The Shop Logs

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.