Mystery Shopping Thread 20 **PLEASE DO NOT MENTION CLIENT NAMES OR FEES ON HERE**

serendipity2706

Not quite on the same tack but a good wheeze...
when all the gas prices went up in December, I was with British Gas and emailed them saying I did not accept the increase and would be moving my account (evidently if you do this, they can't put on the increase for 30 days or something) They offered me £50 off the account if I stayed with them. (Credit just put on, as you have to stay for 6 months) Going to try it this time round too...:)

davidjwest

I'm signed up with GAP, GFK, Retail Eyes and ESA - I find the jobs on ESA pay poorly and there's not much around on GFK at the moment so am thinking of signing up to another couple of companies.

Which ones offer reasonable, or better pay (say £10 minimum per assignment) and have a fair number of assignments?

Thanks.

polythenegirl

davidjwest wrote: »

I'm signed up with GAP, GFK, Retail Eyes and ESA - I find the jobs on ESA pay poorly and there's not much around on GFK at the moment so am thinking of signing up to another couple of companies.

Which ones offer reasonable, or better pay (say £10 minimum per assignment) and have a fair number of assignments?

Thanks.

Nothing much on GFK - fancy moving to Nottinghamshire? There's about 25 visits in my area at the moment!

TractorGirl327

davidjwest wrote: »

I'm signed up with GAP, GFK, Retail Eyes and ESA - I find the jobs on ESA pay poorly and there's not much around on GFK at the moment so am thinking of signing up to another couple of companies.

Which ones offer reasonable, or better pay (say £10 minimum per assignment) and have a fair number of assignments?

Thanks.

It's impossible to answer your question as it depends on (a)Where you live (b) Your demographic profile (c) Your experience - if you are thinking MS-ing is a way to get rich quick then it's not for you.

davidjwest

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

(c) Your experience - if you are thinking MS-ing is a way to get rich quick then it's not for you.

I know that, been MSing for about 10 years but until recently I was earning £100-£200 a month without much trouble, mostly with GFK.

Since early 2011 the number of assignments has dried up massively, I thought maybe it was seasonal and would pick up but not much sign of that so far.

I've signed up with a couple more companies today, will see what they are like.

cheekychipmunk

davidjwest wrote: »

I know that, been MSing for about 10 years but until recently I was earning £100-£200 a month without much trouble, mostly with GFK.

Since early 2011 the number of assignments has dried up massively, I thought maybe it was seasonal and would pick up but not much sign of that so far.

I've signed up with a couple more companies today, will see what they are like.

I would recommend grassroots - do a fair bit for them. And Tns have some straightforward quick jobs.

hth

CrazyClum

I've been speaking to a few other shoppers, some who put job related purchases down as taxable and some who don't!

I've always put things that I use (eating in restaurants, coffee shops etc) down as taxable, as a perk but things I have had to purchase such as tablets or computer games (that are destroyed following the guidance from HMRC) down as non-taxable.

What do you do?! haha

misssarahleigh

CrazyClum wrote: »

I've been speaking to a few other shoppers, some who put job related purchases down as taxable and some who don't!

I've always put things that I use (eating in restaurants, coffee shops etc) down as taxable, as a perk but things I have had to purchase such as tablets or computer games (that are destroyed following the guidance from HMRC) down as non-taxable.

What do you do?! haha

Nothing against you but.........

Do you think we should put something in the OP about this. Just a brief paragraph about the basic views? It is asked quite often and there are two streams of thought on the topic.

Crazyclum. I personally put everything down. None of my purchases would be made unless on an MS job. Now, HMRC do comment about getting the 'benifit' from the issue, but as per your example. e.g. tablets. I spent xx amount on painkillers. As I was on a MS i spent £5 on them. I subsequently used them therefor i recieved the 'benifit', although had i not done the job I would have bought 25p ones. Bit of a tricky area i'm afraid and i don't think there is a right/wrong way as it's strongly open to interpretation.

Reinbursment is different. Clearly you are doing the job for the product e.g. £10 to spend in a clothes shop and no fee, But then again it could be argued that you did this to gain reputation with the company and access to better jobs (which pay a fee).

StacFace

CrazyClum wrote: »

I've been speaking to a few other shoppers, some who put job related purchases down as taxable and some who don't!

I've always put things that I use (eating in restaurants, coffee shops etc) down as taxable, as a perk but things I have had to purchase such as tablets or computer games (that are destroyed following the guidance from HMRC) down as non-taxable.

What do you do?! haha

Surely it's the other way round? If you have to sample the product (e.g. taste the burger) then it's not a benefit, as part of the job is that you have to do it. What about people who taste food to check for poison for rich people? They'd have hardly any wages left after deducting the cost of all the food they'd eat!

With things I could get rid of (e.g. computer game) then what I do with it determines how I treat it. If I keep the item then it's taxable, if I sell it on eBay or similar then I put the amount I get for it as extra profit for the job, or if I chuck it/donate it to charity then it isn't taxable.

And where I'm buying £5 tablets instead of 25p ones, for example, then providing the more expensive ones aren't more of a benefit to me (e.g they don't have more in a pack) then I will put the cost I would have paid if I'd bought it not on MS as the benefit, as the purchase has benefitted me 25p. Of course this wouldn't be the case if the MS assignment was to buy any tablets and I chose the £5 ones to use all the reimbursement when I didn't have to, only if I had to buy the £5 tablets (because I needed to buy only those, or I had to buy what was recommended and those where, etc).

Misty_Blue

Has anyone ever had a client query their presence in a shop? I've had a query from GFK, saying a shop has checked their CCTV and I wasn't in the store at that time. I know I visited the right location, and have provided extra info in my reply, such as where the other customer groups were, but I'm a bit worried that it's just my word against the client's.

I do a lot of work for GFK and in five years I've never had a query. I don't want to lose work over this, but I'm not sure what else I can do to prove I did the visit as required.