The Mystery Shopping thread - part 6

jediteacher

Is anyone else got no jobs showing on RE?

I've not had any jobs showing for about a week! :mad:

katnap8

I have 6 showing in my area on RE. It's been pretty quiet for the last two weeks. I've only managed to pick up two jobs, one that I did this week and another which I'm scheduled to do next week. I saw loads of airport ones come and go and the majority of the ones I have listed are airport ones which I can't do. I hope things pick up soon.

This is the first weekend since I started mid January that I have no MS visits and none scheduled for next weekend.

tigergold

82much wrote: »

Hi Tigergold.

I don't know who BPA is. Do you work for them full time? Haven't heard of this before.
Hope someone can help you.

Hi, they are BPA worldwide, I do not work for them fulll time, just on a Self employed basis like RE.

xxvickixx

RE is dead for me too, I have been wondering if the sytem was not working properly but a few others have said the same thing about this time of year being quiet.

82much

Tigergold. What about dropping them an email and asking about this? I haven't heard of the company so don't know what they are like. You would think they would be giving holiday pay not charging it!!

82much

Vicki
I think its according to what area you are in. Down my way we only get a few for any of the companies whereas some places seem to get tons of work!

johnny_c-l

tigergold wrote: »

Hi, they are BPA worldwide, I do not work for them fulll time, just on a Self employed basis like RE.

Hi Tigergold,

BPA employ their mystery shoppers so you are PAYE not S/E. Looking at my last payslip they seem to include holiday pay in the fee rather than deducting it. i.e. If you agree to do a job for £10, you might be paid £9.11 for the MS, and 89p for holiday pay....but the total is still £10 IYSWIM.

KSG1970

Hi, I am new to MS but thought I would give it a try...

I have been sent one which required a branch visit to a financial institution and you had to say you had between x amount and x amount of money to invest. I didn't feel that comfortable about this as I don't have the amount of money stated and had a fear I would get caught out.

On another note, I have accepted a similar MS which involves a phone call to a financial institution with a similar situation but I feel fine about doing this as I have a good back out excuse.

Would anyone else feel a bit awkward about the first scenario or is this is the norm for MS ?

I also had one for a family bowling day out which would have been excellent but felt my kids are far too young to do that (one couldn't even lift the ball!)and would probably have been caught out !

Is there a gift to being able to 'lie' or is MS not really the thing for me ?

I would be really interested on your views.

Many Thanks.

ukmonkey

JEEEEEEEEZ!

So, because of my OH, we didn't get started on the car jobs until around 1230-1300hrs. We completed 3 today.

The first one involved a ten minute wait and at least 45 minutes with the salesman. He was a really nice bloke (not at all like the usual car salesman image!), couldn't do enough for us. The deal was fantastic and if I had had the money I wouldn't have hesitated, genuinely.

Second one was a complete d*ck. I waited around five minutes to be seen. the salesman couldn't have cared less whether he sold us a car or not. Ended up speaking to his manager. Total visit took 30 mins tops.

Third visit, seen pretty much straight away. A couple of seemingly long waits, total visit took around 30 minutes tops.

One thing I noticed - Coffee at first place was lovely, coffee at third place was rank, really really bad. Tasted like burned water. Urgh. Sorta reflects the companies though!

So, 3 down, 9 to go tomorrow. I need to be more efficient. The first one was a balls up in soooo many ways and I learned that in the second and third visits, particularly the third as they were much much quicker.

We're heading out early tomorrow and will be waiting at the first place for them opening their doors.

Tip for people - allow at least 45 minutes for the visit.

Also, have a story ready as to why you can't sign there and then (but be clear that you could sign the same day i.e you could come back later before they close).

HTHs.

bumblebee23

KSG1970 wrote: »

Hi, I am new to MS but thought I would give it a try...

I have been sent one which required a branch visit to a financial institution and you had to say you had between x amount and x amount of money to invest. I didn't feel that comfortable about this as I don't have the amount of money stated and had a fear I would get caught out.

On another note, I have accepted a similar MS which involves a phone call to a financial institution with a similar situation but I feel fine about doing this as I have a good back out excuse.

Would anyone else feel a bit awkward about the first scenario or is this is the norm for MS ?

I also had one for a family bowling day out which would have been excellent but felt my kids are far too young to do that (one couldn't even lift the ball!)and would probably have been caught out !

Is there a gift to being able to 'lie' or is MS not really the thing for me ?

I would be really interested on your views.

Many Thanks.

Hey there, don't give up yet! Most MS jobs you don't need to 'lie' for, you just go around the store/restaurant/whatever as you normally would, like a normal customer, the only thing different is that you may have to purchase something you wouldn't usually and look at things a little differently!

Keep looking at the jobs, I'm sure the vast majority of them will suit you fine... and as long as you read the brief first then you won't have a job that you don't feel comfortable with... that's what the notes are there for after all!!

Good luck