The Shop Logs

Well, oh my. It has been a long time & OH how things have changed!
My son is now 17 mo.old & this alone should explain everything.

But, that wouldn’t make much for your blog reading, now would it?

I think what really brought me back into the game was a scheduler call I received over Christmas break. I have the same email since 1995 and have been receiving the same amount of annoying daily Mystery Shopping emails as the rest of you that have been shopping out there. I just delete them daily too (mostly). I have even taken some calls for rediculously low fee/high work gasoline store shops & the rest of the stinkers you folks aren’t snatching right up.

So it didn’t start out as anything unusual when I received a call to complete some cell phone shops (glad I update my phone numbers regularly too). I had told her no thank you and that I wasn’t really shopping anymore already when she finally had the chance to work into our conversation that she could give me $50 total - and she wanted three done the next day. “Pardon me? Well…” She reeled me in obvs.

The next day I was hitting the *rural* road and for a four hour trip & a shaking-the-rust-out-report-writing session I netted $150. I followed up with a nice thank you email. That type of work is appreciated around Christmas & when I had the time off from work anyway - fabulous!

Although I started out pretty rusty I regained my sea-legs fast enough. I checked the job board & noticed she had a few that she might not figure out were also within my range, for the right pay of course, and fired off an email the next day after my previous jobs were accepted. She tried to negotiate me down, but since I knew how desperate she was for those last three I couldn’t imagine who she was going to get to complete them - eventally I got my asking price & had an equally profittable day the following week!

It’s not a fish story, but I can tell you I am looking for the next big, juicy worm! I’m back Baby!!

Well, I have taken a first step back to shopping in my new home state. I guess you could question my thought process, shopping a chunk of my new shops for a company associated with the previous G3 mystery shopping company that left many shoppers unpaid, but what’s a little potential controversy between me and virtual strangers on a website/email? Well, it seems like a large project for them - so, here’s hoping!

It is a menu survey audit. I knew I’d be rusty & it would take me time to get back into my groove, but geesh, I over estimated my own ability I’d say.

The route was pretty easy to plan, because by now I know the major intersections (we’re talking FF places here, so they are easy to locate). Although I was caught a little off gaurd when three FF places within .2 miles of each other were all in three different towns. Apparently I Shop the Nexus of the Universe should be my new signature line. I did the 18 shops over 3 days and did remember how I LOVE the flexible scheduling you have when MSing. Although, I was bummed using a Prophet system, not being able to rescedule after the first time (something always comes up to change your route) and I had to email a scheduler. He was a little concerned the second time understandably, so in the future I’ll just do the shops ahead of time for them & then email saying they are done early - please move my due date up so I can enter the data.

We had a friend staying with us & I had intended to reschedule the audits, but, my AC went out in the house so we really needed an excuse to get out & about. Turns out it was a good thing to do because my eyesight has deteriorated drastically in the last year. He needed to read prices to me. We only did five (that was all I could stand being such a hack & really knowing better) and then I took to him the mall for the remaining shops, but he hardly noticed/minded those.

I picked up some good ideas & the rest of the audits this week have flown by! I have 10x binoculars (less than $20 at Wally World) in the car. I do the Play areas first on the two big chains & I can usually get a better shot of the hours for that place if I get out of the car. I take pics of the menu boards as I pull up to order, just asking for a minute to decide. At the end, on the way out, I take pics of the turned menus (breakfast if it is PM or Lunch if it is AM) instead of two trips, luckily that has worked on all of the places that offers two separate menus. I copy the prices at the Big Mac store, at the Whopper place I rely on the pics when I get home, at the Baconator place I copy the prices there. 10 minutes at the places I need to copy the menus and 5 (with a bout 15 at home looking at pics) of the take-a-pic-&-drive places.

All in all, I think I might be ready to jump back in! Selectively of course…….

It is true this was not a good MSing year for me. I have just enjoyed the first holiday this year were I was not remodeling, or interviewing for a job or moving - - - I almost forgot what it felt like to relax! As I reflect on this non-mystery shopping year for me I can say I am looking forward to more shops in 2007 and new ways to be involved in Mystery Shopping, preferably from the comfort of this seat in front of my computer, we’ll see about that in the months to come.

Instead of reviewing my personal (lack) of MSing fortune this year I decided to give you a peak at who else was reading the Shop Logs in 2006. (I LOVE the stats that 1&1 offers - check them out through their links on the bottom of the page)

In the upcoming New Year I hope to be just as much an online presence as an anonymous MSer in the field - either way I’ll be seeing you!

Alternate Title: My Battle Against Stupidity (Mine or hers - either one works here)

A scheduler for Kern has been trying to fill an assignment in one of my preferred towns. I was interested, but didn’t have enough scheduled over that way to pick up this roadhouse-style shop without some token incentive (after all, DH would accompany & I needed to make it look like I’m trying to make a profit).

The emails with “urgent” in the title started 12/13 from this scheduler. 12/19, 12/21, 12/26, 12/28, 12/29 saw emails sent out by the scheduler to shoppers that had previously completed the shop. When I replied to her on the 19th I asked for a bonus; all she was able to come up with was $5, don’t get me wrong I was specific and NOT out of the park on my request. When I replied on the 21st (after seeing her post it as ‘Urgent’ on Volition.com also) I said I could complete it for a bonus. So when I did not get a response to that I took it as she had found someone to do it, good for them. It is always the right price for ’someone,’ right? No … it was not filled apparantly. After Christmas she was still sending out emails to those who had previously completed the assignment. Well, you know I upped my bonus in my offer to complete it the 28th. This thing is not going to get done without some extra monetary effort lady! She was “not able to do that, but could give me $5″ I had already spent too much time on this - is she kidding? Her last email to ask me if I’d do it has me deciding if I should just email her back that she should have taken my first offer or fold my fingers politely in my lap …. (third option, type this to you readers).

Oh, did you fall for this too?
I open the email, because YES it’s my anniversary, but how large is this bonus? Maybe we could work something in on the way to our special time?

DEAR XXXXX,
Bonus offered-$2.00 for completing this assignment TODAY 10/16/06 or
TOMORROW *

We have a Mystery Shop at aandf location(s) in your area for Monday 10/16/06 or Tuesday 10/17/06. Please accept the assignment online and enter the report for this Bonus.
* Total payment for this shop is $10. (NORMAL PAYMENT IS $8.)

Huh, I would have padit hem NOT to send me notices of such ’special’ bonuses as it only raises my blood pressure.
Usually I respond with a counter offer, on the OFF chance . . . . . I am just tempted to mark them as SPAM right now.
Get real criny!

I received a call last year from someone interested in mystery shopping. That person found my information through this page. How flattering that someone would call me to find out about mystery shopping!
I was at first.

When she called last December I took nearly an hour talking to her about MSing. I told her I would post a lot of links that I would recommend to anyone interested in MSing on this site. I made sure to describe the tell-tale signs of MSing scams & to never pay. I offered her a discount on my online class in MSing and posted it here. Ahhh, the feel of Good Karma right before the winter holidays……
Well, she never visited my site, but that was okay because I did my good deed and if she didn’t follow up on it that was her decision.

She called again a few months ago when I was at the height of frenzy over a big household move. I found the time, another hour, to return her calls, twice, and told her I would again post information for her. Still she did not look at the post or follow-up on my offer of a discount in my class.

So when she called (marking the call urgent) this week wanting “to speak to you about your mystery shopping experience again, just to make sure this is on the up and up” I am just mad.
She had just signed up on Volition and “just enrolled in the program, and hopefully I will get response” - yeah, let Ray welcome her to wonderful world of MSing.
I’ve done my part.

At least I know she won’t read this.

I was looking up luxury car shops KSS is farming out and had the occasion to review my SASSIE Shop Log through Kern.

Total # of Shops: 36 Average Rating: 6 Last Shop Rating: 10

Average 6??? Did I forget to do some shops or what?
Turns out 24 of 36 had no rating. The others were 10s.
Shall we do the math?
24 zeroes and 12 tens; 120/36=3
I am stumped…
Kern, where the heck did my average rating of 6 come from?

I picked up some of those call & schedule shops for pet stores from Shop N Chek. I figure it is an easy way to get back into the Mystery Shopping groove.
Apparently you still have to be able to read a calendar to mystery shop. *the nerve, huh?*
Well, I was a day late on a call shop for them, actually knew I couldn’t do one on that date & logged in to cancel & cancelled the wrong one (a-duh), and therefore I expected to be a few dollars short of payment.
Guess what they sent me instead?
Well read on:

“Due to a special contractual agreement between Shop’n Chek and our Clients, we are occasionally able to accept for Quality Control review a small number of shops where the shopper did not shop during the assigned dates or hours.

Variance (email only): Did not shop during assigned date(s).

Normally your shop would be audited and then invalidated and you would not be paid for this shop because it was not done on a scheduled date or during the assigned times.

However, this shop is being forwarded to Quality Control for further review on the other aspects of the shop. In the future, any shop you conduct might be invalidated if you do not adhere to the guidelines. If you think you shopped on the correct date then please refer back to your Contractor Payment Invoice and e-mail HelpDesk@shopnchek.com for clarification.

It is very important to read your guidelines and CPI very carefully to ensure your shop will be valid. Many shops are invalidated every month because shoppers do not do them on the scheduled date.

Thank You

HelpDesk”

They were ….so……..helpful……intriguing.

One of the underasked questions indeed.
I learned today that my butt is the exactly correct size for mystery shopping.

While getting ready to introduce myself to the gas station clerk I made a quick pit stop. NOTHING in the ladies room looked fit to be touched, let alone set my purse upon. I took some paper towel and cleaned off the top of the back of the toilet.
*Did I mention this is a debrand picture shop?*and YES, my camera was in the purse*
When I assumed the position the toilet lurched forward into the soft floor the base was resting on and I would have been hurrled off the commode if it were not for the knowledge that the contents of my purse were spilling. I shoved myself as far back in the seat as possible and regained balance for the toilet and myself. I was able to reach behind my back and extract the camera that had not touched much. I left the pennies on the floor, but did pick up make-up containers and the like(only to later sanitize at home).

This shop was “just 10 miles down the highway” according to the scheduler that called me. Highway 22 miles, not counting the miles to find it, because it had debranded.

Not happy with the scheduler, furious at the toilet, but loving the size of my butt right now!

Ray posted on the 29th that the banner was on volition.
Not in the fourm, but on the rest of the site. I have refreshed for about twenty minutes & not see it yet, but………

That’s right, I not only found my mystery shops today, I completed them and have just entered them…..
Ohlala…I am back in the saddle again!!!

I have three shops scheduled for this week, my first week in a new city/state/region.
I passed ONE of the places, but can I get back to it? What a good question. I simply do not know.
We have also exhausted the majority of our funds on the move…..UHauls are a rape job, the gas alone my friends!
So I am left to wonder if my DH will appreciate my dragging him (and it has to be him since I literally know NO ONE else in the state) to have our fav southwestern eggrolls.
And of course, I have picked up two FedEx shops, just to get the lay of the land I guess - - - I have No Clue where they will end up.

I still think I would have made a great MSPA instructor, but the MSPA has found me wanting:

Thank you for your interest in the MSPA Gold Certification Workshop Instructor opportunity. We very much appreciate your time and effort to respond to us. We were absolutely amazed at the outstanding response from the Gold Certified shopper community. We received more than 100 letters of interest. All of the candidates had excellent qualifications, great experience and shared a passion for mystery shopping. The selection committee found it extremely difficult to narrow the list to just a few candidates to continue with the selection process. Your experience and interest were impressive, but we were able to find shoppers with more direct experience and qualifications for this very specific opportunity. We still have a long way to go in the process and will keep all of the letters of interest on file until the final candidate is selected. In the event we have further needs, we’ll contact you.

Thank you again. We are very appreciative of your interest and look forward to seeing you at an upcoming Shopper Convention or shopper workshop in the near future. Have a great summer!

Regards,

Rebecca

Rebecca Lascelles

Mystery Shopping Providers Association

12300 Ford Rd, Ste 135

Dallas, Texas 75234

972-406-1104

www.mysteryshop.org

I talked to a potential shopper back in December (Hi TJ!) and posted some information for her here soon after, see original post.
How about any tips from other shoppers out there? What information would you give a newbie?
Post a comment here for TJ and others!
Mystery Shopping Resources FAQs
Volition.com is a good resource also….before posting on Volition read these FAQs

I had to turn down one of my favs tonight…..Mystery Guests called about a restaurant shop in my soon-to-be-neighborhood. I told the scheduler I would gladly take anything in the second week of July, but she said they can only schedule 7 days out….too bad I got that call so soon!

I have officially closed the window on shopping in Michigan.
I just scheduled my first Georgia shop via A Closer Look……*sniff*…….it’s a turning point.
I started Mystery Shopping when my DH & I moved back to Mich. for him to start his business. I was looking for a way to still be a consumer, but save the cash because he was now self-employed. I have been shopping now for five years. I am still liking MSing, but now it holds a different interest for me; I am hoping it will familiarize me with my new surroundings.

See my recent post.
I sent in my application today……I am hoping for a call back.

INTERESTING thread over at the V really got me thinking……
Mystery Shoppers are Independant Contractors (ICs) and by definition are supposed to control the means of production (of the MS report) according to the IRS. The vast majority of Mystery Shopping Providers (MSPs) however, ask mystery shoppers to sign IC Agreements that specifically prohibit subcontracting. The pay structure per shop not only discourages my trying to farm out any shopping work, because of the lack of financial reward, but also benefits the MSP because by keeping me an IC they do not have to treat me as an employee. The MSPs really do control the means of production at this point and I wonder what the IRS thinks of this?

As an aside for Volition readers, someone mentioned the possibility that some rogue MSPA/scheduler/MSP owner posted this….are we kidding people……the high tone of those MSPA posts could not change that much in one year….would Ray really tolerate that subtrifuge anyway?

^sigh^
There are many things I normally tolerate, but sometimes they break through when I am not paying attention..
this is one of those times.

Focus on Service posted this on the V:

Title: “Mystery Shoppers for Longhorn Restaurant - GA, PA, OH, IN and NJ” (p.s. nice confidentiality, oh well..)
Content:"Focus On Service is in immediate need for Mystery Shoppers for Wooster, OH, Merriville, IN, Hamilton, NJ , Daphne, AL and Morgantown, WV Longhorn Steakhouse restaurants. There is a new Longhorn opening in Commerce, GA and shoppers are needed right away! We reimburse up to $40 per shop. You can sign up at www.focusonservice.com Wooster, Ohio needs shoppers immediately! You must go to www.focusonservice.com and sign up so we will have your information available when searching for shoppers!Please only email me if you have an important question, as your scheduler will contact you when ready. All locations need shoppers right away! Thank You and Happy Shopping! tiffanym@focusonservice.com”

It is also worth noting the obnoxious colors didn’t copy - pity.
I see that Pennsylvania = West Virginia? Alabama? Do they want that shop filled? Forget the casual spelling error we have a failure to know state acronyms or even read a map……..geez.

Mystery Shopping Providers Association, MSPA, has announced they are looking for a replacement for Cathy Stucker. The requirements are:

1 Must have experience as a shopper or currently be a shopper (this is a must!)
* Gold or Silver Certification a plus

2 Strong public speaking background – speaker or instructor experience

3 Available roughly two weekends per month (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

4 Must enjoy airplane travel and staying in hotels

5 Must be able lift carry on luggage and LCD projector in airplanes, taxis, etc.

6 Be flexible and have a good sense of humor

7 Register, attend and interview at the 2006 Shopper Convention in Chicago on July 7, 8 or 9, 2006 (at own expense)

8 Be willing to attend three Gold Certification Workshops in 2006 to train and work with Cathy (August, September and November)

9 If an active shopper, be in good standing with the MSPA and all member companies

10 Be willing to join the MSPA and attend all shopper and member conventions

11 Have an interest and be willing to work on curriculum, workbook materials, promotion and program to keep certification fresh and valuable for shoppers and members

12 Be extremely well organized – handle some hotel arrangements, billing for MSPA, coordinate other workshop details with MSPA staff, and follow up with shoppers and MSPA promptly after each workshop

I won’t lie, this sounds like something I would like to do…..luckily for my DH……. I don’t think the two Fridays per month would work with my new job. I think it’d be interesting if on the way to my new teaching job I have already accepted in GA I stop by C-town to interview for a job that may require me to miss a couple of Fridays here & there…… In all honesty I wonder what is happening Friday nights? Do any of you remember a Friday thing at the Gold Workshops?

Yes, I have noticed that I have all the issues from 2005 & none from 2006 posted.
No, it is not a tech. glitch; it is indicative of my life. DH has taken a job 800 miles south of here & I have seen him four times since the start of the year (coincidence? I think not….). I signed up to live with someone, not commute to a marriage, so life is hard these last many months.

So, in July I will relocate and you can expect newletters from Aug-Dec…..you can exhale now….. I know you have been on pins & needles.

I do have some nice ideas and plan on a new layout (along with reformatting this Wordpress - new templates, considering Canvas - any feedback woudl be appreciated!).

I would like to advertise a “Shopper of the Month,” sadly review the MSPA Conf I will be missing this summer, and continue blog excerpts of those that we shop, I’d like to get some media reviews in too, I am not sure what programs/spreadsheets yet - I can def. use more book reviews.

If you have other ideas that you would like to see, let me know before 8/1…..it’s nice to set a deadline again! hahahaha…

After voting/lobbying for a conference as close to me as Chicago will be I will miss it. As of now I live about four hours from the conference….
However, I will be moving to the Atlanta area the last week of June/first week of July. I will start my new job July 25th, or sooner.
It looks like I will not be making it…..

Can I vote f or the ATL area for next year yet?

More exactly when Mystery Shopping friends call, I feel so happy!
This is a crazy business where I feel Mystery Shoppingcompanies want to pit shoppers against each other for a competitive cost advantage.
Yet every once in awhile a friendship breaks through - thanks friends!

Based on a tip from Tara, courtesy her Damaged in Transit blog I think I may have either A) joined Pine Cone or B) signed up to be a drug mule - either way this Thank You window is the best news I’ve seen in awhile!

True, it is in my hometown, so I have to worry about potential bias… but how worried can they be when the are cussing about how MFing good their Gyros are?
This fella from the mitten state has also chronicled the idiocy of Arby’s, guess their food isn’t the only thing unusual anymore….cute pic!

Well, no my integrity isn’t for sale, but my Shop Logs might be:

Yeah….
Thanks…..

The headline is “catchy” on the page after you login, but…. behind “Rising Gas Prices” the real article is underwhelms….

Message Posted on Shopper Portal April 22, 2006

Rising Gas Prices

In an attempt to assist our Shoppers with better managing their mystery shopping assignments for Shop’n Chek during this period of increased gas costs, we are going to temporarily allow you to complete 4 shops per day. Please read the following guidelines very carefully:

I am thinking fee increase, you? And then… the favor they do us is to let us collect their pitiful wages en masse….wow….thanks.

I am pretty proud…a former student of mine emailed me this today:

…I completed my Silver Certification….it was very easy after the course….

:) Yeah, I was hoping that would be the case!

It happened on Volition the 7th and only a reviving post today brought it back to my embarassment…..

I am smooth……………..PRG must have been watching that like a hawk! Possibly insecure, but able to post I see.

Mystery Shopping Things I Wish (for):
1. That I hadn’t started changing my mailing address (for the July move) before receiving final payment from some MS companies. a-duh…
2. More neutral emails from Ray with question marks that really want an answer.
3. That BanConsulting was still Mystery Shopping.
4. That I knew who shopped Zoup!
5. The confidence/knowledge to pick a good digital recorder & actually buy it; I am a second guesser….
6. That I could see more current local or future GA shops, all I see is everywhere else!
7. That I was a PI.
8. I wouldn’t mind trying out the MS world as an editor.
9. Some schedulers weren’t so rude in emails to shoppers that have not pissed them off, … yet.
10. MS companies would spell check their writing; ain’t it always the ones that love to threaten to dedcut pay too? C’mon F7!
11. That intelligent people were the ones that answered phones or emails - at the MSPA - at MSPs - the agents I am trying to reach.
12. That all MSPs used uniform software/picture programs.
13. That ICs could make a living wage as a full time mustery shopper.

The scam site took my feeds down, thank you very much.
I see they still have Melanie Jordan’s Ask the Coach section up, but she is aware of it and I assume they have reached an agreement.

I must update you on the thoughts running through my head:
1. Must update WP Theme or die trying…
2. Need at least two more blogs up & running. I desire to talk about ploitics, but not on this page. And I might chronicle my move to The South; it would be historic since I believe they are moving to secede again soon. I do fancy this teacher one though….
3. My friend James must start blogging.
4. Am I a whore for taking money from Blogitive? (obvs. a sell out, but what about a whore?) - even more whorish, “tell ‘em penny at shoplogs dot com sent ya!”
5.I am addicted to BlogMad. Infact that is why I actually care now to -
a. update my old theme
b. put other blog(s) out there - I am getting peeved at some of the relig & political sites I am reading…..
c. am considering the art of tasteful linkage, layouts, etc. - - - clearly I will need professional intervention at some point on this one
6.I need a Thursday Thirteen!

If you are not reading this at
http://www.shoplogs.com/wordpress
it is stolen.
Response from admin@mystery-shopping-online.com on 4/10:

All you had to do is politely ask me to remove the content and I would have, simple as that.
I simply searched for some relevant RSS feeds and your one was the first one that came up so I included it as it was relevant to the site I was making.
You seem to have a God complex for some reason which is pretty sad, you don’t know me but have already labled me as some m.f thief…..hardly.
The script that I use does not allow one to “give credit” to the author as far as RSS feeds are concerned so there is nothing I can do about it.
I am actually going to post this in our support forum so other people can look at what a prat you really are.
Your feed will be deleted by the end of the week only because you have stated that I may not use your content, not because of the crap that you have posted on your feed lately, in fact feel free to add more as I find it rather amusing…..

The software/script does not allow this because you are stealing. You can copy & paste the old fashioned way - type in the credit, you can sign up for a personal feed otherwise you are stealing. If Terry knew this about the software/script why is it used? Shoudl I assume he contacted the others or is simply waiting to be discovered - there I go applying logic again.
No other fact, or opinion as most of this seems to be matters.

Look at the lower right box……doesn’t that remind you of anyone? Melanie Jordan perhaps?
Compare the posts on www.shoplogs.com/wordpress to the posts in the upper right corner…theiving jerks….they won’t remove it!

I am sorry to interrupt my normal blogging, but you need to read the responses I received from http://mystery-shopping-online.com/.
I sent them an email:

Your main index displays TWO instances of original content from MY blog.

Cease and desist immediately!

(many more were later found)

And admin@mystery-shopping-online.com responded:

If you don’t want your content on other peoples sites, don’t sydicate it!
And if you gonna be such a jackass about it instead of sending a polite email asking to remove the feed then you can get stuffed, I’ll remove it when I’m ready.

Terry.

p.s Thanks for the link

(I will be getting Terry a GPS Handheld for Christmas, so he can find his head & then remove it from his butt.)
Syndication is supposed to go to a reader, personal use. To repost it w/o the author’s knowledge is sneaky. If you have read this blog for content instead of just stealing it, you would not be surprised at the email sent, except to state that I am toning it down a little bit.

My Response? Why do you think I would respond to THAT? Of course you’re right, I did respond:

“You in fact may not use syndicated feeds in any way you like, unless the publisher gives you that permission in his terms of use.” Syndication does not equal you get to repost anything you want in an effort to turn a trick. Your site is copyrighted, so it appears you should understand this: You may not use my content on your site. Currently you are using my content and give no credit to the original author, indicating you are doing so maliciously.

Had you contacted me and had a site that contributed anything useful to the industry I might have let you repost. It is not on me to find the people stealing form me - you - & politely request anything - - those are my words, not yours.

There, let the blog-scraping MFers repost THAT on their SCAMsite!
Another scraper - the bastards!

As I continue on my search for the Pinecone Research (pardon the keyword tourettes here) online survey, free stuff, get paid advertisement banner I think I should catch all readers up on what this quest is about…..

This is Pinecone Research.

Looks normal enough, doesn’t it? Rather ingenious of them. This my friends is the ultimate test of one’s character, can you find the Pinecone Research banner advertisement? There are many out there looking for it…. check it out on 43 Things…. but only the chosen will be blessed by joining the holy blood line of Pinecone.

Okay, this is as far as I can go with the mysticism…… I am going to be practical about this, buy some commerical folding tables, spread out all the clues and give my best shot!
The Clues:
1. From their website, on joining the club
2. Many advertisers use the phrase “Pinecone” in their advertisements for other survey companies, don’t be fooled, look at the URL beneath the ad…..if not pineconeresearch.com, it is not real.

Well, I finally read The DaVinci Code (read: I am so cheap I waited for the paperback), I always knew The Church was hiding something!

I have now made it my personal quest to find the Holy Grail of Surveys, The Pinecone Research Google Banner……………..I have seen ‘pictures’ of it on sites like this, but never live.

As Langdon says, ‘it finds you, you don’t find it,’ I have decided to bait it with my blog…. I will continue to use the key words of: offers, Pinecone, Research, get paid cash, and Tom Hanks - lest I forget the gravity of the inspirational character who has modelled a perfect search.

VP of MSPA & Howard Servies Pres. Tom Mills

“Mills, a former manager for Staples Inc., and his partner operate their businesses out of the basement of a nondescript commercial building in Franklin, not far from the Dean College campus.” Hardly a glam sounding job - ease up Scripps!

Service Sleuths’ shoppers average about two or three reviews a month, with the best doing as many as 20. They’re paid about $20 per review, although some get more, and are reimbursed for some expenses.

“You can get burned out” from doing too many reviews, Mills said.

The best shoppers, the ones who go unnoticed by clerks and can write descriptively about what happened while they were in the store, can get reward assignments, such as trips to review Caribbean casinos.

The mediocre shoppers get “deactivated,” Mills said.

“We don’t have the time to teach people not to do some commonsense things,” he said, like taking notes inside a store or pelting waiters with questions. “It’s just not worth it to have us make you a better mystery shopper.”

People don’t get rich being a mystery shopper, he said.

“Getting into mystery shopping because you’re going to get free stuff, that’s just not going to happen,” Mills said. “We know we have a lot of things that aren’t exciting to do. People don’t want to go to the hardware store.”

The job, he said, is good for retirees, mothers looking to supplement the household budget and some professionals.

In my scurry to reacquaint myself with all things MS - I need to point out some changes:

Melanie Jordan, not to be confused with J-Lo, is back at it again, posting last Tuesday in her “Ask the Coach” blog - I missed it! I love her Q & A format…

Deva Doll, my fav. scheduler/shopper to read about, has changed URLs. Please update: http://www.devadoll.com/

Are those Flower Delivery shops still given out by zip? I am interested in a mothers day giftsto the mom in anticipation of the mother of all guilty trip days…..

Well, one thing I did not sink to doing was a shop on my mini-vacay…..I was in GA, near the $90 resort shop & didn’t accept it…..of course I didn’t tell DH that I was interested, he would have stopped me for certain! win-win!

So, the “LOW” - Cheap Overwork/undeRprIced gas station shops I took, and my friends I reached a new low….. I had always wondered how it would feel to take a shop & do a half-ass job, and I found out that no one noticed! I received (random - have they always sent this out?) feedback on the shops and received 5/5 just proving they WERE expecting the kind of work they were PAYING FOR! Huh, who knew? One cashier chatted me up & I forgot to get her name, intead of going back, I just wrote on the report, “forgot name.” 5/5! Huh….

These shops were within 5 miles of the ole homestead, so no harm to the pocketbook, but I didn’t take a chance by returning to finalize and faCts I may have fORgotten….. I did not give them much effort at all & I guess that is what they accept/expect….. the level of quality you buy with that pitiful amount of money….really, huh….and all this time…..

This is a customer service retail shop in which you will visit…..service station/convenience store, observe the overall cleanliness and customer service, make a small purchase, and then complete an online evaluation …. You are also REQUIRED to make a gas purchase, and a small merchandise purchase within the store. You will be reimbursed up to $2 (total) for both purchases after you have provided us with a receipt. You will then objectively complete an online evaluation form ….
As you arrive at your assigned …location, you must circle the lot to observe the signage, driveway/ parking areas, and landscaping. Look for potholes, trash/litter, and safety issues . As you circle the lot/islands, pick a specific gas pump/dispenser to observe (preferably one that is especially dirty). Pull up to the pump and get out of your vehicle to wash your windshield (preferred) or to throw away some trash. You should also put gas in your vehicle at this time so that you can pay for it inside (when you make your in-store purchase). Pay particular attention to the island and curbs, the pumps and nozzles, customer supplies, and the trash receptacles at the island. Focus specifically on this island and pump - use this opportunity to create a sort of “snapshot” of the island, dispenser, etc. It is extremely important for you to be discreet as you observe your surroundings - you must not give away your identity as a Mystery Shopper!It is REQUIRED that you supply the name of the associate/salesperson who assisted you during your shop. If you can not provide a name you MUST provide a description. Without a name or a description you WILL NOT be paid for your shop. You MUST obtain a receipt. If one is not provided, you MUST ask for one. We WILL NOT reimburse you for your purchase without a receipt and your report WILL NOT be accepted without a purchase being made. You MUST complete your shop during the assigned location’s hours of operation.
Please note that normal hours of operation are from 6 AM to 10 PM, but hours will vary from location to location. Remember: When you drive into the shop location, first circle the entire facility before pulling up to a pump, so that you may observe the forecourt of the entire facility without being noticed.
You are required to submit two photos taken during your visit; one photo of the restroom and one photo of a …pump. You should take at least two pictures of each subject so that you may select the best photo to send to us. Poor quality photos will NOT be accepted. In order to maintain your anonymity, you must conduct the entire evaluation prior to taking exterior photos - you should photograph the … pump as the very last step of your shop. You will need to take your camera into the store so that you may photograph the restroom. Make sure that you have a place to hide the camera on your person so that you are not seen taking it into the store and/or the restroom. Also make sure that you DO NOT include any customers or employees in your photos without their written permission.

Contestants please remember not to take employees into the restroom with you - it would be a dead giveaway when they see you take the camera out & take a picture.
Contestants: Please name the price of the FEE and the Reimbursement as soon as you pick yourself up off the floor!

Wow, only two weeks since my last post….(I feel like I shoudl apologize….to my ONE reader?!?)

I am immersed in the thesis that I need to make the salary I will receive down south just above the considered slavery wage….I have only put it off for three years, so I should e able to whip it out without major cardiovascular trama, right?

Along the theme of procrstination that I have going here, guess what I forgot about? Some shops….ooops! I knew there was a reason I wasn’t taking any! I am recently a new member of the Idiot’s Club & we can’t be bothered to keep track of our own obligations, so, there you are…..how silly of Mintel to expect me to remember my own appointments! Well, they realized their error and sent me an extention on my assignments. Well, ahem, yes, that’s more like it, isn’t it? (Ever felt embarrassed in a dark room by yourself? That’s how it felt!)

Maybe by July I will have my spreadsheet up for 2006, but don’t place any bets on it yet folks! I will be gettign used to my news house, region and trying not to get an accent!

Sorry to disappoint, no alien abductions, but maybe I will still serve to amuse you.

I have completed less than a dozen mystery shops so far this year.
The reasons include:
DH taking another job in GA - and I live in MI.
(I do have some mental backlog that includes a MSP not knowing that “MI” is Michigan, not Massachusetts)
I want to get my thesis (paper for Masters Degree) done now, suddenly after three years of time.
I have started looking for jobs down there - interviewing, mailing/emailing, (harassing) and whatnot.
(Really I had to go down because he bought a house & I was insane to see it)

I have missed a crazy amount of stuff including some huge news from fellow MI MSers.
I’ve got to get back in the saddle, as Steven would say (of course Steven Tyler).

At least I have not been gone as long as Melanie Jordan.

Although I am not accepting many assignments, I check out the GA listings now even more closely than the MI (not Massachusetts) listsings!

Well, I actually did receive my payment today. Good, full amount & all. Get a load of this though:

“We do want to point out that several penalties have been put in place that we clearly outlined during February shopping. Shoppers that did not submit their shop reports before midnight on same day of the shop to meet our “real time” reporting contract with client were not paid. In addition, shoppers that failed to answer questions correctly on the survey as well as delay in returning their phone units were also penalized $10.

Please keep these penalties in mind when reviewing your payments. If you received an email from one of our editors about information lacking in your reports, information being inaccurate in your reports, or the fact that your report was not submitted on same day as the shop, you will see a penalty in place. We have all of these restrictions and rules outlined on the first page of the guidelines in big red letters. They are also on the survey itself and we sent out 6 mass emails to all shoppers on this project regarding our requirements for payment. “

I must say that I can respect payment deductions for tardiness. However, the first paragraph seems to say you had to BOTH delay AND leave out information. The second paragraph goes on to say that if you did any one of the items that resulted in an editor email there IS a deduction. (must I comment on their consistant inconsistancy?) Okay, well at least I was paid the full amount - that smarty-pants email must have made some point.

“We have all of these restrictions and rules outlined on the first page of the guidelines in big red letters.” Um, yes, and red marker scribbles on the top of the sticker - - so professional. Almost as professional as an “I-told-you-so” email with (non)payment.

Allegedly I have been paid!

Well, I did it… I cancelled a shop! Five years of knowing this is the worst thing I could ever do & I did it!
I just had the worst weekend since Christmas, and DH and I just made plans to meet somewhere this weekend. So. To heck with them (read:ShopNChek), I cancelled.

*holding my breath*

Has the world ended yet?

My first cancellation & it couldn’t happen to a better (meaning worse) company.

Lorri Kern posted on Voltion:

“We’ve hired and EA (enrolled agent of the IRS) to do a session on Independent Contractor Taxes.. and he’s AWESOME!

We’ve added an “editor’s panel” to our Sunday panel line up.. Now we’ll have a “technology” panel, an “owners” panel, a “scheduler’s” panel and an “editor’s” panel featuring multiple people from multiple MSPA member companies.. all in a Q & A format where you can ask what you MOST want to know and never had the chance to ask before! These panels will last from 8:30 am til 1 pm on Sunday.. with one break.. so TONS of time to get your most wanted questions answered!

CLIENTS! You asked for it.. you got it.. we are working on having several clients present on Saturday… by Clients.. I mean END USERS.. the people who eventually get your reports! What do they use your reports for? What do they most want to hear? What do they like or dislike? While no contracts are in place yet, at least 4 end user clients have expressed interest in appearing and talking to YOU, the shoppers about how much your reports make a difference in their operations!

And there’s a lot more.. we are working on many other very interesting and NEW topics for attendees at the 2006 Educational Conference for Shoppers. Register now for early bird rates.. we can’t wait to see you there!

http://www.mysteryshop.org/events/shopperconference.php“

This is sounding great!
I will have to sign upMonday or Tuesday…….an editor’s panel - CLIENT panel! I wonder which companies will be asked to attend? Maybe Kern has talked to her clients? I wonder…

I am doing these cell shops again for the instruction nazis, these people need an editor to proof directions before sending them out into the world….
I read the directions and (having done these shops before) do know where to find the tag #.
You look at it:

(P.S. this is a crappy pic & paint edit, but I got an email from the co. right before I sent the equipment back & should never take pics angry again.)

What does the red marker print mean to you?

Well to me it was a lame attempt at highlighting, to the MSP it means “N, ” now had I been told via any method to look for the letter in red I would have seen this as an N. They didn’t mention it & I didn’t give it a second thought.
My review comes back this AM:

Your evaluation of N S AND R for Corporate Risk Solutions has been reviewed.

Comments : Shopper-
You failed to put the tag number in correctly. The Letter S or N followed directly by the number.

I got an 8/10 because they are unable to reprint a tag, but have no problem insisting that I reprint 20+ pages of ‘new’ directions (not really new). The Shop Log still shows I will receive $95, for the time being. Now, one thing I know about this company is they will try and weasel the fee from me. Bastards! I am mad thinking about having to go through this whole thing with them AGAIN!!!!!

Like a true smart a$$ I reply:

“There is a red marker scribble over the “#” sign.
Am I to assume that is an “N?”

I did not read anything to indicate the red marker scribble was anything but a scribble.”

This one is clearly their lack of mastery of the English language and here I sit predicting they will try to deduct $10 from my fee! *fuming*
I love how I have to print a billion pages of instructions because they have changed procedures, but they can’t reprint these stupid tags - - - instead some idiot is running around high off the fumes from this RED MARKER & they are the ones who decide if I will be paid or not…yeah…in love with this MSP all over again!!!

I was eating at the bar alone last night, don’t ask you don’t want to know, and I got carded.
The lady, with a boyfirend/husband on the adjoining side of the bar drunkenly kids with the bartender, “Hey, No Fair!” He carded me, but not her. (This bartender knows the lone woman is not as likely to get drunk, at least not THIS lone woman, it is a butter-ya-up move, c’mon lady!)

After they had left, and one of them was drunk so the tip was significant, he brought me ketchup for my fries and we talked about the incident. He mentioned that was awkward & it was awkward. I said how it must be rough telling some people’s ages. He concurred and offered that “there are these shoppers, not from the liquor board, but some place the restaurant hires, that send in 19 year olds to see if we ID everyone.” I gasped and said “Really?” I was one beer in and hadn’t planned on doing a shop, but I probed…. He added that they must find the “hardest looking 19 year-olds” or the “youngest people of age.” I encouraged the conversation as only a half in the bottle mystery shopper can do and found out that one shopper was in there with his ‘parents’ “and both the parents vouched for him that he was in college and 21.”

1. This is tricky. I hope no MS company promotes this scenario.
2. I volunteered that next time he could offer to cut the child in half and count his rings - surely true parents would object….ala King Solomon! (might have been drunk by this point)
3. I realized I was talking to a bartender that had been stung by this little MS operation - - - NOT a fan I guess!

P.S. 4. I was buttered up - I tipped over 20%

I hit my bookmark for Amazon & was at first confused, had I selected Cathy’s blog page instead?
No
This is Amazon.com’s version of a blog, a PLOG by authors of books they sell. It is based on your order history and gives you more information on the author and links to more of their work you may want to purchase. Here is what accompanied a picture of Cathy upon my opening my Amazon page:

Monday, January 9, 2006
Cathy Stucker
Why a Book About Mystery Shopping?
3:36 PM PST, January 9, 2006 • Received because you purchased Mystery Shopper’s Manual, 6th Edition.

In 1995, I wanted to become a mystery shopper but had no idea how to get started. When I looked for information, I found nothing. Well, I am pretty good at research so I spent a lot of time contacting companies, following up on leads and talking to people who could help me.

The Mystery Shopper’s Manual is the book I was looking for when I wanted information about mystery shopping. The current (6th) edition is much different than the book I wrote back in 1995 because the industry has changed a lot. The Internet has changed how shoppers are recruited and how shop reports are completed.

Some of the information about the conference is starting to materialize.
Saturday morning I will be considering my self image and sit in on a magic show…..you may remember one of my suggestions was to cut the “feel good” general speakers & cut to the chase, so I am geeked to see these two yahoos.
The schedule for the conference does not look like it will be posted to the general public, “The Conference Proceedings (distributed to Conference Registrants only) .” Read the post on Volition after Anaheim for the direct afterglow post conference last year. Although based on the MSPAs follow-up questionairre to certified shoppers I would anticipate a different set of sessions than the previous two, but without any information to the contrary I am certain some will hesitate to part with their had shopped for cash. Kern proclaimed 2/15 the date she would post the program - may that will convince the rest of the MS world.

Or at least the smoke of work.

The last two times I have received equipmentfrom Corp.Risk Solutions I am risking my respiratory health if I inhale while I open the FedEx.

Since they stiffed me on the now infamous bonus(only read if you want to be angry), I wonder if I have a case for OSHA?

I have these crazy visions of what must be going on down there where they are packaging the FedExs for delivery…….luckily I can share my vision with you….. That guy in the middle with the red eyes has packed my last two packages. If you look closely you can see he is calling for another cig. to exhale into my package before sealing it. Now that’s a work ethic.

Well, turns out the mystery shops that are making me an overnight millionaire are taking up some extra time.

Chorus: “Suprise, Suprise”

I submitted the resceipts only to log on again (a fluke) shortly after and see the receipts “needed submission.”
I had already submitted them, but put it down to CoRI ignorance.

Chorus: “Suprise, Suprise”

I resubmitted without comment to CoRI, because did they suddenly start to care now?
Of course not, I blogged the “proof” that they were sub-creatures to me, called ‘em “crackheads” and resubmitted. Smooth move……

Well, I had submitted sub-par pics.

(Chorus: “Suprise, Suprise")

When I actually could click on the link “View Submitted Receipt” and saw the extent of the horror (I mentally noted to switch my pic software back from whatever I downloaded recently) I got it, but was still peeved that they couldn’t have told me the first time my pics were the problem, instead of asking me to upload the same crappola.

So I fired off (Chorus: “Suprise, Suprise”) this:

“Jobs @#$^%^, @#$^%% and @#$^%$ will have updated receipts by the end of business FRIDAY. It would have been more efficient to tell me the receipt quality was the reason they were not showed as submitted instead of letting me resubmit the same receipt.”

To which I received a NICE reply (Chorus: “Suprise, Suprise"):

“Hello Penny,

I agree it would be very helpful to know exactly what the problem is when submitting a report. Even as a scheduler, we have to search to find why a shop has been rejected. With (Co. Name Omitted) being a new client there are a lot of bugs that need to be worked out of the system. Please be patient with us. We are as they say “learning something new everyday”. Eventually things will run much smoother. Thank you for you help with this matter.

Have a good day!

Carrie Kern

Scheduling

Corporate Research International

130 E. Sandusky St.

Findlay, Ohio 45840

ckern@mysteryshops.com

www.mysteryshops.com”

Well, ahem, yes, that’s, well, err…..right then……
I am at a loss for words.

Slate Magazine is asking if CBS can pay Richard Hatch’s taxes, but I am asking who can do my shops while I collect the checks…
Because, really, it’s about that stupid to expect!

I am not sure if I am the crackhead or the company in this case.
Gosh I knew better than to shop for CoRI, but the new year and all, I guess I just thought they might have changed. Well, that delirium has subsided.

I shopped a stupid series of the cheap gas station shops for them - man they were right in my neck fo the woods - I couldn’t resist.
The entry was relatively painless, once I got past the ‘you’re-giving-us-too-much-information message’, and I KNOW I entered the receipts because you can’t get into the report without the receipts being uploaded first, the two pics are at the end.

Well they were missing two out of three I did on one day and one out of two I did on another day.

Shall we pause for a moment and stroke our chins? Dare I apply *logic* (uh oh, there goes another quarter to CoRI’s swear jar) to this situation? Be warned, I did just finish watching Erin Brockovich on TBS.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that I hacked into CoRI’s report page cleverly bypassing the uploading of the receipts. How smart of me, I will just provide them the information for free. Does it ring true that I would enter only some of the day’s shops correctly and not the others? It isn’t like I sat down and complete my data entry in one setting is it?

Is this the lone crackhead theory? Possibly - more like the crackhead company conspiracy, or is it so true I just blew your mind?

See Also V Thread

I am updating links to and from my blog.

I am sad to report Sharri Shopper is officially blog-dead to me. She has not posted in a full year and(*sniff, sniff*) I think I have to let her go now. Tall Poppies is in ICU at this point….

I have found a couple more prolific bloggers to take her place though and I have great expectations for them in the coming year.
1. SYI - Mystery Shopping. I love the Watch List and grade reports on shopping companies.
2. Mystery Shopping Podcast - wanted to do it, but Rhonda beat me to the punch and she does a nice job. She seems to be producing these at regular intervals; yeah, keep it up Rhonda! She released podcast #2 on the 16th, check it out.

These are the things that drive me nuts!
I received an email from Ray at Volition:

“Please stay on topic.”

1. Which topic?
2. I can’t remember going off topic (I do that, but usually remember what the whole thing was about…)
3. If I want to know I have to go through my recent posts (not as many recently because of these randomly dished generalizations) and if I am lucky he simply editted something he did not like, but more than likely, he deleted it.
4. I am never going to know - am I?

Self Doubt aside I did find it, only slightly modified, but I still am left wondering how these modifications make the statement more on point:
The post as it is now:

quote:
——————————————————————————–
Originally posted by RonD

The company I work for just renewed its Mystery Shopping program. The competition to get our business was fierce (and we have less than 400 locations nationwide). Mystery Shop providers were bidding up to 50% less than our previous contract.
——————————————————————————–

With information like this we have no right to be surprised that our fees get lower and lower. If the MSPA only allows companies that have been established for two years to join they aren’t able to exert any influence on the (newer) companies that would underbid by that amount to establish themselves.

I doubt shoppers are the ones they need to be educating and trying to pin down with certifications; sounds like the fledgling MSPs are the ones running the fees into the grounds.

Now this is under the topic of Businesses Stopping their MSing Programs.
The mods make my stastement shorter and more well written (a thank you as always to editprs everywhere).
I quote someone talking about how their business negotiations for a new program went and then I say if the MSPA wants to control that underbidding (and indirectly our lowering fees) they could open up membership restriction a bit more.

Is that inciting a riot? Got me.
Did I use too many characters in original statement making my post automatically off topic? Dunno.
Could he be talking about another post entirely? Absolutely.
Will I ever know? Absolutely not.

ICU emailed me that they have shops available in my area.
I log on and see a shop that Yahoo tells me is: “Distance: 75.2 miles Approximate Travel Time: 1 hour 19 mins ” - ONE WAY.

I might suggest ICU Associates either has a problem understand the, apparently, fluid phrase “in your (my) area” or some modification needs to occur on their Prophet site. I would not mind seeing other shops that are already scheduled for instance.

I remember that when this MSP first started up there was quite a thread of uncertainty on the V about payment. Ray Sola, from Volition, reported that Marc MacGillivray told him, that LP Innovations (LPI) purchased ICU Associates.

I have an ongoing issue with at least one splog (spam+blog) that I know scrapes my site(cough*bastards*cough).
I was researching PPC (Pay Per Click) schemes and started learning about click fraud, an underlying issue that tempts some to scrape to increase traffic. If you run Ads by Google you may want to do some research about click fraud, especially if you have an AdWord campaign through Google!
Wired Magazine always have concise stories about such techy things.

I found this blog while reading MSR. It is called, “Supplement Your Income - Mystery Shopping.”
SYI - MS offers a Watch List, love this idea, interested in the data source. The Reviewer offers generalizations about companies, tendancies (such as late pays, etc.).
SYI - MS also offers reviews of the company with specifics such as:

Number of jobs/clients
Types of Jobs
Rate of Pay
Speed/Method od Payment
If bonuses are offered

This is one to watch…….
http://extracashblog.blogspot.com/

See the IRS for more:

“WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2006 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

44.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations, other than activities related to Hurricane Katrina relief.
The new rate for business miles compares to a rate of 40.5 cents per mile for the first eight months of 2005. In September, the IRS made a special one-time adjustment for the last four months of 2005, raising the rate for business miles to 48.5 cents per mile in response to a sharp increase in gas prices, which topped $3 a gallon.’”

When I changed the mileage from last year to this year’s I took a $300 hit in my overall profit - yikes! I can’t say the New Year has brought any dramatically increasing shop fees yet. Using the new mileage I started off my new year with soma fairly simple local gas shops that only (barely)put gas in my tank when all was said and done.
Here is my earning chart, including the entire 2005 shopping year:

As you can see I track earnings as paid, not as made. I had a mad dash before the Holidays and now expect the cash flow to drop off. I use this to look back (boy was 2005 rocky!) and make estimates of what my monthly income will be based on the mean of the past two or three years. I am finally collecting enough data to help me predict my income. Based on previous years I will not pick up the pace again until June.

Blog of a first time shopper….

His excuse made me giggle, but his cover sure is blown there…. I can’t remember if that shop is the orange place or the blue place. I didn’t even have to use the word penis, I pretty much took it out of the rotation on my own. After the first time I used up that much of my life just sitting in the parking lot waiting to return I had that shop on the DNR (Do Not Revisit) list.

I fear he may not make it as:
“Pet Peaves:
…
Grammer Nazis”
(if you don’t get this please email me)

Yep, I was pulled back in with the lure of “just up the road.”
It really was just up the road, but I am also an idiot and forgot the intensive effort required for this company to barely compensate a shopper…..funny my college degrees looked SO CONVINCING…..I was just starting to feel clever.

Allow me to do the math:

Lured in by the shoe shop, but actually did the math before I started dreaming of new shoes.
Got tricked into the entire stew when I saw my zip code……. I’ll give ‘em that time for free.

Cool I am able to load to my cart without taking one of their stupid training courses, get excited take four total, none more than 3 miles from home. 4 minutes

“Oh, I see that I do need to take the training after all… well for $7 and $2 reimb. how much could their be?”
(when will someone give my inner voice her proper meds?)
There are 79 pages to the training slide show - OMG - I am NOT kidding - I wish I was!
I get through 29 and then cut straight to the test, 7 questions…. 15 minutes

Whatever…I am on the road….check the camera….holy poop…..stop at the drug store, $17.99 for the batteries. I know the holidays did this to the camera, so I am not counting it against the shop, but I was tempted to once I wrote it here.
*free*

At the gas station, pumping (freezing), taking pics of the restroom, etc. 12 minutes

Report time ten minutes, coming to grips with the message “text entered too long…” repeatedly and often… two minutes

Total
43 minutes that’s right for $7 and $2 reimbursement….who’s the marter now, b!tch?
The concurrent shops will not include:
Scheduling time - 4
Training time - 15
“text entered too long…” time -2
and the next three shops will take 22 minutes……must I figure out my hourly wage for you?

Lorri Kern said on this thread at Volition:

“Actually, the program is in the works right now and I’m very excited about it. The MSPA has given me a larger speaker budget to get even better presenters and we sent out a survey to all Silver and Gold shoppers back in September and got TONS of feedback on topics that you all want to learn more about, so I am hoping the content will be beneficial to EVERYONE, even shoppers that have attended the last two conferences.

While the format will be the same (general and breakout session), I think the sessions will be on different topics. I"ve already been talking to speakers and I can’t wait to get the program nailed down. My “goal” deadline is Feb 15.. don’t hold me to it, but I’m hoping to post an entire program with speakers, topics and schedules by then.

Also, “early bird” registration will open on January 17th at a very reduced rate.. so keep watching for more details. I can’t wait to see you all there!”

I wonder what the program will be? I am excited and keeping my fingers crossed for an editor’s panel! (pretty please Lorri)

When the larger budget for speakers came up all I could think is…”no motivational speakers, no motivational speakers…” We’ll see.

As for “a very reduced rate,” well I am on pins and needles. It must be pretty cheap - anyone thinking about attending should reserve EARLY. Not just because of NASCAR (good thinking to have early registration before the NASCAR season starts by the way MSPA), but because the second conference was a bit of a disappointment, I imagine the MSPA would just as soon see this sell out! They’ll have great PR after this one- “sorry, due to popular demand….” not to mention to kill the taste of the second conference to the groupie shoppers who were dissapointed to get the same presentation as the year before.

Posted to Volition (see thread)

Happy New Year!

As always, at ServiceCheck, we very much appreciate the hard work of every mystery shopper, and we do our very best to keep you informed, provide assistance, and help you shop.

Many shoppers have made great use of the wonderful list of MS companies that Ray Sola, Volition.com’s administrator, has provided on this website. Many web-surfers-turned-mystery-shoppers sign up with 2, 3, 4, or in some cases, 20+ mystery shopping companies for many reasons. For some shoppers, you want to pick up some extra cash to supplement your income. Other shoppers enjoy the occasional shop for fun. A distinct few have achieved SuperShopper status, seemingly shopping, and miraculously, not dropping!

As a mystery shopper, especially those Super-Shoppers out there, you are probably used to filling out contact forms with your name, email address, home address, phone numbers, etc. Many of you are aware that the IRS requests, in some cases, that you report all of your income derived from mystery shopping. Some MS companies even request your Social Security Number or Taxpayer ID number to assist with this process.

It is important to note that due to the nature of the industry in which we are all involved, both shoppers and companies have the potential to be defrauded, abused, and our information stolen.

On the MS company end, schedulers and executives work very hard to protect the integrity of each mystery shop completed. Companies put lots of effort into selecting good shoppers, training others, and coaching many more to achieve this level of integrity. Shoppers take exams companies provide to them in an effort to secure shops. Still many more cross-reference all of the information received to make sure that data is accurate.

As a shopper, your willingness to give out some of your sensitive information makes you a prime candidate for identity theft, fraud, and many other ’shady’ schemes.

Here are some simple ways to protect yourself against identity theft, fraud, and fake mystery shopping companies:

1. Know your MS company!
Mystery Shop.org is the Mystery Shopping Provider Association. Member companies of the MSPA adhere to a strict set of ethics. If there’s a company you’re not sure about, feel free to see if that shopping company is registered with them.

NCPMS, the National Center for Professional Mystery Shoppers is also a good resource to learn more about mystery shopping companies.

If a company is NOT listed, they may still be legitimate. Give that company a phone call and ask for more information about them. If they’re legitimate, they won’t mind a polite inquiry.

2. Give your information on an as-needed basis.
If you don’t feel comfortable giving a company your social security number, and you’re not sure they even really need it, don’t give them your social security number! If they give you a hard time about it, or refuse to make arrangements for you, just walk away. If it doesn’t seem right to you, or you think they don’t need it, or if you’re just not interested in taking the risk, don’t risk it!

It’s not worth it to give a fake social security number either. There are several negative outcomes from doing this.

If someone asks for your Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification number for tax reasons, feel free to ask a CPA, tax-preparer, or visit the IRS website at www.IRS.gov. You’ll find the right, accurate, information there.

3. Keep a paper trail, and KEEP YOUR EMAILS
We’re in the digital era, so you can make a CD, or save files on your computer, or simply print out all of the information on each MS Company that has received your information. Though often times, this info will not be used, keep it anyway. You never know what might happen in the future.

If you’re concerned about eating up space on your own computer, get a free Gmail.com account that comes with 2.6 GIGABYTES of storage space. That way, you’ll never delete those important emails. Or emails that can come in handy if you think you may have given your info away to an illegitimate shopping company or person.

4. Get a PayPal account!
Some shopping companies pay with PayPal. This is a more secure method of sending and receiving money via the Internet. The website is www.PayPal.com . You can find more info there on how PayPal works.

5. Get a Taxpayer Identification Number
Some shoppers already run small businesses and choose to use their Taxpayer Identification Number, rather than the Social Security Number, to do their mystery shopping taxes and accounting. This is a good idea. Please check out the IRS website at http://www.IRS.gov to learn more about how this can help you as an independently contracted shopper. For even more info, see your tax professional.

If you have other tips to share with shoppers, please feel free to list them in a reply to this post. Many shoppers have excellent suggestions and tips to share!

Thanks again for your time, and I wish each of you a wonderful year in 2006. At ServiceCheck, we build businesses and develop our shoppers, one cheerful contact at a time!

Kim G., Director of New Business Development
ServiceCheck Inc.
www.ServiceCheck Report.com
www.ServiceCheck.com

I used to do this “Type of Shop: Bar/Dine Combo ” with my sis in law, she was the younger shopper & I was … not.

When we used to do it we did the bar & dining in the same visit, that is still the same. The bar was Drink for her(drink for me) appetizer for us, but the dining was the full on deal: entrees for both of us, dessert to share, she drank at at the table too, but I made away with my share of calories. No, I did not like the reveal parts, especially when they did not identify her appropriately, but it was a decent meal…

Now the shop consists of Friday/Saturday nights only[pretending I have something better to do], now I (the less younger of the two) can have a drink in the dining room with her it will probably go straight to my head because the appetizer from the bar is at the table and there is no dessert.

Plus, where I used to get reimbursed for the bar bill I now have to pay for it myself! Dining room still comped, but Geez - way to cheapen up NSG! Gotta wonder how much less the customer pays when I am picking up more of the tab, creating a smaller bill to be comped….I am sure NSG charges them less for such shops…eyeroll…

Hey, I have been aspiring to make a podcast on this for awhile…
This one is instructional, but I would like to make one of a shop - actual or simulated.
MS PODCAST
Check it out & leave your opinion.

This continues to be an extremely profitable industry for MSPs because of your willingness to work at below minimum wage, your mania in accepting assignments if any scheduler calls & asks you (you know that virtual stranger on the other end of the phone, right after you cussed out a telemarketer ,but right before you told your local fire department representative no), and most importantly because you kindly allow MSPs to pay you long after you complete work .
Since you allow MSPs to pay you for your work at an average of 37.3 days after completing assignments (ignoring a pilar of economics - “money today is worth more than money tomorrow") you allow the MSPs to employ many more workers than they can ‘officially’ pay, creating more work for shoppers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I have been advised/scolded/whatever….guess I don’t have my web images set up correctly.
I am working on rearranging them so I will have fewer issues up loading pics in the future…

I run an E-class on Mystery Shopping through UniversalClass.com. My current fee will be increasing in 2006. I wanted to post some information about the change as I know many students & former students read the blog.

My current rate of $20 sees me receive 60% of the adjusted rate of $19.10, as in $11.46 for each student.

Each student in this class receives:
Two writing sample evaluations, often with the chance to rewrite/resubmit, that includes a rubric and suggestions for improvement.
One sample report to submit which I accept or do not accept based on written standards.
Directions/support to create an Excel spreadsheet to track outstanding monies, profit/loss, mileage.
Over fourty URLs to my favorites MS companies and many informational sites, like Volition, MSR, etc.

I am increasing my price to $25 ; $14.37 is so much more worth my while. I feel like the class is valuable enought to sustain the price increase after two years on the market.

First, count me in!

Second, I did wuss out in 2004 by not going to Orlando, I so knew I should have attended! Forget Anaheim, CA - way too far. Plus, I would have been bummed to attend a rerun conference. Now that the location has been announced I am so excited. (See Volition Thread) Also the same weekend as the Chicagoland NASCAR race in Joliet. May I suggest booking a flight before the auto season revs up in February?

Third, kudos to the MSPA for responding to the survey of MSPA certified shoppers. The unscientific poll through Shop Logs revealed the top reasons for not attending to be Distance/Travel Costs, Conference/Hotel Costs, Time Away From …, Lack of Interest. The MSPA had a captive audience in their email certification system and listened to them (so far). Other questions on the MSPA survey that have yet to be answered (they reopen January 3rd):

Hotel Cost: The lowest choice given for per night hotel cost was $80-95/night
Conference Cost: The conference cost was bragged to include: “2-days, including a Welcoming Reception with appetizers and drinks, Continental Breakfast on both mornings, and Lunch and Dinner on Saturday ” for a range of $125-225. (I don’t have complete notes on this, does anyone remember more accurately?)
Content: And then most importantly, they solicited content ideas! I will be excited to see what comes from the suggestions they received. I know I suggested: an editor’s forum ( I want to hear from my fav companies what the big mistakes are), NO motivational speakers - we are already there, clearly we are motivated, maybe a book study/Q&A with an author - I suggested Poynter, This one is just a pipe dream - I would like to see a list of companies with outstanding complaints against them (as I am sure MSPs can see a list of shoppers).

Oh no, I sent in an assignment Tuesday…and found the business card today in the driveway in the partially melted snow.

I will need to send a scan of it to my scheduler I guess…. It is especially pathetic though…..

TJ,
After we spoke on the phone I did not received an email from you.
I am going to post the info. here for now.

I will leave this up for a week or until I receive an email from you.
Penny

Groups that are informative and supportive in the MSing community:
http://forum.volition.com/
http://p216.ezboard.com/bmysteryshopresources

The online class I teach:
http://class.universalclass.com/MysteryShop
discounted price $16 when using the code: ShopLogs

Cheap MS Companies:
http://www.shopnchek.com/
http://www.mysteryshops.com/shoppers/prospective.asp

Ones I Like Working For:
http://second-to-none.com/normal.htm
http://www.virtuoso.maritzresearch.com/default.asp
http://www.mintel.com/
http://www.a-closer-look.com/ACL/home.htmlhttp://sassieshop.com/2crs/index.norm.php

Some others to check out:
http://www.speedmarkvision.com/index.norm.php
http://www.sassieshop.com/2kern/index.norm.php (schedulers)

I have been researching (using Google’s new blog search - love it!) upcoming features for the column “We Shopped ‘Em - blogs from the shopped” and I am having a field day! These kids are cracking me UP!!!

