@Alter_Ego wrote:
@bgriffin wrote:
I don't understand where you are getting $70 from? Silver is only $25.
You were saying that by paying the $25 for silver certification, I would jump the line to the $70 reimbursement shops. Then you said they might not like my writing on the $18 shop so I risk losing out on the higher end assignments. I'm saying that if they don't like my writing, I would rather find that out on the $18 reimbursement assignment, than jump into paying for a $70 meal that ends up not being reimbursed because the shop was rejected.
I'm not arguing against certification, for the record. I'm just arguing for the merits of taking the lower end shop for a highly valued company, as a way of getting to know them and their expectations when the stakes are relatively low for both parties.
I'm confused about the $70 shops, too. No one should get Silver Certification because they believe they will automatically jump from $18 shops to $70 shops.
I have been Silver Certified since 2008. I certified before taking my first shop, because I thought it was required. In 2009, a family member began shopping, and in 2010, another started shopping. Neither is certified.
I can't say if being Silver Certified helped me, since I never mystery shopped before getting certified. However, I can say very positively that both my un-certified relatives see exactly the same shops I do. Over the years, I have seen two advantages. One company had a client (they no longer have the client) that started to require Silver Certification, making my two relatives, who had both performed the shop many times, ineligible for that particular shop. They could see the client's shops when posted, they simply could not assign them. The second advantage is a new company I've just begun shopping for which favors Silver and Gold Certification. With Certification, I can self-assign. My un-certified relatives must request shops. But all three of us see exactly the same shops on the MSC's website.
Gold Certification may make a big difference. Silver apparently does not, based on my experience. But, Silver Certification is cheap. It takes minutes and the certification test is so easy that I think a third grader could probably pass it. Am I sorry I got it. Not really. Would I get it again? Probably not, unless a company I shop for favored it OR a client I wanted to shop for required it.