BEWARE OF MERCANTILE SYSTEMS .offering shops at a $0 pay for a hotel shop.

oooh yum!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

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I think everyone just needs to weigh their needs on their individual situation. I for one would take this shop, if I were traveling. However, I can see why it might not be attractive to some. I definitely think that it is off base to call it "slave labor." Slaves did not have choice, we have a choice. Do it, or don't do it.
LisaSTL Wrote:
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> Fill purchased wonton wrappers with a about a
> tablespoon of Nutella and fold over into a
> triangle using water on the edges to help seal
> them. Fry them up and sprinkle with a little
> powdered sugar.

Lisa, Have you been able to make these fresh without the nutella bubbling out while you cook them?

I've made cream cheese wontons before and found it worked better if I froze the assembled wontons before frying them. It also works out nicely because you can have a bag of frozen ones ready to go, then just pop a few in the fryer when you are in the mood for dessert.

(I just have to add, I would pretty impressed with anyone that could get through an IRS audit claiming business expenses on a job that offered no pay and was not for training purposes)
So far they have always been fresh and I shallow fry them. It may be in having them sealed well and not overfilling. The idea of freezing them is great. I am all about the make ahead at party timesmiling smiley

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
I am soooo happy to have all of these recipes!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Hi Mary Smith,
I'm not sure what your post means.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Mary Smith xoxoxo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just for you Wales smiling smiley
> You aren't the moderator.


Mary, how do you know?
Don't most message boards put Moderator under moderator's username on posts? I have no clue if wales is a moderator or not, and don't really care, but if so, I would find it hilariously hypocritical that the person who is most vocal about MSC employees putting their company affiliation in their tagline so people will know when communicating with them is a moderator and doesn't afford the other posters here the same courtesy.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
No. This forum does not identify its moderators.

I agree that anyone affiliated with a company should definitely identify their affiliation in a tagline. I believe that because a person employed by a MSC has a bias and I think it is important to disclose that. Or, failing disclosure, I think the company employee should recuse himself from posting about the company which which he is affiliated. If I read a thread about a particular company and I read a particularly great post about that company, I would like to know if that post was made by a shopper or if it was posted by an employee of that company who has a vested interest in saying great things about their employer.

I don't view a moderator in the same way. I fail to see why it would matter to posters whether a particular poster is a part-time forum moderator or not. Being a moderator would not give a poster any bias toward any company. Why would we want a moderator to disclose that he or she is a moderator?
Because if someone is moderating what I have to say, I have a right to know that.

Also, I'm assuming if someone comes on here to pump the company they work for, they wouldn't have the scruples to identify themselves to begin with, so we'd never know. I mean it's a good rule to have, but I'm actually just the opposite. I think it's much more important for moderators be identified than MSC employees.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2013 02:28AM by bgriffin.
FREELANCEREPORTER Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> People can beat the origional poster up all they
> want but it still does not gloss over the fact
> that we would not be doing mystery shopping unless
> we were poor. Investing $600 to essentially make
> nothing might be the same kind of upside down
> thinking that got us in the poor house in the
> first place. I am speaking for myself anyways and
> anyone that might do the unthinkable and be honest
> with themselves!


I totally disagree with your post and I take offense to it. I am not MS'ing because I am "poor." I have a full-time job with benefits, I own a house, my mid-range luxury car is completely paid off, and I can afford to travel for vacations. Oh ya, I am single and earned it all on my own.

Yes, I understand that some people are MS'ing to survive. And I commend them for doing so. But don't ASSume that all MS'ers are "poor." There are many shoppers who are retired and do this to keep busy, active, etc. There are shoppers who do this part-time for extra "fun" money. There are stay-at-home moms who need some time away from the kids and husband. The reasons and possibilities are endless.

P.S. I agree with the poster who said that she earns hotel reward points by performing these high-end hotel shops. Earning enough free nights stay for your own vacation time is just plain smart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Because if someone is moderating what I have to
> say, I have a right to know that.
>
> Also, I'm assuming if someone comes on here to
> pump the company they work for, they wouldn't have
> the scruples to identify themselves to begin with,
> so we'd never know. I mean it's a good rule to
> have, but I'm actually just the opposite. I think
> it's much more important for moderators be
> identified than MSC employees.

Actually, I totally disagree. I don't think any of us have the "right" to know who moderates the posts on a forum. I think, out of curiosity, I'd love to know who the forum's moderators are, but idle curiosity is about all it is. JacobJ, who is the forum owner, has chosen not to disclose the names of his moderators. Some of the moderation here is done by Jacob and some is done by other, un-named moderators. I have been posting here since 2008 and I have never seen the moderators identified, although there have been a couple of times when I knew who some of the moderators were. The mods are part-time and unpaid. I do not know who the moderators are now, and it does not bother me in the least. I can't imagine why I would want to know. For what reason would you want to know who the moderators are? Even if you knew who the moderators were, you would not know which specific moderator might have performed a specific moderation. If your post were moderated, would you want to contact the moderator? I'm completely not understanding why you think that you have a right to know who moderates the posts here on the forum.

I do agree that it is unscrupulous for a MSC-affiliated poster to post about their own company without disclosing. However, many new posters do not know how to create a signature line. Most create a signature line after someone mentions it. We have discovered several MSC owners posting positive things about their own companies
When I said "right to know" I didn't mean legal right. Obviously this is a private forum and it should be ran the way the owner sees fit. My point is that a moderator is in a position of authority. Even though I am here of my own free will, I feel like I should know who the people in charge are. If someone has the ability to edit my posts or restrict my account in some way, they should not be a faceless person.

