topic Re: Mystery Shopper??? in Among Friends

Mystery Shopper???

Starpolisher — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 00:23:09 GMT

Has anyone ever heard or done this? It's a part time job. It sounds to good and easy to be true. I applied for it but would like to know more before I commit myself. TIA

Re: Mystery Shopper???

bonnielu — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 00:37:42 GMT

I have seen it many times. But I just don't trust as I used to so I ignore it. I have no clue if it is legit or not.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

Imadickens — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 00:40:19 GMT

I do it, or used to. My dh signed us up as I love to shop! It's not all shopping, I got lots of calls to go to movie theaters and either count heads or make sure certain displays are up. A lot of the time they wanted us to put the displays together! The pay varies, and we tried to negotiate the fee when we had to travel a long way but it didn't always work. The way ours worked was they would call and tell us what jobs were available. If we declined and they couldn't get anyone they'd call back with a higher fee offer. A few perks were being able to stay for the movie and getting paid for doing something I enjoyed. But, often we had to buy something, using a memorized script, then go back and return it. Then fill out a questionnaire on the experience. That was hard as most were at kiosks where the poor salespeople were so happy to have a live person stop and act interested in the items that I felt guilty not being there for real! It's not bad if you are looking for easy (mostly) sporadic, moderately paying jobs that you can take or decline. That's pretty much it! The more you accept, the more you get called, which is why I rarely get called. I broke my foot and had to be in bed for 6 plus months! Good luck!

Re: Mystery Shopper???

geegerbee — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:14:00 GMT

Some are scams. But I was a mystery shopper for a short while. Most of them were buying gas and reporting if the outside of the building was kept up. I would get reimbursed for the gas and maybe $3 dollars for the report. A few times I had to buy a certain kind of fast food. The last time I bought the wrong thing, so drove 15 mi. and bought the food, but didn't get paid . That is when I quit. It was only occasionally, so you can't count on it for income. I turned down some that were too far away to make it worth my time. I would google the company to see if that brings up negative experiences.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

Suhse — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:21:46 GMT

Be very sure it's not a company, where you have to pay them anything to participate. Those are scams.

We have a couple of part time staff, in our office, that do mystery shops. I think Best Mark is the company they work with.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

Pook — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:40:48 GMT

My so and I did some. The places we got notices from required no commitment after signing up. We would get emails from several different places and you had to be the first to reply to get the shop. You are given a timeframe when it has to be done. We did some that were to evaluate the free breakfast at motels. We were to just walk in and join in the eating. We were emailed a letter to present if we were found not to be guests. We had to request help from staff, evaluate the freshness of the food, etc. We were paid $10 to $25 per job and got free breakfast. We also did some fast food places and were paid $15 plus reimbursement for what we ordered. We did a few where we just had to take pictues of a busines. It was fun. To really make money you have to be quick to get the best shops and monitor email all day.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

Kachina624 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:46:24 GMT

Low pay and pay your own expenses. Not a money maker. I registered with a company, they posted jobs in my area online but they weren't worth the trouble so I finally told them to quit sending them. You basically use your time and gas for nothing.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

3suwm5 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 02:01:09 GMT

Yes, I've heard of it at certain stores. Is this for you to check out the service by store employees or is it to be a 'personal shopper' for a client?

A personal shopper finds clothes that they believe their client would like. Get it all together for the client and then they can come in and try on and purchase if they choose. Maybe in some cases, you take the items to the client's meeting place, i.e. home/office.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

3suwm5 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 02:02:22 GMT

Let me just add, a mystery shopper I believes goes in to shop as would anyone, but you are really evaluating the employees. MO

Re: Mystery Shopper???

Peaches McPhee — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 12:01:32 GMT

I did this several years ago. I did maybe 2 shops and they stopped calling me. (Maybe they did not like my reports!) It's a lot of work (time) with little pay, and very sporatic, at least in my experience.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

henderson — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 15:04:54 GMT

I was a mystery shopper in the Las Vegas area for several years. Never do you pay to sign up to become one. In Calif. (where I'm from) you're an independent consultant and not employed directly by the company. You can apply for the jobs that they post and they might pick you for the assignment. In Nevada, you must be working for a company that has a private investigator license. I had to have a background check and fingerprinted (like those who work at casinos). It cost $85 and I was reimbursed when I did so many jobs. I worked with Howard Services and now I'm a timeshare mystery shopper for TNS. My husband and I have been to Depoe Bay, Oregon, San Diego, Sedona and Pagosa Springs, Colorado. In Oregon we had a 2 bedroom condo overlooking the ocean! Downside is, you only get paid up to 200 miles at 54 cents, but your room is free, as well a a $50 payment plus any gifts the timeshare company gives you. They would send me a purse with a hidden microphone and I would record the salesperson's presentation and complete a form online. I always knew the questions they would ask so I could be prepared. You can only do them twice a year.

Re: Mystery Shopper???

CalminHeart — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 12:16:22 GMT

@Starpolisher wrote:
Has anyone ever heard or done this? It's a part time job. It sounds to good and easy to be true. I applied for it but would like to know more before I commit myself. TIA

I work parttime now that I retired. Yes, the grocery store I work in has mystery shoppers on a regular basis. My employer doesn't do anything to employees unless they get a 50% or less score. Oh well. It's life and one way to keep people on their toes.