CRG, there is no game to be played. Many of us have MS for many years. You have the choice to pick and choose what type of assignments and MSC. You do not indicate whether you were a newbie or not. I have done fine dining restaurant shops for other MSC which required much more details/narratives than Sentry but only done so after I had a few casual dining shops under my belt before moving on to the more expensive fine dining shops. For many reports, you cannot say "probably or I believe." It is either Yes or No for many answers. You learn what are your strengths and weaknesses from gaining MS experience. I know that I cannot remember the exact timings so I use a small index card when the server arrived, when they took my order, time order arrived, etc.and write down the timings discreetly. All of the other stuff I can remember easily.

I audi record every shop using my cell phone. I use it for timing and to double check all of the greetings, recommendations, and other verbals. I would never inform the MSC I use such recordings, or submit them to refute challenges of my findings, as I live in a "other party" state. My interpretation of the law is for my self. If you live in a consent/other party state then do your own research about the laws pertaining to using or making audio recordings of your surroundings.

its illegal in many states

@MSNinja wrote:

its illegal in many states

The general discussions we have had here surround understanding both intent and use of such recordings. Since each state or jurisdiction has created it's own verbage, it comes down to understanding such verbage as well as the courts findings and enforcement.

It's not illegal to have audio recordings, otherwise you could sue every tourist recording their vacation. The intent and use is what laws address.

For most people, the safest approach is treating the recordings themselves as illegal. I find that this blanket approach is a starting point and not the end game.

There are only 14 two party consent states which leave 36 where audio recording is perfectly legal.

@LisaSTL wrote:

There are only 14 two party consent states which leave 36 where audio recording is perfectly legal.

That said, there are some MSC's who request that you do make audio recordings while on assignments. I can tell you from my experience as an editor that the those companies do not want narratives that read like a recording was made and transcribed. It makes some clients nervous that there could possibly be a breach of the law, and also skews the reporting for multi-state clients if 2/3 of the reports are exacting narratives based on recordings, while the remainder are created to the best of the shopper's memory.

If all reports are created by experienced shoppers who are aware of the standards, can take a few notes on issues that arise and then create an accurate report, it serves the clients better. I can also tell you as someone who has done it both ways; It's WAY faster to complete the shops if you can train yourself to remember the details and work without a recorder.

There are some threads on audio recording from several years ago. Not sure if they are still accessible. At the time I looked up the law in my two party state and it read that two party consent was not necessary when there was a reasonable chance of the conversation being overheard such as in a public place. It seemed to me it was meant for private conversations without a chance of being overheard. I am not advocating using my research to make a decision on this but I took it to mean that if you were in a cashier line with someone close behind you that person could overhear the conversation you were having with the cashier and voided the need for consent. The same in a restaurant with people sitting back to back with your table. Take what I say with a grain of salt...like Isaiah I consider any recordings I make to be used only for myself and I erase them immediately after the shop is entered. I do not save them for proof etc.
Another hint mentioned briefly was having a cheat sheet. Many shoppers make one up for each shop and note down the questions they personally might have trouble remembering or things like a list of timings necessary for the shop. Timings, as mentioned previously, need to be accurate, sometimes to the second. Leave the table several times if you need in between critical timings moments and go into private place (stall in restroom is great) and consult your sheet which should not list all 150 questions but only the ones you think you will have trouble with. Read the ones coming up to refresh your memory of what to look for and jot down answers to the ones that have been completed so you can free up memory space in your brain for future memories during the rest of your dinner.

For a link to a guide to state laws, go to the New Mystery Shoppers area and find the topic pinned to the top of the list there. It has links to legal sites. Frankly, I would not record any conversation in a 2 party consent state!!! AND most MSCs want no part of any recordings unless they have gotten the client to get written consent from their employees.

@CRG wrote:

You might be surprised how much of that is inaccurate. Studies of memory consistently show that people grossly overrate the accuracy of their memories, even very important memories, let alone random observations like that. People swear up and down that so-and-so was wearing this, and said that, and then you look at the secret tape that was made of the experiment and it turns out they're wrong on a significant number of these "facts."

Thus a certain amount of humility is called for. I might have similarly vivid memories of some experience like that, but knowing what I know about memory, I would probably acknowledge more uncertainty on one or more of those points if I were recounting what I remembered to someone.

How come I can remember checking out the Solar Eclipse from 1983 or 1984, but supposedly we have not had a Solar Eclipse in the US for the last 50 or so years. Ah crap, I just double checked it and I forgot that if the MSM doesn't report it, then it didn't happen.

the company that i started with was sentry probably a month after i did my first shop i found this forum...

if you are not 100% sure i just give them an answer

if i estimate it was about 8 minutes... i say 8 minutes and 7 seconds
if i forget to check if all the employees were in uniform i say all the employees were in uniform

they want exact information. give them the best you can but dont estimate...

some on this forum may say im bsing/lying my way... i say i want to get paid for the shop...

@cooldude581 wrote:

if you are not 100% sure i just give them an answer
if i estimate it was about 8 minutes... i say 8 minutes and 7 seconds
if i forget to check if all the employees were in uniform i say all the employees were in uniform
they want exact information. give them the best you can but dont estimate...

dude...you say "don't estimate," but that's exactly what you're suggesting. And calling it an estimate is putting it kindly. This forum is full of helpful suggestions on how to get timings and how to remember physical descriptions. Shoppers, especially new ones, should not be encouraged to make up information.

