Because of this forum I signed up for Second to None on Thursday. On Friday I had an email from a scheduler asking me if I could do a shop this weekend. I agreed and looked and saw another shop I could do. I've just turned in both shops. I've only done shops for a few other companies but so far I'm highly impressed with the straightforwardness of the instructions AND the straightforwardness of the surveys as well.

YAY!!! Happy shopping, with many more shops to come.

Thank you. I'm really glad to have found this forum. I really had no idea there were SO many companies out there. Here's to hoping that everything else goes smoothly

New Second to None shopper, Certainly hope you check their website to see the status of your shop. They may pick and choose to tell you if your shop is in process of being paid or just reject it and give you no notice or opportunity to receive an email asking you to submit any corrections. I have found some issues with clarity as to weather rejected means will not pay if you do certain things as they do not say that all the time; but, they just arbitrarily choose to reject and not pay you. As I mentioned, good idea to check their webpage to see the status of your shop completed. I have done 11 shops for them with no problems until recently. I am not the only one who has had a problem with them. As I said, sometimes they notify you by email to make a correction and sometimes they do not. Unfortunately, they are not clear as to rejection statement or will not be accepted statement. They have left off on the will not be accepted statement ( with no pay.) I did a shop for another MSC and found more specific wording "will not be accepted with no pay" in their directions. I would not advise you to do a shop where you invest your own money and make a mistake or forget to include something as you will not get paid if the clause says will not be accepted. See the difference between will not be accepted and will not be accepted without pay. Good shopping to you! I refuse to work for them. And any of you critical people that can't stay on the topic, don't waste your time in replying as I won't read anymore on this topic. Love ya all!

One of my shops has already been accepted and pending payment - all less than 12 hours. None of my previous shops have been accepted this fast. I've been highly impressed with this particular scheduler.

You will find that timing of shop acceptance varies, according to availability of editors, deadlines and client. Some that I do are accepted within a day or two. Another I recently did - different client - has been sitting in review for a few days.

Glad it's working out for you!

leaiso, I have been shopping with Second to None since about 2004, though I only do a few shops a year for them. I have never had a shop rejected or had payment issues. Their shops are some of the easiest to do and their reps have always been pleasant and professional with me. There are some shoppers who have problems with following guidelines and completing shops correctly, so they have not had good experiences as a result. If you follow your guidelines you will be fine. Keep in mind that your scheduler and editor are usually two different people with any MSC, though there are a few where they have account managers that do both. You may never know the name of your editor, but if your shops are being processed quickly that means that you must be doing everything right! Happy shopping!

Same here. I was on pins and needles waiting for 3 days for my very expensive shop to be approved (through a different MSC). Thankfully it was

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Keep in mind that your scheduler and editor are usually two different people with any MSC, though there are a few where they have account managers that do both. You may never know the name of your editor, but if your shops are being processed quickly that means that you must be doing everything right! Happy shopping!

Ah, I actually didn't know this!

Enjoy your shops. This is a really nice company I've worked with since 2010. I've never had a shop rejected and they pay on time. I don't shop with them as often any more since they lost the client I really liked.

I as well do about one shop a month, but never had a problem and find them an easy MSC to work for and with.

I do about 4-5 shops for them per month. I have always had a positive experience with them, including their schedulers, editors and payments.

I liked them but they had few jobs in my area, and then they dropped me for not shopping with them enough. I had done (if I remember right) two shops for them. I'm kind of sorry they did that, I would have shopped with them more, if and when they added clients.

@leaiso wrote:

Thank you. I'm really glad to have found this forum. I really had no idea there were SO many companies out there. Here's to hoping that everything else goes smoothly

One of my favorite companies to work for. Some of their jobs are pretty good paying, fun and I always look for what they have to offer.

I, too, have shopped with STN for about 10 years now. I only do about 4-5 shops a year for them, so not a heavy shopper with this company. That being said, I have never had a shop rejected, or pay delayed. They have helped me through a couple of odd situations that have come up through the years. Wish they had more in my area. I enjoyed doing their health insurance shops that come up every Fall. Good company in my book.

leaiso, just keep up the good work. When you get several completed/approved shops under your belt, you'll earn the self assign status. Never had a problem with them. Been shopping with them for over 4 years.

never, ever had any kind of problem/issues with stn. schedulers are proactive, communicative and are always willing to be accommodating.

caveat tho, their guidelines are precise regarding narrative and photo requirements and they rarely give second chances (as it should be, imho) and they will "not accept" (which means reject) reports that don't comply with the guidelines. if you have trouble following/understanding guidelines and/or submitting reports that are concise and not filled with typos/grammar errors stn is not for you.

stn is on the short list of premier mscs where shoppers have to earn their chops to get assignments from and earn self-assigning status.

and...to dispel rumors that i don't know how to capitalize or have a one-off keyboard that doesn't have a caps key, neither is the case.

They actually already have allowed me to self-assign. I think they've changed their rules that a shopper starts at 5 stars and then they have to maintain it, rather than working up.

Either that or these MSC's really do all talk to each other and they already knew my name from another MSC? I've only had issue with one shop for one MSC and I learned my lesson on that one.

I just had an issue with them for my first shop and they refused to work with me, after I turned in a very detailed shop for 5 departments within one store. I wonder if they turned in my shop anyway and refused to pay me?

@TomCat2 wrote:

I just had an issue with them for my first shop and they refused to work with me, after I turned in a very detailed shop for 5 departments within one store. I wonder if they turned in my shop anyway and refused to pay me?

details, plz, or is this another case of whining/accusation without substantiation aka bs?

and issue? to me that reeks of non-conforming with their guidelines = non-accepting your report = rejecting it.

here we go again with another one (or perchance the same one(s) with a alt handle?) who is reading comprehension challenged?'

TomCat posted details in another thread. He did the shop wrong, quote " got one part incorrect as I only purchased one item for $5 and I was supposed to get 5 items for $5" so he didn't get paid. The idea that Second to None took an incorrect shop and turned it in to the client is ridiculous. They had to hire another shopper to do it right. TomCat, accept responsibility for your mistakes and learn from them so you can improve your mystery shopping business.

The truth is, many new shoppers don't care, they think this is a joke, scam, just getting stuff for free, and will never accept responsabilty, therefore will not be successful at anything.

@parkcitybrian wrote:

@TomCat2 wrote:

I just had an issue with them for my first shop and they refused to work with me, after I turned in a very detailed shop for 5 departments within one store. I wonder if they turned in my shop anyway and refused to pay me?

is this another case of whining/accusation without substantiation aka bs?

here we go again with another one (or perchance the same one(s) with a alt handle?) who is reading comprehension challenged?'

That's exactly what this looks like. TomCat2 registered on the forum at 6:03 and exited at 6:14 after making two negative posts about a company who rejected his report because he did the shop wrong.