The Mystery Shopping thread - part 6

bumblebee23

creaker wrote: »

I think asking for receipts at a pub is like a big sign on my forehead saying Mystery Shopper. It seems like after I asked for one, the manager made it a point to keep clearing all the empty glasses/bottles near my table and when I went to a toilet a staff member appeared about two minutes later to check the toilets. The toilets were fine but I'm sure they must have known I was an MSer.

I can't imagine asking for a receipt at a club, for the entrance fee or the drinks.

Just pay by card then they have to give you a receipt! They usually roll their eyes at you cos it means they have to do about 20 seconds more work but then they just think you are one of those pretentious people who 'don't do cash....'!

mcallister1

RE called me to ask me to stay in a hotel in a notoriously horrible town in Essex near where I live. What is the incentive to do those business jobs if you are not travelling anyway? You have to be alone. You don't earn any money for it. And the notice is always dreadful so even if I wanted to do it ( to boost my average??) I couldn't.On the plus side, the meal would be free, and I could read a novel in peace. I suppose if I were writing a novel, like JK Rowling, I could get a few chapters done. Or if I had young kids I could get a good night's sleep- if I could get someone to look after them in the morning? Or am I missing out on a lovely experience? They seem to hang around for a long time on the board. I think if they paid twenty pounds I would do it. But not for nothing.

bumblebee23

mcallister1 wrote: »

RE called me to ask me to stay in a hotel in a notoriously horrible town in Essex near where I live. What is the incentive to do those business jobs if you are not travelling anyway? You have to be alone. You don't earn any money for it. And the notice is always dreadful so even if I wanted to do it ( to boost my average??) I couldn't.On the plus side, the meal would be free, and I could read a novel in peace. I suppose if I were writing a novel, like JK Rowling, I could get a few chapters done. Or if I had young kids I could get a good night's sleep- if I could get someone to look after them in the morning? Or am I missing out on a lovely experience? They seem to hang around for a long time on the board. I think if they paid twenty pounds I would do it. But not for nothing.

I think I would only do hotel jobs if it was a bit of a posh one that I couldn't normally afford to go to - to see how the other half live... but if you aren't even slightly looking forward to it then I don't think you should do it... as far as I can tell they are ridiculously long questionnaires for no pay and very little benefit.... would be worth it if it was a night in a town you wouldn't mind having a wander round anyway but not if it's a nasty area...

mcallister1

bumblebee23 wrote: »

I think I would only do hotel jobs if it was a bit of a posh one that I couldn't normally afford to go to - to see how the other half live... but if you aren't even slightly looking forward to it then I don't think you should do it... as far as I can tell they are ridiculously long questionnaires for no pay and very little benefit.... would be worth it if it was a night in a town you wouldn't mind having a wander round anyway but not if it's a nasty area...

LOL I wouldn't wander round that area at night...or even in the day. But I'm probably prejudiced as I know lots of people who have taught there and say it is a hell hole. Not the hotel , of course, which is probably lovely...
Also I can't help wondering if business travellers always spend the night alone in their hotel rooms? Surely it would be just as realistic to stage a kind of pick up scenario?

IlonaRN

Scaredy_Cat wrote: »

Hi Josie! Thanks, it was me asking. I still can't see the option to reschedule, can you explain in idiot-speak please? Only for future reference - as it happens I rang them up and they rescheduled it over the phone for me, so all is well.

I don't *think* they've deducted points. I explained that when I booked the job it asked for a date straight away (I got 24 hours to book a date on my last job)... so I opted for tonight (options were tonight or tomorrow)... now I'm having babysitting probs so asked if I could swap to tomorrow. They were really nice - couldn't have been more helpful.

From what I can tell, they don't actually deduct any points for rescheduling. You just get a bonus 2 points if you don't reschedule.

mcallister1

IlonaRN wrote: »

From what I can tell, they don't actually deduct any points for rescheduling. You just get a bonus 2 points if you don't reschedule.

Yes but- they were looking for people with an average of 12 for the spanish restaurants a while ago, which is only possible with the bonus points.

mezer3000

Well he didn't twig that i was a mser, just got rather annoyed haha

I live in essex, but am not registered on that site, so i hope its not my town you are talking about teehee

IlonaRN

mcallister1 wrote: »

Yes but- they were looking for people with an average of 12 for the spanish restaurants a while ago, which is only possible with the bonus points.

Oh dear, I won't get any of those then Have got the full 10 points on all of my reports so far, but have had to reschedule one of them. If I'd known, I would have postponed setting a date in the first place!!

josie

IlonaRN wrote: »

From what I can tell, they don't actually deduct any points for rescheduling. You just get a bonus 2 points if you don't reschedule.

ISWYM but it's the same thing really, however you word it tho!

12 points if you do the job perfectly or only 10 points if you re-schedule... take 2 away from 12 = 10, or take 2 points off you, same difference.

Anyway, what I was going to say was, it's worth doing their quick questionnaires that sometimes appear when you log in, because you get a whole bonus point for it! Or perhaps that's just one point, depending on which way you look at it! :rotfl:

It would boost your average slightly, depending, as said before on your jobs done / cancelled ratio!

Who was it on here a while ago said RE are getting on average 300 new people sign up a week, so it's no wonder the jobs are going really quickly. It's blink and you miss them at the moment, unless you want an overnight stay in Colchester, of course!

Mimi, have you registered your interest in absolutely everything, including airports, businesses etc on the page you get when you log in? I don't just mean the tick boxes at the top of the search page, I mean the ones on the page before?

josie

Just been through and calculated my average score on RE and it's 11.9, so nearly at the magical 12 - that includes 7 surveys otherwise it'd have been 11.5.