Mystery Shopping Thread 21 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES*

whitelabel

mimi1234 wrote: »

No dude (if you are a dude, I don't know eeek!), it's IMS that always say you have to glam up. I once did a healthy Netherlands shop all dressed up to the max, came home with shoes all battered and dust all over my clothes, was not impressed! The other one which you correctly guessed allow you to wear anything which is what I prefer. I mean who the hell wants to get on the floor in posh shoes? Eeeek. Mileage for IMS is good, but not when nice clothes end up on the scrap heap.

yup I am a dude

ims always say dress up yes, except they changed the brief for the healthy visits (too tired to get the netherlands reference at the mo) after i complained after my first visit. I assume others did too. They said smart but understand due to nature of work they understand business stuff not appropriate. Banks are a bit of pain like that too but understand why the client wants it like that.

for the other company, if you do any of the regular supermarkets that are overt, the authorisation letter specifically says, they will report, sign in and be smartly dressed. that said I generally do the overt ones covertly too most times, means i can wear what i want and can go on to do other visits without being smartly dressed.

whitelabel

ms_night_ryder wrote: »

I have no experience of IMS, i signed up, got an e-mail about some shops, replied and never heard from them again! but i have seen there has been a bit of work from them from discussions on here.

Regarding company that cannot be named, i too like them now a few months ago i was complaining as i was only getting offered 1 job a month on a certain audit, now i am up to 3, have a regular mon/thurs gig and have been getting offers of others, but they are not really near me, i wear what i want, but most of the time it's office clothes, as i do it straight from work, i am loving them at the moment, got to be said. although, i have a feeling i am not their best associate, but i fair o.k, i do know there is other work, that i am not being offered, by others working there, still figuring out how i can deal with all of them and get a variety of jobs offered? any help appreciated.

next time you speak to one, just mention that you have some extra availability over the next few weeks/ days etc so if anything comes up you can help at short notice (assuming you can ?) that said if youre in my area, please dont

I generally only speak or email with 3 staff a couple of times a week and the owner maybe monthly and the only guy that ive come across working there who i also think does accounts, monthly so there may not actually be that many there despite their claim of 80 Managers, 5,000+ shoppers and 3,000+ in the Rest of World ) I think they share staff with another company and perhaps have access to that) as one project I regularly work for is for another company that I cant apply to work for direct as they dont recruit for field positions.

They are a close team and will, if you ask nicely, put your name forward to the others for other projects if they think you are reliable etc, but they do have their favourites for projects in areas, generally through proving themselves and assisting at short notice etc i guess so if there is some one else in your area you may not get too much more or only what they cant do.

HeavensDevil

Not MS, but if anyone's in Poole this weekend, I am doing a customer survey at a toy/games/gadget shop in the Dolphin Centre - do pop in, it would be lovely to put a face to the name Also, please fill out a survey for me - I've never done this before and worry that all the customers will just tell me where to go and that the surveying company will think I'm rubbish!

Becles

mimi1234 wrote: »

What are your thoughts on PIP and UKIMS? I'm getting increasingly frustrated with both as I never get any work from them (I'm not going to the cheap clothes shop for PIP, it's sooooooo not me, and the posh chocolates get pinched as soon as they go on!) and I am beginning to think about deactivating my accounts with both. Discuss.....

I hardly get anything from PIP but I did get a posh chocs shop a couple of weeks ago and they were gorgeous choccies

UKIMS is mainly merchandising and they have preferred people who get offered the work first, then their left overs get offered to everyone else. I'm in the "everyone else" group so hardly get anything off them either.

mimi1234 wrote: »

The other thing with IMS is they expect us to dress up and then get down on our knees to re-arrange things. With the pittance they pay, it's not really worth it. I'm not getting a posh outfit on to get it ruined. Does everyone else get their shoes and trousers on?

I wear a blouse, smart trousers and heels, but I buy them from cheap shops like supermarkets or Primark, so it doesn't matter if they get grubby or torn climbing round stockrooms or crawling round the floor.

superliss

Got my first trailer check tomorrow. And first MS for same company on Sunday. Any tips for the trailers? Seem pretty straightforward?

Trevor64_2

HeavensDevil wrote: »

Not MS, but if anyone's in Poole this weekend, I am doing a customer survey at a toy/games/gadget shop in the Dolphin Centre - do pop in, it would be lovely to put a face to the name Also, please fill out a survey for me - I've never done this before and worry that all the customers will just tell me where to go and that the surveying company will think I'm rubbish!

Sounds suspiciously like the exit survey I did for RM a couple of weeks back.
If it is don't worry. It says on the brief that the target is 50+ for the 4 hour slot but I got 18 and there were no comebacks.
Anyway, you are probably on the way to the job now so won't see this till you get back, but good luck anyhow.

ShyLouisa

superliss wrote: »

Got my first trailer check tomorrow. And first MS for same company on Sunday. Any tips for the trailers? Seem pretty straightforward?

Yes they are straightforward, I think they are my favourite jobs.
Tips.....take a small torch, if it's a popular film get there early to get a decent seat, I usually like to sit under one of the lights to make it easier to see to write when the lights are dimmed. You need the torch when the lights are out!

Talking of trailer checks....I did one yesterday evening but I can't enter the data on the website as it is still greyed out...anyone else having this problem? I have rung them and left a message, but not heard anything back yet, and I have to go out soon (my football team need my support!! )

N.I.M

Anyone else doing the quick Deep Discounter visits for IMS this week? I'm just about to head out and heard on the radio that today is due to be the busiest shopping day of the year. Was I insane to take these?

HeavensDevil

Trevor64 wrote: »

Sounds suspiciously like the exit survey I did for RM a couple of weeks back.
If it is don't worry. It says on the brief that the target is 50+ for the 4 hour slot but I got 18 and there were no comebacks.
Anyway, you are probably on the way to the job now so won't see this till you get back, but good luck anyhow.

Thank you I first read your message at lunchtime in McDonald's (some kind person left loads of vouchers in the staff room!). My target was 70 in 6 hours, but my contact at the surveying company said the people who did it last weekend mostly got between 40-50. I got 31, which I am happy enough with, given it's the first one I've ever done and how busy people are at this time of year. I imagine there won't be any comeback, as I'm not doing horrendously worse than the others, who are probably way more experienced. The customers are mostly politer than I expected when telling me they're not interested too Hopefully tomorrow will be just as fruitful, if not better!

misssarahleigh

mimi1234 wrote: »

Oh do they now. How rude. I never get offered mileage or anything for VERY URGENT ones. They do sometimes pay mileage on normal visits, but they are not dumb. For example, visiting a concession for them normally gives £12, but they only offer mileage when they put 3 concessions together and reduce the fee for each one to £8, so you only get £24 for doing 3 and then the travel which is capped at about £8 (£24 + £8 is still less than 3 x £12), so technically you are not really getting any mileage at all. (Figures I have used are just numbers, RM pay a lot lot less than these, and sorry for going all Carol Vorderman on you again, my bad!). I can remember back in the day when RM did the cookies, and they gave you mileage on top of a very full figured reimbursement and fee. *swoon*

I think I am sending PIP to Room 101. I'm not really going to do any visits for them in the near future.

I don't really understand why people do this (as I've heard others say it too)

Even if you don't like the fee for a normal job they always email with offers. E.g, Amber arch put a very healthy fee on some computer jobs in a place I know you love.

And even the companies you don't hear much off. I heard from one this week after 2 years. Not a big job but had a nice chat and was told she had something else for me and would be in touch soon.

Gotta keep your options open, especially since clients move about. You may find you want to be with a company in future if they get a client you like.

For the sake of ignoring a few emails to stay with the company, I don't see why people close accounts (except for a bad experience with a company where no amount of money will make you work for them again)