Is there any more recent feedback on this company?

Specifically how often/when do they use shoppers instead of their own employees? How is the pay? Good to work with?

Thank you in advance.

Excellent questions.

They very rarely use shoppers who are not their employees. When they do, they recruit a small cadre of shoppers to do a full set of maybe 15-25 shops each, such as going to a large venue each month or quarterly, for instance, to hit every store/venor at the site. So, if there are 200 stores or vendors at a site, each of 10 shoppers on the team might do a different 20 of the shops on each iteration. Then, going back for another round and another, period after period. They pay a flat fee for a set of shops, plus a set amount that varies by the type of store/vendor being shoppered to cover required purchases and, for the ones where purchases are not required, to be used towards transportation or parking or just as a nice add on. You get that set amount even if you have to spend less! For instance, if you took the local bus to the site, instead of driving and paying top dollar for onsite parking, you would net more from that set of shops. They expect their shoppers to work quite independently and to seek help (which is given generously) when they are uncertain. I have been on two of their shopper teams for about 3 years and have recruited a couple of shoppers from this forum for those teams when team members retired or moved out of the area being shopped. At this time they have a full compliment of shoppers to cover the two big sites in my region.

The required narratives are not a problem once you have done a few and understand what is, and isn't needed. Receipts for small purchases are not required unless the client has questions, so no pix to submit. But, you do have to file an invoice for each set of shops (not for each shop) that requires a knowledge of Excel.

Great staff to work with; real pros who understand that this is a collegial effort. The LRA staff is always ready to learn from their shoppers, which is a real breath of fresh air. They pay like clockwork the thrid Friday after you submit the invoice, by check.

They have a very few shops that do not fit either of the models I have described. These are scheduled by either of two other MSCs that they team with to get them done. You may never even know that you are doing an LRA shop when you hit upon these. I only stumbled on this after working with LRA for almost 3 years and do not feel free to disclose who they team with.

If you are invited to apply for one of their teams, expect to provide a writing sample, resume, and go through a phone interview. If you pass those, expect a very complete background check, for which they will pay, and, if special testing is needed, or special IDs for the venues, they will cover those costs and pay a flat fee for your time to achieve all of this.

If you are interested in their non-ICA employment opportunities, just go to the LRA Worldwide web site and scroll down to see current employment opportunities. Specialized backgrounds are required for many positions, as well as a LOT of travel. But, for those with the skill sets required it looks like it would be both fun and challenging! Fluency in more than one language is also required and/or preferred for many of their job openings. They literally have employees all over the globe.

Very interesting information. Thanks!

Great info, walesmaven. I applied for a regular job with them but never heard back. I don't have hospitality experience. However, I would love to try some of their MS ICA shops.

Walesmaven gave a complete picture of what and how they operate. I was fortunate to get involved with LRA this year, and so far the relationship is fantastic.

Ironically, when I recruited new shopper team members for LRA last year, I did so entirely by using the much maligned Job Board here on the forums. Moreover, it was by responding to a post on our Job Board by an LRA affiliate about three years ago that I joined an LRA team.

Guess why I check the Job Board here several times per week!

I love the job board here. I've found quite a few shops and projects from it. Nothing as major as that but still.

I have done a hotel shop for them that was scheduled by another company. They basically wanted a full transcript of everything, I mean everything, that occurred. I had used the exact same form for a hotel shop from Intellishop and received a 10, with no questions from an editor. Only mentioning that because everyone says how picky they are, to give you a frame of reference. I received five to ten questions on the LRA shop, wanting more detail than what I had provided. I rarely get questions on my hotel shops.

They recently started a project in our area that is somewhat different. It does require security clearance both prior to the shop and on the shop. I am in the middle of a couple and they are not difficult. Hopefully, I will become involved in more, based on the input from this forum!

@Roxie wrote:

I have done a hotel shop for them that was scheduled by another company. They basically wanted a full transcript of everything, I mean everything, that occurred. I had used the exact same form for a hotel shop from Intellishop and received a 10, with no questions from an editor. Only mentioning that because everyone says how picky they are, to give you a frame of reference. I received five to ten questions on the LRA shop, wanting more detail than what I had provided. I rarely get questions on my hotel shops.

