… just responding in kind to someone who is coming very very close to accusing me of lying about doing an assignment well in 15 minutes. As my mother said, “Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.”

I also do thorough, accurate gas station inspections, thousands of them, in 15 minutes. However, I mostly do very small rural stations that only have a couple pumps.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2022 01:43AM by mjt9598.

I’ve noticed that this has become a common theme here on the forum. Recently, a small mean little clique ganged up on a member who said that they can complete an EPMS shop in under two hours, including driving time.

Professional jealousy happens. I, and many other mystery shoppers, know that time is money and we strive to complete our work as efficiently as possible. People who can’t do that try to demean and denigrate our efforts to work smarter, not harder. It’s not “bullying” if we snap back at the snarky people.

Can you actually submit a report with being on site 15 minutes with the current company? I always thought the report asked questions like “ how did you get this done so quickly” if you weren’t on site at least 20 minutes.

Reminder that MF used to offer them at $8 to start. In my area, it was possible to wait until the shop fee hit $20; let's hope nobody takes these shops for peanuts.

Sorry, but after selecting my inside purchase, standing in line for it, asking for the restroom key and returning it, returning to my car to put my safety vest on and snap photos of my two receipts, it's already been 15 minutes.

Maybe I'm old and slow, maybe I'm thorough but slow. But I'm not staying home to watch Matlock reruns, thanks.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Sorry, but after selecting my inside purchase, standing in line for it, asking for the restroom key and returning it, returning to my car to put my safety vest on and snap photos of my two receipts, it's already been 15 minutes.

Maybe I'm old and slow, maybe I'm thorough but slow. But I'm not staying home to watch Matlock reruns, thanks.

I don’t care at all if it takes you three hours to do what takes me (and many others) fifteen minutes. It’s your time and profit margin, not mine.

What I DO care about is basically being called a liar because I can do these VERY simple, one pump photo gas station audits well in 15 minutes. If you do that, I will fight back, because I have worked very hard over the years to become efficient and produce excellent evaluations.

I haven't called you a liar.

If you can still do them in 15 minutes when you're 75 years old, please message me.

Yes, 'others' are fast and thorough.
Your comments are borderline nasty. I take pride in my work also, but it appears I work faster than you do.

@patman9760 wrote:

I’m so glad to see your reply! It generally takes me 45 minutes to an hour to complete a job like this as well and that’s why I won’t ever do one at base pay. I take pride in my work and try to do the best I can but I have seen many people post that they can do these jobs in 15 minutes (or less). I guess I am slow and thorough - maybe others are fast and thorough :-)

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the new MSC offering $8 for a task that takes at least an hour, then to spend time completing the survey to boot. How on earth do you complete one is 15 minutes? Just wandering around looking for all the POP items takes more than 15 minutes. You can earn brownie points by using a friend's (or relative) car for the gas purchase. With gas at $5.50 a gallon in CA that offer would be a real winner.

Actually ...two photos each of canopy and Main ID...and photos of all infractions....just sayin'...

YES!!!!!!!
I see posts on this forum allllllllllllll the time about how 'the gas station employee said xyz about the last auditor'.... ummmm, you wasted TIME/$$$$$ chatting?!?

@ColoKate63 wrote:

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the new MSC offering $8 for a task that takes at least an hour, then to spend time completing the survey to boot. How on earth do you complete one is 15 minutes? Just wandering around looking for all the POP items takes more than 15 minutes. You can earn brownie points by using a friend's (or relative) car for the gas purchase. With gas at $5.50 a gallon in CA that offer would be a real winner.

How do you NOT do a gas station in fifteen minutes?

I have a specific way to perform a gas station; I never “wander,” I’m hustling around the perimeter snapping required photos and looking for POP and violations (damage, graffiti, potholes) simultaneously. I have a triple-camera smartphone so I can zoom in, out, take a wide-angle shot. With my triple camera phone, I can photograph a rusty canopy, the forecourt, and a pump facing/POP without moving an inch and get crisp photos of all of that.

