require $30 minimum and that it is local and meets all the right circumstances. Usually $40 min before I even ponder to take a gas station shop. My one exception was the easy chevron that required maybe 10 minutes on site and almost no photos. Those paid minimum $8.50 plus 1 gallon of gas. you could knock out 5 in an hour plus an hour at most for the 5 reports. $50 for 2 hours of work all day. Thats why Chevron was the exception.
Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
@French Farmer Thanks as always for the updates and for looking for any changes. Sometimes they sneak things in there and so far, I only knew about the purchase requirement and receipt. We will see how the reimbursement goes since it's not listed on the shops itself.
I did have them add an extra $2 to each one I did on a night route. So, they could always manually add the $2 reimbursement to our shops.
Thanks again for the update and have a great day.
I did have them add an extra $2 to each one I did on a night route. So, they could always manually add the $2 reimbursement to our shops.
Thanks again for the update and have a great day.
I saw in the guidelines they reimburse up to $ 2.00 for purchase but nothing about the interior picture. I was going to that town anyway and I need the money.
So there is a reimbursement? That's good, but they should put that in the job listing. Their other listings have fee and reimbursement amounts posted.
@BuffaloNY101 I don't think it is possible to do 5 Chevrons in an hour. You even said it takes maybe 10 minutes on site. That would leave you an average of 2 1/2 minutes to drive to each of the next 4 locations in that hour. Some shops are quick, but what if they don't have towels or a squeegee (that's at worst 2 pictures and uploads) and then another 2 if the clerk isn't wearing a shirt and nametag. What if there is a line? All of this eats into time on site.
If you had someone with you doing the report and making some of the observations, then I can see that you could get maybe get close. They have an error flash if you report that you were on site for less than 10 minutes.
These Chevrons would all have to be super close to cut down on the driving time between stations. There are two Chevrons in my area 10 blocks apart, but there are two traffic lights between them and if I catch the red on both, I am waiting over 3 minutes just at the light.
@BuffaloNY101 I don't think it is possible to do 5 Chevrons in an hour. You even said it takes maybe 10 minutes on site. That would leave you an average of 2 1/2 minutes to drive to each of the next 4 locations in that hour. Some shops are quick, but what if they don't have towels or a squeegee (that's at worst 2 pictures and uploads) and then another 2 if the clerk isn't wearing a shirt and nametag. What if there is a line? All of this eats into time on site.
If you had someone with you doing the report and making some of the observations, then I can see that you could get maybe get close. They have an error flash if you report that you were on site for less than 10 minutes.
These Chevrons would all have to be super close to cut down on the driving time between stations. There are two Chevrons in my area 10 blocks apart, but there are two traffic lights between them and if I catch the red on both, I am waiting over 3 minutes just at the light.
As with most gas station shops, these were previously not worth base pay in my book, so they certainly would not be worth it now with the additional criteria.
First one I ever did had a $100 bonus, and I built a remote loop around it. I returned to that location for a $10 bonus on a recent similar loop, prior to the purchase requirement.
Would I do it at base if it was part of loop and fit in the schedule? Probably.
There are only a handful of these in my region, though I am seeing more of them.
First one I ever did had a $100 bonus, and I built a remote loop around it. I returned to that location for a $10 bonus on a recent similar loop, prior to the purchase requirement.
Would I do it at base if it was part of loop and fit in the schedule? Probably.
There are only a handful of these in my region, though I am seeing more of them.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
Update: Regarding the interior photo, if you have completed the shop already, they will accept it without it. They have updated the guidelines to reflect the photo is now required going forward.
Never Complain, Never Explain.
Yes. An email was sent out today regarding the update.
ETA: I'm really looking forward to finding out what additions/omissions/mistakes the yellow brand assignments will have. Not.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2024 12:31AM by sestrahelena.
ETA: I'm really looking forward to finding out what additions/omissions/mistakes the yellow brand assignments will have. Not.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2024 12:31AM by sestrahelena.
I saw a webinar that featured the lead contact of the Marathon MSP. She said that pay was determined by a few things like is a purchase involved with the shop. Last year there was no purchase involved and the fee was $10. Now there is a purchase involved, yes it is reimbursed, but it is still more work and the pay remains the same as before.
It takes me 30 minutes to do everything for these shops. I usually do them at $15, and they usually fly off the board at this price in my area. Ive done 15 in a day one time.
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
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
who, You obviously have a working set of knees..
I'm heading out Thursday afternoon to do 2 Valero, 1 Marathon, 3 E/M Site Experiences & Lighting Audits, a USPS shop, and probably 2 BP lighting audits. These are all in a town 25 miles from me. I expect, with travel time, all of that to take about 4 hours. That does not include any time I may spend in a couple of thrift stores looking for stuff to hawk online. When I get home, I should have at most 4 reports to do. Those, combined, may take an hour. I should clear around $25/hour, take or give $1 or $2. That is much better than minimum wage around here. I did have 2 Shell over there, but I lost them when the clock ran out. The Valeros make up for it (mostly) and I don't have to get nearly the amount of photos. Now I could risk letting those gas audits go up in price, but they won't go up a significant amount before someone claims them. I've got to deal with snow here, so I need to travel while there is a break in the weather, so that's another factor. The most I've gotten as a bonus on gas stations was $50 for Shells two hours away. I got that one time. Apparently, I encroached on someone's area, and they were waiting for the bonus to go up even higher. I snagged them at the $50 and that person has never given me a chance to get them again, they take them at base, which isn't worth it for two hours away unless I could do an overnight trip and add more shops for the next day. Right now, I can't leave my mom overnight by herself.
Never Complain, Never Explain.
Service,
The only way I would do an overnight trip is if I had a way to bring the dogs with me. I sleep where my dogs sleep. And there is no middle ground. But I will get up at 09:00 and not return until 00:00 or later for a good paying route. What kills me is the walking.. a route like yours would take me 8 or more hours and a day of downtime for my knees to recover. Like I've said many times, almost everything is 30 or more miles away from me. I just assume that I'm going to drive 40 minutes to an hour to get to the first stop on any route that I plan.
Between my son and I, we usually make a route with a minimum of $100 pay, not including reimbursements. We go out together, he does his shops, while I sit in the POS and play games or do paperwork. He does the same on my shops. And when it's all done, he does DoorDash, and we check dumpsters for useable, edible and/or sellable things until we head for home.
The only way I would do an overnight trip is if I had a way to bring the dogs with me. I sleep where my dogs sleep. And there is no middle ground. But I will get up at 09:00 and not return until 00:00 or later for a good paying route. What kills me is the walking.. a route like yours would take me 8 or more hours and a day of downtime for my knees to recover. Like I've said many times, almost everything is 30 or more miles away from me. I just assume that I'm going to drive 40 minutes to an hour to get to the first stop on any route that I plan.
Between my son and I, we usually make a route with a minimum of $100 pay, not including reimbursements. We go out together, he does his shops, while I sit in the POS and play games or do paperwork. He does the same on my shops. And when it's all done, he does DoorDash, and we check dumpsters for useable, edible and/or sellable things until we head for home.
@Morledzep wrote:
Service,
The only way I would do an overnight trip is if I had a way to bring the dogs with me. I sleep where my dogs sleep. And there is no middle ground. But I will get up at 09:00 and not return until 00:00 or later for a good paying route. What kills me is the walking.. a route like yours would take me 8 or more hours and a day of downtime for my knees to recover. Like I've said many times, almost everything is 30 or more miles away from me. I just assume that I'm going to drive 40 minutes to an hour to get to the first stop on any route that I plan.
Between my son and I, we usually make a route with a minimum of $100 pay, not including reimbursements. We go out together, he does his shops, while I sit in the POS and play games or do paperwork. He does the same on my shops. And when it's all done, he does DoorDash, and we check dumpsters for useable, edible and/or sellable things until we head for home.
I am very sorry you have such knee problems. I am 43 and started having knee issues in my mid-30s and for several years afterward. I don't know what I did or if the good Lord healed me, but after I turned 40, my knees haven't given me an issue since.
