Marathon/Arco plot twists heads up.

New requirements:

1. Use a reward phone number when making your in store purchase.
2. A photo of the lube section in store whether or not branded oils are for sale.
3. An overall interior photo of the store.
4. Don't shop between 1 and 5 a.m., even if it's a 24 hour location.

I missed the last round entirely so they're new to me, anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2025 11:15AM by sestrahelena.

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.

More About Gas Station Mystery Shopping

Thanks. The lubricants photo appears to be for FLORIDA ONLY.

The Marathon stations here seem to be changing to Sprint Mart gas stations, no Marathon branding at all. Actually, unless the Marathon shops were posted in the last 24 hours or so, there are none here to do.

My area posted yesterday.

After the fact, I went looking for stuff to do and saw the Marathon shops had posted.

More pictures for the same pay, how exciting!

What is a reward phone number?

You have to sign up for the Marathon reward program if you don't already have an account. Alternatively you can enter an unmemorable number given in the guidelines. Thinking that probably some random (MSC) executive is going to make reward points off of us, I signed up for my own. They're not getting a damn thing extra from me!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2025 12:50AM by sestrahelena.

No Marathon shops showing up in my area, Indianapolis area, unless the MSC has changed or its on Prestomap.

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

Also, not sure when this went into effect but it's news to me: if there is no store or it's unexpectedly closed, make no purchase. Previously we were allowed to buy gas if that's all there was. Now, no gas.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2025 09:32PM by sestrahelena.

The "rewards phone number" is the phone number, or memorable 10 digit number you used when you signed up for their rewards program.

And there's no rotation restriction this round.

I signed up for the rewards card. I have never used one before. I hate to sound dumb, but how do I use it on the inside purchase?

You enter the phone # on the POS terminal before paying. Most have a rectangle to tap that says Loyalty or Rewards. I've run into some that don't and also some stores where the terminal is not within a customer's reach. All shops were accepted, even those where I forgot to comment on why I was unable to use the rewards. They'll probably get more strict on future rounds.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2025 08:42PM by sestrahelena.

Thank you, Sestrahelena.

I am getting a lot of push back. They want me to treat this like a white glove event. I won't be doing anymore, the editors are rude and nitpicky.

@sestrahelena wrote:

You enter the phone # on the POS terminal before paying. Most have a rectangle to tap that says Loyalty or Rewards. I've run into some that don't and also some stores where the terminal is not within a customer's reach. All shops were accepted, even those where I forgot to comment on why I was unable to use the rewards. They'll probably get more strict on future rounds.

_________________________________________

If you were unable to enter a phone number, please enter "N/A".

If I was unable to use it, I marked N/A. I got one pushback, and I pointed that out to her.

I'm getting a lot of pushback on the infractions. The guidelines aren't sufficient for the nitpickiness. They are making me feel stupid and incompetent, and I have been doing these shops for over seven years.

I wrote on another thread that I stopped doing these shops because I was fed up with Marathon pushing back every single time I submitted anything that wasn't a perfect review. Don't pay for mystery shopping if you can't handle hearing anything negative about your company. They're a big pain in the neck and aren't worth the hassle.

@whataboutpromblaine wrote:

I wrote on another thread that I stopped doing these shops because I was fed up with Marathon pushing back every single time I submitted anything that wasn't a perfect review. Don't pay for mystery shopping if you can't handle hearing anything negative about your company. They're a big pain in the neck and aren't worth the hassle.

I don't think it is Marathon. It is the MSC and the editors, mainly the editors. They follow different guidelines that do not align with the new shopper guidelines. I got pushback on every single one that I submitted. They were once my go-to; now, they can rot before I ever touch another one.

@Dino29 wrote:

@whataboutpromblaine wrote:

I wrote on another thread that I stopped doing these shops because I was fed up with Marathon pushing back every single time I submitted anything that wasn't a perfect review. Don't pay for mystery shopping if you can't handle hearing anything negative about your company. They're a big pain in the neck and aren't worth the hassle.

I don't think it is Marathon. It is the MSC and the editors, mainly the editors. They follow different guidelines that do not align with the new shopper guidelines. I got pushback on every single one that I submitted. They were once my go-to; now, they can rot before I ever touch another one.

For any other shop, I would normally agree, but for this particular set of shops, the MSC always blames it on Marathon. They'll tell me Marathon called the store and the store said the restrooms were not closed or the hot food items were available at the time despite my report, and it becomes a he said/she said situation. My shops would usually get approved in the long run but the process always dragged out. I finally got sick of it and stopped doing the shops.

Whoa! That's a convoluted way of calling us liars!

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Marathon/Arco plot twists heads up.

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine