Community Chat

[Drythe]

@HonnyBrown

Just popping in to say HI to HonnyBrown!

HB, with your wine work, your regular job, house hunting, and this it sounds like you live an exciting life!

[HonnyBrown]

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@Drythe wrote:

@HonnyBrown

Just popping in to say HI to HonnyBrown!

HB, with your wine work, your regular job, house hunting, and this it sounds like you live an exciting life!

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Drythe!!!  Hugssssssss!!!!!!

The house hunting is such a nightmare.  My husband tried to cheer my up by taking me to look at $500,000 houses on Saturday.  I appreciate his loving sentiment, but geez.  Clueless!

[151949]

I was a secret shopper back when I was going to college. At that time I had to turn in the receipt with my report and was reimbursed for the item I bought. If I did not turn in the receipt I was not reimbursed, but I could return the item instead. She should not be doing both. However, i would like to say - this sounds better than it is because keeping the items is sorta a way they pay you since the fee they give you is a very small amount. I think back in 1980 when I was doing this I got $4 for each report + could keep the item I bought.Sometimes it was a restaurant and I could turn in 2 meals with my report.I usually took my Mom with me and we would colaborate on the report.

[151949]

I wanted to add - one of the things I did then was to go to the store manager and he/she would go around to  the racks and I would have a list from the store's corporate and we would check if the tags were properly marked. Some of the managers would offer me bribes like leather jackets or shoes or purses to lie on my reports, I guess they felt it was better to pay for an expensive item than lose their job.

[HonnyBrown]

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@151949 wrote:

I was a secret shopper back when I was going to college. At that time I had to turn in the receipt with my report and was reimbursed for the item I bought. If I did not turn in the receipt I was not reimbursed, but I could return the item instead. She should not be doing both. However, i would like to say - this sounds better than it is because keeping the items is sorta a way they pay you since the fee they give you is a very small amount. I think back in 1980 when I was doing this I got $4 for each report + could keep the item I bought.Sometimes it was a restaurant and I could turn in 2 meals with my report.I usually took my Mom with me and we would colaborate on the report.

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That is so cool that you shopped with your Mom!

The shop fees are typically much higher now, and the reimbursements are lower.  There's not much you can buy for $2.

[DoneTryin]

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@Perkup wrote:

Is what she's doing any different than if I bought something on sale, waited till the sale was over, and returned the item for a full price?  Cheating and/or lying is wrong, no matter who does it or why.  If I don't think my employer is

paying me enough, is it okay to take products from them without paying?  Isn't that stealing?

For me and for my moral standards, what she is dong is entirely dishonest. If she isn't making enough she needs another job where she makes more.  I can't imagine any employer approving of what she's doing.

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Retailers only refund whatever the price was when the item was sold.  So a person cannot buy something on sale, wait for it to go back to regular price to return it & get the higher amount refunded.

[HonnyBrown]

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@151949 wrote:

I wanted to add - one of the things I did then was to go to the store manager and he/she would go around to  the racks and I would have a list from the store's corporate and we would check if the tags were properly marked. Some of the managers would offer me bribes like leather jackets or shoes or purses to lie on my reports, I guess they felt it was better to pay for an expensive item than lose their job.

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I haven't done that kind of shop, even though there are a few near me.  It sounds like a lot of work.

I hear there are a lot of bribes within the check cashing places.  I stay away from those also.

[occasionalrain]

Nothing wrong with what she is doing. She is paid to purchase and the item then becomes hers to do with as she pleases. She can trash it, give it away or return it, her choice.

[HonnyBrown]

Good point rain, thank you!

[WenGirl42]

I don't see why anyone would have a problem with this (provided that, as @chickenbutt said, the return wasn't costing the store money...meaning that they could re-sell the item). Your friend is being paid to evaluate her experience, not the items she's purchasing. Whether she keeps the item or not has nothing to do with her shopping experience. Sounds like a smart business decision to me.