The Mystery Shopping thread - VII

jdan9

ellie9ellie wrote: »

Right all - I'm off to have my knee operation this afternoon so won't be around for a day or so. Please don't grab all the "good" RE jobs whilst I'm gone lol In case those who are off on hols haven't gone yet - have a lovely time - it's tipping down with rain here!!! x

Good luck - hope the op goes well.

jdan9

DebtHater wrote: »

If you dont like the jobs, dont do them! Simple, dont you think?

Look at it this way.

You go out for a meal, you can take someone with as I often have on the pizza jobs for Gap. You get a nice meal, you have a good time out.
The bill arrives and you KNOW for a fact that what ever it says there, you are getting X amount off.

When I went out on that particular job, I only paid £6 out of my own pocket, for a 2 course meal for 2 people + drinks. I was quite pleased with that, because not even the staff get a good discount like that!

That is how I look at it. I think the problem is a lot of people here expect to always make a profit from MSing, and don't really take into account the food they're getting too.

Also, whoever said buy £2 pizza from the supermarket - it's not the same thing at all! The supermarket pizza doesn't taste anywhere near as nice, and you don't get the service and the atmosphere you get eating out.

cte1111

DebtHater wrote: »

If you dont like the jobs, dont do them! Simple, dont you think?

Look at it this way.

You go out for a meal, you can take someone with as I often have on the pizza jobs for Gap. You get a nice meal, you have a good time out.
The bill arrives and you KNOW for a fact that what ever it says there, you are getting X amount off.

When I went out on that particular job, I only paid £6 out of my own pocket, for a 2 course meal for 2 people + drinks. I was quite pleased with that, because not even the staff get a good discount like that!

I tend to agree. I can see it's annoying if you are trying to make a living mystery shopping, when the MS companies seem to 'get away' with not paying the shopper. But lots of us are happy to get a free lunch as payment. I went out yesterday with my Aunt, we had quite a nice meal and went somewhere that we wouldn't normally go, so that's fine for me.

I look at the clothes shops on RE and think why would anyone do those jobs when the reimbursement doesn't even cover the cost, but obviously for other people £10 off clothes that they would be buying anyway is an OK deal. Best to try not to criticise each other too much on here, as it's good to have somewhere to swop tips and stories.

DebtHater

jdan9 wrote: »

That is how I look at it. I think the problem is a lot of people here expect to always make a profit from MSing, and don't really take into account the food they're getting too.

Also, whoever said buy £2 pizza from the supermarket - it's not the same thing at all! The supermarket pizza doesn't taste anywhere near as nice, and you don't get the service and the atmosphere you get eating out.

:T well said!

On the "reimbursement only" jobs where you think the amount wont cover your cost, why dont you do what I do?
I use the money given to me from other MS jobs where I haven't had to purchase anything so I'm not even using my own money.

For example, I am doing an enquiry on Saturday for a £10 fee, no purchase needed.
That £10 will go into the pot and be used when I do need to purchase something for another MS job:rotfl:

DebtHater

cte1111 wrote: »

I tend to agree. I can see it's annoying if you are trying to make a living mystery shopping, when the MS companies seem to 'get away' with not paying the shopper. But lots of us are happy to get a free lunch as payment. I went out yesterday with my Aunt, we had quite a nice meal and went somewhere that we wouldn't normally go, so that's fine for me.

I look at the clothes shops on RE and think why would anyone do those jobs when the reimbursement doesn't even cover the cost, but obviously for other people £10 off clothes that they would be buying anyway is an OK deal. Best to try not to criticise each other too much on here, as it's good to have somewhere to swop tips and stories.

Agree with that, trying not to be critical but I just cant understand people trying to make money from MS all the time and then coming here and complaining about the MS company.

On second thoughts, leave all the reimbursement only jobs on the board and I can take them all :rotfl::rotfl:

aplaceinthesun

Re the food reimbursement only jobs , I too am happy to do them, OK sometimes you have to put a bit of money towards the meal but not always . It is kind of a bit of a treat for us as we rarely eat out anyway , anywhere, and also most of the time it saves the cost of buying produce for an evening meal at home .
For those who have done them before , I did notice on a Gap pizza job though (one I had sadly to release anyway for other reasons...) that it states that people not MSing have to pay seperately (its OK to take other people) , or words to that effect... is that always the case ? I would sometimes want to take my DD who is 15 altho could get away with being 17 / 18 but would it look a bit odd to ask for a seperate bill for her ????

blindman

ukmonkey wrote: »

I may be playing Devil's Advocate here, buit I think they were right to deactivate your account. You've "cost" them thousands.

Your ticket, which they could've sold for at least £1k now can't be used. Ok, they may be able to free it up on their system in time to sell, but I doubt it, so not only have they now got to find someone else to do that trip and reissue the ticket.

There's also the inconvenience and embarrasment that you've caused to BARE.

If skywalker83 is genuinely ill ( I have my doubts) then BARE are being a bit draconian IMHO

I don't think the airline will suffer by much in reality, it was only an economy seat to Australia. Even if it goes "empty" and leaves a pax behind (v unlikely)I'm sure the airline can take the loss :rolleyes:

Yes BARE may have to reschedule the trip (any takers-email them....) but they must surely realise people get sick!

Scaredy_Cat_3

DebtHater wrote: »

Agree with that, trying not to be critical but I just cant understand people trying to make money from MS all the time and then coming here and complaining about the MS company.

On second thoughts, leave all the reimbursement only jobs on the board and I can take them all :rotfl::rotfl:

I can see where you are coming from, and this is not meant to sound argumentative at all... I just want to explain so you can see where I think HP was coming from.

I can only speak for myself (obviously)... sometimes I do take a pizza job that ends up costing me money. That's because I happen to like eating there anyway and wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise - so yes, I know exactly what you mean.

However, most of the MSing that I do is not to earn 'extra' money going into some sort of entertainment fund. It's a way to earn a few honest quid to pay the bills and put food on the table. What this means is that I do look carefully at what I will have to spend (travel, expenses etc) vs the remuneration. The worry is that if people who don't need the money and just do this for fun keep on taking the low paying (or loss making) jobs, then the MS companies will think it's ok to reduce fees right across the board. Which then means those of us who are using this to make a living will suffer. As things stand, much of the time this works out at below minimum wage, so any further reduction is going to hit us hard.

I'm not saying for a minute that you shouldn't do the jobs if you feel it's worth it - we all have to make our own decisions on that. I just wanted to explain why there is a feeling that we shouldn't all rush to take the low paying jobs. It's the thin end of the wedge, and gradually all fees will go down.

Dinah93

ukmonkey wrote: »

To search all areas on ABAI, click on "Other" and it'll then show two boxes on the right, the rtop box will have your postcode in it. Delete this and put a * in there, then click on search.

Really annoyed, I get an error message when I do this! Don't think Aba-i likes me!

Tesco_points_addict

Dinah93 wrote: »

Really annoyed, I get an error message when I do this! Don't think Aba-i likes me!

You stalking me?:rotfl: