1. Forums
  2. Mystery Shopping Company Discussion

Ipsos- how long to review a shop?

October 16, 2025 03:00AM
I have completed a number of shops for Ipsos recently. Five of them were gas station shops. One of them was a cell phone store. The cell phone store was approved almost immediately. However, the gas station ones are still pending after a week. Is Ipsos usually this slow?

Also, where can I find their payment schedule?
Reply
Log In
x

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Already a member? Log In.

October 16, 2025 03:48PM
I found that the customer first took the longest to be reviewed. Maybe longer than two weeks.
Reply
October 16, 2025 09:57PM
I think they use AI to review the cell phone shops, since they are almost immediately approved as you stated.

The gas station shops take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks at this point. Its a crapshoot.

IPSOS pays every Tuesday for Shopmetrics and Sassie jobs. If the job was through Presto, they pay on Mondays and Thurdays.
Reply
October 16, 2025 10:32PM
I did a shop for Ipsos Monday,. There was an issue where they had the wrong shop report form loaded to my page. I had to write them and ask about how to load a photo of the required receipt at which time. They did not reply until Tuesday and I made the report at that time. The directions said report must be by midnight of day of shop but as the wrong form was loaded by them that was not possible. As soon as the correct form was on the log I entered the report and submitted. I have not heard anything back from them and I am sure I did the shop 100% as required. Has anyone else experienced editing delays at this company? I have out of pocket expenses for a required purchase so hoping I am not out of luck. Thanks for any reply
Reply
October 16, 2025 10:44PM
While I cannot commend on the issue in regards to the "wrong form" as it never happened to me. The review time for submitted report does range between 12 hours to 14 days.
Reply
October 17, 2025 01:45AM
I have a lot of jobs still waiting to be reviewed, so I feel you! It seems, each round, it becomes later and later for the jobs to be reviewed.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
Reply
October 17, 2025 01:51AM
I did their Chinese eatery on Friday and it was approved today (six days later).
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:25AM
Weird...I wrote this yesterday and it didn't appear, then showed up multiple times today - sorry!

I've had shops take almost a month to be reviewed, but since they pay weekly it's a wash on wait for pay compared with companies that pay monthly.
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:25AM
duplicate

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2025 03:40PM by jamest.
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:26AM
duplicate

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2025 03:41PM by jamest.
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:26AM
duplicate

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2025 03:42PM by jamest.
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:26AM
duplicate

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2025 03:43PM by jamest.
Reply
October 17, 2025 02:26AM
duplicate - sorry

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2025 03:41PM by jamest.
Reply
October 17, 2025 01:30PM
The frustration I have with the long review time isn't the pay but the need to be available. This means no real days off for the entire time visits are awaiting review. We have to reply to any need for clarification within 12 hours, so this means email must be checked at least twice a day until all shops are reviewed. This makes it hard to plan a camping trip where there is no cell service and hard to just take a day entirely off.
Reply
October 17, 2025 04:39PM
That's annoying. This was on the Sassie platform. I feel like the pay and reimbursement were super low, but there were so many close by that it was worth it. I only did a few the first day to see if they passed and planned to do more later, but now I'm not doing any of them and there are so many of them open around me.
Reply
October 17, 2025 04:40PM
There should definitely be a stated turn around time for them to review these, like 2-3 days. It's been over a week for these now.
Reply
October 17, 2025 07:14PM
I have been doing the shops for this company for 10+ years or however, long they had it and somebody else before them and I have never gotten a report back saying I missed a picture. In fact, I don't think the report will go through until you have all the pictures but all of a sudden I'm getting four or five back that I've left off a picture. I've left off a receipt. Something is not right and I'm getting to the point where I think forget it as it is just not worth it. It's always from the same editor so I don't know if she's got it in for me because I don't know her.
Reply
October 18, 2025 01:14AM
It appears to me it depends on which client you are doing. Some are much faster in review than others. Last month I was doing the restaurant packaging jobs. Many of them took a very long time to review but at the same time other clients I did a job for were reviewed very quickly.
As for going off the grid like at a camping trip,I have had quicker and slower reviews at other msc as well. If you plan a trip out of range of your cell perhaps you should only do what you consider safe for review jobs within a week or so of leaving.
Reply
October 18, 2025 01:58AM
@Cassiespark wrote:

I think they use AI to review the cell phone shops, since they are almost immediately approved as you stated.

From my experience, I don't think AI is used. Usually, it's the same editors or sometimes editors from different projects. Occasionally, I have received feedback. For the bonus shops towards the end of the period, there is a hard deadline. For some shops, I have seen them get approved with just a rating, no comment, and from a generic email address. At that point, I assume the project manager is reviewing and pushing it through.
Reply
October 18, 2025 05:22AM
Well, here again, we know it is a "she," but we do not know which editor is doing this. We wish we knew who you were talking about!
Reply
October 18, 2025 06:41PM
It will vary based on client and workload. If they just release or bonus a ton of shops, they will get backlogged and it could be a week or more. If they haven't released anything in a while and they are caught up, they might get reviewed in minutes.
Reply
October 19, 2025 03:01AM
Have you considered creating an auto-reply when you go camping or going to be offline for a while? You can create a rule and reply only @ipsos.com email addresses. If they are waiting weeks to review, they can wait until you return for responses. Their 12 hour response time is ridiculous given their new, grossly extended and unpredictable review time. They will wait, I've seen them do it.