Selected Quotes:

“one time i dont smile (well i normally dont but i try to be as pleasant as possible)….also apparently she asked what the difference between skin on haddock and skinless haddock was and i said ‘one has skin, one doesnt’”

“hells right b’tches” (okay that was just for fun)

“you know you are gonna get a poor score if its been busy up the a$$ and you are tired, therefore not ‘chip cheery let me kiss your ass cuz you are a customer”

“[store manager] had us sign a contract stating that we would: A) Greet every customer we can B) When ringing, ask for %$#^%$# C) Ask if they found everything okay and of course, D) “THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING WITH US!”
Easy things, so I won’t have a problem…I do it anyway. But those are pretty much the reasons we keep failing the mystery shop…except this one, this one was all on the f^cking salesman…who fails at life and should quit. “

Wait ’til you read them in the newsletter in their entire glory - my side is still splitting!!!!

Question:
“Do Mystery Shoppers work during the pre-Christmas rush? It is a harried
time of year and the accuracy of a Mystery Shop survey would seem to be innacurate because
of the upheaval during this time. Is this a good time to do my Mystery Shop assignment?”

Answer:
“There are two points of view to consider here; the MSP and the business.
The Mystery Shopping Provider needs to complete monthly evaluations still, so they schedule the begining of the month heavily with shops(contributing to inaccuracies), if you aren’t scheduled by the 10th you likely will not be shopping this month.
If the business wants evaluations in December they are surely receiving skewed data, but if they request it they must receive it! While true that it is frustrating to evaluate temporary workers, or employees under holiday stress/circumstances, the business must put their own emphasis on that data.
Bottom line, schedule early for December, and report as if it were a regular shopping experience!”

Email Recieved from CoRI:

“Wow what a great commission.

%$#% &$^&^’s Digital shops receive an $18.00 commission plus reimbursement for the ^%$^%. No-photo assignments have a $12.00 commission plus reimbursement for the *&^*&*. For an added bonus, you will be reimbursed up to a $1.00 tip for having the *&^*& delivered.

Here is what I have near you:”

And what they had near me is 75 miles round trip. Here comes the math teacher in me, ready? Let’s assume that I am ‘lucky enough’ to get the $18 gig. Traveling mostly highway miles, I would spend one hour traveling, at least 10-15 minutes in the store, maybe twenty minutes on the report (in all fariness I haven’t done these in ages, so I am not sure, tell ya what make it 30 minutes incase I cut myself while mutilating the pizza for photos). Now I am making less than $12 per hour before gas and mileage….plus my time….I have only just mailed all my holiday cards, I still have presents to purchase.

This leaves me saying: “Wow what a cheap commission”

My Inbox contains 209 unread messages, seems like Nicole and Paris are still sending me (and many single young people I would venture) viruses!
“Currently 1524 comments are waiting for approval” reads my comment list from the blog, yes it is mostly junk, but there are some nice comments too.
If I copied all the job postings on Volition and pasted them to a Word document it would cover 26 pages, hmmm… I wonder if she actually did that?
I finally was able to update with Mystery Shop Resource and mark all forums read - good hour of my life!

Gosh it feels good to know all the minutia that is still out there to read in the MS world!

I have been unavoidably restrained from posting….it is an entirely unrelated drama to the usual MS drama.
This simply means I have much to say!

One of my fav blog authors, Michelle Collins, was recently on a VH1 special, you know where the commentators make fun of the subjects of the show….. Oddly enough, she did not have the same voice that I read her entries with, I wonder if she knew how strange it would seem for loyal readers to “hear” her sassy comments in her own voice and not our own?? Rather thoughless, but I was excited to see her on “Jewtastic.” (well, we all have to start somewhere…I shudder to think what my TV break might be….)

“Huntington, NY Clothing shops for ladies only $16 “

Okay, how did you read that?

You could read it: “…this shop is only for ladies & it pays $16″
I read it: “this shop only pays $16″

Shall we call this experience or a negative attitude? Well, sometimes they are one in the same in this business!

I almost had the chance to pick up some banks shops today - if only I had the holiday from work.
I have been awaiting a call from work for an hour now and can only assume they want me to work there today instead of travelling about in the new 4″ of snow on the roads.
Should I cuss them or thank them?

Check out this action research by Deva, almost John Stossel!

Signs 1-4 of the Impending Apocalypse:

I am already more profitable than last year although I completed 3% fewer shops and drove 16% less miles with $468.78 still outstanding

I am suddenly shopping for that bastard company again that stiffed me on that bonus … hard to tell which of us lost on that proposition …

Ray & I emailed back and forth in a civil tone

Newsletter done within first week of month (if you don’t mind my two pics I can’t get to work yet)

I received this email from CRS tonight & it was all I could do to only reply in this (trust me it is restrained) crisp manner:

“Shoppers,
This is a reminder that all S****** and R***** shops are due on 12-05 Monday. We are disappointed that almost 200 shoppers have decided to wait until the last day to complete their shops. This makes it very difficult for us to get them wrapped up and over to client by the deadline. Please make sure that if you are not going to be able to complete the shop tomorrow that you communicate with Person1 or Person 2 so that they can plan accordingly. We strongly recommend that shoppers do not apply for these shops if they can not complete them by the due date. Shoppers that cause us delay or do not complete assignments are not considered for any more shops with us.
Thank you,
CRS”

*shed a tear for the poor MSP*

“I am sorry that you are disappointed that shoppers have decided to wait until the last day to complete their shops. I schedule many shops for many companies and use the entire timeframes allowed often.
I did not think this made me a poor shopper.
I complete shops within the allowed time frame and will continue to do so, but would rather not receive a reprimand unless I am actually tardy in completing the work.”

Hey, when even CNN reporters are accepting the bathroom shops I know we will never be able to stop other shoppers (who do this for “a living") from taking the low paying shops!

Check out the story.

PeachEKeen & Rebel108, I hope their experience was better than yours! Hmmm…or maybe I don’t……

SO my husband & I actually shopped on Black Friday, but they were two entirely different experiences!
My DH left the house near midnight after Thanksgiving Dinner to go stand in the Best Buy line forming already. He stood in sub-freezing weather with his sister and they scored three of the $150 emachines by 4 AM. They then came home, went to bed, and he sent me back to Best Buy to pick them up before noon that day.
When my DH arrived home early Friday morning (4:45 AM) I had the Kohls webpage up. Last night before I went to sleep I had signed up for an account on the page and had found the location of the steam cleaner I wanted. I left the page up and after debriefing with DH I repeatedly refreshed the page until I saw all the wonderful ‘early bird deals’ online. I then added my cleaner to my basket & checked out.
The emachines cost him his time, two trips to the city, and possible frostbite; my shopping cost was $119+tax, no shipping and four minutes total!

Taken from Volition:

Retail Accessories: Credit Card purchase required ($75 to $300) with Optional Return. Can visit Anytime during open business hours between Start and Due dates; shops MUST be completed before the end of November! Return visit can be made after a minimum 30-minute wait after completing the Purchase visit OR on a different day during open business hours, BUT by the Due date. No gender requirement. Detailed store information, Guidelines and form available to selected shopper.

Shop pays $15 Shopper Fee plus BIG $85 ADDED BONUS!

BRIDGETOWN, NA 0123 (BB)
ST. JOHN’S ANTIGUA W, NA 0123 (AG)

Ummm… 1. the fee 2. oh let me pay $696 (according to Travelocity to meet the shop requirements) 3. the fee! 4. Having Homeland Security frisk me on my way back into the country, because who goes to Antigua for a $15 shop? I would assume I am smuggling something. 5. THE FEE!!

The Mileage Trap:
Of course, I am still in love with my mileage reimbursing company.
I am doing okay with the CSRs, but this month the shops are pretty far flung.
I would generally decline today’s distance, but these get automatically assigned. I did one tonight 89 miles round trip. Do you know the only problem with these shops is I feel the need to pack other shops in to my trips, you know, to get the most out of the ‘Paid’ mileage.
I get my time sucked up by the vitamin shop, where I have to casually work up to asking if the cashier is the owner, ya, smooth. Then I go to a cell phone shop where the “Have you heard about….” guy talks to me for 55 minutes, even wthout bringing another associate in to our conversation (thank God).
That sucked the joy out of the mileage…and my soul.

Um, heck no.

Due Date 11-25-05 (m-d-y)
Do NOT shop before 11-25-05

Hours 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM ONLY
Days of week Friday 11/25/05 ONLY
Shopper’s Pay $25.00

In fairness to this SASSIE company, yes, this is a decent shop.
BUT, the morning after Thanksgiving? Nothing is worth being in the mall/near a mall on THAT DAY. (unless it is purely recreational)

I receive this email: “Subject: WE NEED YOUR CONFIRMATIONS “
So I sCurry to open it; geez, did I foRget to do something for thiS shop???

Nope, turns out the yelling in this subject not only continued in the email, but was only intended for some of the receipients.
Who was it intended for? The shoppers that don’t follow directions - the same shoppers that probably didn’t even confirm after the yelled email.
Who actually got the message? The same shoppers that actually scurried to read it & care what it says that have ALREADY confirmed.
What effective communication this MSP is demonstrating…..

Well, on the upside I was nominated for the NCPMS newsletter award this year.
On the downside Cathy Stucker was credited for writing it.

I am sure she corrected it faster than I (or is it ‘me?’ - see why she would want to correct it ASAP?), but I got a kick out of the line.

I would guess the confusion came from the newsletter lead story this month about Cathy’s blog.
But that didn’t stop my jaw from hitting the desk - I would kill to be a fly on the wall when someone tried to credit Cathy with my ‘writing ‘- can you imagine?

Oh, this is a kindred spirit….
I had many thoughts on this bathroom shop, but my sister from another mother has said it better than I ever could:

“Today I received this email regarding the worst mystery shop ever, where you have to inspect a bathroom. I have highly edited this email and have made my notes in parenthesis.

Email from mystery shopping company:
Restroom audit only – You do not have to clean the restroom!!!! (You know they must have had several people do this before. I don’t like cleaning the bathroom at home. Why ever would I do this for a public restroom? Gross!)

You will be paid $15.00 for each completed audit (no thanks I will need a lot more than $15 to inspect a bathroom. Try $150 and we’ll talk.)

You must have a digital camera, step stool and a mirror for these shops. (What the hell is the step stool and the mirror for?)

You MUST take the on line training before you conduct the evaluation! (there is training involved too? What? On parts of the restroom? For $15? Are you crazy?)

You will not have to clean during this shop. (yeah, you mentioned that before. Apparently you don’t think I can read.)

Required pictures: The open air freshener in the womens and mens restroom. The flush holes in the toilet in the womens and mens restroom. (flush holes? They want me to take pictures of flush holes? )

If the flush holes are clean, but the throat and bowl of the toilet is dirty, you MUST take a picture of the throat and bowl instead. YOU MUST POSITION the mirror to see the flush holes and take a picture of the image reflected off of the mirror OR use your camera without using the mirror. (Oh this is what the mirror is for.)

You will also be provided with an out of order sign to put on the restroom door while you are conducting the audit. (Ohhhh I get to put up a sign? Count me in!!!)”

PeachEKeen you crack me up!

…or Didn’t Quote me, more apporpriately:

Actually, it’s in our December issue, which is just hitting newsstands.

I didn’t wind up quoting you, as it turns out. But I’d be happy to send you a couple issues if you’d like them. Just let me know!

Thanks,

Matt Heimer
Senior Editor
SmartMoney

I emailed Matt to find out when his story he interviewed me for, about Mystery Shopping, was coming out.
Too bad, I will have to choose more controversial topics next time. ‘Mystery Shopping in the Nude’ or ‘Make ends Meet by Mystery Shopping.’

Whew!
The article in Forbes was severe….
It was along the lines of ‘all Irish are drunks’, and in the great words of many people’s aged, yet racist, relatives - “well…you know how those people are.”
Is Forbes that interested in shutting my blog down? Gee, I feel so important now….

I had been holding out for an email response before I started my main article, but it looks like it’s a good thing I didn’t hold my breath!

I have two emails out that have not been answered…..and of course I want something from them.

The three emails I sent out about giving things away always get the replies and exclamation points!!!!
Speaking of freebies…..I gave away the three Mystery Shopping books I reviewed:

Debi Sullivan of TX won Mystery Shopping Getting Paid to Shop, by James Poynter

Stephanie Simao of CA won The Mystery Shopper’s Manual, by Cathy Stucker

Avril Matthews of CT won Mystery Shopping Made Simple, by Dr. Ilisha Newhouse

These people are apparently happy to receive my emails……

This is Broken has the best cure for a rainy day - laughter!
Can I please sign up for a mysterys hop at this place? Maybe I will get lucky and can shop both establishments.

I have noticed a slight jump in traffic to my UniversalClass.com Eclass on Mystery Shopping so I assume the Smart Money article has hit the newstand.
Anyone seen this yet?
If this traffice keeps up though I may start working on my online classes over going in to the field to mystery shop.

November Newsletter up by the weekend.
Parent Conferences this week at my school, staying Way Too Late at work right now!

I have over $700 outstanding right now.
I am naturally nervous about such a sum outstanding, but am excited that I may have timed this correctly this year!
I can pay back my family checking account for last nights’ fine dining, $170ish, and still have a good jump on the Holiday Shopping.

I have not had this much outstanding at one time since last year. What reallly is making a difference right now is making a conscious effort to only take shops in groups, “no orphans!” The mileage gig monthly is helping me to do that also and can to some extent dictate which direction I will shop that month. If I am weak and take an orphan I have to either dig to find more jobs or give myself permission to cancel. (Repeat this many times in the mirror: “Sorry, my schedule does not allow that trip 40 miles out of my way this month” until you MEAN it)

Reading my favorite non-MSing blog, YouCantMakeItUp, I thought my friend was a bit touched when she said that NYC smelled like Maple Syrup last night. Further confirmed by The Gothamist, but when even the NY Times has an article on it, well, it must be true!
Then I started wondering…..Halloween Prank? Can I sign my city up for such a prank? What would my pick me for a universal good smell?

Possibilities:
Tulip smell, but I don’t live in Holland, MI.
Even though I live in the ‘Red Flannel’ capital of the world - I don’t want to think of the smell lumberjacks gave the original RFs.
Puppy Breath? Not everyone’s a “dog person”

I have no idea, but sign me up for this ‘prank!’

I am still dieting, more off than on lately.
I will have to go way off this weekend as I return to my fav. fine dining shop.
The dessert room alone will kick my behind, or just enlarge it more accurately.
Hubby says NO Lobster Bisque this time…more for ME!

I can’t believe how tough it is to talk people into a free meal!
Hubby? Not interested (was however interested in my bringing back takeout)
Girlfriend? Must’ve been at work….she loves the “Monte Cristo Sam’ich Place”
Grandma, yeah, even Grandma was busy! ‘Making Fudge,’ kind way to spare my feelings!
Sis? negative
Mom - the ole standby….finally.

I just reread an email offer from earlier today:
quick serve, ‘gourmet’ coffe shop with a HECK of a name.
Let’s just say it could be offensive to anyone of Hispanic heritage.
Hey, I know I am just bread that didn’t get baked all the way, but whew - that name turned me off & I was going to get PAID to GO THERE.

Well, I guess we’ll call it a trial run.
I had a cell phone shop to do and I thought I could stop by and do a bank shop so I have one less to do Thursday when I will pull an all day route. Except, I shopped Bank M instead of Bank F. Oh yeah… I had the floater (hate when I get those) write down her name, etc. and was thinking, “c’mon, give me your name this will be a good report!” Then as I turned out of the driveway and drove past the bank I was supposed to shop I laughed outloud… I just did that shop for free! Well, I’ll be back Thursday!
I am embarrassed to tell you, but I used to have to make a payment every month at Bank F too…….hahahahaha!

SO I get to the cell phone shop and the manager (I recognize from before the cell phone merger) is outside smoking, throws the lit butt on the sidewalk…..nice….. Once my salesperson started their pitch the same schmoe (sp?) hands my guy a clipboard with the shop questionarre for the company I am working for at that second….I loved writing that in the report.

Almost as dumb as shopping for free!

So lately I have been mopey because other sites are stealing my content. Not legit MS sites, but traffic-coveting advertising junkies. They increase their rankings in search engines by scraping my original writings and posting it on their sites. This boosts their sites in the search engine returns and even though I write my own works (which search engines do value) I cannot compete with the volume and frequency with which they post and my rankings plummet. Be honest, do YOU ever look past the second page on a search for anything? Most people don’t.

So I thoguht about filing with Google, they have all the power right? Well, by being the victim of intellectual theft, Google rewards me with googles of paperwork to fill out….gruff…so I start looking around the Internet.

I found an Open Directory Project. This is where results are not posted by factors that can be manipulated, but are edited by real people, supposedly with expertise in their areas! Well, heck yes I would be glad to help, to be part of the solution & not the problem!

Check out their Mystery Shopping page I volunteered to help monitor.

Yes, I just lined up a good route, don’t ya love that feeling?
It combines the paid mileage shops & the remaining shipping shops in the area.
May I quote the A Team? “I love it when a plan comes together!”
I still need to map just the mileage shops so that I only charge the real mileage for those shops (excluding the shipping), but essentially my mileage will be covered.

“… Individuals who spam the list will be banned from it. No exceptions - 1 strike your out policy.”
Do you see it?
No this is not a test for colorblindness…..just one of my pet peeve grammatical errors…..

Random edit from another mystery shopper:

‘Wow, the third word is a typo - so sad.’

Subject: Circle of Service - New website
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:50:38 -0400
We are exited and pleased to announce the launch our new website on Friday
October 7th. You will notice small navigational changes and large
improvements in the overall look and feel of the website.

Might those large improvements include spellcheck on their email program?

Well, I finally got in on “Gift Exchange #3″…. I had to be sure the first two were legit! Ya know, because one could have just been a fluke.
Sure enough, I was one that was left without a gift. I honestly think my secret pal had the intention of sending me the box, she emailed a signature to me that was pretty cool. I think she just got behind & overwhelmed. Plus, I was fine with it by the end; I looked at it as a cosmic force intervening to keep the spending-and-keeping-’stuff’ bug off my back.
The organizer was, of course, peeved and solicited help from the moderator. I was kinda impressed that he would offer to help, but I understood he probably felt it was a reflection on his credibility (which I woudl not have said). Well, several people planned & sent me something in addition to what else they had sent out earlier - - how kind. I was feeling all warm & fuzzy.
Then the moderator emailed me to check that I did infact receive something. Pretty cool of him. Here’s the exchange:
(forwarded message)

So, it looks like (me) is the only one who needs some items sent to her. Although the jury’s still out on %#$^….we’ll wait to see if she sends out a package after her recovery.
I see (me) made a post with 47 icons and YES!!!!!
I assume that means she got the package and I can unlock %#$^’s account.

Yes I did use every single happy icon there was, and yes, it was truncated down to one happy icon.
To which I responded:

I did not get mail from my original pal, but I did get stuff from other posters. The Big V feels pretty friendly right now.

:) (me)

My happiness was further truncated by the reply:

Glad to hear it.

Calling it V is upsetting, but I’m happy to hear you got your gift.

I thought of it more complimentary than upsetting to the forum.
Go ahead, tell me which one of us is on crack.

I just had time between jobs today to ship a couple of packages(tonight was the last night of ESL class as migrants are already heading south). I had scenarios that asked me to have prepared packages and ask for paperwork help, well I taped up some boxes and proceeded to leave one on the counter.
Why just one? Good question, you’ll need to ask anyone else in the entire world but me.
Luckily I walked through the mega store the second shipping place was in and picked up a discarded box from a grocery aisle and found clearanced ($1!) packing tape, so then I was only a buck less for my error. Sure I had to clean out my car of scrap paper, but that coudl actually be a bonus - I figure I made out even.

Intellishop just sent me a duplicate payment from 9/28. Now I do like the cash rolling in, but not when it makes me lose sleep……
I emailed them back & we’ll see what they say. I am sure it will be along the lines of since I am such a superior shopper they felt a bonus was in order. Ya know, what every worker hears on Mondays.

Here is a link to a neat email tax newsletter I found.

Check out the Mystery Shopper reference.

Should we let them know that, yes, we are real?

Read my Mystery Shopping Book reviews in October’s newsletter (www.shoplogs.com) and follow the directions for these popular MSing books!

The Mystery Shopper’s Manual (6th edition)
by Cathy Stucker

Mystery Shopping Get Paid to Shop (4th Edition)
by James Poynter

Mystery Shopping Made Simple
by Dr. Ilisha Newhouse

As a side note, although I received an email from Ilisha Newhouse promising a copy of her book, it never materialized.
All three of these books were purchased from Amazon.

I just hung up the phone with a reporter for the magazine Smart Money.
I wonder how it will turn out - we’ll see in November!

The reporter found my information from my Universal Class Mystery Shopping Course (http://class.universalclass.com/MysteryShop).
He posted here and next thing I knew I was on the phone with him.

Rough summer & my extra parttime job this fall have really cut down my MSing income.
I have updated my earnings chart.

Remember these are payments received by month. As you can see, I have been more parttime than anything else lately!

I have under $250 outstanding right now.

I received an invitation from the FF Hours MS company to shop two of the FF places I shopped in my hometown, just four days earlier.
Well, of course I applied. I thought it was odd…posted a question on MSR…someone replied that they reshop to verify the initial information.
Do you think I will get the same answers when I go back?
One of the places had hours posted, but the other I just had to ask the HS boy working the counter. He could have been wrong in what he told me. How crazy would it be if I report different information than I initially entered? That will make someone’s head spin.

I really wanted to get into a regular oil change job with my new(er) vehicle.
I know I have done oil changes for two different companies and have had more ease getting assignments from one than another. I have an oil change shop that is in my hometown and have shopped five other surrounding areas. I am still not able to make my 3,000 mile changes. It seems to be the changes are all way before I need the change or (as is the case today - 4,000 over the change mileage) way after it should have been done.
I can’t remember what type of mileage I was dealing with before mystery shopping - so maybe it’s just being an MSer…..

This is from my union paper, Advocate, by Kent County Education Association:

“For those of you who may not have heard, the Internal Revenue Service announced an increase to the optional standard mileage rates for the final four months of 2005. The rate will increase to 48.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven between Spet. 1 and Dec. 31, 2005. This is an increase of 8 cents from the 40.5 cent rate in effect for the first eight months of 2005. For the average driver, the eight cent increase translates to an adjustment of about $1.60 per gallon in the amount IRS recognizes in computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business use. It was interesting to note that in announcing the special adjustment, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said, ‘This is about fairness for taxpayers. People are entitled to deduct the real cost of operating a vehicle.’ We’ve responded to the recent gas price increases by making this special adjustment so taxpayers get the tax benefit they deserve. “

This email from Service Intelligence was posted on MSR:

“As we are all extremely aware, the suffering experienced in the Southeastern United States has been beyond our imaginations. Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been impacted.

As a community comprised of Customer Experience Champions; whether it is on a personal level, client front line oriented, or for society in general, we realize the potential for involvement to increase humanitarian efforts. Service Intelligence is dedicated to going “Above and Beyond”.

How can we help our community in the aftermath? There are many ways, and many of us have already taken valuable action. Whether it is to volunteer our time, donate to various vital organizations, or send needed supplies. I applaud everyone’s contribution to date, as it will make a difference to those in need.

I have spoken with many of our clients who have also been affected. In many cases, the sites are permanently damaged and the staff has been required to relocate. I have been impressed how our corporate citizen partners, amidst all havoc, have demonstrated concern and have taken action to assist those in their community.

Now focusing on our shopper community. We have a wonderful, loyal network of professional shoppers and evaluators who really care about the quality and importance of what they do every month. It is as a community where we find our strength. Although this month it appears we have been weakened, through commitment and dedication we will regain stability. We find that the best use of our resources is to help our fellow community members directly affected as a result of Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

What can we do as the SI community to strengthen ourselves? We have discussed and will be initiating Operation Hand Off (“OHO”). Operation Hand Off (OHO) will directly benefit our valued shoppers in the afflicted areas. Operation Hand Off (OHO) will consist of two fundraising programs, Internal and Shopper oriented donations.

Internally, our staff has been participating in many fundraising efforts. Service Intelligence corporate will match dollar-for-dollar the cash contribution made by our internal staff of champions.

As for our shopper-oriented donation, we are working to create a special “Hurricane Relief Shop” that you can sign up for to add to our fundraising efforts. Service Intelligence will be donating all proceeds raised, directly to the shoppers in the affected areas.

Gordon Edwards, our new Vice President Operations, will be heading up the donation effort at Service Intelligence and you will be hearing from him in the near future. He will be collaborating with Navi Vaid, Operations Manager, and others in our Program Delivery Support team.

I look forward to seeing what all three of us (SI, staff, and SI shoppers) can do for our affected shoppers. Please let me thank you in advance for your generosity. I know that together we can really make a difference in the lives of the SI shopper community.

Thank you SI Champions!

Best regards,

Byron B. McCann
President & CEO

Service Intelligence, Inc.
Champion the Customer Experience™”

I recently accepted an offer from Speedmark to survey hours of fast food restaurants. I had completed these shops previously, but one of the locations was ficticious. The company paid me anyway, which I liked.
When I received their most recent email offer asking me to reshop it did include the non-existant shop again.
When I pulled up the specifics, the list actually said “No Such Location.” The next question I have is, since I reported it last time, even though they are assigning it again - - - will I be paid for this “shop?”

Okay I feel better about myself and my fledgling newsletter today!
I received the email from the MSPA asking me to complete the survey on future MSPA conferences (much more scientific than letting shoppers rant on the forums) and felt pretty good that I had asked the right questions on my August/September newsletter.
Clearly we have diffirent audiences, I wanted to hear only from those that did not go to the July conference; they wanted to hear only from MSPA certified shoppers. I would expect my respondants gave cost as a reason more often than shoppers that have already paid for certification.
I appreciated that I was given a choice of the hotel and conference cost question. I replied int he ‘other’ section that $80-95/night was still too high for a multple day conference. If I worked for IBM my response would be different, but they do know what we get paid per shop, don’t they?

Well, check on the newsletter the first of October for my survey results & then we can compare and contrast with anything the MSPA might publish.

Whoever shopped that gasoline shop last month really got this manager spun up - - - thanks.
I thought for a momoent she was not going to let me conduct the shop.
“If you refuse to let me conduct the shop, please write a statement to that effect here and sign; no problem.”

Lucky me she didn’t. But she did give me an earful about what the last mystery shopper said and why couldn’t I answer her? *Carnack (sp?) has left the building*

She demanded my name and my supervisor’s name and their contact information….I left her my first name, last initial (lady not pleased) and the 800 number. No I do not have a name of a person she can contact about why she has not received the results from the last visit. No I do not know why she has not received the results. I am not in charge of billing. (…where was the beer in this place again?)

Yeah I was there earlier this month, but I ain’t gonna bring that up - it was right after they ran outta gas…she doesn’t know I was there, so who else/how many more shoppers are talking to the psycho manager?

I can’t believe this is my first shop for this company and I have to do it twice and get heckled the second time…..

I am a member of Mystery Shopping Central; I was a member of Construct-A-Shop, run by Heather Mitchell, and when they closed Heather refunded my membership and extended me a membership in MS Central. I have been able to look at the program they are running there without any risk and could probably answer questions on it if anyone out there has them.

I recently received a survey request and will post the link here as many of you may wnat to weigh in on some of these items also: https://www.mysteryshoppercentral.com/News.aspx

In the survey I was asked questions about the amount of time I spend on routine MSing function by hours per month. Some innovative ideas came through: hourly rates for shoppers, shoppers bidding on jobs, webcasts with industry experts (I have been interested in podcasting these), and automated invoicing (possible ICA red flag here).

The process of bidding on jobs is facinating I think. Newbies could pruchase experience essentially. Some MS companies could get a good deal, while others would have to increase fees. I wonder what MS Central has up their sleeve on this one….

I would love to get with some one who personally knows the MS professionals to connect me to potential podcast candidates. I admit this has only been a “back burner” idea so far, but this has me excited.

I have used the ole MS Excel spreadsheet for awhile now and might be interested in a program that automatically generates invoices. I can do that myself, but what if they were printed and mailed by someone else x number days after payment due. I would pay for this, a manager for my financial side of the business. I do wonder about MS Central doing it for me, knowing the amount of payment/type of job/company might be an ICA violation.

The survey says the results will be announced September 15th, but I took this on September 18th and I did not notice results. I am sure they are on their way. This could be interesting.

If you have read this blog right along you may remember I had a bonus promised to me that the Mystery Shopping Co. later recanted on…there was a thread on the ‘hefty bonus’ on Volition at the end of April/beginning of May that got me all a-twitter…in April I told you that I was sending in complaints to the MSPA and the NCPMS.

I have applied for their shops the entire time, I did like the shops and of course the pay. Recently I was accepted for two of the fraud shops, not the repair shops for which the origianl dispute arose.

I never received any communication from the MS Co., I noticed they fired/let go a scheduler after the MSPA received my information though…gulp…I kinda hope that wasn’t because of my complaint, all I wanted was $100.

The MSPA sent me an email within a week of receiving my complaint. John Swinburn said:

“We have initiated communications with the company to request that they determine the extent to which your claim may have legitimacy.

Generally speaking, MSPA does not initiate an ethics investigation into a company on the basis of a single complaint such as yours. The reason
for this policy is that there are, in any business, unfortunatel opportunities for miscommunications and misunderstandings between individuals and companies. If we receive multiple complaints about a company for the same types of issues, we then consider launching an ethics investigation.

