Strategic Reflections

They call me all the time when they can't fill a shop. They called and asked if I could do this drive thru burger shop. It reimburses 8.00 for food( and you can't use a coupon) and pays 12.00. Its a drive thru REVEALED shop. I did one breakfast revealed for them a couple months ago. It was not hard and thankfully my cashier was also the manager. Anyway, I asked for a bonus( 5.00). They come back and say, we can only offer a bonus of 3.00. I say, No thanks. Seriously? For 2.00 you're going to turn me down, especially when the shop has sat untouched for a month. Do you think they'll penalize me for not taking the shop?

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No.
If they can find a shopper to do it for less they will...otherwise, knowing them they'll come back and offer you $4. They really negotiate for every dollar. That said, loved a shop I did for them.
Considering most fast food shops pay reimbursement (not always 100%) and like, what $4-$9 fee, the $12 Strategic Reflections pays gives them HeartsNHugs from me. They don't fart around too much in negotiations because they are fair at the start.

Have you seen their message about their penalization for not completing shops? Yes, I think the person who wrote that message is in charge of the penalization review board and they will hold it against you (or anyone). That said, I would never do their revealed shops for $12 and food. It would have to be $20 - $25 because the Managers and employees do not have a very high turn over around here and that would out me for the non-revealed shops turning my reports into useless mash of "I'm a good-two-shoes when YOU are shopping me because I now know you are the mystery shopper."
The fast food shops in my town are always revealed. I've never seen an unrevealed shop. I just got another phone call for the same shop I asked for a 5.00 bonus on. They offered 3 last week and I said No.
I like the fact that you can change the toppings on the burgers and I always ask for a freshly cooked one. But I only take them if they are on a route, I wouldn't take a revealed one for the same price. Your burger gets cold sitting in the car waiting for you to go in, check it all out, fill out the form and meet with the manager. I had another company squabble with me for like 20 minutes over them asking me to do a shop for a $3 bonus and me asking for $5, it was a surreal conversation and I was so tired afterwards I could have taken a nap and I don't nap. Then, they called me about a week later and accepted an $80 bonus for one an hour away. Trippy!
Or the phone call multi times a day about​ the health club for $10. FAST shop. Nope..A tour is NEVER fast.
Strategic Reflections is always cheap when it comes to bonuses. IF they give you a bonus, and that's a BIG "if," they will hound you over and over again reminding you that the shop is due. They made me call them in the parking lot as I was leaving the restaurant to verbally give the report to the SR rep on the phone. I'm not kidding you, they hounded me time and time again, and I've never flaked on them or even sent a late report. It was ridiculous.
I enjoy working with Strategic Reflections and while their bonuses are tighter than most, the reporting can be done blindfolded and the schedulers are awesome! smiling smiley
They called me 16 times in one day... I was at my regular 9-5 and they would not stop calling. I thought it a bit rude. They needed a shop filled that is still untouched. I finally managed to answer and an Indian sounding fellow asked me to do a shop that would require over 3 hours of driving and $12.80 in toll booth fees to complete. They offered me $12 and then a $5 bonus for the shop. I declined and they said they would call back in an hour after I thought about it some more? Then I received an email asking me to do the shop. I said I would do it for $55 and have not heard back. I think $55 would be fair for 3 hours of driving, about $13 in tolls, and driving through 1 lane, gravel roads to get there. Additionally, the area is a major flood zone that was recently under water with Fema and national guard in town... I don't think the offer was unfair but they've had this shop sitting there for 6-8 weeks now and wonder why no one is biting on it :/

MegglesKat
The area could be combined in a route and I've seen a few other shops I wouldn't mind to pick up -- along the way, but is $55 fair for this? I really thought so for what it is. $13 tolls, 3 hour drive which would be about 170 miles for me. I have a gas sipper that can occasionally get 30-35 mpg and then I have a gas guzzler that gets me 18-20 but is great in the winter when I want those high pay shops!

MegglesKat
Taking out just tolls it is $42 divided by three hours not including the shop or report time so less than $14 an hour. If you deduct the mileage and tolls you are $50 in the hole before you walk out the door.

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 was thinking about it in terms of picking up those extra shops too that I can self assign smiling smiley 170 miles divided by 30 mpg for me would mean about 5.67 gallons of gas at $1.85 so only about $10.50 in gas and those $13 in tolls. Would mean me putting out realistically $22-$25 and getting paid $30 for the shop but of course there was an auto shop nearby that paid $80 and reimbursed an oil change, and smoke shop that paid $30. I am thinking about still grabbing those up, but thought $55 was fair for this shop out in the woods tongue sticking out smiley

MegglesKat
No other business owners than some mystery shoppers consider vehicle expenses to only be the price of gas. There is a reason the IRS allowable deduction is over 50 cents a mile. While expenses can vary, I've found the allowable not be all that far off the mark when it comes to all my expenses.

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 don't know what the attraction is for the fast food photo audits- where you take pictures of the drive through menu boards. I did one time- never again. It is not the pictures that are a pain but you have to manually write in all the prices off the menu board to your audit report- and usually if there are extra items on the menu that are NOT on the audit form you have to write them in. All this for a paltry $7. NO THANKS. No wonder people often do not complete the shops. Their is one audit for a fast food place that has a large menu- and it would take quite a while writing in all those prices. But a lot of people sign up for them- they often do not get completed on time as I have noticed though.
For the ones that are drive thru only required prices and pics ...heads up the location is watching you on video. They can clearly see you and your license plates while you are snapping pics.
Hello, to my knowledge the Reveal shops have been changed to non-reveal. If you look at the instructions of the shop, it should state that it is a non-reveal. Typically asking the scheduler can get that answered as well. I would say that no, you would not be penalized for turning down a shop. This company does not just penalize you for turning down a shop, because that is your decision to take it or not. Many schedulers would tell you, it is better to give a job to a shopper that would enjoy doing the shop and eager to help with difficult locations than to a shopper that regrets taking it.
I just checked the shop for my town and it still says " print two copies of the evaluation" to present one to management. So, still a revealed shop.



@SaraMschedules wrote:

Hello, to my knowledge the Reveal shops have been changed to non-reveal. If you look at the instructions of the shop, it should state that it is a non-reveal. Typically asking the scheduler can get that answered as well. I would say that no, you would not be penalized for turning down a shop. This company does not just penalize you for turning down a shop, because that is your decision to take it or not. Many schedulers would tell you, it is better to give a job to a shopper that would enjoy doing the shop and eager to help with difficult locations than to a shopper that regrets taking it.
Well I would call into the office because some of the shop instructions may not be fully up to date on changes that may have been made. Sometimes it saves you a lot of aggravation in the long run to take the time to ask. It seems much easier to pick up the phone and call for clarification than to assume and post openly on a forum without proper follow up. However most state within the survey summary "This is a genuine mystery shop. You are NOT to speak to the manager or give the manager a copy of the form.".
I'm traveling this weekend and I checked for the city I'm going to and the cities I'm going through. Some are reveal and some are non-reveal.
Is the website down? I have been trying to print out my paperwork, but I cannot even log in.
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