Are there any shops you no longer do?

I no longer take AARP health insurance shops. I got a really incompetent person the last time, it took forever for the call, and in the end, I discovered that she had submitted an application for me. Fortunately, I was able to just ignore it, and it expired (she was only supposed to be sending me information).

Also won't do the shop where you had to get dozens of screenshots about your current insurance.

I also won't do Trendsource's ink photo shops anymore. Way too much work.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2024 07:16AM by MisterBill.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

After this one is done, no more "pick a web site and buy something" shops from the Big Eye. I hate this shop on so many levels.

FTOYWDK...what you do is pick a vendor. In my case it was (making up the name) ACME. You place an order with ACME...documenting all the steps. The package comes in, you photograph the hell out of it. Then you initiate a return...documenting the steps. Once the return is processed and you get your money back, you document that as well. I'm on the last step.

The problem is that ACME uses a website technology that was from like 2004...and the guy who designed it was probably born in 2004 as well. There was no return form on the website. So documenting it means that I had to save a .pdf of my letter begging them to accept my return. They didn't e-mail me when the package shipped, or when it arrived. You basically have to stay on top of them the entire way.

So I hate the labor involved. What I also hate is the survey that asks no questions about, "What could ACME do to make their site better?" Its truly one of those shops that I cannot fathom it delivering any actionable intelligence for the company.

How do you do apartment shops

I just thought of another one I avoid; the money transfer shops where you have to cancel it a few minutes later. Especially at a big box store where waiting in line for CS is always an adventure. No interest in standing in line twice.

Freddy's

Almost anything from Bare. Pay is way too low for the amount of narrative generally required, and the repeated, disjointed Editor follow up questions drive me batty. I am always happy to answer a question if something I wrote or answered needs clarification, but they come up with all kinds of random questions weeks later that were not on the report, etc. I will occasionally do an airport shop for them if at $100, but otherwise, no thanks.

Anything where the reimbursement and pay is the same as 10 years ago.

Not that I would no longer do, but they are no longer available. One I can think of is beauty/cosmetic shops. The old MSC no longer offers them. The new MSC fee with no reimbursement is laughable.

@tstewart3 wrote:

Freddy's

I was pleasantly surprised when I took one this weekend. This is the first time I've seen it since they suspended the program a couple years ago. They simplified it and made it super easy and you can order just about anything you want now. I did a drive-thru and I had the report written up in 5 minutes.

My "Do Not Shop" list is so long that a newbie shopper could probably make a decent part-time income solely from shopping from my DNS list.

@Sweetam75 wrote:

How do you do apartment shops

Doing apartment shops is simple. The hard part is having to constantly adjust your work schedule because staff will not answser the pre-visit phone call.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Are there any shops you no longer do?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine