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…….

Well, this is one reason I can’t say I’ve missed mystery shopping.
I accepted an easy shop at a music store around tax day. I dragged DH to the mall with me and to his credit, he held on longer than I thought he would. He found athletic shoes while I did my shop. I got the paperwork done as soon as we got home, even checked it (within thenext couple of) business day. Looked like that one went through fine according to the shop log.
Little scenarios like that make me think about getting back in to mystery shopping just as hobby, just to get out there, an excuse to have something to do. It gets lonely in a new place, you don’t always know your way, or any people….
…and then…..
Erin emails me today: that the “evaluation was returned for more information on 4/17 and again on 4/20, with no response” - interesting that this is the first email I have received! No messages on my phone either. How urgent can this be? I check the shop log and there it says “URGENT, 2ND REQUEST! This evaluation is being returned to you for additional information.” Now, I know my schedule didn’t cause me to miss this because LITERALLY this is the only shop I have done so far this year. If she emailed/called she coudl have just said ‘you did a shop for me’ and I woudl have known EXACTLY to whom I was speaking. I emailed her back saying this was the first I had been contacted & I woudl update the shop within ten minutes. What a dorky system they must have over at beyondhello-themirror if that is the best they can do with contacting such a busy shopper as myself!

I’m so frustrated at a MS company because they are refusing to pay me for a shop saying that they didn’t receive the pictures I sent. I sent pictures directly to the HelpDesk and a copy ot myself. The email copy to me came through just fine with the pictures!

Do they always try to get out of paying people for problem shops? This shop they sent me to was no longer the brand gas station it was supposed to be, in fact, the pumps were shut down with “No Gas” signs on them. I’m thinking that they are having a hard time getting reimbursement from their customer and so are trying to blow me off..

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!

For reasons that currently escape me, I had to cancel a nice weekend dinner at a dessert factory restaurant. I was scheduled for the 4th of this month and emailed my scheduler a little more than two weeks in advance. Hey, I am not one to turn down those types of places lightly.

A couple of strange things happened. Mystery Guest emailed me a few days in advance about my ‘upcoming shop.’ I promptly forwarded them my origianl email inofrmaing them that I would not be able to complete the shop and they needed to replace me (over two weeks ago). Then I heard nothing, I of course, hoped I was not on their poop list, but I had retained the original email & forwarding it to them must have cleared the air - and if it didn’t - there was nothing else I could do anyhow. Today (Sunday?) at noon MG calls “Calling to rescedule your shop.” Ever the idiot, I was not sure if I had forgotten to do somehting over the weekend, so I *played* dumb for a couple of minutes until it became obvs. this was about the dessert restaurant. This shop was due the 4th, I cancelled twice before and at the start of the month & they were ‘just getting back to me?’ One of two things were going on here. She was looking to guilt me into helping her out with thise shop, hoping I would feel some guilt about having an actual life or forget I cancelled with them twice & hope I felt I owed them one. The second, equally likely scenario, MG are idiots that waited until the last minute. Her idea of me shopping woudl be either tomorrow or the next day for lunch, quite a ways into town . . . . um, that won’t work, I need to schedule lunches pretty far in advance. She said she could “proboably put me back in the rotation then.” Huh? Had a doen something squirelly? Doubtful, more likely she was looking to use my (mystery shopper’s) guilt to her advantage.

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!

I could go shop a high class jewlery store in the ‘big’ city for 5% of the cheapest piece in the store…. I wonder if it occurs to the Mystery Shop Provider that a select few can pull this shop off & yet the payment is so minimal, let alone scaled down if you could truly afford to shop this place…..

COMMENTS: You will receive $27 for doing the shop.

Please note for this shop you must be comfortable talking about luxury
watches with a sales associate. The watches in this store can cost from
$500-$30,000. A purchase is not required.

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 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.

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?

I recieved an odd sort of emal today from a scheduler. It made reference to identifying numbers from a shop, but I don’t have any outstanding shops with this Mystery SHopping company. I called back & left my contact information, but haven’t heard back yet…..
I would be ticked if it was someone just trying to fill a shop only because they are making it sound important…

I’ll post when she returns the call.

