Maritzs gas stations

Can I ask others how long it takes them to complete the Maritzs client name removed due to ica violation gas station shops or other gas station that require 25 odd photos and gas and store purchase? I feel am working for pennies and I have done them sporadically for over a year. Please include time driving to station, time spent there. Time labeling photos, time uploading to cloud, time downloading to computer and the filling fthe form and uploading up to sometimes, 33 pictures to form and completing the form with answers and some comments. Thanks for any input on this subject. I have recently left a couple shops of the many I have worked for and trying to decide if there are next. My very first job with them was a grocery store with tons of pics, checking some dates for spoilage and a few other things. !st job took me over 3 hours to complete everything. I was paid $10.50. Surprised I did not leave after I started

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Please edit your post. Forum rules do not allow the name of the mystery shopping company AND the name of the client in the same thread.

Welcome to the forum. The type of shops you're describing do take less time as you become more experienced. It also helps to use a digital camera rather than a cell phone for pictures, as you can load the memory card directly into your laptop or card reader attached to your computer via USB, and this saves a lot of time uploading/downloading photos. Good luck.

The first couple of gas shops I did for them were horrible, b/c they asked me for more photos after I had already explained I had been accosted by someone for taking photos. Then, they didn't read my comments...we went back and forth...now I have them down. Every company is so different. In my 19 years...I've seen companies who don't want you to include race, and some who don't want you to even include the gender in the description...talk about bad grammar! Like, "they gave me this..." no..."she gave me this..." ugh. And, it's difficult to discern which company likes what type of reports. It amazes me that they give you 10 pages of instructions, and then expect so little pay...

And just like dust, I will rise.

I make my own checklist of photos I need as well as reminders about gas and inside purchase, I mark things off as I go and zip right along. I also make a reminder to count the cooler doors because I always forget those. I'm on site maybe half an hour and the reporting is another half hour when I get home.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

This is the most of my shops for several years I have been banned from the Horse, The Star from team three for I told them that all they want was to give me cheap shops. I now do the Yellow and Dino shops for team 2. You have the wait till the incentives are approved them figure your route and what you have to make. I do about 45 minutes on the small stations and on the large truck stops about 1 1/2 hour. Pictures I have found I do about 60 per shop and I sometimes forget the counter which I have to have. I have called back the next day and asked for the Manager or most of the time the person I shopped to email that money shot. I spent driving 10,070 imn milage last year for my shops cover NM, UT, AZ and CO. I try to get a minimum of $ 35 in incentive plus shop fees per shop for a route with the Martz max amount of 23 in the route. Hope this helps.

Funny. I can remember everything else, but I forget the cooler doors too. The checklist I create on each of my note sheets has only one item for this type of shop: "coolers-".

For the yellow shop, I copy to the back of the pack label sheet, the required photo list, I have now reduced that to just the 14 required list to the bottom of the pack list. And then, of course, any No's or cautions. And like Santa, I make a list and check it once and twice and one more time before I leave the site. For the tiger shop, it's the three required photos, the staff member and one of each pump, plus any NO's.
I do sometimes get 3-5 different shots of each item; then select the best shot or shots.
Having one too many is better than having to return for ONE forgotten shot.
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>>>>>bmttinman:
>>>>> "I have called back the next day and asked for the Manager or most of
>>>>> the time the person I shopped to email that money shot."
I believe that is against all MSP: that you have someone else even the manager take the photo for you.
You better check. You can have those shops rejected and maybe even drops if you are caught.

Shopping Southern Georgia, Valdosta, Waycross, Quitman, Thomasville and North Central Florida I-10 & I-75.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2017 04:36PM by KanusWeb.

I just did 4 gas station shops for them and it gets easier once you get the hang of it. The very first one I did took me almost three hours because I wanted to be thorough. Once I figured out how to do them and what to look for, it only takes you about 30-45 minutes. Also, look for gas stations that you can do at night that gives you an extra $5 incentive.

I haven't done gas shops for them but do them for another company. Are these easier or worse than the ones from CR, who do the blue and yellow gas stations?

The other one is one gas pump, RR, MID, storefront and overall. It is easier but I like to do both, xcept for the number of pump photos.

Hello,

I have done about 5 of those shops since last October (When I decided to become a Mystery Shopper). By the third shop I realized I should start these at first light, on a weekend, if possible. My 4th and 5th shop were a breeze. No vehicles blocking the pumps, the attendant is friendly and relaxed, it is easy to check the lighting and easy to inspect the C-store. I spend about 45 minutes at the store/station, about 20 minutes sorting/naming and reviewing photos, and, about 30-40 minutes completing the report.

It is not a lot of money for what is involved, but, since I am new to this industry I realize I have to take low spectrum jobs, perform and report these jobs as excellently as possible, stay reliable and keep quiet. As I grow and learn, the better jobs will become more available. I work a 40 hour/week job and plan on retiring in 4 years, so, the low stress jobs fit my lifestyle right now. I want to be educated and ready to rock come March 2021.

Joe

I thought MF gas stations were bad. For non revealed I'm there 11 minutes max and the report with max of 5 pics, although they only really ask for two, and it's $14 and about 8 minutes to report. On the revealed, I wait for the bonus shops and about the same reporting time, 5 pics and maybe max 30 minutes onsite and I do two for the $15 and wait for the $25-$50 bonused ones.

25 mins average soup to nuts including report. Remember- this is not white glove. Don't be ridiculous with your negatives.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

The pictures make me slightly nuts! I average about 100 for a 12 pump location. Not a huge deal since I can click and go to the next pump. The thing is my camera and I don't take great pics.

