Has anyone ever heard of this company and even better has anyone ever done any work for them?

Well I got in touch and have an orientation on Monday. I am expecting the worst for some reason but I will let you all know. I will attempt to post a link below but not sure it will work.

[www.59clubusa.com]

They appear to specialize in golf and country club properties and member-only resorts. Obviously not for every MSer. Let us know how it goes.

I noticed that. My golf experience consists of 'Fore!' and a beloved, vintage golf sweater that was waiting for me, unrecognized and unloved, in a thrift shop. I doubt that I could generate serious buzz for a mystery shopping career with them and their properties, but I am interested to learn how the OP fares in their efforts to get started with 59Club.

@walesmaven wrote:

They appear to specialize in golf and country club properties and member-only resorts. Obviously not for every MSer. Let us know how it goes.

@walesmaven wrote:

They appear to specialize in golf and country club properties and member-only resorts. Obviously not for every MSer. Let us know how it goes.

So I took quite some time to read through what they are offering. They are mostly golf focused but when I went to sign up they asked what type of shops you prefer which gave categories such as "golf, hotel, restaurant, retail...ect." I am in no way a golf guy. Would I go and play a game if I got paid for it.... sure? But what I am hoping is that this opens up a new side of hotel shopping for me. I will totally come back with some feed back. It makes me think how many other opportunities out there that we on the forums here still don't know about or discuss openly.

Great, go forth and explore and please do report back.

This sounds like something Professional Guest would do. It's right up his alley. How did you find out about this MSC?

Apparently this isn't new.

There was a MSC I've been signed up with for a while that had golf shops available. They used to reimburse you for a round of golf, cart and a guest. Also some clubhouse expenses like a meal or yours and your guests. I never did any but wanted to. I just could never find a person who wanted to go with me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2022 08:57AM by wrosie.

Honestly I had got some help with trying to find international shops. I was googling things and this came up. The fact that they call things "Mystery Tester" kind of worries me but they were quick to respond and got me signed up for a call instantly.

Where did you sign up? I couldn't find a place to register on their site. I'm a golfer and would be interested in doing these.

If you click on the little three line on the top right, you just look four spaces down and it says "Become a mystery tester." That should get you started on the right track.

@MsJudi wrote:

Where did you sign up? I couldn't find a place to register on their site. I'm a golfer and would be interested in doing these.

Thanks, I received an email back about a meeting (virtual). We'll see what happens.

If this MSC is international, perhaps "tester" is what they call evaluators. Yes, do keep us informed!

@MsJudi wrote:

Thanks, I received an email back about a meeting (virtual). We'll see what happens.

Maybe you will be joining me today at 4:30 MST. I will definitely keep in touch with this thread after the afternoon session.

I love golf and I'm a nomadic shopper. This seems perfect for me. I just signed up. Hopefully I will get a reply from the company.

Well there is quite a lot to unpack from the talk. I am going to say that you need to really love to play golf and to be ready to do some heavy reporting for the privilege. I will give them that the fact they take the time to do the seminars is a great addition to this industry and something that most companies should really try to do when expecting us to pull quite a bit of weight. It has been discussed multiple times here about an MSC like Coyle. They kind expect you to read their mind when it comes to doing reports the way they want. So, the fact you get a real explanation is a great thing here.

This company is going at their user base a little different. They do not pay any fees and from the conversation I had, it does not seem like the business model will ever change for this. You are strictly working to play golf at some potentially expensive courses. When I say work, it really sounds like work to me. Reports can be expected to have close to 100 photos involved with also needing to write in many sections. Think of maintenance pictures you usually have to take in a hotel shop. Well, this is what will be expected of you on a small number of the holes on the course down to the detail of taking pictures of how the grass lines up with the bunkers ect...

They do allow you to bring up to 3 other people to golf with and they reimburse two meals as well as some drinks from the cart. Hotels will be reimbursed when required to stay there in order to golf at the location. Again, not the worst deal if you ultimately have time and a passion for this.

With all of that being said my personal two biggest issues that I thought might not be necessary, or might hurt them in the future to keep potential shoppers are:

1.) You have to submit a practice round at the course of your choice at your own expense. I don't know how long the practice submission would take but it will gauge if you will be a right fit to take on other shops. I guess this is not bad if you are an avid golfer anyway.
2.) You get charged a $10 admin fee for each guest you bring (and yourself possibly) for what, I am not really sure? That means you get potentially up to $40 taken out of your reimbursement. It is just kind of mind boggling to me once you see the work that is involved.

On a personal note I also don't agree with taking too much free work but I understand there are a lot of mixed opinions on this board about that, so I could still see people following through. I hope whoever decides to do it that you have a great time and I do wish the company well anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2022 02:57AM by jrj76.

Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

After reading your thoroughly detailed, extensive, and well written summary, I'm not nearly as excited about the opportunity. An occasional (a few times a year), reimbursement-only, aspirational experience shop might be in the cards, but ultimately I am in the business of making money.

Thank you for taking the time to explain things so well.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2022 01:06AM by thunderdeacon.

@thunderdeacon wrote:

After reading your thoroughly detailed, extensive, and well written summary, I'm not nearly as excited about the opportunity. An occasional (a few times a year), reimbursement-only, aspirational experience shop might be in the cards, but ultimately I am in the business of making money.

Thank you for taking the time to explain things so well.

We are definitely on the same page here. I don't want to bad mouth a company that I have never worked for but a few things really stuck out as something I don't really consider right in this business. Especially when it comes down to "pay to play" with the fact that you have to pay them out of your reimbursement, also you have to pay up front and fake shop a round of golf before you get the green light to work for them. On top of that, I think we have all at least worked for free (ACL anyone?) so most on here would already know how eager they would be for this opportunity.

Sounds like a hard pass for me. I like to golf, but I also like to get paid if I'm working.