@TeriW wrote:

The frustration I have with the long review time isn't the pay but the need to be available. This means no real days off for the entire time visits are awaiting review. We have to reply to any need for clarification within 12 hours, so this means email must be checked at least twice a day until all shops are reviewed. This makes it hard to plan a camping trip where there is no cell service and hard to just take a day entirely off.
Reply
October 20, 2025 05:53AM
@rasa wrote:

I found that the customer first took the longest to be reviewed. Maybe longer than two weeks.

______________________________________
That is sad.
Reply
October 20, 2025 04:43PM
As others have said, my experience is that it is highly variable, minutes to two weeks.

When I had a vacation planned where I knew that I would be out of reach for an extended period of time, I didn't do any shops at all for the week before my trip. I know some may not have that flexibility but it greatly reduced my stress level knowing that I was unlikely to have anything urgently needing a response while away.

And, I wholeheartedly agree on the auto reply. Communication is key, they are far more likely to be patient if they know why you aren't responding and when you will be able to

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2025 04:45PM by Deedeezthoughts.
Reply
October 21, 2025 12:26AM
@Cassiespark wrote:

Have you considered creating an auto-reply when you go camping or going to be offline for a while? You can create a rule and reply only @ipsos.com email addresses. If they are waiting weeks to review, they can wait until you return for responses. Their 12 hour response time is ridiculous given their new, grossly extended and unpredictable review time. They will wait, I've seen them do it.

I do use an auto-reply, so good to know that they will wait. I just checked the guidelines for the visits that are currently waiting to be reviewed. They state that we need to be available for 72 hours after submission, which seems reasonable.
Reply
October 21, 2025 12:27AM
@sandyf wrote:

It appears to me it depends on which client you are doing. Some are much faster in review than others. Last month I was doing the restaurant packaging jobs. Many of them took a very long time to review but at the same time other clients I did a job for were reviewed very quickly.
As for going off the grid like at a camping trip,I have had quicker and slower reviews at other msc as well. If you plan a trip out of range of your cell perhaps you should only do what you consider safe for review jobs within a week or so of leaving.

Imagine if you had a job and had to take two or three unpaid weeks off before taking your vacation. Seems a bit ridiculous to me.
Reply
October 21, 2025 03:48PM
@TeriW wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

It appears to me it depends on which client you are doing. Some are much faster in review than others. Last month I was doing the restaurant packaging jobs. Many of them took a very long time to review but at the same time other clients I did a job for were reviewed very quickly.
As for going off the grid like at a camping trip,I have had quicker and slower reviews at other msc as well. If you plan a trip out of range of your cell perhaps you should only do what you consider safe for review jobs within a week or so of leaving.

Imagine if you had a job and had to take two or three unpaid weeks off before taking your vacation. Seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Agreed the rule is way out of proportion to the small fees we are getting. But there are other issues even worse if you are needing to work. Sometimes weeks go by when there are few interesting jobs to do at all. Interesting to me includes where and what the job is plus the compensation. Spending time and effort to secure, study and get to a job and finding the place is closed where you get a very small fee or none at all. As to an off the grid vacation do you plan it around the beginning of the month and miss opportunities that come out then, or towards the end of the month and possibly miss out on some decent bonuses?
Reply
October 21, 2025 09:40PM
@sandyf wrote:

...there are other issues even worse if you are needing to work. Sometimes weeks go by when there are few interesting jobs to do at all. Interesting to me includes where and what the job is plus the compensation. Spending time and effort to secure, study and get to a job and finding the place is closed where you get a very small fee or none at all. As to an off the grid vacation do you plan it around the beginning of the month and miss opportunities that come out then, or towards the end of the month and possibly miss out on some decent bonuses?

So true! Many issues compound in this industry.

I tend to try to take time earlier in the month unless I plan to do work on the way, in which case the end of the month tends to be more lucrative (but also way less relaxing).
Reply
October 24, 2025 12:06AM
I remember being in the airport gate area waiting for a flight to Mexico when I received an email stating that the bottom of my receipt was cut off from a shop days earlier and to send a new one. I had to ask my hubby, who was home, to go into my files, find the receipt and email me a full new photo. Got it done just before boarding.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain
Reply
October 27, 2025 06:48PM
Waiting for 3 weeks now for the pharmacy shops I did to be reviewed...what's up with them? I've never had it take this long for any of their Sassie shops.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain
Reply
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login