I'm a techie, and I've been involved with numerous message boards since the 80's when there was no internet, only local BBSes, and this the first time I've ever encountered a forum where the moderators were not known. In fact I'm almost flabbergasted that it's not only considered acceptable, but that people don't feel like they even need to know.

I will even go so far as to say that the first time something I post gets moderated, I'm sent a PM saying I did something wrong, or there is some other moderator action directed at me from a nameless person, it will be the last time I visit this board.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
Don't post anything offensive and vile (like the overuse of the word slave) and you don't need to worry at all about moderators.

Moderators are like mystery shoppers (because they probably are!) and they should not reveal themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
That's like saying it's ok for your local police to be anonymous because you don't need to know who they are if you never break any laws. Only this is worse because if you do break a law and "get arrested" you still don't know who arrested you.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2013 04:02AM by bgriffin.
bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's like saying it's ok for your local police
> to be anonymous because you don't need to know who
> they are if you never break any laws. Only this
> is worse because if you do break a law and "get
> arrested" you still don't know who arrested you.


It is okay for local police to be anonymous. Ever hear of undercover cops? What about unmarked cars pulling over speeders?

And if your biggest worry in the world is an unrevealed forum moderator then I envy you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I've been on the forum some time and moderators have never been intentionally identified. That is the policy of the owner of the forum. I see a lot of trash and bash posts on this forum that I would personally moderate out in a heartbeat, so I have to say I believe the forum has a generous and lenient policy regarding what is moderated.

Identifying moderators would serve no useful purpose and would probably result in a greater reluctance for forum members to take on the responsibility. We may wish to know, but we have no right to know. Personally, if I get moderated (it's happened) I don't want to know who did it. I don't intend to argue or have hard feelings about a moderation. I'm here to get information and share with others; I can accept moderation and learn from it.

Since it is apparently forum policy not to identify the moderators, perhaps you can adjust your thinking on this. There is a tremendous amount of practical information available to you on the forum. I've looked around thoroughly and I don't think there's another site nearly this helpful and democratic. democratic philosophically, not politically, that's a small d, yall.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.
I'll give you an example. There are people on this forum that I just don't like, just as I'm sure there are people here who just don't like me. That's life and that's the way it goes. The problem is if I were a moderator, it's highly possible, even probable, that I would be more heavy handed towards the people I do not like than the people I do. That's just simple human nature and anyone who says it's not is either lying to themselves or in denial. Nobody is completely impartial.

By making moderators anonymous, there is no longer any accountability. If I don't like someone, and I'm an anonymous moderator, then I can be tougher on those people with no repercussions.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is okay for local police to be anonymous. Ever
> hear of undercover cops? What about unmarked cars
> pulling over speeders?
>
> And if your biggest worry in the world is an
> unrevealed forum moderator then I envy you.


Undercover cops are revealed when they arrest you.
And I never said it was my biggest worry, nor did I say it was even a very big worry at all. I'm just kind of surprised it's considered ok by most people here.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2013 04:30AM by bgriffin.
I guess my biggest issue is that I don't like secrecy, I prefer transparency. Like I was kind of ticked when I learned there a secret area to this forum most of us don't see. And don't get me wrong, I think it's perfectly ok to have a section that's only there for the people who have been here and contribute the most. I see nothing wrong with that at all, and I'm fairly new, I have no reason to think I should be included in such a thing, but if you have it, own up to it, and if you're gonna moderate something, own up to that too.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
C'mon bgriffen...you are talking about a group of people who employ deception for living!

There's no transparency anywhere in MSing...
HA! You've got a really great point. It's not like I'm clamoring for change or anything, I just trying to explain why I find it kind of odd.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
If rardon would stop shooting himself in the foot with his derogatory posts and bgriffin rambling on about the unfairness of secretive forum moderators and FREELANCEREPORTER posting his/her comments about us "poor, little people who eat at McDonald's everyday," all that wasted time could be used for signing up for more companies, doing more jobs, and earning more money.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I suppose responding to us wouldn't be a waste of time at all though huh?

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If rardon would stop shooting himself in the foot
> with his derogatory posts and bgriffin rambling on
> about the unfairness of secretive forum moderators
> and FREELANCEREPORTER posting his/her comments
> about us "poor, little people who eat at
> McDonald's everyday," all that wasted time could
> be used for signing up for more companies, doing
> more jobs, and earning more money.


You mean sticking your foot in your mouth like someone claiming that they are not poor and that they only mystery shop for fun and yet they have a nic called "shop2live". You cant have it both ways but Im sure you will try.
bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I suppose responding to us wouldn't be a waste of
> time at all though huh?


Not a waste of time at all. It is lulling me to sleep. Thank you so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
yay! glad I could help.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
FREELANCEREPORTER Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If rardon would stop shooting himself in the
> foot
> > with his derogatory posts and bgriffin rambling
> on
> > about the unfairness of secretive forum
> moderators
> > and FREELANCEREPORTER posting his/her comments
> > about us "poor, little people who eat at
> > McDonald's everyday," all that wasted time
> could
> > be used for signing up for more companies,
> doing
> > more jobs, and earning more money.
>
>
> You mean sticking your foot in your mouth like
> someone claiming that they are not poor and that
> they only mystery shop for fun and yet they have a
> nic called "shop2live". You cant have it both ways
> but Im sure you will try.


It is called a play on words. Or sarcasm. I don't even like shopping but someone at the IMSC conference in Atlanta said that non-shoppers make the best shoppers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
> It is called a play on words. Or sarcasm. I
> don't even like shopping but someone at the IMSC
> conference in Atlanta said that non-shoppers make
> the best shoppers.



So you are saying that you don't mystery shop because you are poor and you don't even like shopping? Please help us unravel the obvious which is why would you mystery shop if you are not poor and you do not like shopping?
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