Trendsource HEINOUS Grocery Shops

What in the WORLD was I thinking? There are some new TS grocery shops and I took 11 this weekend!!! I was thinking, "reimbursed groceries=Christmas $$."

OMG, did anyone else take any of these? Just curious. (These are new to my area, but they may have been around a while.) Count shopping carts in parking lot, interact with 8 employees and get descriptions, count all employees...This did not sound bad until I saw the report. It was absolutely grueling.

Any thoughts on this?

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I have completed a couple and have three more to do Tuesday. I did not have much trouble as I recorded most on my IPhone.

I had no trouble as I had a "grocery list." I thought the report was extremely redundant. Completing 11 in three days may have been my issue as well. I literally feel nauseated thinking about going to a particular grocery chain!

Just curious, how much is max reimbursement for these stores? I did one grocery store for this company and the money they offered was barely enough to purchase 3 required items.

$9 + $5 shop fee.

I had been out of town all week and the pantry was bare. I thought since there were several within 1.5 miles of my house, this was a no brainier.

Let's just say I am now well stocked on bottled waters and paper towels!!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2013 04:19PM by gigishopper.

I've done these before for TS, a few years ago. Yes, they are a lot of work, especially when most of the employees didn't wear name tags. I also had to purchase something in the deli, and put an item on the bottom of my cart to see if the cashier noticed it.

I did two of these shops, a few weeks ago. At that time, there wasn't anything about having to interact with 8 employees or counting the number of employees and I don't remember feeling the report was "grueling". (I don't think there were 8 employees in the either store!) Maybe they've changed the report in the last few weeks....

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

gigishopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> $9 + $5 shop fee.
>
> I had been out of town all week and the pantry was
> bare. I thought since there were several within
> 1.5 miles of my house, this was a no brainier.
>
> Let's just say I am now well stocked on bottled
> waters and paper towels!!

Thanks for your reply! The shop I did for them was $8 reimbursement + $6 pay. The reimbursement was barely enough to cover 3 items because the store was expensive (think Whole Foods). Another company that I did grocery store for pays up to $17 reimbursement, big difference.

This particular shop you have to interact with:

Deli
Produce
Meat
Three associates in the grocery (random ones you run into and ask them where an item is)
Cashier
Bagger

They want full details of the associate's demographic (height, age, glasses, tattoos, etc..) They want their name.

They also want to know what the associate said to you as the response to your question. The grueling part were the questions referencing whether or not the associate was sincere or proficient in their ability to run a cash register.

I have shopped other grocery stores for ALOT less work with a much higher reimbursment. There is no way in HELL I will ever do one of these again!

Oooh, that was definitely not the shop I did. Mine was more of a compliance shop with just a tinge of customer service woven in.

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

Just checked and all of mine were verified with no issues. Just an FYI to other shoppers, I did not give very elaborate answers. I only wrote a sentence or two for each question.

I did one today and they have taken off the question for the meat department. There are only two -produce and deli. I could not find anyone in produce and I went back four times to check. I only had one grocery clerk so the job went fast.

I do them in LA, and reimbursement is more than in No. CA where pay is much lower. My shops are very duable and not difficult (I don't think so), but I'm used to them. They pay 14.00 reimbursement + 5.00 fee, where up North, is much is lower.

Live consciously....

FYI, we are talking about 3 different supermarket shops, that's why they sound different. TS also does at least 4 competitors for their supermarket clients but because they do the competitors on a regular basis, it seems that they shop them for that supermarket client. The supermarket with the 3 item required purchase is not worth it without bonus as you can not find anything to buy for the reimbursement.

DANG.. That is a lot of departments for that amount.
I never see trendsource grocery shops, so I am guessing that is a grocer that is not in my area or else they go really fast.

I would love to find the companies that shop ALL of my local grocery stores!

ICCDS shops a grocery chain in my area that pays $10 + $2 reimbursement to interact with one department... I can sometimes get 3 shops in different departments and make 10+10+10+2+2+2.. the downfall is that I have to check out 3 times in different lanes without being conspicous with my couple items. I love these shops! Some of the departments are really easy. I have almost maxed out my shops there, however, and will have to wait a couple months for the rotation! I will pick up some in neighboring towns, however, as they fit into my schedule.

These seemed far worse than the ICCDS shops. I also try to shop three departments while I am there too. I rotate the door I enter from. It's hard not to feel obvious, though. Usually by the third shop (third time I enter) I walk rather swiftly as if I am in a hurry and "forgot" an ingredient. On that purchase I usually buy something that is usually the one thing you need, but somehow seem to forget like toilet paper or light bulbs!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2013 10:35AM by gigishopper.

HA HA gigishopper, I also walk in quickly acting like I forgot something! When I went into my last dept (the bakery), I spotted the last cashier that just checked me out!!! She didn't see me, and I darted out of there to grab some groceries before shopping the department! I shopped a different location a little further from home this time, and it was a smaller store and the lanes were closer together, so I felt a little sneakier!

How many questions are in the survey? Can I ask that or is that an ICA violation? lol

Sounds like another low paying Trendsource job. I just completed three $30 grocery shops - all yes or no answers, optional narrative.. that is worth it to me.

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

I took about 12 of these and I would almost panic I was so excited to get so much for free! Yes, the process was agonizing. I went to the register a couple of times where my total was less than $9 (how does that happen?) and I would say "oh, I forgot to pick up a candy bar-- he'll kill me if I forget that" and then grab a 50 cent Snickers from the checklane shelves.

Water, detergent, a newspaper, water, water, water, water.... I'll be well hydrated for awhile.

I actually enjoyed these and thought the pay was pretty nice. I got a couple of them with PAD also.

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