The Mystery Shopping thread - part 5

Flygirl767

Hi there

Newbie here so forgive me if I make any mistakes in my first posts! Just thought I would introduce myself, I am not actually new to ms, I have been doing it for about 4 years now. I used to work full time as cabin crew (hence the user name!) until I had my son 2 yers ago. I now just do ms and auditing on a freelance basis.

The companies I work for mainly are TNS, RE, R Maxim, GFK, GR, S Scan, Gap (only if I'm desperate!!) and I am registered with a few others also. I am a registered auditor with RE and have an airside pass which is great as I can pick up quite a few shops whilst I am doing my weekly audits at Gatwick. I think this forum is great, givng advice and being able to have a moan about the increasing number of jobs with no fee and companies with poor shopper helpdesks.

I am after some advice also, am just registering with OC, any tips on the trial assignment? In particular, the comments at the bottom about where it asks if anything unusual happened? Also, do you need to provide comments to all the answwers, even the yes/no tick boxes?

Look forward to getting to know you all.

L x

ThinkingOfLinking

Not exactly MSing but I just got picked to do research for a womens mag I don't often buy...I get it fre for 6 months in return for filing out a monthly survey on it.

cranezoe

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

Not exactly MSing but I just got picked to do research for a womens mag I don't often buy...I get it fre for 6 months in return for filing out a monthly survey on it.

oooooh how can I get to do that? sounds like fun :T

learning_to_drive

Flygirl767 wrote: »

Hi there

Newbie here so forgive me if I make any mistakes in my first posts! Just thought I would introduce myself, I am not actually new to ms, I have been doing it for about 4 years now. I used to work full time as cabin crew (hence the user name!) until I had my son 2 yers ago. I now just do ms and auditing on a freelance basis.

The companies I work for mainly are TNS, RE, R Maxim, GFK, GR, S Scan, Gap (only if I'm desperate!!) and I am registered with a few others also. I am a registered auditor with RE and have an airside pass which is great as I can pick up quite a few shops whilst I am doing my weekly audits at Gatwick. I think this forum is great, givng advice and being able to have a moan about the increasing number of jobs with no fee and companies with poor shopper helpdesks.

I am after some advice also, am just registering with OC, any tips on the trial assignment? In particular, the comments at the bottom about where it asks if anything unusual happened? Also, do you need to provide comments to all the answwers, even the yes/no tick boxes?

Look forward to getting to know you all.

L x

Hello,

Welcome, good friendly bunch here, plenty with wide ranging experiences and can all offer advice and support with assignments.

Madcap poster Hollypear is currently away, but she is a card and a half, RE (famous m shopping company) are named "Ridiculous eyeballs" by her, Gap becomes "Gyp".

You will get used to it all, and welcome

cookinmummy

Flygirl767 wrote: »

Hi there

I am after some advice also, am just registering with OC, any tips on the trial assignment? In particular, the comments at the bottom about where it asks if anything unusual happened? Also, do you need to provide comments to all the answwers, even the yes/no tick boxes?

Look forward to getting to know you all.

L x

Hi FlyGirl!

With OC - if you feel that nothing unusual or exceptional took place, then you can just write that you felt that nothing out of the ordinary happened.

With the comments, then yes they do like you to write comments in the vast majority of boxes. You can get away with leaving a couple blank, where you feel you cannot really offer any further information. But, generally you want to write something even if it is just a sentence. For example -

Q - was the shop floor clean? Y or N

Explanation - Generally the floor was clean and free of debris, though there were a couple of noticeable scuff marks.

Welcome to the thread!

Scaredy_Cat_3

How do you know when Gap pay you? Does it show on My Assignments which ones they have paid you for? Or do you just get a random amount appearing in your bank and have to guess what it's for? I'm just wondering how much info I need to keep for myself - I have a list of the amounts they owe me but haven't noted the assignment refs. Do the jobs in My Assignments disappear when they are paid?

red_fox

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

How do you know when Gap pay you? Does it show on My Assignments which ones they have paid you for? Or do you just get a random amount appearing in your bank and have to guess what it's for? I'm just wondering how much info I need to keep for myself - I have a list of the amounts they owe me but haven't noted the assignment refs. Do the jobs in My Assignments disappear when they are paid?

You just get a random amount in your bank and you have to check to make sure it is right. If you feel the amount is incorrect then you can email them and ask for a list of all the jobs you have been paid for.

Scaredy_Cat_3

Thanks! Do they generally pay for all the jobs done in a calendar month in one go? I notice the first post on this thread says they pay at the end of the month following, so if (for example) they paid me at the end of September, it should cover any work done throughout the whole of August?

cookinmummy

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

Thanks! Do they generally pay for all the jobs done in a calendar month in one go? I notice the first post on this thread says they pay at the end of the month following, so if (for example) they paid me at the end of September, it should cover any work done throughout the whole of August?

Yes - technically. I think its everything up to about the 25th ish of the month previous.
Though I have had assignments not paid in the following month in the past:rolleyes: - so keep track!;)

Or is it gfk that cut off at the 25th? Sorry am ill today so not got my head on - either way keep track!

red_fox

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

Thanks! Do they generally pay for all the jobs done in a calendar month in one go? I notice the first post on this thread says they pay at the end of the month following, so if (for example) they paid me at the end of September, it should cover any work done throughout the whole of August?

Yes. The september payment should include all the jobs you have done from 1st August - 31st August.