I suppose this question is for seasoned shoppers, but I am curious - have you ever stopped working for a "good MS company? Have you ever said, "No more!" to the really low paying shops offered by companies that pay well, have great schedulers, and are quick to respond with questions or help?
I love, love, love mystery shopping to the point I have allowed this original hobby to turn into a 40-50 hour week full time job. I take all kinds of assignments from reimbursement-only jobs to jobs that offer excellent pay, minimal reporting time, and require no purchase, and all jobs in between. I am not sure if it is burn-out, getting spoiled by higher paying jobs (by higher, I am referring to shops paying greater than $12 per shop + reimbursement), or just wondering if I have been foolish for ultimately working for less than $2 an hour after factoring in lengthy reporting time. There are several wonderful companies I work for and consider the shops as ultimate coupons. Even though the pay is small, I am doing something I would normally do, yet, I am getting at least reimbursed for it. Maybe it is coincidence, but it seems that more and more shops are being offered at lower payments than before. Like all of you, I take pride in giving timely, quality reports which most often require paying attention to the slightest of details (i.e., temperature of the room, eye color of the associate, etc.). Do any of you get to the point where you just quit working for companies that are easy to schedule with, easy to communicate with, but impossible to get decent pay from?

Of course. But I don't terminate the company because if I am going to be in a particular area I will check their boards and see if there is anything to use as "filler" for my trip. There are still some 'cheap' shops I do because if I need to go to a particular place on purely personal business and I can pick up a shop nearby or further down the road, my mileage becomes a business expense.

Exactly what Flash said. I would never cancel my relationship with a fair company because, like Flash, I keep open all options with good companies, regardless of the pay scales or complexity of the assignments.

What is "good" for one isn't neccessarly "good" for another. I have cut myself free from a company, who never has obs in my area (never), and a company has cut me free for a stupid reason. I do not work for a couple of them, for my personal reasons, pay to low for amount of work required, locations they offer not duable, et. The reasons for me to do the cutting off
would be they are impossible to communicate with, not helpful, and continually show me low paying jobs (unless I want the reimbursement), and so on....
Since I don't do runs and recently do 70% in my area, with going into the city
only once a month for a few jobs, I can be more select. I enjoy working with MSC's that treat you like a person, not a number. I have one now I have trouble with their editors, but like their jobs (for the most part), it wouldn't be beneficial to cut off ties, so I won't, but reports are a PITA.

Thanks so much for the advice. I don't think I would ever cut ties with any good company, but it can get frustrating to get requests to do shops that pay very low. I guess I may have just answered my own question....they are requests, and if I don't want to do them, I can just click that little red x at the top of the computer screen and then I will have nothing to fuss about!

I agree with all of the above. I have stopped applying or selecting jobs for a few companies as often as I had, but I would not deactivate because every once in awhile, an opportunity arises for something I want to do. I have just become more selective with those that I think have unreasonable reports or requirements for some jobs. I also have noticed that any company that gives me grief over anything, I delte their emails and don't apply for their jobs. I think it's more of a subconscious thing about not wanting to deal with issues for the work required. One bad experience and I am VERY careful going forward. I guess it's a bit like an MSC being hesitant to use a flaked shopper again.

amie068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks so much for the advice. I don't think I
> would ever cut ties with any good company, but it
> can get frustrating to get requests to do shops
> that pay very low. I guess I may have just
> answered my own question....they are requests,
> and if I don't want to do them, I can just click
> that little red x at the top of the computer
> screen and then I will have nothing to fuss about!

And this is the key and critical part of being an Independent Contractor. You accept what works for you and just reject that which does not. One company has (or used to have) a cadre of little old ladies who called and tried to guilt you into accepting work to 'help them out'. Turning them down almost felt like refusing to help the Red Cross collect contributions for a disaster area. It is not your civic duty to perform any shop. You are a business and you are making business decisions. What works for you today may not tomorrow and may well work agai next week. The decisions are yours.

You need to know what the shops entail, and generally you won't know unless you have performed them or paid attention when forum buddies were discussing them. You can get a pretty good idea based on your own experience with a company whether they pay fairly for work or are cheap. So once you have experience with a company and they with you, you are ready to make your intelligent business decisions on a practical rather than emotion laden level.

For me there are only a few companies that I would take any job in my area sight unseen. There are many companies that I would give the advantage of the doubt to on unknown shops. There are many companies that I would consider trying an unknown shop and there are some companies that any job would require a substantial bonus to be feasible.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2012 09:25PM by Flash.

While I agree with the above posters, I have encountered 1 exception in 9+ yrs. It was a low paying, but established MSC for whom I had completed 5 assignments in 5 yrs., all ice cream parlors: ICCDS. One day, I received in excess of 40 solicitations from the scheduler; I mailed her requesting that practice be discontinued. A few weeks later, it was 30+ notices in a single day; I sternly stated my displeasure. Sure enough, there was a 3rd occurrence of 30+. I called the company and requested we discontinue our relationship; it was granted.

On a slightly different matter, if I'm required to "chase my money," we're finished. I don't mean errors, rather pure negligence on their part. Life has taught me it's not worth the hassle, but again to each his/her own.

amie068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I suppose this question is for seasoned shoppers,
> but I am curious - have you ever stopped working
> for a "good MS company? Have you ever said, "No
> more!" to the really low paying shops offered by
> companies that pay well, have great schedulers,
> and are quick to respond with questions or help?


Well, there is one "good" company (at least has a lot of good feedback on the forums) that didn't pay me for my first shop. So, hasta la vista. Another has a bad reputation for payment, so I choose to not work for them. In addition, I have simply not taken any shops from certain companies, stopped checking their job board and stopped reading their emails for several reasons; low pay, few if any shops that match my schedule, better shops from other MSPs, etc.. In those cases it was not a conscious decision to cut them off, just that they aren't high on my personal list to work for.

However, I would never terminate myself from any MSP because things can change. They could be bought by another company, turn over another leaf, or I could change my mind about the shops/MSP.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2012 10:30AM by vlade5394.

Shopperbob:

I'm sorry for the miscommunication, and am glad it was resolved!

-Lauren
Field Coordinator

shopperbob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While I agree with the above posters, I have
> encountered 1 exception in 9+ yrs. It was a low
> paying, but established MSC for whom I had
> completed 5 assignments in 5 yrs., all ice cream
> parlors: ICCDS. One day, I received in excess of
> 40 solicitations from the scheduler; I mailed her
> requesting that practice be discontinued. A few
> weeks later, it was 30+ notices in a single day; I
> sternly stated my displeasure. Sure enough, there
> was a 3rd occurrence of 30+. I called the company
> and requested we discontinue our relationship; it
> was granted.
>
> On a slightly different matter, if I'm required to
> "chase my money," we're finished. I don't mean
> errors, rather pure negligence on their part. Life
> has taught me it's not worth the hassle, but again
> to each his/her own.

Never de-activated a company yet there are several that I just chose to stop getting emails on shop offers.

I deactivated from GapBuster a few years back.

There are some shops that I have come to realize are not worth my time and effort. Taking into account the time studying for the shop, the time it takes to get to the shop (and back), and the time during the shop, and then the time entering the report, some shops simply aren't worth it.

But to say I would cut off the company would not be accurate. Being more selective on shops I commit to is more appropriate. If the company offers me a bonus to make it worth my time, then I would do the shop. But I think it's important to be honest with the company and tell them why you are declining the shop if you are asked.

There's a company that has good jobs, good pay, and rotten miserable editors
which I'm considering dropping. I haven't been answering their emails for some time because of the last editor who erroneously wrote a comment on my board which was not true - when I emailed her about it - 4 times - she made no correction,.
And she's not the first editor at that company who has been a beach. At some point the irritation outweighs the good offers.