I like Maritz. I love that someone is normally available when I call. My biggest problem is the fact the guidelines and the reports don't line up. If I didn't have to print off reports, I could do more work and I would be thankful. Sadly, my areas rarely have a library that has a librarian these days.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

Why don't you just download the guidelines to a pdf on your computer. Why are u printing off the reports? The report form rarely changes during the course of the year. I rely on the question format that is subjected through the guidelines. I pay attention to the POPs on the pumps and in the store signage. While an average of 100 pics does, to me, seems normal for 12 pumps. I can get a total of 30 pictures for the whole location (12 pumps photos + MID + RR+ Overall + employee + nametag).

BTW, my camera is my cheat sheet. I take 2 pictures of the pumps, one after the reveal and one before I leave the lot. If I miss it the first time, the second picture may capture the "other". @MASmith--->maybe you need a different camera or a better camera. IDK. But if your having problems with your pictures............(Maybe your just nervous taking pictures

I usually take under 20 pics for a 12-pump station, unless there are a lot of infractions. One thing that really helped me was investing in a camera with image stabilization. Almost all of the newer cameras have it, even the cheaper models. Check to see it yours has it. But even with image stabilization, night-time pics are still tricky. Of course, if you are talking about your aim, can't help you with that.

@MA Smith wrote:

The pictures make me slightly nuts! I average about 100 for a 12 pump location. Not a huge deal since I can click and go to the next pump. The thing is my camera and I don't take great pics.

I like Maritz. I love that someone is normally available when I call. My biggest problem is the fact the guidelines and the reports don't line up. If I didn't have to print off reports, I could do more work and I would be thankful. Sadly, my areas rarely have a library that has a librarian these days.

What are these 100 pictures of??? I've got some pretty terribly maintained locations and I probably end up with 6 or 7 infraction pictures at MOST. You're absolutely doing it wrong if you're taking 100 pictures.

Also, Since Maritz laid off their receptionists, I feel like every call I make ends up with that dude telling me that all associates are busy. Luckily I have direct extensions for supervisors now, which is who I generally need to talk to when I call, so I can often times bypass the recording.

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

That's why I haven't done any yet, because of the 100 pictures. I don't even have 100 pictures of the empire state building, the grand canyon and my ex-husband combined. buahaha

@spicy1-------->unless there are 100 fuel pumps at the location, the necessary 100 picture are a mute. The amount of pictures one Shoppers takes can not be used a a requirement for another shopper. I have been on a location where 20 branded pumps were present, I captured 35 photos. Did I miss anything? IDK, but the shop was approved and paid.

I put on the safety vest and Customers move out of my way. I would rather of 100 pictures of my family than to have pictures of restrooms, toilets, waste cans, gas pumps, employees below the neck and damaged bollards.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2017 03:55PM by sojo917.

@sojo917 wrote:

Did I miss anything? IDK, but the shop was approved and paid.

#soulmates

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Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

I take that many pictures because I'm afraid I'll miss something. The nearest station is a 20 mile roundtrip. If add others I'm up to 80+miles roundtrip. I'd rather have too much back up so I don't have to drive to the locations and retake pictures.

I'm aware I'm making things more difficult for myself. But if I can figure out my groove, the shops will become easy peasy.

I'll admit I have a hard time with Maritz reports. They don't click for me. That said, I like working for the company.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

LOL....I did my first and last gas station shop. You are right. The time and effort that goes into the gas shop is not worth it. It must have taken at least 2.5 hours to finish everything required for the shop (driving, executing shop, naming photos, debrief). I always get a call at least once a month asking if I'm interested in doing them again. I tell them the payout for the amount of work is not worth it.

Even at base pay I can make $20 an hour with their stations.
You CAN NOT figure drive time to the location in your calculations. My husband has worked in Chicago (we live in the suburbs) and has had 1+hr commutes in the past. Lots of people have long commute times and this is not figured into their salary.
I'm not paying the mortgage so $20hr is sometimes 'worth it' to me. I pay for my families extras. Others might value their time more and won't work for this rate. It just depends on what else is going on for my family at the time. If my kids are driving me bonkers I'll take base pay/very small bonus just to get out of the house.

"You CAN NOT figure drive time to the location in your calculations."

I beg to differ. You cannot compare our drive times to commutes to a salaried job. We don't drive to a location, stay eight hours or more then drive home. Most small businesses include travel time whether it is obvious or not.

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.

So if you had to drive 2 hours each way for a 1 hour shop that makes you $20 you're ok with that? That's $4 per hour!

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2017 10:51PM by bgriffin.

Sure, you can include and hope to get drive time for mystery shopping. However on average most shoppers do not earn enough to cover much of that cost. That's where shopping where you'll be anyway and getting bonus' come in to play.

The OP asked others to include drive time into the calculation so it could be compared with the OP's total.
You and I take into drive time when deciding if a location is 'worth it' but you can't compare my drive time to yours. For example, I complete routes of a certain job in the city on a monthly basis. Each job pays $22. My drive time is aprox 45min each way. I could complete one or I could do 10 while I'm there. If I'm going to complete 10 how is that any different than a salary employee?

@LisaSTL wrote:

"You CAN NOT figure drive time to the location in your calculations."

I beg to differ. You cannot compare our drive times to commutes to a salaried job. We don't drive to a location, stay eight hours or more then drive home. Most small businesses include travel time whether it is obvious or not.

I have to disagree. I include drive time in all of my calculations as well as actual vehicle costs.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I don't "hope" to get drive time. Just like bgriffin, it is part of my calculations along with any reporting time. If I only shopped where I was going anyway, I would not be able to pay my bills.

Sure, but the two of you are not the average shopper, no!?

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