@cooldude581 wrote:

some on this forum may say im bsing/lying my way... i say i want to get paid for the shop...

That is actually BSing/lying. I understand that you want to get paid for the shop so you are choosing to BS. Your choice. But you are encouraging new shoppers to make up information. "Say anything, the goal is to get paid, whether I can perform the shop or not..." This is a confusing statement to make to newbies, because you haven't said where the line is, although I'm sure there is actually a line you don't cross.

There is a thin line here that we are dancing around. Due to our objective to measure timings secretly, it is impossible to report every event to the exact second without recording the environment. There are delays in touching or looking at a timing device. It is our responsibility then to provide appropriate timing based on our professional and educated assessment of the visit. We state the timing as factual, because it is. Fortunately most timings are to the minute. Even then, it is not clear which direction to round too. Is fifteen seconds after the minute the minute that just passed or the coming minute? Is five seconds late really late? Maybe my punches were off, is it lying to say they were within three minutes if they were 185 seconds?

By the way, unless required to include down to the second timing, my narratives will say something like "just over five minutes" or "just under 15 minutes." I prefer to only note specific timing down to the second where and if asked for.

Using verbiage that somehow implies or otherwise creates the picture that we are guessing, or otherwise unsure, is not acceptable.

Look at this another way. How many associates were working? We state "I observed..." not "I think..."

You make some valid points. In a situation where you round up or down, I have yet to see a company that would not want us to use the standard. Up to 30 seconds would be rounded down while 31 seconds would be rounded up.

@2stepps wrote:

How come I can remember checking out the Solar Eclipse from 1983 or 1984, but supposedly we have not had a Solar Eclipse in the US for the last 50 or so years. Ah crap, I just double checked it and I forgot that if the MSM doesn't report it, then it didn't happen.

I remember being about 8 when I lived in Florida and we went out on the playground to watch the solar eclipse. This was in 1970. Our teachers took all students out on the playground and we were given special glasses to avoid hurting our eyes while we watched it. That being said, it wasn't a "total" eclipse, I guess.

I have done Sentry, but they use Billpay.com or something and it just never works for me. So I always have to call and ask for a check and they dock. Toooooo much hassle. If I didn't follow up, I wouldn't get paid. I like the companies that pay and you can trust them and you don't have to worry about it.

Notes on Sentry:
9-11-2015 Oh, I am so late to the party! Not mentioning any names, but why would anyone want to work for a micromanaging control freak? Run! Run fast and don't look back!

Thank you for the feedback. We are exploring migrating payments to Paypal and expect to have a solution in place sometime in the 4th Quarter.

@rothers27 wrote:

I have done Sentry, but they use Billpay.com or something and it just never works for me. So I always have to call and ask for a check and they dock. Toooooo much hassle. If I didn't follow up, I wouldn't get paid. I like the companies that pay and you can trust them and you don't have to worry about it.

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

Thank you for the feedback. We are exploring migrating payments to Paypal and expect to have a solution in place sometime in the 4th Quarter.

That would be wonderful!! I have never shopped for Sentry just because of all the times I've read about all the hassles with Bill.com. If Sentry went to Paypal, I might actually try a shop or two now and then! Hope it comes to pass....I'll be looking out for more information in the Fall!!

I've done work for Sentry and really like them. Having a report rejected is a total bummer. Try to give it another shot, maybe change some things about how you write the report, maybe you just got a difficult editor, but Sentry is a good company. I hope you don't give up and get discouraged because of this bad experience.

CRG has left the building.

I remember that day too, I was in fourth or fifth grade and it was a special science day. We were told if we took our glasses off we would burn our eyes and not be able to see anything. My best friend dropped her glasses and cried for weeks that she was going to be blind! I haven't thought about that in years!

@JASFLALMT wrote:

CRG has left the building.

What does that mean?

CRG has not posted in several days, but he is still logging in and reading on the forum as recently as last night.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2017 07:37PM by roflwofl.

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

Thank you for the feedback. We are exploring migrating payments to Paypal and expect to have a solution in place sometime in the 4th Quarter.

@rothers27 wrote:

I have done Sentry, but they use Billpay.com or something and it just never works for me. So I always have to call and ask for a check and they dock. Toooooo much hassle. If I didn't follow up, I wouldn't get paid. I like the companies that pay and you can trust them and you don't have to worry about it.

Thank you, Sentry. That would be fantastic, since the Billpay is really clunky and I always have troubles figuring it out. Paypal would be much better.

TOTALLY AGREE

@roflwofl wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

CRG has left the building.

What does that mean?

CRG has not posted in several days, but he is still logging in and reading on the forum as recently as last night.

What that meant was that he had PMed me and said he wasn't going to post in this thread any more. That was months ago...

Why not move from Billpay.com straight to direct deposit instead of using a third party that sits on our payment for several days before making it available to us? Then sits on it for at least one business day (three calendar days if done on a Friday) when you transfer it out.

They make their money the float of our money!