One common scheduling tactic, which is much worse with some companies than others, is to call to emotion. Like saying, "can you help?" Or "these shops need you!" We are contracted business people, and emotion should have nothing to do with our decisions. Companies are generally going to do whatever it takes to try to get their work done as cheaply as possible. In many cases, there's an infinite
Recently, they have been starting most of their projects at lower pay than in the past. However, they will add a fee and increase the fee as necessary to get the shop done.
For example, they started the insect related wireless company compliance reviews quite a bit lower than in the past. However, they are all at 25 to 45 dollars now. If they were able to get a bunch of them done for the low
They are up to $25 now. If they need to get them all done, they are going to have to increase fees much higher than that. There are still hundreds left, mostly in remote locations. They are giving the "tight budget" explanation now. I don't think they have any idea how badly their budget is going to bet blown.
Remember, for every remote location a shopper does for $25, another shopper is g
It is true that we would have to drive to work if it was a regular job. However, that number of miles is usually quite a bit smaller than spending a day driving around shopping--especially for any jobs that are not local. I think it's a mistake not to count depreciation and maintenance for a vehicle. The newer the vehicle is, the more the depreciation will be.
Not only will I not do them for free, but I will never do them for a chance at a prize or a gift card. Not only that, but I pass disdainful and haughty judgment on those that do it for even the chance at a gift card.
I understand that things happen in life. Sometimes something comes up and we can't do a shop by a due date. However, that should be a rare occurrence. I think the best course of action is to only grab a shop if there is every intention of getting it done by the due date. Major events that stop that from happening should be a rare occurrence and not something that happens constantly. I have talked
They are lucky that they have shoppers like you that will bend over backwards and deal with all their stupid crap and horrible website for base pay shops. I don't mind jumping through hoops, but I am not going to go through all that nonsense and hassle until they actually start paying a decent amount of money. To each their own, however.
I used to love working for them under two different companies that they absorbed. With all of these changes, I pretty much stopped. The schedulers don't answer, and I didn't get proper help when I needed issues with a glitch in the shop date.
I will occasionally do a shop if it just happens to be right in front of me and paying quite a bit. But I noticed that a lot of their shops don't get don
I can't think of a worse platform to do gas station shops. I can't think of a more difficult way to actually find the shops and put a report together. Smart and experienced shoppers have tried these and apparently not done them correctly, and the instructions aren't clear. Apparently they don't edit these particularly fast. I can't imagine the disaster this is going to be for this mystery shoppin
I'm glad I didn't bet on who the new mystery shopping company would be for this project. I would have been dead wrong. This would have been about the last company I would have guessed, and I agree that this is a terrible platform for this kind of work. (Honestly it's a bulky platform for any type of work, but especially gas stations.)
Thank you for the hints. It will be interesting to see ho
I'm trying to think of an ironically named mystery shopping company, but I can't figure it out. I'm definitely interested to know who got this contract. I think they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. This gas brand has the most remote and seasonally difficult to access locations of that I know of. I certainly welcome any additional hints on the new MSC.
Just remember, the longer that each location goes undone, the more work it's going to be when someone finally shows up. If the location is not merchandising their own items, then it could be a total disaster upon arrival. I would be cautious about taking these unless you have a decent idea that the location won't be a total poop show. Every month that goes by without merchandising increases the p
In my experience, Seelevel and Alta were excellent companies to work for. The schedulers were responsive and helpful, they treated me fairly, and I never had any issues with payment or getting properly completed shops accepted. Intouch had always been a little shady to me in my experience.
For a while, I still had a good experience with the projects and schedulers that were absorbed when into
For the famous highway brand, there is a quota for each cycle. Only a certain percentage has to be done each cycle. If a location did not get done the previous cycle, then it does have to get done the next cycle, however. That's why some will be lightly bonused and allowed to go undone while others get insanely large bonuses at the end of a cycle.
@CoolMusic wrote:
@mystery2me wrote:
The MS
I think it's important that we always do our best to be discreet and present ourselves as a regular customer.
However, the clients and mystery shopping companies set up the guidelines. They tell us what we should do, what we should observe, how we should order, what pictures we need to take, etc. They let us know if there's a rotation or a waiting period, and they assign the shop to us based o
I'm a strong believer that I should get paid for my work. They offer many jobs that pay absolutely nothing. They want us to work for free. Therefore, I do not work for them.
The fact that it's been a week and you have not gotten a reply, and the fact that the scheduler did not properly apply your bonus, shows that this company is not professional or ethical. I quit working for them a long time ago.
I certainly see both sides of the spectrum here. Editors don't make much money, and they have to deal with all kinds of shops. I'm sure the majority of the shops are done correctly, but there are some that are not. New shoppers, mistakes, etc. I have occasionally had disagreements with an editor on whether there was an infraction or not. That's a judgment call, and disagreements are understandabl
Out of principal, we are supposed to be honest and accurate in our reporting. I hate it when a visit is not good. I don't like having to give a bad report. I know the client will not be happy, and there could be consequences for the employees. Several years ago, when McDonald's used to be mystery shopped, I would get pushed back on every negative report that I sent in. I would just reply that I w
Just in case we want to try to figure out the obscure mystery shopping company that is doing some of them, I won't come out and say it. It is a convenience store brand and not an oil company. There are actually a small percentage of locations California that don't even sell gas. Sometimes the gas is convenience store store branded, and sometimes the convenience store partners with a nationwide oi
It is my understanding that the client has indefinitely paused the remaining locations in the USA that were previously on the presto app. It was nationwide for a long time, and then they pause the majority of their locations, leaving some in the northern tier. They have paused those as well. Based on how long it's been since they paused the majority of the shops, I would not bet on them coming ba
Thank you for the information. I generally don't do shops that pay nothing, out of principle. Even if it reimburses the sandwich, I feel like I deserve to be paid something for my time, effort, and travel. Especially if it involves timings, narratives, and photos. I personally feel like my time and effort is worth more than a sandwich.