The Mystery Shopping thread - part 5

blue_river

Hi this is my first post on the forum i do MS jobs for GR. I started applying to other companies. Retail eyes took me on right away but i am still waiting for a reply from gap 24 hours later. How long should i wait before i contact them again. Also on the site their is a list of MS agents to contact about 14 in all is their loads more companies to work for if i use Google/yahoo to look for them and how will i know if they are any good thanks for your help.:beer:

learning_to_drive

Hollypear wrote: »

Ellie how we all agree with you. For what it's worth here is what I did. Remember the person who emailed you at the beginning when you got accepted. I emailed her with my complaints about this and said for the paltry fee I wasn't prepared to jump through all those hoops. For £5!!!!

If a lot more people did what I did and for the good of the majority deny yourself a free coffee or a miserable free pint of lager and tell them to go stuff their jobs and mega reports they would stop exploiting us as that is what they are doing.

We have do it with their pharmacy jobs and out of curiosity I had a look today and put Leeds, Manchester Glasgow etc into the search and there are loads and loads of unfilled jobs there. So when they go crawling to said pharmacy company I hope to God they lose the contract and a better company like GfK get it.

If enough of you feel as I do then PM me and I will stick my neck out and email them again saying how we all feel and at least try and open a communication with them. I wouldn't be aggressive about it but I think they need a gentle word in their shell like.

I appreciate though I am OK as I have apart time job that there are people out there with serious debt problems clutching at straws exploiting them. RE are the sort of business that a century ago had no compunction about sending children down chimneys.

I know folks you won't recognise this serious HP and thing someone stole my log in but I think this company are taking the mickey out of us.

On a cheerier note as I type this in Glasgow it is raining dogs and buckets. Anyone new to the forum won't understand this but my friends here all will.:rotfl:

I agree 110% with the lines about debt problems, and post of the year tbh.

The longer these jobs go unfilled, the better, they really need to sort their acts out and get a better fee.

josie

blue_river wrote: »

Hi this is my first post on the forum i do MS jobs for GR. I started applying to other companies. Retail eyes took me on right away but i am still waiting for a reply from gap 24 hours later. How long should i wait before i contact them again. Also on the site their is a list of MS agents to contact about 14 in all is their loads more companies to work for if i use Google/yahoo to look for them and how will i know if they are any good thanks for your help.:beer:

24 hours?!? You need to wait a couple of weeks before contacting them again. Gap are notorious for being slow to answer queries or get back to people if at all.

Read through this thread for ideas. I realise you're a newbie, but most of the info is already on here - see post 650 even as well as page one of this thread.

learning_to_drive

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

Please can I ask some questions about a supermarket audit? I've never done one and don't want to appear a complete idiot!

What's a gondola end? I assume it's the end of the shelf where they often have promotional items? If the MS company has specified a gondola end number, can I assume you just count from 1 upwards from the entrance or do I ask staff to tell me what number it is?

What's a barker?

I don't understand the questions regarding the shelf edge label - the questionnaire asks if they are present on entry, and on exit. Does this mean at the time I entered the store and the time I left the store - or does it mean are they visible as a promotion at the entrance of the store?

What does 'ranged to be stocked by the store (check stock system)' mean? And how do I check stock system?

Thanks

As ex retailing extradordinaire I will field your questions, anyone else got issues, please let me know.

Gondola End is also known as Plinth end, where there is an aisle, it's the ends of those aisles that make up where the customers generally shop, they always have offers on, so you are looking for this to be displayed here as well as where is always is (down juice of wherever).

Ask the staff, Chilled will have a certain number of gondolas and it sometimes depends on which is classed as their primary gondola (where the customers go the most) and that's where the best offers go. As long as it is on one of the plinths, it doesnt matter as store's have their own challenges, remember head office only see a plan of the store, there are issues in every store with what goes where.

Barker is something that is usually on the front of an offer, like a piece of card in a plastic holder that advertises the offer. Basically tells the customer in addition to the price ticket what the offer is.

SEL, does this product have an SEL when you enter the store, so is Innocent 1l Strawberries and Bananas as an example, does that have a price ticket in front of the product when you arrived, if not, you need to get the store staff to print one off for you, therefore it must be Y when you leave the store, if it doesn't have a SEL, staff cant scan it as Out of stock and therefore cannot get many in. Stores vary, some are really good, most are garbage and dont put SEL's on new products. There should be a ticket for every location, so its home location (smoothie / juice aisle) should have a SEL in front and also the gondola end where it's sold from as well, so the customers know what price it is.

Sometimes, when products are on offer, they pile every variety into every store, but if its not on offer, the smaller stores wont sell every variety as there simply isnt space. The store staff can check if this is ranged to them by checking the commodity screen (take them the number below the barcode to check it, Tosco call it a TPN and it has a 0 in front).

You need to count the stock on the shelf and then get them to check it on their system (again with the TPN numbers) and see if it tallies, be sure to check the chiller where the products that are not on the shelf go. Get them to change the numbers to your counts as the bookstocks (stock on system) can be inaccurate, most of the time they are counting everything in juice on a Sunday or whatever so they may not need to change it.

HTH

learning_to_drive

Have Gyp changed their website? Or has this been the case for a while?

iluvfreebies

hi do optimun contract not offer surveys anymore? i cant see the option of surveys anymore. thanks in advance

learning_to_drive

Working as a mystery shopper with GAPbuster Worldwide is different. We treat our mystery shoppers with RESPECT

That's a laugh to start with, surely gyp are violating Trade Descriptions?

Respect - Showing respect by dropping you when you put in a factual report that is negative.

Timmne

Working as a mystery shopper with GAPbuster Worldwide is different. We treat our mystery shoppers with contempt

That's more like it

Respect - ALWAYS believing the bonus-hungry client/managers who lie about anything on your report, over you.

tigergold

Well, look who we have here !! Are you getting nervous yet ?

Little_ny

iluvfreebies wrote: »

hi do optimun contract not offer surveys anymore? i cant see the option of surveys anymore. thanks in advance

I was wondering about this too!

When I first started with them, I was receiving loads of e-mails for jobs that are available. Since doing my first job, I haven't heard anything since! I don't understand, I was really proud of my report and I got paid quickly. So i don't think there were any problems with it...

Also....I'm having a problem with Gap at the mo...they are requesting a transaction ID "if applicable"...I don't have one and it won't let me complete my report! I've left it blank, typed in N/A and not applicable and still not working!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!