The fact that you had done a similar shop for the company before the shop for which you expect bonus compensation suggests that there was,
possibly, a misunderstanding between the two of you about new elements of compensation for the new shop. We will leave that matter for Corporate Risk Solutions to assess.

We do take seriously our expectations that members treat the shoppers with whom they deal fairly. We recognize, though, that in the thousands of
communications that take place every day, it is possible for miscommunications to occur. Because we have received no other complaints
about this issue, we must assume for now that it is isolated and does not warrant further action by MSPA. However, as I said, we have initiated
commmunication with the company to request that they reassess your claim.”

I still have not heard from the company and assume no other shopper will be complaining; although some posters from Volition said they would and then decided it was better for them if I was the only a-hole.

I emailed J.Swinburn back asking what the outcome was of his inquiry, no response.

I sent the same materials to the NCPMS at the same time. Having never heard from them, I finally emailed Niccole mid-August asking about the NCPMS process, here is her reply:

“We take complaints on first come - first serve. You have emailed us a complaint and we have not yet
responded - it is because we have not had a chance to review it. “

And I have still heard nothing, but how long has she been working on G3? She may never get around to my complaint.

The BBB has never replied.

I am bummed because according to the written ‘contract’ I agreed to I am in the right. The mistake was on the MS Co. side though and appears to be impossible to enforce. I am someone who has a fulltime job and does not need the money. What about when this happend to some one who is counting on the money for the necessities?

But here I am shopping for them again….. I didn’t think they would rehire me…….I didn’t think I’d want to work for them again…..

I just read a post about Service Intelligence.
I do not shop for them so this is completely second hand information. But it made me do a double take so you get to read about it now.

“I just received an e-mail from SI regarding Hurricaine Katrina’s impact on their community of shopper’s. The VP also stated that while the gas prices are affecting everyone, SI won’t be able to adjust fees due to the fixed contracts with the clients. “

Is it me or is this slightly Elaine - esque (Seinfeld)?

‘We know it is costing you more to do the same work for us, but we’re going to keep paying you the same amount of money. Just wanted to let you know though….in case you thought we were being ignorant, no, we’re just going to see how much crap the shopper pool can sustain.’

I guess I have avoided the cheap Satan for awhile….I was surprised at the Assignment Report Review after I submitted my last report.
I do like the idea of reading the entire report on one page, so book like, seemingly as if the MS Company thinks my IQ is near 100.

Kudos to the ultimate cheap Mystery Shopping Company!
May you live just long enough to fill out my next route!

After the gas stations started running out of gas…they “postponed” indefinately.
After a kind hearted letter extending any deadlines, the scheduler emails cancelling without any explanation.
Now I have to cancel the audit that I had scheduled in the same city as the gas shop & the same strip mall as the second cancellation.

If you have jobs outstanding either finish them up fast or look for the silver lining in the fuel you won’t waste.

I received an email from Evelyn Gledhill at Service Slueths offering extentions on any assignments:

“We know that gas prices are affecting everyone. To try and help our
highest-rated shoppers, we are going to extend the due dates to the middle
of the month for our September shops. We hope that this will allow you
to combine our shops with other shops you may be doing in the same area
or coincide with planned trips. If the due date posted doesn’t quite
fit, please feel free to contact me and we’ll try and work something out.”

While I tried to negotiate with the un HELPful DESK at Shop N Chek to complete an audit they had listed for an area I would be in today, but the shopping window did not start until tomorrow:

“We appreciate the offer, but we do not assign shops here at help desk. If the date you are interested is not offered, we are unable to assist you with a new date.”

I replied asking if a scheduler could be contacted:

“I’m sorry, but the assignment can only be conducted on the dates shown; we cannot add new dates at this time.”

While I was out today I came across a gas station that I was supposed to audit that had no gas! I made the inside purchase (only reimbursed for $.75 and told to pay on debit card, the cashier said I had to purchase more than $1.00 to use a debit card) and she said they had been out of gas since Monday! I called into a scheduler and they told me I would just report it as closed, but Muskegon, MI? No gas?!? When I returned home I now see the company has postponed my other visits until after the holiday weekend.

Here I go again to reschedule & postpone.

I have had the same dose of guilt & helplessness watching the television the last couple days as the rest of the country. Shopping used to be a good way to pass the time and keep myself busy. However I have painted myself into a mystery shopping fiasco due to the surge in gasoline prices.

I picked up four audits in order to get in with a company for which I have been wanting to work. The shops were pretty far flung to begin with so I scouted for some additions to beef up the pay scale. Then two days later I have to fill my tank with $3.19 for regular unleaded, other stations were gouging at $3.48 for the regular. Now I am in a situation, I would like to ask for extentions, but I have four different companies involved and it might be more hassled to coordinate these audits and mystery shops again than to just swallow hard and rationalize the cost as the cost of acquiring a new client……bad taste though at $3.19/gallon and still rising. (gasoline has landed at $3.38 today as I still am debating on the rescheduling issue)

The President doesn’t seem overly alarmed: “‘I would hope Americans conserve if given a choice,’[President Bush] said.” But I worry about an increase in ppg.

Look at the one month local versus national gasoline prices:

My vechicle gets 20 mpg (yes, oink, oink!) and the average locale is 20 miles away I am not spending over $5 to get to the shop. I used to be able to take a chance on signing up for individual shops & picking the rest up as I cruise around on line…..those days are long gone.
Maybe instead of looking into a hybrid currently available, it might be cheaper to convert my present vehicle into one that can run on cigarettes, soon a carton will be cheaper than a gallon!

While my net profit (I use the IRS’ .40 mileage) is up over 5x my 2004 profits, the big numbers in this story are the miles themselves:
42% less miles this summer!

In review I did complete 3x as many entertainment type shops, where I take a friend/family member and it doubles as ‘fun.’ I think this is the way I will get through to next summer. I did more audits this summer with a mixed bag of results. I took less movie counts (and actually read this summer), only one FedEx shop (and nothing of distance since Rosemary Coffin “mislead” me about a bonus), am no longer getting new diamond rings all over town and haven’t been paid to buy those great candles in ever so long. And since the cheapy shoe shop got even cheaper, defying the laws of nature, my zapatos source has run dry.

So far the poll on the August/September newsletter has collected 58 votes.

If you did not attend the 2nd Annual Educational Conference in Anahiem, CA this year please vote and tell us why you were not there.

http://top500.feedster.com/
This includes many of the oldest blogs, like the one that reported on Monica & Bill before the networks.
Interesting…
Note that I have started to add RSS buttons such as NewsGator and MyMsn. If you know of a reader button I should add please post/email.

Turned out to be fewer of us than initially planned, but three of us met up at a local park for a nice little picnic.
I had already met these shoppers so it felt a little more relaxed than last time when I was meeting shoppers for the first time.
I t has certainly renewed my belief that I like my little hobby of Mystery Shopping. And has motivated me to make more effort to go after some good shops - they are out there.

I demand that WWW.PAID-TO-SHOP.US immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the WWW.SHOPLOGS.COM .

While I was out finishing a shop yesterday the dogs did this:

I imagine if they could write, they would write something similar to:
“SToP sHoPPinG or We’LL get MOre than GRimaCe neXT tIMe!”
The crime scene was strategically placed within view of my home office window…..

Called up some tech support & they helped me fix the Aug/Sept Newsletter poll, thanks Robert!

I Feel the Need…the Need for Feed (Yes, a sad play on the famous Top Gun catch phrase).
I have just recently completed my latest technical meets Mystery Shopping article for the newsletter.
The readers of this blog must subscribe also to:

Mystery Shopper Coach’s Update
Idea Lady (Cathy Stucker - ya know MSPA Gold instructor!)

I am currently using BlogLines and My Yahoo to sub to these, but after researching all the other readers available I may be switching soon - holla if you love your reader or have some great Mystery Shopping feeds!

Also note my new FeedBurner button under my RSS Subscription options. New, it is at a pathetic zero - please help.

Ugh…
This last Shop Logs newletter had me stumped! I had to really do some research to be able to explain RSS.
I had the jist of the idea, but to condense it and explain it was tough until I did some extra reading. You’ll see what I resorted to with the first line in the article, no it wasn’t Webster’s!

I am $20 below last July’s earnings.

July 2004 x3.8 more miles than July 2005
July 2004 x3.3 more shops than July 2005

I am happy only being $20 below. I experienced a significant reductions in mileage and time reporting.
This gas price crunch really has me evaluating time & miles like I should have been doing all along!

Hi,

My name is Bobbi, and I have done Mystery Shopping for about three years and Merchandising for about one year. I enjoy it very much. I am also a Notary Public.

I live in the Northern San Diego area, so if you have shops here, give me a try!!

Thank you

Bobbi
blondebobbi@yahoo.com

They all poured in at once - my dogs will be so happy that they get to go to the bank - - - BISQUITS!

I love this list of Top Ten Tips for Mystery Shoppers :
“4. Never inform the staff that you are observing them or that you are a mystery shopper. The staff you are evaluating must never suspect you are a mystery shopper. Do not fill out the report in front of them and don’t take obvious notes. Your body language, tone of voice and behavior should be as normal as possible to not arouse suspicion.”
It is not important enough to be top three material, but the reader may be dumb enough to have to spell out the fact that it is a surprise - in fact a mystery - that you are the shopper, hence the name mystery shopper!

Quote from one that was mystery shopped: “Blah work sucked, they made me “Active Seller” again. You see a couple of weeks ago I was “mystery shopped” and I got a really good rating. Therefore they reward (punish) me by making me be that annoying guy who harasses you and tries to get you to buy Blockbuster Rewards. I’ve become what I hate most…”

I have found this to be the most intriguing blog about mystery shopping yet.
What are we doing when we enter a place of business as a mystery shopper? We are reinforcing what the management/owner thinks the employees have to do to make the business more money. We are not helping consumers, necessarily. In fact the only benefit I can devire from it, the measly fees/reimbursements notwithstanding, is innoculation from the ploys that businesses/employees use on me when I enter as ONLY a lowly consumer whose money the business just wants to grab.

I am reminded of that spooky movie The Ring. In the movie (stop reading if you still need to rent it) the only way to not die after viewing the video is to pass it on to some other unsuspecting person. They watch it and now they are on the hook for death unless they can pass it on……I just made Mystery Shopping morbid.

Dang it…with two days left I am still below last years earnings, by $65.
I don’t have that much outstanding either; July looks like I will rake in about $75 less also.
When I analyze what I am doing, I have made a conscious effort to leave the lower fees alone (excellent thread at Volition about that). I have tried to maximize my trips. I have increased my mileage from .36 to .40 - I probably need to go back to last year’s June and see what it would have looked like with the different mileage allowance before I can really compare….

My husband’s family is crazy, it is just a fact.
Due to this fact, this was a stressful weekend. During prep work for the crazy family on Friday I received a call from a scheduler. I missed it because of the inevitable drama that comes with in laws. When I returned it 30 minutes later she was out of the office for the weekend & I left the message I could do the shop, but worried I had missed the opportunity.
Bummer, I got the return call this AM that I did indeed miss it, but she gave me hope that another one comes around in August!

Hot day here today. Apparantly too hot for doggies in the truck, even with windows down and the liter of water I dragged along.
I believe Buddy Lee was well hydrated though, as he urinated on the back seat on the way home (yes, I stopped to walk them). Thus throwing me into a pee-induced panic. The thoughts of the shop report were set aside as I had to make a stop at the nearest relative’s house to steam clean the back seat ASAP!!!
I refuse to tell anyone which side of the back seat it was on.

“Common looking people are the best, that’s why God made so many of us.”
Other industries may see more attractive people rise through the ranks.
Shouldn’t I expect as an average looking person to rise through the MSing ranks then?
Mystery Shoppers need to blend….6′ shapely blonds need not apply?

?What do you think?

21st student joined my e-class @ UniversalClass.com today….feels pretty good. (you can visit: http://class.universalclass.com/MysteryShop )
The person before this student is in direct competition with me, we shop the same areas. In some of her coursework I recognized some spots I have maytery shopped! This was an excellent opportunity to see if I had what it took to be impartial, luckily I did. I did figure I would eventually meet a student from my general area, but it startled me to have it happen so soon!

Golfed tonight - no way newsletter will be up until the weekend, sorry.

What was with that last long winded post?
Yeah…
On an upbeat note, the MSPA is accepting nominations for three2005 shopper of the year awards: rookie, “go-to” and just plain shopper of the year.
Kudos to the MSPA for doing this. People have been told about being nominated, but so far none have allowed (or dared) their names to be posted on Volition. If any names are posted I would like to take a vow of being positive and not jumping on what can become a Volition Hatefest bandwagon. I am really so curious if anyone I know will be nominated!

How much do the Mystery Shopping companies have to gain keeping us separated from the inner workings of the Mystery Shopping companies or do we already know everything about the working (financial & otherwise) of the Mystery Shopping companies?

Probably the truth lies somewhere in the middle as with most things in life.

So, what would Mystery Shopping companies keep from us? The actual amount businesses pay per shop is the first thing that comes to mind. The largest potential for profit comes in the last mile, getting the shop completed. Companies benefit from the essential underbidding that shoppers provide by snatching up the first offer that MS companies put out there for shops.
Can you imagine buying jewelry or a car and just accepting the first offer that the seller gives you? Shoppers that can wait live the gamble of waiting for the eventual bonus versus the shop potentially being snatched up by an underbidder; this almost always works out in the favor of the patient mystery shopper, waiting for the bonus. The underbidders eventually lose enough money that they quit the business. If it isn’t worth taking to you , but it is to the under bidder, let them deal with it and do not even miss the shop!
We understand the driving principles of our economic system; so it must be true that Mystery Shopping Companies try to get mystery shoppers to complete shops for the least amount of money possible. Shoppers try to get shops for the highest ratio of dollar to work ratio possible. What is unforgivable on either side?

Does one side have more information than the other? That might seem unfair. Shoppers need to set the price they will be happy with for shop completion, since the may never know the actual amount set aside for shop completion.

Do all participants know the rules? If not, some may be taken advantage of. Accept that newbies do not yet view shops through the formula for profit/loss. If a newbie takes the shop accept it as the cost of another shopper’s education.

Are both sides held to the same set of standards? If not, it is unfair. Until Mystery Shopping companies are held to standards by an independent association/union for the MS Industry realize one side will always have the advantage, the companies, not the Indy Contractors.

I use 1 & 1 for my hosting. I would recommend them. One of the coolest things about their hosting is their statistics pages. I could get lost in the data analysis.
One thing I can share with you that pleases me is that I am getting many reads on this and the newletter page.
Keep reading, but think about posting - I’d love to know what you think.

“From January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005

Date Month Unique Visits
5/1/2005 May 1,490
4/1/2005 April 2,297
3/1/2005 March 1,629
2/1/2005 February 1,619
1/1/2005 January 1,652
8,687 Unique Visits “

Yeah, I shopped on Friday the 13th. Just a jewelry and a shippping shop, but I had to take a new route & was sweating it all the way after hearing all day: “What is it today? The 13th? FRIDAY the 13th?”

