MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XII - ** New people please read posts 1 & 2 **

tomla

Rosy_Violet wrote: »

ESA tend to assign jobs approx a week before they are due to start, unless they are close,on or past their dates then you will hear quickly- often by phone call.


As to whether you get the jobs you apply for the best answer I can give you is "don't bank on it"! If you read through this thread you will see that a lot of regular MSers never get any and others get everything. No one understands their allocation reasoning. My probability of getting their work is 50/50.

You will learn that planning your MS days is hit and miss. I would suggest that if you will only go somewhere based on the possibility of getting the ESA jobs, then wait until you are certain you are assigned the them before accepting other assignments. If you accept a job from another agency and then don't get the ESA jobs then it "won't be worth while". You will end up having to do the job and making a loss(can be useful if you are needing to for tax) or cancelling , which will annoy the agency and if you frequently did this your reputation will be pants!

You need to be reliable in this work and some days work out more lucrative than others. You can plan a bit when you are more experienced as agencies know who they can rely on but I would say it really is luck if jobs come up on the days and areas you want .

In the early days it is hard to synchronize the work but build up your reputation and things will slot in nicely. It is easier for me to plan now as I have years behind me. I will however not take an assignment in case I get others. I think it's wrong(unless a real emergency) to let an agency down.

Quite frankly I would leave it for another shopper who may well be in that area. There's always next time or the chance it will still be there if you did get allocated the ESA work.

Having said all that I am secretely glad that so many people take on jobs and release them last minute. I get lots of lovely work at increased fees and mileage. So thanks to one and all:T

Thanks for that, i guess i will just have to wait and see wit ESA, been MS'ing for 6 years and lurked around here a bit just thought it might be good to get an idea as just started to sign up to more than my 4 core. I am one of those reliable shoppers you mention and im often asked to mop up jobs that have gone a bit wayward and after all these years it still shocks me sometimes to see what a company will pay to get a job done.

Mainly looking around because the RE system has become so terrible to use and rely on. I now see that RE have gone back to partly using their old system for data input.

sf123

Hi - think this is my first post on here so be gentle with me!!

I just agreed to an urgent burger job over the phone... running through the job notes I see there's a reference to card payments. Can't see anywhere that it says you have to pay cash only, but I thought this was one of the job requirements? Have they changed guidelines?

Would make it much easier if can pay by card as should get a receipt automatically then!

It's for tonight, so any help much appreciated!!!

nehpets81

sf123 wrote: »

Hi - think this is my first post on here so be gentle with me!!

I just agreed to an urgent burger job over the phone... running through the job notes I see there's a reference to card payments. Can't see anywhere that it says you have to pay cash only, but I thought this was one of the job requirements? Have they changed guidelines?

Would make it much easier if can pay by card as should get a receipt automatically then!

It's for tonight, so any help much appreciated!!!

I have used a card before without any problems. Like you I thought it would look better if I was given a receipt automatically. The receipt I got though was itemised and didn't have the right numbers to enter in the report so I was worried it wouldn't be accepted. The report went through ok though.

Lil_Me_2

They changed the requirements to allow card payments around July last year. I agree it does make things easier, but don't rely on it to get a receipt automatically. I've still had to ask quite a few times.

sf123

Thanks :-) I'm sure when I did the orientation / certification test it said cash only, and that was later than July...BUT just read through it again and no mention.

If you've both done it before and had it go through I think I'll just risk it!

borders

Apologies to those who have already noticed this.

Word of warning about the stamp jobs. I have two and the question to ask is slightly different on each. I had thought they would all be the same. Best to check.

look_after_the_pennies

Question for you! Has anyone ever shopped the same place in one day for two separate ms companies?

Rosy_Violet

look_after_the_pennies wrote: »

Question for you! Has anyone ever shopped the same place in one day for two separate ms companies?

Yes, but only if the scenarios fit nicely together. If they are a little unrelated then I haven't chanced it.

A fortunate but rare occurrence. :cool:

look_after_the_pennies

Rosy_Violet wrote: »

Yes, but only if the scenarios fit nicely together. If they are a little unrelated then I haven't chanced it.

A fortunate but rare occurrence. :cool:

I've just got a moral dilemma as I've accepted one of the money jobs advertised on the alerts which fits in nicely with another job from another ms company! Do I combine the two!!

Puzzcat

If we're talking about the same thing.. FE? I missed out on my local one from the alerts, good job really as I was in there today..funnily enough I was thinking, damn I could have done that at the same time... depends how many questions the new assignment is asking for.. won't you look wealthy 3 different travel/money enquiries...!! Best wear ya best clobber..!