Favorite Shops?

In all of your time as a mystery shopper, what have been your favorite shops?

Mine
(1) a Valet Parking shop near my doctor's office in a downtown urban area - where it's impossible and/or expensive to find parking. So, the Valet Parking shop is only a block away - so that works great.

(2) In the area where I used to live, there was a local business that owned a chain of themed, but white tablecloth restaurants with 3 locations very close to my home. The rotation was short to non-existent, so I ate there and took friends and family there often...the food wasn't great, but it was not bad either, and the service was excellent. They were never short on customers, so I guess that's why the food reports weren't a big deal...I think they were more interested in the staff. In 2 years, I probably did at least 30-40 of those shops. Always had leftovers for a meal the next day.

(3) There was a one off shop I did once at a nice resort. I was paid to spend the night and visit 2 bars and 2 restaurants for meals and drinks. Reports were short and easy but no questions about the resort stay. Never saw that on the board again lol.

(4) I still miss the Cheesecake Factory shops. I am sure many of you know about those.

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More About Favorites

My favorites are Texas Roadhouse, Chicken Express, and anything where I don’t have to get out of the car.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

My most recent favorites that come to mind are the garden center shops.

I don't shop much anymore and am really selective in what I do, but I love the grocery shops in my area. I haven't paid for groceries out of our family budget for about a year since I started doing them. It feels like I found a cheat code for groceries! I pick a charity to support each month and get items on their wish list as well, so I also get to support our community while feeding my family. Win-Win!

My favorites are gas stations and debrands.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

Almost any bank platform shops; senior living shops; new home shops; medium-intensity hotel shops; Amtrak shops; one MSC's parking shops. Those first three because I love to develop and use background stories for shops. Hotel shops for being pampered and often for excellent food. Amtrak because I love rail travel and exploring new-to-me rail stations. Urban parking shops for covering parking near a ton of bank and retail locations that I walked to for well-paid shops.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

which MSCs are good for hotels? any hints on amtrak?

I always enjoy dining mid level or fine dining. I used to love the USPS shops in their previous format!

Amtrak shops are long gone.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I toured a townhouse complex where units were a lot more expensive than the value of my own house. It was fun commenting on what a good idea the elevator option or the Wolf oven were. The shop was a once and done
Grocery shops, asking about credit cards at a certain bank, selecting my own half pound assortment of chocolate candy at a midwestern chain.

Once, I had bought tickets to a hockey game and then found a shop where they reimbursed you for the tickets. You had to approach a stand trying to sell an invitation to view a timeshare. You had to decline.

Once I got to stay in a cabin at a camping resort. I was able to bring along my brother and his family too.

Now, I like grocery stores and Texas Roadhouse.

Gas stations, especially with a gasoline reimbursed purchase requirement, or audits with no money out of pocket. Restaurants that pay AND reimburse for the full required purchase. And grocery shops. They all make me money, and they also help me get my needs taken care of without seriously cutting into my income.

Gas stations. I like being outside. Hot sun, rain, whatever, I'm all in.

Any audit really. I also like mattress store mystery shops and I enjoyed the Kia shops. I make up stories on both of those, and that is rather fun.

Currently - lobby shops where you speak to the lobby attendant in an office building, ride the elevator, and engage again in the lobby. Usually less than 15 minutes on site with a very short report. An old one I loved were the movie theater reward shops - provided an on-the-spot reward to the concession agent if they "passed" but no reveal if they "failed."

I like doing Bank shops - nothing to buy or return, sit down in a comfy chair, and have a conversation.

My favorite shops have been the hotel ones. I've gotten lucky and got a multiple night stay at a luxury hotel nearby with meals and other amenities. Along with some other shops at other good hotels with resort elements. Each one has amounted to decent pay, budget, and four digit reimbursements. While the first one was timing consuming, I got a lot more experienced and efficient on the subsequent shops. No matter the hotel, I've never sent an offer essentially doing it just for the reimbursement.

There was a round of shops that a mall retailer was doing for their restaurants. My guest and I enjoyed those the most. While there were other fine dining restaurants I did that offered larger reimbursements, I remember doing a whole round of all of their locations during the 1-2 weeks before the COVID shutdown. Since then, I haven't seen the shops though.

Once upon a time...

- Jancyn's high end spa shops they would let you self assign and wouldn't even limit them. I tried not to be too greedy and only took three but you got two services. I did cut and color at one, mani pedi at the second and facial and body polish at the third. And they were quarterly!
- Still can't believe this happened but going through Florida I got two adult tickets at Disney to evaluate the ticket sales and then the next day, another two tickets to evaluate the ticket sales at Epcot. And I got paid $10 to evaluate the monorail.
- The hundreds of recorded calls I did for Medicare Advantage plans at $25 a pop. I would vary my regional accents and the ms company named me their favorite shopper for the entertainment value.

Ah, those were the days - not the purgatory of burgers and mattresses I live in now....

Shopping domestic and international locations since 2003.

I've become a gas station specialist. Fave of those programs is the Phillips family of brands. The flexible reimbursement scheme allows me to knock out way more stations than the other projects. I've bought 50¢ worth of gas on several occasions. Just wish I could use the app for payment more often... they shut me down for a day after 7 or 8 purchases.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

I used to like all of the Darden restaurant shops. I haven't seen many hotel shops except for Coyle and my patience for Coyle reports is long gone.

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