The Mystery Shopping thread - VIII

angel13

I have some questions. I am going for a meal tonight. It states (its for two adults) that I have to buy two main meals and two drinks. If other guests go you have to pay for them. It states that reimbursement may not cover full cost of meals and drinks. It also states that a voucher cannot be used. I have a voucher that means I can get either free starters or free puddings which therefore is not a voucher that effects the other purchases I have to make - is that ok?

angel13

squidgeum wrote: »

Can somebody tell me how I search for jobs on Abai please.....every time I try to search it just asks me to log in again
Thank you

you normally just click on the search button to the right of each screen. mine is working fine?

angel13

culchied wrote: »

I have two queries I'm hoping someone can help me with.

Firstly, I've been paid by Bare for an assignment I conducted last month. They paid me in Euros via Paypal. I'm afraid to withdraw this to my bank account in case I get lumbered with a huge conversion fee (as I invariably will). Does anyone know how I could convert it into ££ on Paypal.

Secondly, I conducted an opticians assignment for a certain company recently. It's a fast vision store (not a fast optical one) and I got a voucher for £80 off a second pair of specs. Obviously I've had to return the previous pair I acquired through the mystery shop. Equally, I had to use a different address for the mystery shop. I still have the voucher and a copy of my prescription. Does anyone know if I can go to a different fast vision store and use the voucher with the prescription I have? Despite it not being my real address?

if it was me i would. But if you are not sure instead use the presecription and get some glasses from online. They are SO much cheaper and you know the prescription is accurate as you have just had it done. Martins email this week covered one company thats doing extra cheap deals but there are always lots of others and always cheaper than a store. I am about to go and get eyes retested (lost old prescription ) to order some online. If you want to be sneaky like me try on the ones you like in a store to make sure they dont look terrible and then order online

angel13

sorry about typos i am recovering from a migraine and should be sleeping

aplaceinthesun

truly1 wrote: »

I have. Questions too detailed for the local garages, they obviously thought I was some kind of nutcase / control freak for asking them. One told me they had already had three calls on the same day for the same make of car . . . One garage had closed down 4 years ago.

Reports not rated yet.

xx

Yep same here, glad Im not the only one! , one person shouted at me as he had had 3 other calls about the same make ... well at least the phone calls have been quick !

ukmonkey

Guys, I've had an idea - for us to create an "MSE MS FAQ" (how many abbreviations?!). I thought it wise to do one for each company, so I've started with Retail Eyes, as most newbie shoppers are best starting with them (in my opinion).

Could some of the regulars please read and dissect?? Comments on the threads please.


--

Retail Eyes - FAQs

Q. When do RE pay?
A. RE pay by BACS (bank transfer) twice a month; mid-month (around 10th-15th) and end of month. The money should show up in your bank account approximately 2 or 3 days after the date shown on your Retail Eyes payment history.

Q. How do I view my payment history?
A. When logged into the RE site, on the left you should see a section headed "Payment". Underneath is will say:
Due dd/mm/yy: £xx.xx
Due dd/mm/yy: £xx.xx
Pending: X payments
Clicking on either of these three links will take you into your "statement" and payment history.

Q. I have a payment pending, why is this?
A. When you have completed a visit, and filled in your report, the payment will stay as "pending" until your report has been proofread and approved. It's nothing to worry about and should move from pending after a few days.

Q. Retail Eyes have email me asking me to call them, do you know what this could be about?
A. It may be about one of your reports, they, or their client may have a question or two about it. We advise against calling them back due to their low fees. Reply by email and ask them to email you with their questions, to which you can respond.

Q. What are the points all about on the Retail Eyes site?
A. There are several theories but none proved or disproved! It is thought that some clients may ask for more experienced Mystery Shoppers, hence the points system is one (albeit, possibly flawed) way of managing this.

Q. I can't see a hotel/bookmaker/etc assignment on RE, why?
A. Certain clients demand certain Mystery Shopper demographics, so as to be "shopped" by someone who is similar to one of their typical customers. For example, a bookmaker may only make their jobs available to male shoppers, as it is typically (though not exclusively, I must add!) males who visit bookies.
Another reason can be the answers that you have given to the verious questions in your profile. If you firmly believe that you should be able to see the jobs (i.e it's not because of your sex, age or location), consider calling Retail Eyes on the number given on their site. They are, on the whole, a friendly, helpful bunch, and should be able to find what the "problem" is.

Q. I've just taken a job but lots of available jobs disappeared at the same time. How can they vanish so quickly?
A. Often, Retail Eyes and/or their clients, only allow you to do one job of that type from that "wave" of jobs. So if you see 100 pub visits, and you accept one, what should then be 99, may drop to 0 as you're not allowed to take any other the other pub jobs. This is purely an example.

ukmonkey

angel13 wrote: »

I have some questions. I am going for a meal tonight. It states (its for two adults) that I have to buy two main meals and two drinks. If other guests go you have to pay for them. It states that reimbursement may not cover full cost of meals and drinks. It also states that a voucher cannot be used. I have a voucher that means I can get either free starters or free puddings which therefore is not a voucher that effects the other purchases I have to make - is that ok?

I'd say no, best not to risk it.

DebtHater

ukmonkey wrote: »

Guys, I've had an idea - for us to create an "MSE MS FAQ" (how many abbreviations?!). I thought it wise to do one for each company, so I've started with Retail Eyes, as most newbie shoppers are best starting with them (in my opinion).

Hows that spreadsheet coming along :rotfl::rotfl:

ukmonkey

DebtHater wrote: »

Hows that spreadsheet coming along :rotfl::rotfl:

I'll give my mate (who's doing the whizzy VBA stuff for me) in a poke...

Gam

Can anyone confirm who has paid today please? I have a credit in my MS account and I can't figure out who has paid me, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks