No. It is too much work.

This is what i was thinking as well. Plus a lot of people don't have the writing skills, ability to follow guidelines, or a computer to write coherent reports. Or how about hsving the patience to find the MSCs and sign up with multiple companies in order to find a few shops, where like you wrote, they'll have to spend money out of pocket and wait for reimbursement?

@joanna81 wrote:

No, I don't think people will turn to mystery shopping due to SNAP because with the shops, you have to put out the money and wait possibly a month to get your money back. Also the usual fast food that is shopped is not the cheapest - 5 guys or Panda are gonna be at least $10-$15. If people are really tight on cash and have to hit up a restaurant I would imagine they would go to a place like Wendy's or McD's and order off the value menu.

@kisekinecro wrote:

@amyann2 wrote:

Wow, I had no idea that so many mystery shoppers were so lacking in compassion. There are any number of reasons people may need assistance. Suggesting that they're fat and losing benefits would be a good thing is beyond the pale.

Compassion? Not really? If they want people not to feel that way maybe they should not allow SNAP to pay for snack and soda to begin with .......it is meant for food not snacks and soda right?

_____________________________________________

I remember as a child, soda being a luxury. We grew up in a holler in Eastern Kentucky. My father had black lung, and my mother was his caregiver. We got foodstamps, and there were some things that were just luxeries. Soda, and snacks were not allowed.

That is when they paper stamps. Now, with it being a debit card, they could start auditing these people and eliminate those with a 10k balance. My sister told me her $137 will roll over. I saw a mystery shopper who had an $11.5k balance on her card. I thought that stuff had to be used up monthly.

@Dino29 wrote:

@kisekinecro wrote:

@amyann2 wrote:

Wow, I had no idea that so many mystery shoppers were so lacking in compassion. There are any number of reasons people may need assistance. Suggesting that they're fat and losing benefits would be a good thing is beyond the pale.

Compassion? Not really? If they want people not to feel that way maybe they should not allow SNAP to pay for snack and soda to begin with .......it is meant for food not snacks and soda right?

_____________________________________________

I remember as a child, soda being a luxury. We grew up in a holler in Eastern Kentucky. My father had black lung, and my mother was his caregiver. We got foodstamps, and there were some things that were just luxeries. Soda, and snacks were not allowed.

That is when they paper stamps. Now, with it being a debit card, they could start auditing these people and eliminate those with a 10k balance. My sister told me her $137 will roll over. I saw a mystery shopper who had an $11.5k balance on her card. I thought that stuff had to be used up monthly.

And you have to wonder how much of that "rollover" account is being used to barter for other items, maybe drugs. Like I previous said, limit the purchases to items on the Med diet and NO rollover. Use it or lose it monthly.

Now for an empathy story...

So while I'm in a suburban/rural supermarket parking lot I witness the following events. A man with loose fitting clothing, long facial hair and pushing a shopping cart (from a different location not this store) filled with trash (belongings?) is arguing with the clouds in a loud voice to no one, as no one is nearby. Clearly a person with mental disabilities.

As I watch this for about one minute, a large German automobile pulls up and a woman exits the vehicle while it is running and delivers a bag of food from McDonalds. She says something short to the man and she gets back in her car and drives away. I watch for another minute and notice the man takes just one bite of something from the bag and then discards the item and the bag on the side if the sidewalk. He continues to argue, shouting at the clouds with no one around. Clearly he needs help.

It begs at least one question. Who is this woman? Is she a relative? If so, does she feel guilty that he is living "on the streets" at the moment and delivered the food? She didn't stick around to see that he discarded the food. Knowing the area of rural, higher than average priced homes, I'm sure social services got involved.

For me the moral of the story is this; you must take care of your immediate family. Sometimes your extended family as well. It is not morally acceptable to drop off your relatives to the rest of society for daily care.

(This is not my usual supermarket. During my occasional visits I never have seen this man again.)

I believe I shall just pass on all of the judgments of those who believe the majority of SNAO recipients are lazy, fat, etc, etc or just put in your judgmental opinion of those who do not have.

In my opinion, the soon to come removal of recipients getting SNAP benefits (SNAP cuts from the BB will cause some folk to add mystery shopping as an augment to their budget.
Who are they?
Farmers who rely on SNAP for much of their income through SNAP using the products they grow.
Local, small town and, large city grocers and their employees.
Even gas stations and their employees.

Those are facts.

A local food bank that has had to regularly throw away donated food because it had to be prepared in order to eat. Most, like 95%+ of the people on SNAP eat high cost, low nutritional value, instant meals.

Which makes sense, because they're lazy, hence making their basic survival other people's problem.

The Dems? They don't give a Chuck!

Fact check:
1) Food banks often have to throw away donated food that requires preparation because many recipients face significant barriers, including a lack of cooking facilities, limited storage (refrigeration/freezer space), insufficient time for meal preparation, and a lack of cooking knowledge or necessary tools. Additionally, food banks themselves often lack the infrastructure and volunteer capacity to safely handle, store, and distribute large quantities of perishable or prepared items.

2) In a typical month, over half of working-age, non-disabled adults who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are working. When measured over a longer period, such as the year before or after their month of participation, this number rises to nearly three-quarters (74%).

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2025 08:17PM by maverick1.

@kisekinecro wrote:

@bradkcrew wrote:

@Dino29 wrote:

There are mystery shoppers who shop at gas stations and use their EBT. I've seen the balances on some of those receipts. Those balances look nice.

Isn’t using SNAP for shops prohibited? Pretty sure I have read that in several guidelines.

Some gas stations have chained - convenance stores, and those C-store accept EBT cards

I am aware of that. I meant using EBT to pay for a shop purchase is prohibited since you are reimbursed. It would be EBT fraud, no?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2025 09:45PM by bradkcrew.

All of the gas station audits I do specifically prohibit EBT, to the best of my recollection. Like brad says, it seems like it would be fraud to get reimbursed for those purchases.

@bradkcrew wrote:

@kisekinecro wrote:

@bradkcrew wrote:

@Dino29 wrote:

There are mystery shoppers who shop at gas stations and use their EBT. I've seen the balances on some of those receipts. Those balances look nice.

Isn’t using SNAP for shops prohibited? Pretty sure I have read that in several guidelines.

Some gas stations have chained - convenance stores, and those C-store accept EBT cards

I am aware of that. I meant using EBT to pay for a shop purchase is prohibited since you are reimbursed. It would be EBT fraud, no?

It is supposed to be. but there's multiple layer of it. First of all...the govt and the gas station would not know that the customer is spending the EBT money on MS. On top of that I am also not sure if the MSC and/ort the client who received the report will be screening that and/or report that person to the govt department for such behavior.

No, the MSC would reject the shop, or at a minimum refuse the reimbursement. They do it for less. You say you have seen this, so it may not be universal, but it is the norm.

Also, $11.5 K would not be that much of a big deal if this were just after the pandemic. People were getting the full amount of SNAP during the shutdown. A married person with four dependants could have been getting $1,500 a month easily in many states, even though that person normally would be working a well paid job. Money was flowing during the shutdown. One antecdote doesn't mean anything.

EBT recipients would be running for cover from the abuse we get. They would LOL at the pay offers as well and would give zero Fs about getting it right and to the letter. It takes a special breed. We don’t even understand why we do what we do.