I am a woman, therefore I have had many ‘breakups’ with guys that were not skilled in letting a gal down easy.
Maritz has joined the ranks of some skanks of the past.
Another thoughtless MS company keeps showing how they have no idea where I actually live & this all is making me feel a bit 10th grade geek this week; well, thanks, you can help by reading on…..
I guess I hadn’t shared this with you yet because it is a bit awkward. I should have known better than to get in to a mystery shopping situation with a company after I had changed their profile information to my new place & GA and placed them under the cumbersome GA MS Favorites File. But shoppers are such suckers when the anonymous voice identifies itself as a scheduler, regardless of the company. Thus resulting in my “Smooth Move” of the 7th.
Of course, I’ve repressed it a bit, but here are the details as I recall them: My DH calls to ask me why Maritz sent me a large package there; good question, it is because the IDIOT I spoke to about shops in GA & assigned me one in MI & then sent the info to GA- don’t make me explain in any level of detail at what level I hold her intelligence please. I then get the autoreminder email & respond with the situation. I suggest they simply resend the inforamtion to me at my current, MI, address & I can complete the shop (within one mile of my house).
Well, I got the call in the evening; it has been awhile since I’ve been dumped, I don’t remember if the evening is the “pref” time or not. I know it is difficult to get people from Maritz on the phone after business hours sometimes. (Ahh, I do remember the paranoia that sets in after the dumping) The girl sounded young, possibly this was the first time she had made this call herself, maybe she was still dealing with the inept festival of bad dumpers in her life. I, as I had been all though school years, was kind & genial to the dumper. She told me how “they” really can’t resend materials, and how “they really don’t just let her” send to a different a different address than what the profile supplies.
(side note: how many times have you called them and “they” have given you your password though? Hmp.)
I suggested to her that maybe the person who called me shouldn’t have scheduled me for a different state than my profile address then.
She had nothing to say.
I asked, so what do we do? Do you want me to shop it or not? She latched on to that not like a terrier. Thanks for letting her “off the hook.”
And with that she hung up.
I felt dirty and embarrassed in my own house all by myself that night, I had been dumped my a mystery shopping company.

As an aside I have been thinking about the new house, wonder if/how life will be better down there. This surrent house is destined for resale, I get to pick the next one honey! By then we will need to do a exterior makeovers as they are becoming more important to moving homes on the market - I found this place Barrington Real Estate that has the most comprehensive listings available for Barrington real estate here at New Castle Realty. I should suggest to Maritz, Sung from AthPower (who keeps emailing me on “Urgently Needed Shops” w/0 zips/addresses) or the bulletin boards giving me listings for states other than MI or GA to use a realtor!

I used to suffer from mystery shopper burn out…..now I just am a burnt out mystery shopper. Wondering if you are too? Check off signs that describe you:
1. You’re more interseted in the Volition posts than doing actual shopping.
2. You get incensed with Ray and want to shoot him with a paintball gun, the way they used to mark cattle, “watch out, this one is cRAYzy!” (as an aside did you know ‘Sport’ Paintball Guns were not patented until 1985 - what DID my DH do before then? )
3. You start to root for the servers, salespeople & call center people….. You LOVE when you see them sticking it to the MS companies by posting responses YOU KNOW are to shops!
4. You lead bad salespeople into the questions, it’s like you are the Cliffs Notes and this sale is their cram study session.
5. You look to fill out a customer service comment card, but then realize the fee is the same as if you’d have to for ‘work.’

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!

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!

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!

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%

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?

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.

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…..

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!”

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 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.

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!

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.

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.

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. “

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?”

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…..

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 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.

I am going to the casual american cuisine restaurant since I will be spending the day with my 21-27 year old sis in law at the gardens near one of these places, but the bummer is the sceanrio doesn’t call for the full two meals anymore. However, I wasn’t on a diet before, so it all may come out in the wash! I’ll still have to go to the gym to be sure….especially if we don’t go with the Atkins cheesecake for dessert.
We had this planned presky hig gasoline costs, so I feel like the “free miles” are calling me again!