I take my photos in-app in the order that the report requires. I don’t crop or resize, that the editor’s job. I try to avoid the messy, filthy gas stations with a ton of violations or drug paraphernalia; they slow me down too much. No chit-chat with people on site. At all. At the end of the visit, I hit “submit” and I’m on to the next one. Boom, done.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I haven't called you a liar.

If you can still do them in 15 minutes when you're 75 years old, please message me.

My father (81) ran half-marathons at your age. He now does “only” race walking 10Ks. I think I’ll still be physically fit at 75, based on my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. all of whom were very active into their 90s.

Can anyone help me? I need to get hold of a ipsos scheduler and I don’t know how. Thanks in advance.

Hey folks, just a gentle request to keep it positive . . . We're in this together. We never like having to shut down a thread, but will do so if the contributions cease being positive.Thank you. Forum Moderators

Professional, schprofessional. This is only a matter of life happens, it is what it is, and shoppers do not control the conditions they will find at these or other types of locations where they will work--unless they are simultaneously manipulating the universe through dark arts, or something. But that speculation is for another forum altogether.

Each assignment situation is unique.

One shopper might have a wide difference in completion times, over time, for the same location due to factors that are beyond their control. Separate shoppers might complete the same location in different amounts of time, under similar but not same conditions, due to level of experience or unexpected conditions that arise during a visit. My favorite example is right here, near me. If you shop near me, you might have been stuck on a highway or in a tiny town near nothing for sixteen or seventeen hours or so, due to crashes or rollovers. Fifteen minutes plus sixteen or seventeen hours will impact on assignment completion time. I will never, ever denigrate you for your longer or shorter assignment completion times. I will wonder if you are comfortable, warm, cool, fed, hydrated, or otherwise not too traumatized by this type of delay.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

I’ve noticed that this has become a common theme here on the forum. Recently, a small mean little clique ganged up on a member who said that they can complete an EPMS shop in under two hours, including driving time.

Professional jealousy happens. I, and many other mystery shoppers, know that time is money and we strive to complete our work as efficiently as possible. People who can’t do that try to demean and denigrate our efforts to work smarter, not harder. It’s not “bullying” if we snap back at the snarky people.

Anyone else get this IPSOS email? I am vindicated with my 15 minute estimate. *mic drop*

“We've a launched a new oil & gas audit, (xxx) and it's the easiest one yet.
This is a mystery shop & revealed audit to evaluate your assigned (X, Y, Z) gas station. Unlike our other audit programs, this one should only take 10-15 minutes…”

BOOM

SOME phone shops are OK.

@AZwolfman wrote:

Don't do ANY shop for single digit$.

I like and agree with most of your posts I've read but this really was uncalled for.

From your description of the shop, I do think many shoppers can do them in 15 minutes. However, many cannot. Your "hobbyist" and "Matlock" comments are insulting and, more importantly, unfair. BTW, was your "Matlock" reference intended to be ageist?

I have been mystery shopping for about 20 years and most of my income is from shopping. I am also partially disabled. That's one of the reasons I don't do gas station shops. (I used to do them when I was in much better health.)

On a good day, I may not even appear to be disabled to others. On a bad day, I can barely stand still for 15 minutes.

I do many other shops that (1) I am physically capable of doing, (2) I am good at, and (3) are profitable. I am constantly on the lookout for new (for me) shops that I think may be a good fit for me.

You can take pride in your accomplishments before putting others down, especially when they have said and done nothing against you. If you take umbrage at certain comments (and I can see why you would), will you please target those comments/posters only?

@ColoKate63 wrote:

We are discussing the newly-taken over client. They require ONE pump photo, and ONE pump bezel photo. Zero convenience food items. Forecourt, canopy, MID sign, overall.

If you can’t get a report done on-site for them in 15 minutes or less… you are a hobbyist and probably should stick to home and watch “Matlock” reruns.

True, but you went beyond snapping back at the snarky people.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

I’ve noticed that this has become a common theme here on the forum. Recently, a small mean little clique ganged up on a member who said that they can complete an EPMS shop in under two hours, including driving time.

Professional jealousy happens. I, and many other mystery shoppers, know that time is money and we strive to complete our work as efficiently as possible. People who can’t do that try to demean and denigrate our efforts to work smarter, not harder. It’s not “bullying” if we snap back at the snarky people.