I wonder who the schedulers call in my area when they need it done yesterday.
I know someone who probably is the go to in the SW part of my state, but I wonder which of my fellow shoppers is first on the list for the call?
I average two calls a month from schedulers. Not always things I can do or want to do, sometimes I wish they didn’t call, then I wouldn’t have to say no. I once gave some easy movie counts to another mystery shopper (after meeting her at the Gold Workshop), just so I could stop getting the requests. I have a hard time turning down money. I haven’t heard from that scheduler since.

Ray reposted the thread after cut out somethings to which another shopper took offense. I did have a couple smart-ass remarks in there that I guess I am glad I do not have to re-read. (Don’t you hate it when sometimes you blush reading your own words? By yourself?)
Still, I cannot believe the circular reasoning (by that I half mean talking in a circle until your head is up your butt and I half mean illogical reasoning) demonstrated by many adults that drive on the same roadways as I do….. I am a little frightened.

I came across a fun blog to read: Tall Poppy Diaries
My suggestion is to start with Mystery Shopping 101
This author incorporates Mystery Shopping into her life & her blogs and has a real flare for writing.

I have finally given up trying to display an Excel chart in Wordpress and have just put the image up for viewing at the following link:
MS Excel Income Chart
In this chart I am showing money that has actually been paid to me. I find this more useful when trying to predict my MSing income for a certain time of year, like holiday/vacation planning.
This spreadsheet is in addition to the Excel Spreadsheet that acts as a calendar for work to be completed and when payment is expected.
In the spreadsheet I have a running total for the year of money out, money “promised in” - even future projects - and mileage deduction. This helps me determine if a shop is worth my while.

Great - MSing - the New Enron!

“August 20, 2003

Coke Consultant Paid Kids to Buy Value Meals.

According to the Wall Street Journal (available only by subscription), in an effort to convince Burger King to invest in a multi-million dollar ad campaign for Frozen Coke, Coca-Cola hired an outside consultant who gave money to non-profit organizations in Richmond, Virginia to fund the purchase value meals at Burger King during a Frozen Coke test program. As part of the program, the purchase of value meals entitled customers to a Frozen Coke coupon, which in turn boosted sales of Frozen Coke at the restaurants. In addition, several Coke mid-level employees and outside consultants posed as “mystery shoppers” at Richmond Burger Kings and purchased large quantities of value meals to boost the results. Based on the results, Burger King signed on to the Frozen Coke program. Matthew Whitley, an internal audit manager at Coke, later discovered an executive’s expense report seeking over $4,000 in reimbursement for a “mystery shop” at Burger King. Whitley advised upper management at Coke and recommended the termination of the mid-level executives involved. Coke did not fire the executives and did not advise Burger King about the test. Whitley was later terminated from Coca-Cola and claims that his termination resulted from his role as a whistleblower with respect to the Burger King test and unrelated accounting issues at Coke. Coke denies the allegations and is cooperating with the investigation of the Atlanta federal prosecutor’s office into the matter.”

I have taken the next step with my domain after this BLOG - I have written a short newsletter. It covers Mystery Shopping from my point of view, incorporating blogging, the blogs of the shopped, reviews of forums/products. I think the quality is on par with other MS newsletters I have read.

The real question for me is how to promote it? I first thought about Volition, because that is arguably the largest online community of MSers. I posted information on my blog and received some interest initially, but ultimately the topic was removed. Later I posted information on the WebRing to which my BLOG and newsletter belong, that was removed and was accompanied by a short ( and not so sweet response) by the administrator accusing me of SPAMMING his forum. Possibly my favorite forum MSR, Mystery Shop Resources, was my next stop. That forum did not treat the posts as SPAM. If people did not like it they simply ignored it and I did get a couple of replies that were encouraging.

So - was my post (admittedly self serving) SPAM?

Still not sure, I asked a scheduler that was emailing me a newsletter to include my newsletter in her next emailed newsletter. She must be a better scheduler than a writer because she wrote: “Free online Mystery Shopping Newsletter - shoplogs.com” that is hardly the problem though. She used this newletter to advertise many NON-MSing, referrel-getting offers that stirred up many on Volition to call her a SPAMMER. Super, I love being included in this newsletter now!

I still don’t know exactly how to get the word out about my pages, but I am learning how NOT to!

I have only conducted 11 shops in April. Four were in a short route and one was within walking distance from my house! I am simply being more selective in the shops I accept.

Are gas prices weeding out the part time Mystery Shopper? Volition Forums have an excellent topic on this that I am watching: Gas Prices Up - Still Feasible to Shop?
I have the summers free and count on the summer months to put a spike in my Fall income, looking toward Christmas. I hate to say that in April Christmas looks bleak, but…..

Ask the Coach
I recently responded to Melanie Jordan’s blog entry about her upcoming interview with a Mystery Shopping Co. owner with this question.

I had also asked Heather Mitchell this same question ( Construct-A-Shop owner) and got the same ambiguous answer.

I guess there is no answer for the timid. And no response that would sway the determined!

I prefer to not quantify the recent absense of a home PC in my life in mere DAYS.
The calendar alone could not express the agony of trying to enter shop reports via a PDA (can you imagine how PDA friendly some of the MS Co. sites are?) or trying to enter reports before work hours from work. Since my Excel spreadsheet contained all record of my past, current and future assignments the sheer surprise at the reminder emails (always for the next day) were VERY exciting!
Now I am hostage to the whim of my husband (although if he reads this I love him for the new computer!) to import all my EI favorites and passwords, etc. I am recovering slowly - as is my data.

How cool would it be if the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, MSPA, had a dedicated shopper liason that blogged? It would feel empowering to have that immediate feedback instead of wallowing in our miseries on the forums.

Blog-o-mania Hits Newspapers March 27, 2005

I have always found information (heard on National Public Radio) from the Pew Center to be interesting. This information about bloggers & those that read blogs is especially riveting!
Pew Internet & American Life

I am taking a week of “vacation” from my full time job this week. I have a dumpster here to do some Spring Cleaning of the woods/old sheds/garage, I am working on my Master’s paper that should have been done last Spring and I have 4 mystery shops to complete before Thursday.
Why do I do this to myself? Am I the only one? ARGH!

Looking at my income from last year I could see I needed to set monthly minimums to reach.
I had three months in particular that were awful: March April and May.
I am happy to report I buckled down and income for March is up seven fold while mileage to earn that money is up only fives times.
Now I just have to concentrate on April and May; this could really make an improvement in my overall yearly income.

I completed two shops 10 and 11 days ago. I submitted them before I went to bed that evening. These shops were 7 and 6 days early. Two weeks later I receive two emails - each on a separate day. I needed to reformat the narrative in my reports. I wasn’t completing any shops at that time so I did not check my email on the day I revceived the first email. The second email WAS CAPS - I WAS BEING YELLED AT! I understand the constraints of a scheduler, I acknowledge I used the improper tense in two sections. However, I turned it in early and it had been the same tense right along - I guess this really is a just-in-time business! Schedulers, NO YELLING, especially at people who have taken care of their work early to help the MS Co..

…as posted by the MSPA on a popular forum…
“Since November of 2002, we have seen 2035 shoppers successfully complete the MSPA Gold Certification course! Congratulations to all of you and thanks for your interest and excitement in the program!

We are trying something new this year, and going to “smaller” markets where shoppers have asked us to come. We may or may not have member companies in attendance, as there are many of these cities that are not anywhere near any of our member companies, but we are following your lead and coming where you’ve asked us to come!”

As one of 2035 Gold Certified shoppers, and one that lives outside the major cities the MSPA has traditionally held conferences in, this is bad news.
Of course, just more shoppers would be considered bad news, but now if the workshop comes to them and the shoppers do not have to travel to it - there will be an increase! Good news for the MSPA, selling workshops, providing a more consistantly trained work force to their member companies - but not for me. I took the 2-3 hour trip to get certified from my home, I was one of a handful that were certified in my area; maybe not for long.

The Sooper Dooper Poker Adventure: Shop ’till you Drop’… for a living!

And I thought I kept close track of my hobby money…..
;)
THE SOOPER DOOPER STATS (since the 3rd Jan 2005)
STARTING BANKROLL– $1091.06 (includes an extra $500 deposit on 11th Jan)

* Current Bankroll: Online– $1632
* Offline– $1420.13
* Current Level– $2/$4

* Years Profit So Far: Year 2005 Poker Playing Profit– $1511.07
* January 2005 Profit– $725.57
* February 2005 Profit– $785.50
* Total Year 2005 Bonuses (inc. all Rake Back)– $450.00

Buy everything and then return it

Is this me?
Have I passed part - time hobbyist to psycho shopping without passing go? Without collecting $200?

Do you know how sometimes shops sit out there on SASSIE sites even after the due date has passed?
Well, I spotted a easy shop that was near my job . I signed up for it and immediately emailed the scheduler that I could complete the shop on such & such date and report it no later than blah, blah. She responded and said that was great.
For three days the shop sat in my applications as pending. The morning of the shop I emailed her and asked if I was scheduled for the shop. She said yes, but the status never changed. Well, maybe she doesn’t realize I am asking for her to put it into scheduled so I can download the paperwork. I emailed her again (feeling like a pain in the butt) and asked her to display the paperwork in my log. I did not get a response and now work was over. I had to do the shop now or go home and kill the convience factor for which I had originally signed up.
I had completed a similar shop a week ago & could only hope this was the same as I downloaded last week’s paperwork to have in the car. I completed the shop and came home and emailed her again that I had completed the shop and needed to enter the data. Two hours later I was able to enter the data. I have never had to work so hard to complete such an easy shop!

I recently changed the email where I receive Mystery Shopping correspondence. When that happens you have to apply to the MSPA for new Silver/Gold certification codes. I did so and have a gold code that starts with 1 and ends with l. Anybody see the problem I had when I first started re-entering my email/code on more than one hundred sites? yep…. I entered the characters both as 1. The font that MSPA uses on the certificate I was reissued was impossible to tell the 1 from the l. When I emailed them that my code was being rejected they emailed me back pointing out the difference, but of course, I had already being tapping away on my keyboard for hours.

Fridays are Spirit Days at my school, we wear anything with the school logo and jeans. Today I sported a tie dyed sweatshirt supporting one of the the school teams.
And then I went on a shop.
I had to lug a heavy item around until someone offered a cart (luckily under two minutes). I had to keep my jacket zipped up the whole time for fear of sticking out with my psychedelic shirt!
Either no more shops on Friday or I will actually have to start planning my wardrobe around mystery shopping!

I changed my posted back to it’s original title, “Mystery Shopper’s Blog” and the entire thread was removed……

I wanted to see if there are any other MS blogs out there. I know the best source to contact online MS shoppers, but I was hesitant to post. I posted:
Title:
“Mystery Shopper’s Blog”
Post:
“Would you, Could you on a Blog?
(I wanted to title it that, but was afraid of what *moderator* would say!)
I have started blogging and wonder if:
1. Would you be interested in reading another shoppers blog (weblog/online journal)?
2. Would you be interested in writing your own blog?”
I was nervous because often on this forum people find it easier to cut down other people’s ideas than put forth their own. I received some nice emails from people who chose not to post, and some neutral/positive comments, but also some real humdingers!
The moderator did not like being named in my post - I got an email with CAPS - yikes. I guess the Green Eggs & Ham reference was a red flag of insecurity & I was pounced upon…..I thought it was funny. The moderator changed my title to “Would you, Could you talk about Mystery Shopping in a Personal Blog?” A nice compromise.
The first response I received struck me as funny. Within seven minutes of my post the poster took the time to (compulsively?) reply: “To reply in brief, No and No. There is enough stuff on the web that I dont need to see or contribute to any more at this point.” Okay, thanks for your contribution. Maybe it was just me though.

I have not made over $600 per year mystery shopping in fees before the 2004 tax year. Reimbursements do not count in your earned money and so my accountant had advised me not to include the amounts in my taxes. Last year was the first year I dedicated an office, computer and equipment to MSing.
I record the money received during the year and this time of year I find especially stressful. I am ready to close out the year, but I still have payment outstanding, $358.13. Of that I plan on receiving $84 before the end of the year, but realize I may not.
This time of year I have to convert my current spreadsheet to a new spread sheet. I use basically ten columns on an Excel spreadsheet that I fill in for all assignments (up to four more for specifics):Date of shop, MS Company, Business, Cost/Reimbursement/Fee, Type of Payment Expected (Check, PayPal, Direct Deposit), Expected Date of Pay (Which I change to the actual date of payment when I receive the money), Miles to the Shop and the Address of the Shop. The Cost is totaled by the formula “=SUM(E70:E245)” which totals all the money I spend while shopping. I include everything I spend on the shop. Sometimes I leave out purchases I would have made for myself anyway, especially onthe shoe shops it seems. I do this type of formula also for the Fee and Reimbursement (I also add in Referels, Comps and Bonuses). I then have a total that is “=SUM(G246,H246,I246,J246,F246)-E246″ basically, all my incomes minus my costs. I look at that total as howI am doing for that calendar year - money out & expected income also. I take that total however, and subtract what the accountant told me to deduct for mileage, .$36/mile. This usually leaves me in the negative on the year. (I look at it this way, I will go to the mall, weather for a “shop” or not - so I might as well be paid!) This is a write-off, losing money on my business, so the accountant says.
I run a more visual record of my incoming payments by the month in a Excel line graph format so I can compare to the previous year. This does not take into account the money out, but indicates the amount I am bringing in and helps me set reasonable goals for MSing income per month.

I completed a shop Friday night (I think I had the flu!) that really piqued my interest. The product/service was a good deal IF you have the initial capital that you wouldn’t miss.
Here Iam earning $30 for this shop and at the end a salesperson - I never shop a bad one it seems - almost has me convinced that I would be losing money if I don’t sign up to pay the $3,500 yearly dues. Yes, yes, great product/service, but what I can’t tell this guy is I just tried this shop and realized I have spent two hours - three with travel - to earn $30 (plus report time!)….I am not the type to drop $3,500 - even if the MS company tells me I only have to put down $500 & I can have it back in 60 days for $15 more. “Could I please? Would you please hold onto my $500 while I get charged Credit card interest rates for two months? “
Good thing this is a one time shop - I can’t afford it if I fall for it next time.
I’m not sure if I mean fall for the sales pitch from the MS Co. or the salesperson!

FriendlyStuff.com
What part of “Mystery” eludes this guy?

Good Question!
If people have something to sell you, like a list of companies sitting on their hands waiting for you to email them and accept a fabulous assignment to ’shop’ a cruise line, then you can make a boat load….
If the person talking/writing has a personal agenda or just makes money from the constant publication (*cough*Jennifer Voitle*cough*) of his/her exploits you could believe outrageous sums such as $6,000/month.
I have only computerized my records from the previous 1 1/2 years at this point (maybe I’ll learn how to insert my line plot graph from Excel here someday!) in the second half of 2003 I earned $987.28 and so far in 2004 I earned $2,533.17. These totals are not just dollars themselves however, they also include reimbursements, comped meals aside from the fees for doing the shop.

I have been a mystery shopper for five years now. This is a lonely second/part time job because of the mystery in the job titile. I have involved my husband in dinner shops and even talked my sister-in-law into shopping also; I am desparate for an outlet!
I also would like a place online that is an honest look at mystery shopping. There are forums where I read and post, but this will be a safer place.