I have put off more than my share of MSing opportunities this summer.
I look at my August profits & wondering if I will end up paying the Mystery Shopping Companies?!?

I am now at that point in the summer where I cannot take some shops because they are at times of the da when I will be back in school; not that my motivation to shop was very high this summer. Gas Prices, need I say more? I upgraded to a gas guzzler at 20mpg. I just have lost some interest.

I have a return portion of a shop that I am letting hang over my head like nobody’s business, certainly not mine!

I am going to a picnic of mystery shoppers this Saturday -hope it perks me up!!!!

I have only been on this last diet one week, just had my yearly physical (of course I had to fast) and then I hit the pretzel shop.
Why:
-Did I accept a pretzel shop if on a diet? I naively thought I could control myself and not order the one with frosting.
-Did I go to any food shop after a doctor’s appointment where I needed to fast? I was near the mall anyway & I love to cash in on such “free miles.”
-Didn’t I think this would happen? Well, maybe I did, just a litlle.

So, I just counted it as a weekend-type day.

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

That dinner shop was difficult.
At first the hostess seated us at a table in the center of the dining area, hardly room for me to get the camera outta my atomic purse and take covert snap shots. Within ten seconds of us getting our drink she had to move us to a booth - at that point I thought I was in luck!
I managed to get the pics required though & was feeling pretty good about myself. I captured the entrees despite an unusual level of employees in such a small space….then the bridal party entered and the staff upped the stakes by removing 2x10yards of tables from in front of the very booth I was sitting at…hmmm…..dance floor?
I mananged to get the needed shots in the restroom and when I returned to my booth, now easy to find center stage, I tried to take a couple more ’safety shots’ and the camera started giving me some cryptic error code. Whatever, I had enough, I’d deal with it when I took the entry way shots on the way out to the vehichle. Yea….when I did that it asked me a series of questions I did not understand, resulting in the clearing of the pics, yep, they were all gone. I turned to my phone camera and have some from there, but….only two entry way pics from the end of the trip on the actual camera. I sent two emails already & then submitted what I had - we’ll see.

I signed up for another company and in the spirit of my over indulgent self I asked for a dinner shop.
Well, I got it! But the dinner will get cold as I need to submit 12 pics.
12.
Yeah, discreet….
I hope the guest can enjoy her dinner.

I was paid yesterday for some super easy shops I did.
(I think I was paid extra for the pain in my posterior that ths entering of the data developed into though)
I took a job in my small hometown and the small town where I work. I was asked to find tha main fast food store and the two closest competitors within specific criteria. My hometown had all three places, but the place I work only had one other place, for a total of two FF places.
The way I read the posting I would get $6 for one town and $6 for the other town.
Imagine my surprise when I was paid $36 via PayPal….almost worth the nightmare of trying to contact anyone with a pulse at the company about inputting data. Almost worth the hassle of my scheduler apparantly being on an acid trip when emailing me cryptic email messages. Almost worth my keeping the data for an extra week, because no one would tell me exactly how to enter it (I was afraid I’d be labelled a flake).

Oh this is too embarrassing - I can’t type it.

Well, I’ll start with the less painful one: Last Saturday (7/2) I realized I had a family thing this past Saturday (7/9)
so I had to cancel a couple of pretzel shops. Too bad, because yum! Well, I logged into their Prophet system and “Decline this visit” was selected a full week ahead of time. I had no current assignments. I received a reminder email 7/7 ‘reminding’ me. I replied and indicated I had to cancel and asked for confirmation of that cancellation.
He said, “This is a self assigning system. Simply log in and decline the visit.”
I said, “Thank you, I already did so, but wanted to confirm with someone.”
TODAY I read an email “You accepted and scheduled an Auntie Anne’s mystery shopper visit that is past due.”
I forwarded all my corresspondence, but am still a little worried, my pretzel connection!