Half the people who were being snarky and rude didn’t know what they were talking about. They were discussing blocked pumps, multiple areas of evaluation that weren’t/aren’t included, and just jumping into what they thought would be an opportunity to display some Mean Girls-like behavior towards me. I get it; their lives are dull, dreary, and they practically live on this forum. They were showing off for their little buddies.

If someone comes at me like that, I absolutely can and will defend myself. It was FANTASTIC when the IPSOS email arrived, it certainly shut them up, didn’t it? Almost like The Universe got tired of their nonsense, too.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2022 07:36PM by ColoKate63.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Anyone else get this IPSOS email? I am vindicated with my 15 minute estimate. *mic drop*

“We've a launched a new oil & gas audit, (xxx) and it's the easiest one yet.
This is a mystery shop & revealed audit to evaluate your assigned (X, Y, Z) gas station. Unlike our other audit programs, this one should only take 10-15 minutes…”

BOOM

I feel like calling them out on the "highest fuel reimbursement in the game" by saying, "no, right now yellow is more."

But I won't.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2022 07:21PM by KA047.

You are using what an MSC says about the time it should take on a shop as vindication? Come on!

It is clear (to me at least), based on the descriptions of the shop, that it CAN be done in 15 minutes. You (and others) have said so, and I have no reason to doubt you. I probably can't on most days, but that's OK. There are many other shops that are more profitable/enjoyable for me.

Ignore the shade and the snark, please. Just go on taking pride in your work and laugh all the way to the bank. You don't have to justify anything to anyone.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Anyone else get this IPSOS email? I am vindicated with my 15 minute estimate. *mic drop*

“We've a launched a new oil & gas audit, (xxx) and it's the easiest one yet.
This is a mystery shop & revealed audit to evaluate your assigned (X, Y, Z) gas station. Unlike our other audit programs, this one should only take 10-15 minutes…”

BOOM

Starting to look like Kate's going through something. She seems to be lashing out quite often recently. I get it, I lash out at people when my world is not right too. No one here is trying to hurt you Kate, we are all just sharing our experiences.

I know that these shops aren’t difficult, but some folks seriously aren't able to do them in 15 minutes or less. And IPSOS, along with most MSC's downplay the amount of time a shop takes to lure shoppers into doing them for less than fair pay. They say you can do a yellow station in 30 minutes. And while you may be able to take all of the pictures in 30 minutes In a small station, there is no way you can do a 30 minute complete shop and audit on a station with 16 or 20 or 24 pumps. And they don't consider the time that you spend entering the pictures and everything into the survey as part of doing the shop, they expect you to do that for free.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2022 07:26PM by Morledzep.

Again, you did not just go after them. You went after everyone who could not do one of these shops in 15 minutes.

I may be able to do it in 15 minutes but only on a good day. Just as you don't appreciate the snark and the implication that you are a liar, I don't appreciate the "hobbyist" and "Matlock" comments. (Off-topic: I enjoyed Matlock when it was on originally and may enjoy re-runs but I don't even own a TV.)

And IPSOS' email doesn't prove anything. How many times have we seen MSCs talk about "fun and easy" shops or claim price checks take hours less than they actually do?

@ColoKate63 wrote:

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

True, but you went beyond snapping back at the snarky people.

[/quote=BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz]

They got what was coming to them. I think it’s absolutely fantastic that IPSOS put out that email about gas stations taking 10-15 minutes, it was the cherry on top.

There are more than a hand full of different gas shops/audits to choose from in my area. This may be why conversations like this can get confusing. Apples and oranges.

For this brand, I rarely have to wait for pumps to clear to snap 2 photos of a single pump, the only POP to verify is that it exists on 50% of the pump toppers, the shopping gods must be with me as I rarely have to wait in a store line or for the restroom to become available (may be due to the number of stations in my area or the timing I complete shops). The exception is when on a long road trip where everyone stops to fuel up and get food. In my experience, these tend to be smaller stations, not humongous like some of the yellow or RWB ones. No self, employee, lubricant, food or product pics, looking for the gift card or top tier stickers, what POP exists inside the store, requesting employee to turn on the canopy lights during the day, or pic of every pump.

If you have been to the location enough times where infractions are not corrected (even after repeated reporting), you know what they are before you pull in. Yes, we still need to observe if additional ones exist or if some have been corrected, but memory from repeat visits aids in going faster. Also, with repeat visits, most of the time I already know what I am going to purchase in that store, e.g. price of bottled water is reasonable there and keeps me hydrated, whereas other items can be in excess of what is reimbursed. The one thing that could slow you down is if a location is not open 24 hours, you do have to input the hours for every single day and there are 3 additional pics vs. the former MSC.

One positive; once the shops start paying better, we don't have to wait out a quarter to complete this brand again. They are literally the same locations many of us completed the past month with the former MSC. Of course they will be on a cycle too, but I'm considering it a bonus to be able to complete them in back to back months without going on rotation.

You know how this started?

I made an innocuous comment about how happy I was that IPSOS got this client, because now they totally dominate my region and I can pull up to a city intersection and do 15 minutes of work on each corner and net $60-90, to be paid on a Tuesday.

A nice, happy, positive observation.

Then the howling began, as multiple people said I was wrong about the 15 minutes for a gas station. My work was criticized, my timeline questioned, my integrity as a shopper was questioned. About a half-dozen people blindly waded in, throwing crap like monkeys at a zoo.

I don’t care if you take an hour or three to do one of these stations. Not my profit margin, not my mortgage payment. Impugning my work is a whole other matter, and yes I will vigorously and aggressively defend that.

You people here on this forum don’t have the right to criticize my evaluation accuracy and my work quality. You were all flying blind in your eagerness to score some points, and now you look silly with egg on your collective faces after that IPSOS email about their new client with a time estimate of 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy your day, and making your next hundred meaningless posts here. I’m off for a long walk with a good dog and a patio Happy Hour with a good friend, where I’ll pull up this thread and together we will read it and laugh at your complete and total absurdity.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2022 08:17PM by ColoKate63.

Are you including the report?
I just don’t see how that’s possible with the waiting time. Well and Sassy is slow too. I can do some brands 15 min inspection and 15 minute survey but that’s if they’re not too busy and I don’t have to wait. Sometimes I wait in line 10 minutes. And some just require too many individual items.
Before they were combined, and before presto stopped working on iPhone, I could do the green and gold in 20 min including report but they’ve combined the two audits together so I can’t anymore.

@mjt9598 wrote:

I also do thorough, accurate gas station inspections, thousands of them, in 15 minutes. However, I mostly do very small rural stations that only have a couple pumps.

The provided times are only an estimate. Some workers will match those times. Others will not. There should be no bragging. Whining, yes. Especially if you work near me, you may whine as much as you need to. I understand completely.

btw, I like old shows. I have watched Revenge of the Nerds twice this week, bwahaha. From an old Perry Mason episode and its incident of prop exchanged for real piece, I had an idea of how the gun fiasco on the real set of Rust might have played out in its context. I am still waiting to find out what happened in the real scenario. This theme has appeared in several fictions, and it is possible or even likely that someone remembered it recently.

But for ultimate manners, we might look to Charlie Chan. "Thank you so much."

I have found that when a station is busy, like when a lottery jackpot is big and lines are long, it is a huge time saver to bring the LOA and safety vest (if needed) in with me in a large handbag and whip them out right after my transaction concludes, thus avoiding a second wait in line. Also, I rarely wait for vehicles to move away from the pumps if I have finished everything else. I take the best shot I can, per instructions, and note it in the report. But, yeah, some people are amazingly fast when working on their phones! I'm in awe just watching people type messages. So I am somewhere between the 15 minute inspection and the hour-long one. I do like to flow as quickly, yet efficiently, as possible and be on to the next one. Mostly because I want to get home to watch Matlock! I joke, I joke!

Based upon this thread, I have decided to schedule a Matlock marathon. Matlock! Matlock! Matlock! This has nothing to do with gas stations except that when I am at home instead of driving somewhere, I use no fuel and have little or no need for more fuel. Thus, I can skip the gas station gigs and do something else. Hmm. Somewhere in there is a bit of logic... or just a little dig at people who would dare to diss ol' Ben and the gang.