It sounds like you and your son have a good system going. I'm single, so it is just me. Mentally it helps me to be away from everybody and focused on working. If I could get mom to come with me, then I would try doing some overnights, maybe a few hours away. She doesn't get out much anymore, so I don't think that is going to happen. I'm not really sure how much longer I'll be able to go out of town for the day. I call to check on her throughout the day, and she will tell me she has eaten, then I get home and find out she hasn't. I got home tonight, and she had gotten a SPAM call on the house phone. The man on the other end knew her name, and it upset her because of that. When I got home, she had locked up every door so tight I couldn't even get in, so I had to knock. She got scared because she thought I was the man from the phone.
I'm in a city with less than 50k people, so it isn't small, but not a big metro either. Once you get out of the city, no matter which direction you travel, it is rural for at least 30 miles. If I go north, I can catch a decent number of fuel shops, which are mostly along the highway. That's not the case going west, east or south. There is nothing until I get to the next town. $100 is my minimum, too, but it also depends on how many shops there are and my time involved. I added 2 truck stops to my route since I posted last night. I made $160. I didn't leave the house until 2:30pm. I get over to the town where my shops were, and the dang town was flooded out!! I almost turned around and came back home, but I stuck with it. I ended up having about 45-minutes added to my in-town driving due to having to detour several times and the traffic back-ups. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to get to a couple of places, but I managed to do it. I almost missed my post office shop though. I did not take any breaks. I was back in town at 8:45pm. It took an hour, as I expected, to do the 4 reports I had left to do when I got home. I ended up at $23/hour before reimbursements. I did not do any thrifting today though because there was too much going on with some of the roads being closed.
I am with you on the dumpster diving! Also, if you can find some recycling centers, people throw out all types of good stuff there, too. I have found several things I could sell at places like that.
Never Complain, Never Explain.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2024 07:45AM by ServiceAward.
I was a career automotive technician for 30+ years (and an accounting clerk before that). when I tripped and fell on the concrete at work I was already having trouble getting up after setting up a hoist to lift a truck, and my heart was starting to cause problems already (one of my docs told me I had A-fib in 2009, when they were supposedly trying to figure out what was causing my vertigo). The workman's comp doc did 2 surgeries, said that I needed my knee replaced. But the insurance company refused any further treatment after 2 years and 2 half assed meniscus surgeries that did nothing to help and only made the pain worse. My oldest son is 44 now, and will be 45 in March. My youngest son, who is 38, is the one that lives here with me.
there is a comedian that does a bit about this awful little town that I live near. It has a single Chevron, 3 Marathons, and 1 BP station. Some price controlled grocery stores and a Walmart.
I don't bother much with gas station shops in the big(ish) city north of me, there is a shopper that grabs them all at base pay, doesn't matter the brand, they fly off the board as soon as they're posted. Or as soon as whoever it is finally figures out the correct answers to the BP certification.. lol. I think they do the customer first shops too, I only do the Image shops, and some EM shops when the bonuses get enough. Similar to you, there isn't much South of me unless I want to drive a couple hours or go into Birmingham. There are a few rural gas stations, that I make into a route at the end of most quarters December was very good to me last year, there were a LOT of leftover Image shops and EM shops. I was looking forward to having some money to fix something on the POS Jeep, but the water heater saw my paycheck first. the only thing I've done so far this year is a couple EM customer experience and lighting shops because they are across the street from each other and on my way home from one of the grocery stores that I shop.
there is a comedian that does a bit about this awful little town that I live near. It has a single Chevron, 3 Marathons, and 1 BP station. Some price controlled grocery stores and a Walmart.
I don't bother much with gas station shops in the big(ish) city north of me, there is a shopper that grabs them all at base pay, doesn't matter the brand, they fly off the board as soon as they're posted. Or as soon as whoever it is finally figures out the correct answers to the BP certification.. lol. I think they do the customer first shops too, I only do the Image shops, and some EM shops when the bonuses get enough. Similar to you, there isn't much South of me unless I want to drive a couple hours or go into Birmingham. There are a few rural gas stations, that I make into a route at the end of most quarters December was very good to me last year, there were a LOT of leftover Image shops and EM shops. I was looking forward to having some money to fix something on the POS Jeep, but the water heater saw my paycheck first. the only thing I've done so far this year is a couple EM customer experience and lighting shops because they are across the street from each other and on my way home from one of the grocery stores that I shop.
My Marathon had the wrong address posted and rather than fix it they just sent an email with the right address NE not NW. It does have a $40 bonus and a posted $2 reimbursement
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