Remember 7/8: “I drove 20 miles round trip for $2.50 reimbursement and a whopping $5.00 fee. ” Yeah….I have to tell you….. they cancelled that shop (or did I?) right as I left to do it. I printed off the report instructions/questions. And I am wondering if I selected Remove Items. THat is the only thing that could have happened unless they simply sensed that I was already in a losing proposition and needed an evil laugh - and even CoRI has better things to do. But I still have the report & have offered it to them. Dang I am ticked off that I felt obligated to do that little orphaned shop & then it ends up cancelled. Holy Poop - it COST me how much to do it?

A couple of things happened today that really made me cringe:

I was on an oil change shop and I was so proud because I was only 36 miles short of actually needing this change on my primary vehicle. My last name has a particular spelling and I prefer on shops to allow them to misspell it. This place happened to be in my town (saving on the gas, aren’t I?) and I simply said my name without the spelling mantra. Now rarely do I run into this - - - the mechanic actually asked me if I was related to Susie, well, my husband is her cousin and there was no way to deny it. Trust me; Susie would be crushed. Let’s face it, if they’re asking me…they’re telling her. Well, he launched into how he dated her sister & helped her father put up hay and still sees the Mom. This was after the bulk of the shop is over, so I plan on reporting the shop (minus the family tree) and then following up with a scheduler email.

I had planned to pick upsome more audits that were reassigned & I was left holding some far flung shops. I had to rearrange routes, long story short, one was the leftover. Oh, why do I ever say to myself, “well, since I’m already there I can do this too"? I drove 20 miles round trip for $2.50 reimbursement and a whopping $5.00 fee. Remember that gas I was saving on? Well, I am trying to forget that, so quit bringing it up!
*pause for you to throw tomato*
Yes, I took a low paying gig - I am the problem - keep in mind I was severally punished. Gasoline jumped from $2.36 to $2.49 while I was on this little scenic tour.

I guess I am getting better at the audit job I have taken….my SASSIE score jumped 20%….I’ll keep doing them when offerred I guess. I do, however, miss the anonymous element of a quick in and easy out mystery shop.

I type, Isave (before 30 minutes expire) and I see this:
“All of your current answers have been saved,
however there are 136 errors that need to be fixed.”
I *sigh*, because this the the definition of mystery shopper burn out….

I was nervous after the phone portion of my motorcycle shop. With some supportive words from the scheduler I did complete it today. I have never felt like such an idiot. Oh, I did wear pink sandals there……do peple who ride bikes wear pink sandals?

YUM - I had a great dinner tonight. I brought my sister-in-law & her boyfriend to the bbq place that emails you the locations to request, a month in advance. I had some chicken with cucumber salsa (craisins and cilantro) delcious! He tried to pay, but I stuffed his cash back into her purse. C’mon, it’s a shop!
BUM - I think I

finally found a shop that I am not any good at

……the motorcycle shop. My husband says I was not believable on any level.

Well, I started my fast food shop exactly at 7AM and still made it to work by 7:22AM - here’s the bonus - where I was able to deliver the second meal to a student - YES!

(weren’t all Game Show hosts named Bob?)
I feel like that old game show Name That Tune:

I signed up for one of the breakfast fast food shops because it is in the small town where I work. Sometimes, I admit, I stop at the fast food place in my town before heading to work. Well, this is a weekday shop. I am supposed to be at work by 7:25 AM. My shopping parameters are 7:00AM to ….?…..it doesn’t matter because I have to be working.

I have to do the walk in and drive thru - I am wondering just how late I will be that morning - we’ll have to see.

I left work early yesterday and scheduled a doctor’s appointment for today.
As I started the day I kept checking the usual sites and the boards - I suddenly realized here I was sick and still looking for shops “on the way to the doctors office.”
Boy, that sure is sick!

Yeah!
I was sitting at the computer reading other email when a good self assign offer come in today - I nabbed four of these shops.
What a lucky day!

RevSpork: My new second job

I have five shops today that require me to ship an empty box.
And of course I just threw out all my old shoe boxes last Sunday.

Is this an emergency? Should I go buy more shoes so as to have enough boxes?
And would those shoes be tax-deductible?

But not dejected….

The wrong location shop I did the other day was for the Big Company with the Help Desk. I submitted what I could and even scanned in my receipt (yeah….from the wrong location….an effort to prove I am stupid, but not a ‘flake?’).
So far the status is “Submitted,” but I am worried it will soon turm to “Rejected.”

Oh this is a bad feeling…I shopped the wrong location and did not realize it until I started reporting today.
I have shopped the wrong location before, but noticed on my way home and was able to turn around and go back to the proper place and redo the shop.
No such luck this time. I am outside of the the window for shopping and have just realized my mistake while reporting this morning. Dang it!
I offered the shop information to the company, but I am sure they will not want it.
Well, I had a good run there for awhile with no such faux pas!

Thursday I had two easy mystery shops.
One was taking a specific phone into get fixed and then mail it back to the company. This was a new company for me, so I always try to be extra careful in the reporting - but the shop itself was a breeze (once I figured out how to use the phone).
The second shop involved lying on a mattress - I am an expert at that! If there had only been a television involved…..hmmm…. maybe next time.
However, my second task that day was dreadful and the reason I dislike shopping unless it is mystery shopping! I had to buy a pair of jeans. Eddie Bauer, The Gap, Nordstrom’s Rack, finally Kohl’s had a pair. I wore them today & I think I was just tired because they’re not so hot. I can mystery shop all day, but shopping without instructions and reports seems to be infinitely difficult for me.

Like all plans where I decide to help my husband out, this one could have used more precise planning, maybe better organization, or less dogs and hillbillies.
I live north of the large metro area that most of the shops center around in my area; I can pick up some small towns that nobody can even find on the map usually. Two such shops were gasoline shops north and east of town that I decided I could use to put fuel in his truck. I took our two Jack Russell Terriers (tall skinny & short fat - what a pair) and set out in his truck.
The first shop I drove through town to make sure I had the right stations, some of those country stations don’t look the same as in the city. Yep, that was it…okay, I’lll just turn around here - I pulled into the end of this guy’s drive way - and decided not to pull in forward but sideways since he was standing in the front yard. At first I didn’t think there as enough room to make a u-turn in the road, but on seocnd thought…….yeah, well…..turns out I was right, not enough room. I am now halfway in the ditch with the slushy snow, sliding down further as dogs are jumping all over, a very calming environment. Okay, I’m stuck, that’s right, rock it back and forth, okay now I am more stuck. Dogs - still insane trying not to slide down the 45 degree slope the front seat has now become.
1. Panic
2. Call husband - lost call -poop!
3. Panic Again
4. Maybe that guy can help me, you know, the one working on an electrical box at 8 pm in his front yard.
5. Ignore the banjo music.
6. Try husband again - if I stand on this leg and lean over the bed of the truck I get signal.
Okay, so he did eventually show up with a bigger truck to pull me out, but meanwhile I turned off the truck, so I didn’t melt more snow. Sat with the dogs while they lost their minds, took them on a walk, although I only had one leash - you figure it out I know I didn’t! That dang hillbilly - cussing in his front yard the whole time couldn’t be bothered to help me, but as soon as my husband and father-in-law show up he walks out to ask if they need any help (this is why there is no gun rack in the truck).

Saturday found me at the mall for four shops in 1 hour 20 minutes. I did drive out to the farther of the two malls near me, but after all ice cream was involved.
(Insert husband “doing the math” to find out just how much I will do for just how little.)
For instance, Saturday found me eatting two pretzels, an icee, a lemonade and a large mint/chocolate ice cream. That was way too much in such a short period of time and I was upset to my stomach, but I had to do it. What else could I do to fill the time between my purchase and return that was the main staple of this mall run…..maybe shopping could have been the exercise I pay for instead of the empty calories I was paid to consume?

I had my three shops ready for after school today, the second day back from Holiday break, how brave(stupid?) am I? I had printed out the paperwork before I went to bed last night & had them under my purse to put in the car for after school to remind me where & in what order I was headed today. Good Planning!
Dang it if I didn’t get to the first shop and forgot the department I was supposed to shop!
I had to sit in the car in the lot and call home and humbly ask hubby to go home for me, open my email and find the target department listed in my email. Eatting cell phone crow has never been as fun as this….he was at the junk yard getting parts for a vehicle he is fixing for me. Nice. Real Nice.

I took a bowling shop because I had skipped many trips to the lanes since Thanksgiving. Many shoppers do not like the bowling shops, but I find them easy and relaxing. I am in no stretch of the imagnination a good, or even passable, bowler, but these are fun to me. (The report is too easy also!)
To get my husband to go I take the one closest to our house and he fell into my trap perfectly on New Year’s Day! After I let them walk us to our lanes he was miffed because, “that makes me look like an idiot.” He doesn’t realize, the world is full of idiots and they hardly recognize each other, no one will remember him.
I realized I had been made when the food worker, no lane server but the cook/cashier himself, came to check on us/ask if we were enjoying ourselves/etc. I said to myself I neededto pull this stop out of the rotation for a bit! Then as we are finishing up our last game this guy is standing at the back of our lane with this goofy smile…it kinda creeped me out. He walked up to us and asked if we knew who he was (LOVE it when the creepy guys do that!)….turns out we went to High School with him and oh yes, he was married to the manager.
Now I had no way of knowing that my New Year’s Resolution needed to involve anything like this. How bad is this looking for my next three shops tomorrow?

I am so excited I just landed my next fine dining shop!
I scheduled it for a Sunday, safe bet hubby will go since there are no races on television this time of year, but it is a bit of a drive. It is at a chain I have wanted to try for years, but never had the excuse. Since we moved the last time there are none near me, so the possibility never came up again - - - until now!
I have already checked out their wine list and menu on line - I am thinking Honey Shrimp and Riesling! Luckily, I will have until mid-January to rethink it and reorder a hunderd times!
This shop is also with a new company that I have not shopped before, mainly because they shop the other side of the state - this shop is in the middle - lucky me. I have wanted to shop for this company to see how they grade, I am thinking it will be easy to get a good grade because they post examples and nonexamples on their web page, but you never know….

I took this straggler shop a week ago and was assuming I could fill shops in around it as I got closer to the shop date. I mean this was out by the mall and there is always something out there! Here it is four days before Christmas and I am heading out to the mall - there better be a darn good reason for this trek - and I only have one $12 shop. I was getting nervous that I was not going to fill in anything around this shop; I was disappointed. I knew better than to take retail shops so close to Christmas in such a place as an electronics store no less! Well, the morning of the shop came around and I was trying to find some places I could stop to make the trip worthwhile when I got an email from a scheduler asking if I could do a bar/lunch shop at a wings place - right on the way to my electronics shop! I did have to do some light shopping inbetween to work through the beer, but the holiday shopping didn’t bother me as much after some drafts.

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!

I have only completed one fine dining shop so far and it was fabulous, but since I have had a taste of the good money it has been difficult to complete the small shops.
Two days ago I got a lead on a mortgage shop that, although detailed and lengthy pays $200 at conclusion. I have to compile some of my mortgage details still, but I am up for this!

I have started receiving some really annoying call backs from a buy-direct-from-factory warehouse. The first person I talked to was the “teaser” I guess and was supposed arouse my interest. The second person to call was the annoying one. First she said she was “calling me back,” I guess this is to disorientent the consumer, make them feel insane and ready to relinquish the checkbook to the warehouse. She talked to me about a date that they requested me to come in for an openhouse, which I asked to have changed to a week later. After it was all set up the same person called me back three times on Friday - no message - just the number three times within 30 minutes on my phone. I was freaked (after my massage) I saw this number three times flashing and I was so worried I had missed something. Well, you know I called the number and it took two people to track this crackhead down for her to tell me that she had talked to me last week, or two days ago as I like to call it, and “…just wanted to confirm that such-and-such date and time would work for me.” I was nonplussed - yes, yes, that would be fine…..I can’t wait for this shop!
I would think about rescheduling, but it is due the following day. Plus that, God only knows what would happen to that scheduler’s head if I changed anymore!