They have had these same two resturaunt(casual nearly fast food) shops up/available for 2 months. The pay is strict flat fee with no reimbursement that isn't largest enough to make it worth it for me. I keep getting emails(the kind sent out to every registered shopper in the area) practically begging someone to do the shop yet they refuse to raise the rate(I've asked). Guess they don't really want it done?

Does KSS International not usually increase pay/add a bonus?

I haven't done many shops for them as there really aren't many here. And the rep that I talked to said that the client won't allow them to raise the rate, but wouldn't they rather pay a few extra bucks and get the review done then for it to sit there for months(literally months)?

Just speculating....the client may have agreed to a contract whereby they only pay IF the shop gets done. Perhaps it's just not a great priority to them. If that were the case, neither client nor MSC would have any incentive to raise the fee, nor to offer a bonus. (Presumably the MSC would still have incentive to get the shop done, as otherwise they could lose the contract.)

Another possibility is that one or both are simply tightwads.

And a third is that the shops ARE getting done, in other regions, so either client or MSC (or both) are too clueless to figure out why they are NOT getting done in your region.

Hi Kmiarussi!

We do not set fees.. we are just a scheduling company. The mystery shopping company sets the fees.

Sometimes we are given a bonus pool (usually about $50 to $100 per project, and that has to cover ALL locations), so we can't raise the fee until the very end when we have the majority of locations scheduled.

I can assure you that we get 100% completion every single month on every project, so that shop IS getting done by someone. If we can't get someone in our database to do it, we call local businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do the shop for the amount that the client will pay.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for responding, didn't know all that.. makes sense now.


KSS International, Inc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Kmiarussi!
>
> We do not set fees.. we are just a scheduling
> company. The mystery shopping company sets the
> fees.
>
> Sometimes we are given a bonus pool (usually about
> $50 to $100 per project, and that has to cover ALL
> locations), so we can't raise the fee until the
> very end when we have the majority of locations
> scheduled.
>
> I can assure you that we get 100% completion every
> single month on every project, so that shop IS
> getting done by someone. If we can't get someone
> in our database to do it, we call local
> businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
> Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do
> the shop for the amount that the client will pay.
>
> Hope that helps!

KSS International (formerly known as Kern Scheduling) advertised shops on their job board for $23 ($17 base plus $3 shop expense and $3 special expense). After I applied for the shops, they appeared on my assignment page with the MSP for $17. When I protested, KSS adjusted the shops on the MSP website to $20, not to $23. I refused to do the shops as they had misrepresented the pay. They then labelled me a "flake".

My experience with KSS International is that they are disorganized. I like to plan my schedule and prepare for my shops. However, KSS International would not accept applications until the morning of the shop making it difficult to plan and prepare. After I had planned my shopping day, KSS International called to argue with me about the shops I had applied for, trying to push me into changing my applications to other shops that they deemed more important (although they offered no more money for their more important shops). I even added another day to a busy shopping week to accommodate their "more important shops".

KSS International changed shop requirements at their whim. For one client, there was initially a limit of two shops per day. Then when KSS International wanted more shops done, they said I could do more shops per day (at the base pay). When they added two $3 bonuses to the base pay and I applied for multiple shops, they suddenly tried to lower the pay as I described in my first paragraph, and they told me they would not allow me any more shops for the client that month. When I protested, they labelled me a "flake".

Thankfully, I do not have these problems with other schedulers. I had heard that Kern Scheduling was great, but my experience with its successor, KSS International, was a disorganized and unprofessional hassle.

KSS International, Inc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
If we can't get someone
in our database to do it, we call local
businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do
the shop for the amount that the client will pay.


That really makes me go, "Hmmm ..." and think the client must not be too particular about writing skills, observation skills, timings, and all the skills we have honed in our mystery shopping experience.

I don't disagree with anything you said, cookie-o.........but one question. I've never heard it said that Kern Scheduling is great. Did someone actually say that? I've not heard Kern Scheduling OR Kern International called great. ...............

gotta say this kind of makes me laugh!!! I can't imagine ANY teachers union supporting this.....or teachers willing to take a measy 10.00 job that requires 45+ mins to complete for wayyyy less then minimum wage.

KSS International, Inc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Kmiarussi!
>
> We do not set fees.. we are just a scheduling
> company. The mystery shopping company sets the
> fees.
>
> Sometimes we are given a bonus pool (usually about
> $50 to $100 per project, and that has to cover ALL
> locations), so we can't raise the fee until the
> very end when we have the majority of locations
> scheduled.
>
> I can assure you that we get 100% completion every
> single month on every project, so that shop IS
> getting done by someone. If we can't get someone
> in our database to do it, we call local
> businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
> Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do
> the shop for the amount that the client will pay.
>
> Hope that helps!

If you got an unsolicited call for a mystery shop what would be your first reaction? Mine certainly would not be, "Hey great. Sign me up."

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you got an unsolicited call for a mystery shop
> what would be your first reaction? Mine certainly
> would not be, "Hey great. Sign me up."


Until about five years ago, when I got a job that was shopped, I assumed that mystery shopping was simply a scam.

Mary Kay, Tupperware,
Avon reps,

WOW, is that who we have to compete against to work for this scheduling company!

Nana,

I teach and MS. I planned to do it for only a short time when I started a few years ago to set a fund so my kid in the military could travel home on occasion. However since my take home pay goes down every year, I have kept shopping to stay afloat.

Teachers make pretty good shoppers. They can write well, and they follow instructions. When I used to be an editor, I kept the teachers busy (I used to schedule some of the shops too).

SoCalMama ~ I didn't mean to imply teachers would not make good mystery shoppers. Of course I hope most teachers write well. It was the randomness of this statement from KSS that made me roll my eyes:

KSS International, Inc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
If we can't get someone
in our database to do it, we call local
businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do
the shop for the amount that the client will pay.

PizzaPizza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SoCalMama ~ I didn't mean to imply teachers would
> not make good mystery shoppers. Of course I hope
> most teachers write well. It was the
> randomness of this statement from KSS that made me
> roll my eyes:
>
> KSS International, Inc Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> If we can't get someone
> in our database to do it, we call local
> businesses, teacher unions, Mary Kay, Tupperware,
> Avon reps, etc., til we find someone that WILL do
> the shop for the amount that the client will pay.

It's not random though. They chose teachers on that list for a reason.

Oh, I will stick my neck out there and say that KSS is awesome. Never been screwed by them in 15 years. I have received some amazing jobs from them over the years. I get hand picked frequently to do really cool stuff. If they need me to do a crappy job to finish a project, I'll help out if I can. If they have an amazing job, they call me first and ask me how many locations I want.