1. Forums
  2. Mystery Shopping Company Discussion

Martin Sweeney RBG

May 09, 2026 03:53PM
I had a pizza shop edited by Martin and he gave me a score of 1 on the shop and said it could not be accepted because I could not fit the entire email confirmation in my screenshot. I emailed him the second part of the email that included the location address to no avail. He kept sending me emails to enter the correct email confirmation but the shop had already been marked completed. I emailed him many times trying to get it worked out, but he just told me the shop could not be accepted. I have been mystery shopping for over 25 years and have never encountered such an unreasonable editor. I won’t be doing those shops anymore. It’s a shame because I like the pizza and it’s close to my house.
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.

May 09, 2026 04:18PM
I'm sorry to hear about that! I had that problem initially but was able to get the entire email eventually. I use a google email for these and rather that using the Gmail app, which does not allow the entire email on the screen at once, I access it on the web browser and use desktop display. This makes everything smaller, enables zoom out, and gets me the whole email at once.
Reply
May 09, 2026 05:13PM
Why didn't you print to PDF? If you had an email, you can print to PDF from yahoo and gmail. Maybe not from a phone, but from a laptop/desktop. Maybe even from a tablet?
Reply
May 09, 2026 08:01PM
It's situations like this that remind me to be thankful I don't have to rely on MSing to pay my bills.
You could see if the MSPA has a mechanism to get this resolved. Or go to small claims court.

I'm doubting you want to do small claims for the amounts involved.

I'm sure MSC's know that 99.9% of the time shoppers will just give up.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2026 08:06PM by jdyeah.
Reply
May 09, 2026 09:36PM
I use my phone because I don’t have a laptop. I have completed the pizza shops in the past and never had a problem with the two screenshots.
Reply
May 09, 2026 10:21PM
I am sorry to hear this! In my email, I click print and save as a pdf. If something happens and I can't, I take a picture of it.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
Reply
May 10, 2026 03:24AM
@GC Shopper Can't you do a scrolling screenshot so it captures all parts of the email?
Reply
May 10, 2026 04:32AM
I didn't know there was such a thing as a scrolling screenshot on Android. Now I am trying to learn how to fo one. Thanks for mentioning it.
@Momomomo wrote:

@GC Shopper Can't you do a scrolling screenshot so it captures all parts of the email?

Shopping South Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware above the canal since 2008
Reply
May 12, 2026 05:55AM
i was worried about that, so I usually change my phone font to very small, take the screenshop of confirmation, and change my font back to readable!
Reply
May 12, 2026 07:45PM
So sorry to hear about this, and hope you can get help resolving with the scheduler or project manager.

These shops seem to sit unclaimed near me even when bonused and I almost scheduled one last week. The low fee barely covers the gas to get there, but I like the pizza too.

Maybe this is why no one wants to do them.

If it’s a hassle to get reimbursed the food cost by handing in a report that I have to argue about after doing the work, I’ll pass.

Thanks for the heads-up, and hope you can get a fair solution to a fix-able problem.
Reply
May 13, 2026 05:05AM
I only use a phone. I may do more steps than needed but generally copy (as if copy and paste) to notes and save. My other way is move as if sending to printer or a friend on iPhone then save as file on adobe pdf. Or I save and create a .doc then convert to pdf if needed.

My REAL cheat is just take the 2 screenshots then take a 3rd with both together in one/side by side. It’s been accepted numerous times.
Reply
May 13, 2026 09:12AM
I was assigned a pizza shop. The item that I was supposed to order wasn't on the menu (I took the shop the first day it became available).
I reported that it wasn't on the menu. I was given a 1/10 because the next day the item became available on the menu. They released it as a new deal. It irritates me because I did everything I could, even reaching out to the scheduler to explain the situation.
Reply
May 13, 2026 01:45PM
@xbirdnerdx wrote:

I was assigned a pizza shop. The item that I was supposed to order wasn't on the menu (I took the shop the first day it became available).
I reported that it wasn't on the menu. I was given a 1/10 because the next day the item became available on the menu. They released it as a new deal. It irritates me because I did everything I could, even reaching out to the scheduler to explain the situation.

Wow! Sounds like an error on the part of the MSC that they put the wrong start date. I do Applebees shops which are centered around featured food and drink. They usually list the jobs a week before the menu is updated to include those items. It makes it hard to know whether you want the drink when you can’t find it on the menu but at least it is there when we show up a week later. Giving you a 1/10 doesn’t sound right if you did the actual shop correctly otherwise.
Reply
May 15, 2026 01:27PM
I wish that vindictive and overzealous editors could be held accountable in some way like we are held accountable. I suppose we could send emails to the MSC owner/CEOs to log a complaint every time something goes sideways. Eventually if enough complaints, they will get the idea who is driving shoppers away from their company. Maybe these complaints on forums are enough. I dunno. At this level, they seem untouchable so no wonder they act like little gods.
Reply
May 15, 2026 07:06PM
I suspect Martin was the one who changed shop dates on us without letting us know beforehand. I did mine on April 14 as assigned but had to submit it on April 15 because of the changes in the system. At least that one was approved. Maybe he's new to RBG, and hopefully an issue like this won't happen again in the future.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2026 07:10PM by jp43209.
Reply
May 15, 2026 09:36PM
The following post is NOT directed to anyone for whom the dollars earned from shopping are an integral part of their budget.

IF the decisions of an MSC cause you grief and aggravation, rather than to adopt a "what are you going to do" position, merely terminate the relationship. In my opinion, when the job requires specific toppings, pictures and timelines, no pie is worth the shop.
Reply
May 16, 2026 08:37PM
This Martin guy, is just as shady as the rest of them at that company. They just reject jobs for inconsistent reasons, with no input from the shopper who did the work, spent time and money and followed their ridiculous rules. Its a common problem with this company. I've decided that from now on, if they reject a shop, then ignore your pushback and questions about details, I'm going to alert the clients, anonymously of course, that they ought to delve deeper into who they're hiring to handle their account
Reply
May 16, 2026 08:38PM
deleted
Moderator Note:

Post removed for Forum violation: No personal insults.

Reply
May 22, 2026 06:05PM
I have an iPhone, never heard of a scrolling screenshot. I need to Google it
Reply
May 23, 2026 05:10PM
@GC Shopper wrote:

I have been mystery shopping for over 25 years and have never encountered such an unreasonable editor.

I have been shopping for 27 years. There are not a lot of us out here. BuzyBeeBuzzBuzz, had been shopping for about 20 years, but she recently passed away. I miss that cranky woman, love-hate relationship we had.

I have a chromebook (paid $250 in 2017 for it brand new), an iPad (work paid), two desktops and a mini-mac. I cannot imagine doing everything on my iPhone. You are saying that you don't own any type of computer at all other than your phone?

You could have printed the email (library? Fed Ex?) and then scanned it into a PDF. Not efficient, but it would have saved the job. Oh, I think that you can print the entire email from your iPhone into a pdf and save it into "files". Then attach from files on the survey.

I did an airport lounge last week. I took 12 photos with an app that puts them into a one multiple page pdf instead of a jpeg. I have done this shop no less than 10 times. The editor wanted a single photos of the food. I called my IT guy (son) and he pulled single photos from multiple page pdfs. I was super glad to have him fix this in less than 2 minutes. It would have taken me an hour and many tears.
Reply
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login