I also did a hotel shop for them that was scheduled by another company a few months ago. I thought it was a pretty typical hotel shop as far as observations, reporting, detail, etc. I think they might have had one or two clarifying questions for me, which is not bad for a long report. *shrug*

I have a number of 4-5 star hotel shops for the msc which uses the LRA site. The shops are offered via emails and never posted. The reports are detailed but not difficult at all.

The only trick is to catch every name... there is no room for mistake there. Otherwise, it is pretty in terms of the number of tests.

I am doing a hotel shop for them soon. We'll see how it goes!

Me too!

URGENT!!! Glad to find this company on this forum. I want to make sure I'm not being scammed!

I replied to a hotel shop offer from a scheduler with B Business Solutions, which I read is the norm, but what concerned me was that when I logged onto the site to verify my email and update my profile, someone else's information was already listed. The email had given me a PASSWORD to use, and then I changed it to something I would remember. I didn't really think about it at the time; I just corrected it with my information. After receiving the email for assignment verification with the date of the shop and brief instructions, I have not received any follow-up email from the scheduler, and when I called the 2 phone numbers in the Guidelines, I get a disconnected message. No where in any of the information from the email or the site state anything about background check, clearance or testing; I did have a background check done for one of the companies, but do not remember which company. I don't want to do this high end hotel shop if it's not on the up and up because I definitely need to be reimbursed for it and certainly do not want to be scammed in any way.

Does anyone have any experience or insight with this? Is there anyway for a scammer to get at any of my information from what I've described?

That is very strange. LRA is a sassie site and you should not be logging using someone else' password.

Yes, this is very strange. I suggest you may have been the subject of a scam that I haven't heard of before. You might access B Business Solutions from a source independent of that email. Use a trusted source like this forum, MSPA (if they are a member), the BBB website (if they have a listing for them), or a google search, and go from there.

Please let us know how it goes.

BBS and LRA are perfectly legitimate. BBS's hotel reports are done on LRA's sassie site. @Vintage, which site did you log in?

The email came from a scheduler for BBS, and when I logged into the site for the shop it took me to LRA. I used the password given which was bbshops, and since I wanted to be able to remember the password, I went into profile and changed it. I was registered with BBS but not with LRA, so I entered my info into the update profile page. Didn't really realize that it had someone else's info that I was typing over; just wasn't paying attention, until I had updated it. I did not enter any financial information nor my SS#, at least it wasn't there on the update page. Just very confusing, especially since I have not been able to contact anyone from either company. Thank you for your input. The fact that these are both legit companies does put my mind at ease.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2015 02:56AM by Vintage Treasure.

I thought at first it was just a generic password to get into the system, so that's why I went ahead and changed it immediately, so I would remember it later on. Just puzzles me. And now I can't find the email that instructed me to use that password.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2015 03:01AM by Vintage Treasure.

I sure hope not, but thanks for the advice. I just can't imagine what someone would have to gain. I didn't enter any financial information nor my SS#, not today anyway, and I hadn't been registered with LRA before. I had been in the practice of checking out reviews before registering with MSCs, but I was a bit startled when I decided to check the reviews out after the fact and couldn't find anything listed for LRA.

Vintage, that is how BBS operates for their shops that use LRA. I have had some of their shops on the BBS (Prophet) site and some on the LRA (Sassie) site. They create the profile for you initially with generic information (I think mine had 123 Main St., 00000 for the zip code, etc.). You can update it with your information, but I doubt it really matters since you are working for BBS, not LRA, and BBS should have your info on their own site (the Prophet site). This is not the same as the selective program walesman was describing, which is actually for LRA, not for BBS. This is not a scam.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2015 08:28AM by RedRose22.

And they do give you the bbshops password initially since they create the account for you. I changed my password, and since you said you changed yours, no one else can log in as you. Problem solved.

Also, in my experience, job postings and assignments from BBS always come via e-mail, so again, no cause for alarm.

THANK YOU for this info. I'm so relieved!!!!!!! I couldn't see what anyone would have to gain from what little information was there, but wondered if it was a gateway into obtaining more personal or financial data. Thank you again. You have really put my mind at ease.

Thank all of you for your input!!!

Thanks Again Red Rose!!! I appreciate your help!

@Vintage Treasure wrote:

Thanks Again Red Rose!!! I appreciate your help!

No problem