Hello everyone! I recently signed up with Maritz and am thinking about doing a shop with them. I have done many unrevealed grocery shops with other companies and enjoy them immensely. I also have done revealed audits and enjoy doing these as well. I have never done any sort of shop that has a reveal after doing the mystery shop.

I would like to get some advice from seasoned mystery shoppers that have done these types of assignments. Is it awkward revealing yourself after doing a shop? Is the reaction from store personnel negative or confrontational? Would you say that this type of assignment is more stressful than others? The shop also requires photographs of areas in the store that were not in compliance.

I know that the straightforward answer it to just try one and see if I like it or not. I usually must give quite some thought to accepting new types of assignments though. I have Bipolar Disorder and am extremely cautious of what situations and stress levels that I put myself into. I have turned down many types of assignments for these reasons.

I was extremely leery of doing revealed audits because I thought the stress level would not be good for me mentally. One of my schedulers was extremely understanding of my medical condition and encouraged me to try one. She said that if the audit did not go well it would not be a spot on my record. I am glad that I did try because I love doing those type of shops.

I appreciate any sincere advice or words of encouragement. Thanks!

The grocery shop is just like their gas shop. Short simple mystery shop. Leave, go to you car, get your authorization letter, camera and whatever else you need and enter the store again and ask for the manager. Then it is just like any other reveal audit with photos. I was very leery of them too, but they are close by so I decided to try it. Then I saw the survey and went into shock!!! I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but I sucked it up and armed myself with my camera and went in. After doing the first one, I will sign up for them every time they come around. The pay is not the highest, but the shop is interesting and for all the questions went very smoothly and quickly. Just don't let the look of the questionnaire scare you. On the other hand, you might consider the store itself and if you know anything about it or the neighborhood it is in. Like the gas stations, if there are a lot of non-compliant issues there will be a lot of photos and narratives. The two stores I did were in great shape. Very few non -compliant issues.

I don't mind revealed shops, and most of the managers have been very nice.

That being said, it took me almost two hours to do the Maritz grocery revealed shop/audit, and that's not including uploading photos and inputting everything. Doing this shop made my own health issues flare up, and I'm not repeating it any time soon.

I did some auto service shops with reveal. Never again, it did take forever- form was 16+ pages before pics and explanations. Managers wanted to dispute every " not to standard mark". I had 68 pictures for things which were not to standard in 1 store alone.. The best store had 24 photos. The place which was doing the audit fortunately sent tons of photos in the instructions of what would be compliant. I did have managers refuse to sign my paperwork as I would not change my marks. After I showed them the evaluation, they sent someone out to pick up the garbage in the lot, got a guy cutting the grass, uncovered the fire extinguisher, took down girly calendars, etc. Find out from your scheduler what is the procedure if the manager refuses to sign your paperwork. I called from the parking lot to mine and thank heaven, she said it was OK. I always purchase something at the store-gum-soda, something little, so I have a receipt with time and date as extra proof.
I agree with barbage completely! Know where you are being sent! I have had my car broken into 4 times, and I was robbed once. This is over 15+ years, however I will not do work in certain areas anymore.

Thanks so much to each of you that have responded. You all have provided exactly what I needed..sharing your experiences on these types of shops so that I can make an informed decision. I know for many the decision about what sort of shops to do doesn't even require a second of thought. For some of us with a disability it is not so straightforward. I hope that I can use this forum as yet another form of support when I may need opinions. I am not sure what I can give back to this community but I sure will try.

There are a lot of forum members more than willing to help you out. So don't be afraid to ask questions.

I, too, have some physical limitations due to my fibromyalgia, especially when it flares up, so I've had to learn what assignments work for me and which don't. I've also learned to schedule strategically when possible to give myself time to recuperate.

I took three, sucked it up and would not take another. I was at the store for 45 minutes and the report and picture upload took another 30 minutes - for $8. I noticed the ones this month are at $10. Ill pass!

starrynight -
(I love your name)

You're not alone. There are others of us here who have disabilities. Mine are hidden, but they still cause issues. There are some shops that I would love to do, but I know that I can't. There have been a few that I have signed up for and then realized that I can't or shouldn't do them - Maritz seems to be especially bad for those. And then there are some that are usually fine for me, but then my health issues will flare up and I'm stuck at home. I try to do my best on the shops that I can do, and to let the schedulers know ASAP when I can't do a shop and hope that it all balances out in the end. I'm also trying to be more careful about not stretching myself too far because that affects my ability to everything.

One of the things that I hate about Maritz is that to find out what is involved in a shop, I basically have to have the shop assigned to me. I might be able to spend half an hour on the phone with someone and get their description, but they may or may not tell me what I need to know. I really prefer being able to read the description on the website at my convenience, and to think it over if I need to do so. A lot of folks here seem to love Maritz, and I thought I was missing something when I wasn't signed up with them. Now I'm finding that there are plenty of people who don't like them as well, and also finding out why. I've decided that their gas and grocery revealed audits are definitely not for me, and we don't have their bank shops here. They are very inefficient in the way that they do business, don't mind wasting my time for very little money and are basically too much hassle to deal with in general, so I'm putting them at the bottom of my list unless/until something changes.

You guys are absolutely awesome..thanks so much for the input. We all do mystery shopping for a wide variety of reasons such as enjoyment..free products and services..extra income..or even just to get out of the house for a bit. Mystery shopping has provided me the little cushion to be financially independent and provide for my daughter. A few extra hundred bucks a month is chump change or spending money to many. For some on fixed incomes or that make modest wages it can be a lifesaver.

Thanks again everyone!

Reveal shops not for me...I have done one, just not comfortable for the price they offered.

My "first" 2nd Mystery Shop, was a grocery store, when I first started out as a Shopper. It was an undercover audit and then a "reveal."

I LOVED everything about it. The photos, the evaluation (and you don't want to know what I saw in the frozen case.....).

I found my "niche" early on and was paid $25 for my second shop as a (newbie).

You have to be polite and professional, let them know you are not out to hurt them, get them on your side (that means empathize with them especially if they are short-handed) so they "welcome" your audit (as much as that's possible, under a tense time for the associates).