MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD 18 - please don't mention client names or fees on here!!

Lil_Me_2

Dotty13 wrote: »

Why do companies lose clients to another company? Surely its got to do with costs, because its still the same people carrying out the work. I would do the same standard of work for X and Y company. However, some are harder to come by than others.....

The reality is that clients pay a lot of money to a company to organise their mystery shops. The companies then decide how much they want to pass onto the shoppers. RE are known for paying as little as they can get away with, and as long as they find someone to do it for that price then they don't care! It means more profit for the MS company.

I'd say that some companies like RE could easily pay 10x the fees they normally pay and still make a profit. They probably charge less to the client though, hence why they attract more clients.

Dotty13

jen_br wrote: »

Im not implying ALL new shoppers but you see an influx after xmas etc and then people tailor off as they can't be bothered....

I think asking for more comes with confidence and knowing the allocators.

Lil_Me wrote: »

The reality is that clients pay a lot of money to a company to organise their mystery shops. The companies then decide how much they want to pass onto the shoppers. RE are known for paying as little as they can get away with, and as long as they find someone to do it for that price then they don't care! It means more profit for the MS company.

I'd say that some companies like RE could easily pay 10x the fees they normally pay and still make a profit. They probably charge less to the client though, hence why they attract more clients.

Ah, I didnt realise that this was a seasonal thing. I look forward to people realising that this isn't for them, as it means more work for me. And this year, I think I wil be more cheeky. I accepted a job over the phone recently at normal rate because I was glad they asked and was in the area anyway (wont be doing that again!)

Also the thing with RE is that their jobs always go. How often do you get a phone call from RE asking for an urgent shop with an uplift? They must get rid of all their jobs, and on time, because companies flock to them

Money_maker

lalli_pickle wrote: »

Down in Sussex here the jobs seem to go stupidly quickly unless they're banks

Fastest finger first in Sussex.

(Whispers an aside to Monkeynut: Sharpen those fingers!)

Monkeynut

Money_maker wrote: »

Fastest finger first in Sussex.

(Whispers an aside to Monkeynut: Sharpen those fingers!)

Shhhh!

I will be going back to woork though at the end of this month so I will have less time to fit things in anyway. Although I will be working in another area for a few months so hopefully I can pick up some bits and bobs that I can squeeze in over lunch hours, and then still do the very local ones on my days off.

No rest for the wicked hey!

calamity-j

Anyone in the mood for a sarnie? jeeze you could get stuffed on Re, personally i need to watch my waistline.

BTW, apart from the improving customer service and lining our own pockets, does anyone else feel a bit guilty after conducting one of the more detailed scenarios, then waking away from the poor sucker without even signing on the dotted line?

Just me then? ok.

StacFace

Lil_Me wrote: »

The reality is that clients pay a lot of money to a company to organise their mystery shops. The companies then decide how much they want to pass onto the shoppers. RE are known for paying as little as they can get away with, and as long as they find someone to do it for that price then they don't care! It means more profit for the MS company.

I'd say that some companies like RE could easily pay 10x the fees they normally pay and still make a profit. They probably charge less to the client though, hence why they attract more clients.

I have a part-time job at a pub that uses RE, and I couldn't believe it when I overheard the branch's Assistant Manager talking about MSing and saying it sounded like a good job as they get £40 per assignment plus the free meals! I wish! :rotfl:

boyoboy1986

StacFace wrote: »

I have a part-time job at a pub that uses RE, and I couldn't believe it when I overheard the branch's Assistant Manager talking about MSing and saying it sounded like a good job as they get £40 per assignment plus the free meals! I wish! :rotfl:

If the company is paying £40 per branch per shop it is no wonder RE is stealing all the business, I remember reading somewhere recently that some companies charge upto £160 per shop, although I am guessing if you roll up and say you want 1500 pubs shopping you wont be paying that.

By the time you take off the reimbursement and shopper fee (if there is one) from this amount and factor in the cost of proofreading and querying several times there can't be much left lol.

boyoboy1986

calamity-j wrote: »

Anyone in the mood for a sarnie? jeeze you could get stuffed on Re, personally i need to watch my waistline.

BTW, apart from the improving customer service and lining our own pockets, does anyone else feel a bit guilty after conducting one of the more detailed scenarios, then waking away from the poor sucker without even signing on the dotted line?

Just me then? ok.

No, it's not just you. I can remember doing the walk of shame the first time I done a shooting star for RE and had to produce 'the letter' telling the poor lad that he had just been shopped. I think by the time I reached the front door every member of staff in the store knew who I was and my face was the same colour as and over-ripe tomato.

It doesn't bother me as much now if I have to do a scenario like that, but it is not something I like doing.

StacFace

boyoboy1986 wrote: »

If the company is paying £40 per branch per shop it is no wonder RE is stealing all the business, I remember reading somewhere recently that some companies charge upto £160 per shop, although I am guessing if you roll up and say you want 1500 pubs shopping you wont be paying that.

By the time you take off the reimbursement and shopper fee (if there is one) from this amount and factor in the cost of proofreading and querying several times there can't be much left lol.

No, the company pays more than £40 per assignment, that's the chunk he thought the shopper themselves got. He said it was in the £10k's for each 'round' on all the branches.

MrsGSR

Hi there, I have been lurking on these threads for a while and have signed up to two companies so far. I have a telephone assignment to do so far and I am terrified! have printed off all the info and plan to go through it with a fine tooth comb today in preparation for carrying it out tomorrow.
Just a few questions, is it worth signing up to more companies? I was going to see how I got on with this first assignment first then consider it. Could I make a modest living from this? I desparately want to leave my horrible job which would mean saving vast amounts of money on petrol and childcare so I only want to be able to earn around £400 after tax, is this possible or am I beoing totally naive?
Also I just wanted to say this is a fantastic thread, I have bookmarked it and keep coming back to it.