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

vicz123

kitchpoo wrote: »

Did I spy a fellow mser today in Lowestoft at an ethical cosmetic shop?

not me, i was out in the snow in norwich hiding behind fridge freezers taking photos! :rotfl:

kitchpoo

vicz123 wrote: »

not me, i was out in the snow in norwich hiding behind fridge freezers taking photos! :rotfl:

I've taken to doing them overtly on the pretense of an audit. Done 13 shops today. 6 supermarkets. Hot to write then up yet. Norwich tomorrow, including somehow avoiding newmarket road.

Scotties_Mum

vicz123 wrote: »

not me, i was out in the snow in norwich hiding behind fridge freezers taking photos! :rotfl:

Ha Ha, Glad I am not the only one then!!

Just out of interest, has anyone actually recommended the client's machine first in any of the shops you have been to?

(really cool w/machs, would be quite tempted myself if I needed one!)

squidgeum

kitchpoo wrote: »

I've taken to doing them overtly on the pretense of an audit. Done 13 shops today. 6 supermarkets. Hot to write then up yet. Norwich tomorrow, including somehow avoiding newmarket road.

Wow, well done!! Is that 13 shops including the 6 supermarkets, or 19 altogether?What time did you start on that lot? I could never get through that many and take notes at the same time.

look_after_the_pennies

kitchpoo wrote: »

I've taken to doing them overtly on the pretense of an audit. Done 13 shops today. 6 supermarkets. Hot to write then up yet. Norwich tomorrow, including somehow avoiding newmarket road.

Wow, 6-7 shops a day is my limit!

Dotty13

proshopper wrote: »

I have done quite a lot. Gave up in the end though, because I had two large runs of work where most of the calls were to mobiles (and at peak times). I just couldn't make a decent amount out of them.

Also, towards the end of a campaign, all that's left are repeat calls (i.e. previous attempts failed). For these, I was getting a success rate of something like 1 in 20. Bearing in mind that even the failed calls can cost money (call charges), because you can get connected but not get a completed survey, I found this all a bit expensive when it was calls to mobiles. The next wave of work isn't released onto the system until the last one is completed, so there's no way to boost your income with only the dregs around...

In one particularly gruesome day, I made less than £6 for something like 9 hours at the end of a hot telephone.

That said, as other respondents mentioned, there are people who get on well with these surveys, and clearly make a decent sum from them.



Not all surveys have to be recorded, it's only some clients/campaigns.

If they are recorded calls, I am sure you get charged for the non geographic number call only.

Once you are established with OC, there's a good chance that you can negotiate about call recording. Depending on client, they were happy for me to record 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 calls. At that time my land line was charging for non geographic number calls, so this made a huge difference to my overheads.

With regards to the cost of phone calls, OC are now promoting Skype. Calls to 0845 calls (which you need to go through to record the calls) are about 1p per minute. You can also download a programme called Pamela which is a recording device. This is free for a months trial. By doing it this way, it meant that I could make a tidy profit for the first month. However, by the second or third wave of doing them, they are not as exciting as they used to be (especially as I am on the phone most of the day with my full time job). HTH:silenced:

vicz123

Scotties_Mum wrote: »

Ha Ha, Glad I am not the only one then!!

Just out of interest, has anyone actually recommended the client's machine first in any of the shops you have been to?

(really cool w/machs, would be quite tempted myself if I needed one!)

The guy recommended it to me today! Gave me a technical explanation of how their motor thing works! I think he mentioned pretty much every point on the reasons for recommendation options as well! I couldn't take pics of the washing machines as there were loads of staff about but when I was looking at the fridge-freezers they were over my head so I was snapping away!

kitchpoo wrote: »

I've taken to doing them overtly on the pretense of an audit. Done 13 shops today. 6 supermarkets. Hot to write then up yet. Norwich tomorrow, including somehow avoiding newmarket road.

Bloody hell, there is no way I could do that many in a day even if I didn’t have to write them up! Good luck in Norwich, the roads are really icy, nearly got stuck in burger car park :eek: It was the same site I did in the snow last month and commented that they needed to put more salt down on the exit of the car park as it is a ramp that goes straight on the main road so if there are cars coming and you stop you get stuck

Think I will leave the car at home tomorrow, just tried to parallel park in my road and had to reverse up an icy hill, wouldn’t go backwards so had to find somewhere else to park. It has just taken a taxi 10 mins to get out my road!:mad:

Dotty13

Maybe a little of track (pardon the pun!) but do First Tracking only have the one client? I signed up with them late last month and saw the last few of a certain cinema, all of which are showing now. None are really near to me, and I wonder if it may be worthwhile opting for the nearest one. Are they worthwhile?

gallygirl

vicz123 wrote: »

Bloody hell

Language DD, language

I managed 10 car showrooms one day. Discounts got better as the day went on, by the last I think I said something like 'cut the crap & give me your best price'

tomla

gallygirl wrote: »

Language DD, language

I managed 10 car showrooms one day. Discounts got better as the day went on, by the last I think I said something like 'cut the crap & give me your best price'

Sounds about right, by the end you just want to walk into the dealerships managers office straight away and say....."see this car spec....i have cash....best price please."