I don't know the specifics of this shop, but I've been mystery shopping for about 10 years. Never feel badly about cancelling a shop immediately after it's been assigned. The descriptions they give with the application are short and not always informative. They do not allow advanced access to a blank copy of the report to see how many questions and narratives there are. They do not give advance access to the questions. I understand why, but nonetheless, it's my prerogative to re-evaluate after that information is made available to me. My only responsibility to them at that time is to promptly inform them if I am declining the shop. And yes I will tell them it's because the work involved is inconsistent with the pay. They already know it. There are many schedulers and companies that will try to abuse shoppers. Many times th same schedulers come back to me later and offer me a bonus and beg me to take the shop.

Your time has value. Never be afraid of expecting to be paid your value. Mystery shops used to pay much more, but companies realized they could get away with low-ball pay. If they trick me in to applying for an under-paying shop I have no qualms about canceling immediately. They usually don't even assign the shop to me until a day or two after I've applied. Well guess what? Just because I submitted an application it doesn't mean I was holding a spot in my schedule for you. Since I applied I was probably assigned 5 other shops. I don't have time for your shop anymore.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2016 05:20AM by Weddingdress4.

I always look to make sure that it says mystery shop. They did this a few months ago where some were mystery, some were audits. They ended up increasing the pay to $25 for the audits but I still wouldn't touch them.

Are you coming up with the $14, as $9 fee and $5 reimbursement. I think they start these at $7.50 fee, then go to $9, then $12 etc.

Looks like another round has posted with a changed fee. They actually reduced the fee. They now are paying $8 for a revealed audit they say can take up to an hour! Still get only $5 reimbursement which doesn't cover two gallons of gas in my area.

I won't touch those audits unless they heavily bonused and the weather is decent...too much time outdoors, either in the blazing sun or cold wind, depending upon the season.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2016 07:23PM by SunnyBrook.

I'm not sure where you are but July's postings are for $8.00 and $6.00 for the MS only. I usually get three to four a month at $12 -$25 fee each.

Be patient with this MSC...the fees increase.

@whosear wrote:

I'm not sure where you are but July's postings are for $8.00 and $6.00 for the MS only. I usually get three to four a month at $12 -$25 fee each.

Be patient with this MSC...the fees increase.

I'm in Southern California and the shops that were just posted are for $8 and $5 for both the mystery shop and the audit. The audit is shown with one of the qualifying questions. I refused them when they were $9 plus $5 so no way would I do them for a dollar less.

I'm getting repeated calls from Maritz, I think it's these same shops. She said you need to go to a gas station, purchase up to $5 in gas, then go into the store, purchase another item reimbursed up to a dollar, then get the manager to sign some form (reveal shop), then go out and photograph EVERY SINGLE PUMP (BOTH SIDES).

Pay offered was a measly $12.50. Are these the same shops being discussed here? If so, what are the shops really worth? I'm thinking at least $30, since if the gas station is busy, there could be lots of waiting around for the pumps to be free for the photos. And then there's the report. Any opinions?

The shops I'm talking about are not from Maritz, they are from MF.

@calicakes wrote:

The shops I'm talking about are not from Maritz, they are from MF.

Ok but is it the same basic shop as I outlined?

When I did my one and only shop, I did not have to take pics of all the pumps. I had to buy at least 2 gallons of gas and something from inside the store.

I have been doing the "photograph" both sides of every pump shop for Maritz. The first one is a pain (like the first one of any mystery shop), but it really isn't bad. But, be careful, some stations have 2 dozen pumps sides. The ones with 8 sides are east. Some have even fewer. Still, I hold hold for a bonus or do them as part of a route from Maritz which pays more. How much more is reasonable? It all depends upon distance and time. I usually spend 20 minutes or so on site. Rarely less than 15 or more than 35 minutes. 50% bonus plus free gas often works for me.

Thanks. Do you thinking $20 is reasonable to do these? I'm def NOT doing 'em for $12.50.

@BlueMoose wrote:

Thanks. Do you thinking $20 is reasonable to do these? I'm def NOT doing 'em for $12.50.

$25-30 is more reasonable for the MF Audit + Mystery Shop.

Without knowing the distance you are traveling, I can't give a definitive answer. I can say I have accepted some shops at $20 (total) plus reimbursement and felt that it was fair. There is one I did almost an hour away (32 miles) , and I asked for and got $70.

@BlueMoose wrote:

Thanks. Do you thinking $20 is reasonable to do these? I'm def NOT doing 'em for $12.50.

I live in a small city, so none of the stations would be more than 10 mins away. I was really put off by the requirement to have a manager sign a form (reveal shop) and another shopper's comment that they got dirty looks from motorists when the shopper had to take pics of the pump while it was in use.

I find the MF audits to be a little easier than the Maritz ones. The big difference I have seen in my area is that most MF convenience store shops are NOT audits, but most Maritz shops are. Maritz has more than one brand of convenience store shops, and in my experience, one brand was much easier than another to shop. I want to like Maritz, but their lack of response to email is extremely frustrating, and they don't seem to offer big enough bonuses to justify time spent on their audit shops.

I try to stay away from all revealed audits in my small town, because once I have revealed myself, I might never be able to mystery shop that location again. I will do revealed audits in other towns where I won't be known or remembered. The exception to this is TrendSource, since the customers know and expect the visits, and they aren't considered mystery shops, per se.

I generally work around motorists and get all my pump pics without a customer in the pic. Usually it is at a distance like the overall site pic. I let customers give me a hard time and usually they are joking. In the shops where I have to take a representative pic of a pump/dispenser, I'll find one that is not with customer.

Yea I almost fell for it too but this is why it's important to read what you're "yes" and "no" -ing at the job description before you're allowed to sign up. There was a question there where it specifically said "do you understand that this is a mystery shop AND a revealed audit" when i saw that my first reaction was "you scum" directed at the MSC. They priced these gas station audits the same price they price their usual mystery shop gas shops that they've been doing for months! This was clearly a bait & switch scheme. But I didn't fall for it. $9 plus $5 reimbursement is laughable for what they want done. $30 is the bare minimum for me on these shops