MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 17 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

Becles

Monkeynut wrote: »

What are the rules with regards to if you spend slightly over the reimbursement limit, so spending your own money, can that be entered as an expense, or is that not a valid expense because it was my choice?!? I think that makes sense

It depends on what you have to buy and it's cost I think. If the allowance was £3 but the cheapest thing in the shop was £3.50, I'd claim £3.50. If bought a few things and spent £10, I'd only claim the £3 in expenses as it was my choice to spend extra.

Monkeynut

Becles wrote: »

It depends on what you have to buy and it's cost I think. If the allowance was £3 but the cheapest thing in the shop was £3.50, I'd claim £3.50. If bought a few things and spent £10, I'd only claim the £3 in expenses as it was my choice to spend extra.

Thank you! That's probably the most common sense way to look at it.

nearlyheadlessian

jen_br wrote: »

I Heart TNS and heres why...

: Jen we have a supermarket its URGENT needs doing asap in TD1
Me: Great, how much
: We can give you petrol but I notice you live not far
Me: Yup a Mile...
: Ok hold on.... * places me on hold*
Me: Sure
: that'll be (half the cost of a pack of gum) added on for mileage
me; HAHAHAHAHAHHA you said its urgent so can I get a higher fee?
: Hrm.. mmm hrmmm hmmm not sure.. let me ask *places on hold*
: Sorry for your wait.. Can we call you back about this?
me: Sure... ( me goes and does my other MS shops that pay 100x more. )

My phone rang 36 times with 10 voice mails saying "we are trying to get a hold o you EMAIL us... (NO number included) you said you want this job and now we can't geta hold of you... Keep trying us ALL day saturday too ok?

No mention of higher fee etc.. LOL im sorry but im not doing an URGENT job for nothing cause they need it ya know?

Their loss and my gain.

ljshopper

Coming up to 12 months of MSing full time (sort of) and just reveiwing my income streams.

My top payers over the year in order -

1.ESA
2.TNS
3.GFK
4.RE
5.GAP
6.REACT

Shocked to see RE and Gap up there but they were the first two companies I did work for.GAP petrol also allows me to take in some far away jobs as well.ESA accounts for 18% of my income which is a bit uncomfortable for me,none of the others are over 10%.

Latterly I have been doing more and more merchandising work and it now accounts for 40% of my income.I have regular work from 3 companies but im sure that I could pick up more if i took a peek.

I have checked and I have done work for 25 companies this year.

spender

Can somebody please explain exactly what Merchandising work is? I would be unable to go down this field for some time as I could not commit regularly but I am generally interested in what it involves. Is it the checking of the item on the shelf or laying out new displays?

Thanks

flyer

spender wrote: »

Can somebody please explain exactly what Merchandising work is? I would be unable to go down this field for some time as I could not commit regularly but I am generally interested in what it involves. Is it the checking of the item on the shelf or laying out new displays?

Thanks

Merchandising describes the way that companies get their products or services promoted. There are various ways of doing this and they all have the same aim - to get a company and/or its brand products in poll position to catch the eye of a potential customer.

Usually, it would involve placing POS in store.

Little_bear

Hello everyone

I have been lurking on here for a couple of weeks so I thought I should say hello and thank you all for some very informative and entertaining posts.

I have been building up my MS jobs in my spare time for a couple of months now because I am likely to be made redundant from my full time office job soon and I am exploring alternative income streams.

What has become very apparent to me during this time is how very different the MS agencies are and this seems to be a theme running through recent posts. Like alot of people I started out by timing burgers and inspecting bookie’s toilets and I quickly came to realise how silly those adverts are that you see on the web telling you that you can be paid lots of money to go shopping and eat in restaurants. The reality most of the time is that you are buying things that you don’t want in shops you don’t like and then having to fill in an unnecessarily long and tedious questionnaire about it. And all this for much less than the minimum wage.

But I have moved on to some excellent smaller agencies with lovely allocators who phone me with more interesting assignments which pay reasonably well. As I have read so many times on here the way to progress in MS is by building up excellent relationships with companies by being ultra-reliable and submitting detailed and well thought out reports.

What I have found interesting just recently is the evidence that companies are observing the posts on here. The nice gentleman from Belgium is quite open about it but I don’t think he has too much to fear from us saying unpleasant things about his very professional company. On the other hand the outfit who have recently added their front page warning, seemingly in response to our posts, perhaps should have something to worry about. It is becoming quite clear that some members on here regard this particular company, and one other, with something a little short of contempt. The main reason for this is because they pay us badly and don’t treat us well. They can continue to do this because there is a steady stream of new shoppers signing up all the time who are willing to work for less than the minimum wage but only for a short time. Turnover in these companies is very high.

The fact that they are getting a bit twitchy about our posts is, I think, worthy of note. I am very sure that they are not going to want their clients to know what us mystery shoppers genuinely think of them and they must fear for their reputations. It is inevitable that sooner or later these clients will find out and will then be likely to consider paying more to use the professional agencies with the most experienced shoppers. Ultimately this has to be a good thing for everyone.

redzhell

Accepted a couple of GAP convenient stores and have to spend £XX minimum for food or drink. Has anyone tried to buy non-food or drink item and had their report accepted?

serendipity2706

redzhell wrote: »

Accepted a couple of GAP convenient stores and have to spend £XX minimum for food or drink. Has anyone tried to buy non-food or drink item and had their report accepted?

I've bought newspapers and magazines

mharzuk

redzhell wrote: »

Accepted a couple of GAP convenient stores and have to spend £XX minimum for food or drink. Has anyone tried to buy non-food or drink item and had their report accepted?

I've bought wine and cigarettes before, two out of three of my favourite things in life.......;)