The Mystery Shopping thread - part 6

josie

I love it when we have some proper debates on here!

I can't q make my mind up over the £2.50 fee - yes it does seem a pants fee, but it's economics, as someone else said - supply and demand and you can't argue with that in a free market. Having said that, none near me, but can't say I'd be rushing to do them, either.

I don't mind doing a meal with no fee, although a fee is obviously better, but it offsets my tax bill, because I make a loss on it on paper by the time I've added everything up.

I did a home furnishing store where the fee was £15 - no minimum spend, but you had to buy something, so I bought something for £15 - another paper loss for the taxman! :j

mtem74

You don't think the fee is good enough then don't take the job, it's that simple. Yes it will likely mean the companies start to reduce fees across the board but thats what it's all about at the end of the day. Getting the job done for the cheapest cost.

If I could even find a 1/4 of the jobs that people talk about on here I'd be grateful. I haven't even seen the pubs jobs advertised despite my search being almost 70 mile or so radius (20 miles around Ayr to 20 miles around Glasgow).
Since I started this MS lark back at the begining of September, I've only had 30 jobs. Despite sigining up to nealry 20 different companies and checking at least twice a day for each one.
So if I was given the option of doing some very easy jobs for a little fee, then I probably would.

fabsaver

What is annoying me about these jobs with the miserly fee is the extra time it is taking to search for anything decent.

There are literally hundreds of them showing up and it takes ages to scroll through to look for pubs where I might possibly get to eat and drink:rolleyes:

I have tried their new filtering system and whilst you can exclude 'drinks only' visits there is no way of excluding these ones without losing all the other pubs as well:mad:

mtem74

Sorry to repeat myself but at least you can see them. Either there isn't any up here or my lovely MS colleagues in the Killy area have been in and are at this moment enjoying the research haha

fabsaver

mtem74 wrote: »

Sorry to repeat myself but at least you can see them. Either there isn't any up here or my lovely MS colleagues in the Killy area have been in and are at this moment enjoying the research haha

Maybe there aren't any in Scotland. The strange thing is I can see other pubs and some retailers in and around Glasgow but all my defined areas are in England - way over 50 miles away

Hollypear

paulherts wrote: »

RE have just put up pub jobs with a £2.50 fee and no purchase though you do need to visit the pub.

They are getting worse and worse.

Paul at the rate RE are going they will be asking us to pay them a fee for the pleasure of a visit to a pub costing a fiver in petrol, 1 hour getting there, and a rubbish beer, a meal for 1 while DH looks on drooling. Then 2 hours to do the report and q's like how busy was the pub...drop down box you tick 90-95% then you submit the report and you get "YOU HAVE AN UNANSWERED QUESTION" on "How busy was the pub" I got fed up and answered what part of 90- 95% do you not understand. They don't appear to understand irony.

A poster recently worked out her profit on an RE pub visit as 7 p profit.

So those of you who complain about RE just think on this... they are making a mega profit from your hard work. And I have this info from some of the allocators from other companies who think anyone who does work for RE are being taken for a ride

bobthego

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

It was ages ago; Gap refused to pay me twice and I can't be bothered to work for them as their questionnaires and customer service are both dire.

I also dont go Gap anymore, the burger ones are just the worst, as soon as you ask for a receipt, practically every member of staff starts cleaning around you!! I can't eat my chips in peace!!

bobthego

sophisticated. wrote: »

I have my first pub job for RE later today...quite nervous about doing the questionnaire etc after what I've read on here!

Dont be put off sophisticated, just have a good read of the notes beforehand and nip to the loo if you need to re-read them good luck :beer:

Becles

With the pub ones, although you may not make much of a profit on paper (if any!), I also factor in the £x I have saved by not having to buy ingredients to prepare a meal. And I like getting a night off the cooking and washing up

Hollypear - don't take this the wrong way but you seem to have huge issues with RE. If you don't like the way a company works, why don't you stop working for them, and move onto companies that you do like. There's a couple of companies out there I can't stand as they shafted me, but I just don't do anything for them now.

MikeLB

Chris357 wrote: »

Obviously mystery shoppers have to blend in but quite often it is just blatant discrimination. For example, in your local pub you see people of all ages but some companies persistently have age limits. The idea that at 56 people no longer go to the pub is ridiculous. They just believe that people at that age are no longer up to the job which is nonsense. It is age discrimination pure and simple. So anyone who says that discrimination does not happen is either "plain stupid" or they have an agenda.

I have a clear idea what mystery shopping is all about and the idea that I or anyone else does not take it seriously is an insult to all of us and is an indication of the attitude of some of these companies.

Its pretty obvious that you have issues about what Mystery Shopping is about or you wouldnt be appearring so agreived about this - Clients was feedback from target customers that their products are aimed at - Trust me I Know of one company that does plenty of Pub jobs which only apply to 35 - 65 year olds but it never bothers me - thats the types of drinkers the chain is trying to attract. A client has every right to dictate the shopper profile according to the job to get accurate feedback.

If you did have a clear idea about what Mystery Shopping is about then you wouldnt be claiming its age or sex discrimination - you would be saying like the vast majority on here it is because the client wants feedback from a target audience which they are trying to attract into their offering. Trust me after doing over 3000 Mystery Shops, I have a very very good idea as to what makes good mystery shoppers and what the whole point is. Its not for our benefits ultimately, it for the business.