MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XVI - please, no mention of client names or fees on here

serendipity2706

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I can't see why anyone would want to purchase a handbag for over £400 over the phone and then return it for a measly fee. That's £400 out of your account for god only knows how long it takes them to refund you. :eek:

No thanks!

I don't have that sort of money lying around to be used up for MSing.

They should have just done an enquiry only call for that fee. It's just not worth it.

There's an enquiry only phone call but also for a measly fee considering all the things you have to ask about

mysterious_girl

serendipity2706 wrote: »

There's an enquiry only phone call but also for a measly fee considering all the things you have to ask about

Nope, not interested! I think they pay their shoppers very poorly for the amount of work they require.

System

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I think it gets returned by courier at their expense. These bags cost a fortune, couldn't possibly trust RM for that one.
Please don't tell me you're going to do it! :eek:

No, not for that fee. The stress of getting it back safely and the money out of my account is too much. Last time I did a delivery and return for edig I got way more and to keep an item that I needed to buy.

Fiver29

Any one else got a problem with dates on GAP? I can see the assignments but the drop down menu for dates is greyed out.

proshopper

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I'm on the reserve list for a shop with Abai and it's been released 3 times now! I keep getting the emails to notify me to get on their website to grab the job but as soon as I get on there it's gone again! :mad:

Why do shoppers accept the jobs and then not do it? I can't understand this mentality. I would never accept a job unless I was certain I was able to carry it out. There must be a lot of shoppers out there who let these companies down all the time. :eek:

I take MSing very seriously. No wonder the companies (and I mean the other ones - not Gap and Esa, who ring everybody) call me when they've been let down at the last minute. I think it pays in the end if you show that you're reliable.

woohoo_postingid wrote: »

It has been known for people to accept a job on a monday which needs to be done within, say, 2 days but the person cannot do it until the friday so they would release it on the wednesday and then accept it again immediately giving them a further 2 days to complete it.

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I thought Abai had already cottoned on to that. If I can't do a job until the 3rd or 4th day I always ring them and ask for an extension and they always give me one.

I really do hate the Abai allocation system. Mostly, I schedule my working areas a week or so in advance, and the two day fieldwork limit is impossible for me to meet. Usually when I ring to negotiate an extension, the job disappears before the phone call connects. So I tend not to bother these days.

As other posters say, the "reserve" mechanism does not work because assessors abuse the system by dropping the jobs and picking them up again. I just end up with multiple emails and no sign of the jobs on the board. Now, I only reserve jobs in the hope that the end of the fieldwork period approaches, and I get a desparate phone call.

If Abai sorted this, they would get a better response from reliable fieldworkers. My other pet hate with Abai is that you can't see the questionnaire in advance of the job! It's OK for them to tell us that things are new for this month (or whatever), but it would be nice to know what sort of info they actually want!

Rant over!:rotfl:

mysterious_girl

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I think it gets returned by courier at their expense. These bags cost a fortune, couldn't possibly trust RM for that one.
Please don't tell me you're going to do it! :eek:

I was trying to be discreet by not mentioning the MS company's name in my posts. Maybe we should delete their name. I thought it was quite obvious who I was referring to as I think we all got the email.

Anyway, I really hope they're reading this. Another company I recently did some work for had a similar scenario and they paid over twice the amount and the original layout cost of the item was less than 10% of what this company expect you to pay out of your own funds.

serendipity2706

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I do have a problem with GAP but its not that. It's their measly fees aswell! :mad:

I find their surveys very quick though and like doing them. Only trouble is, I think I have a rival, as I never see anything apart from burgers, tho I did get a couple of chicken this month, but never anything else.

Tudorc1

proshopper wrote: »

I really do hate the Abai allocation system. Mostly, I schedule my working areas a week or so in advance, and the two day fieldwork limit is impossible for me to meet. Usually when I ring to negotiate an extension, the job disappears before the phone call connects. So I tend not to bother these days.

As other posters say, the "reserve" mechanism does not work becuase assessors abuse the system by dropping the jobs and picking them up again. I just end up with multiple emails and no sign of the jobs on the board. Now, I only reserve jobs in the hope that the end of the fieldwork period approaches, and I get a desparate phone call.

If Abai sorted this, they would get a better response from reliable fieldworkers. My other pet hate with Abai is that you can't see the questionnaire in advance of the job! It's OK for them to tell us that things are new for this month (or whatever), but it would be nice to know what sort of info they actually want!

Rant over!:rotfl:

Whilst on the Abai pet hates discussion, my biggest problem is the way their reports disappear on completion with no opportunity to double check the submission. There is a bar showing how far you are through, but the last page just disappears when completed, and as you can't see the questionnaire before the visit, this can come as a surprise!

bylromarha

Just checked the mail order scenarios out too.

Not that much for that low fee!

Especially as the MS company offering the job also have another high outlay company on their books and further up this thread people are reporting how long the pay back is taking.

TAgent

Hi eveyone,

Im very new to this Mystery shopping business. I was hoping someone can advise which companies would be best to work for and if any have a lot of jobs for Bristol/South west area specifically? I have read a lot of the posts on the thread so i am familiar with the companies out there and the whole tax thing but can anyone give me a realistic figure how much i can earn a month from this? Bearing in mind a work full time. Im only look for extra cash and thought this would be fun! I have my first job in my lunch break at a fast food place. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks