The Mystery Shopping thread - part 5

kitekat

ruthiejane wrote: »

Hi Kitekat, what kind of job is it? Obviously, don't give the name of the shop, just the type. We might be able to advise you then. I've never had any problems with GFK.

Its buying tickets.

Scaredy_Cat_3

kitekat wrote: »

Its buying tickets.

I bet I know what that one is! I nearly signed up for it myself when I was brand new (just a couple of months ago!) but chickened out because it meant spending money up front.

I would say as long as you follow the brief - and ring or email them to check if there's anything you're not clear on - it should be fine. As others have said, GfK is one of the better companies.

ruthiejane

I'd agree with SC, nothing to worry about, they are done quite regularly.

kitekat

Cheeers will give it some thought.

josie

kitekat wrote: »

I dont want to turn down my first assignment in case i dont get offered anymore is this likely to happen and i wonder why the co in question would give a newbie a job where they have to fork out such a large amount of money to buy the product.Any ideas.Cheers

I wouldn't worry about not doing the first assignment you've been offered there'll be plenty more. I never actually hit the "decline" button on GfK anyway. I just don't accept any I'm not going to do.

As a newbie to this, I'd start on something simpler, like with Gapbuster - nice easy multiple choice answers where you don't have to write too much. OK, not great payers, but small outlay and you can get your nerves out the way and a bit of practice under your belt, before tackling something like the one you mention, which is quite a large outlay from memory.

Hope that helps!

DeeDee98

learning_to_drive wrote: »

On a side note, has anyone ever been asked to leave / escorted out whilst auditing / shopping etc or whatever by store staff?

--

I was doing a covert product availability check on a specific item but there was billions of the stuff and it was taking forever to do. Had a couple of false starts as various sales assistants kept wandering down the aisle I was in.

When I was part way through my third attempt I happened to look up at the large security monitor over the tills to see myself on screen.
I abandoned the visit straight after seeing that !!

ellie9ellie

Well the burger didn't work!!! Now going to do some stretching exercises in the living room - oops I forgot - been weeks since I've been able to touch my toes :rotfl:

Gam

Timmne wrote: »

Sadly it's not that cushy - you either drive & claim OR claim the cost of however else you got there.

There is an argument (with which I agree) that says one should be able to claim a certain amount for walking, as an incentive!

I've taken the car to a number of assignments but have been able to park for free. Can I still claim the mileage even though I've no proof that I drove? Also, do HMRC ask for proof of all expenses?

Thanks in advance

Timmne

You're supposed to provide proof that you fill up - a recentish rule.

My clients are all trained to provide fuel receipts with their mileage claims, just to prove that they are actually using fuel.

As far as we go, you just have to make sure that you're able to back up the fact that you drove. If you had an inspection, the likelihood is that they'd never check it but if they did, you'd need to be sure that you'd claimed for the right mileage, which is enough.

sinderella_2

That's good to hear we don't need fuel receipts, Timmne, it all seems such an ordeal.

My hubby was self employed till recently and used a management company to process his fuel expenses and they refused one or two claims (worth about £100 each) if the receipt wasn't right and I remember thinking, through my irritation, that that seemed unreasonable and I was sure it wasn't against the law to miss the odd receipt...

I told him to phone and argue the case and when he did they wouldn't budge...:mad: