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

N.I.M

I dunno about timeframes but if you know the staff you shouldnt really be doing the shops. But the receipt will have given you away most likely.

Boredupnorth

I think they may have started asking if you want a receipt as the one I went in today was asking everyone if they wanted one. Never known it before?

lanny275

N.I.M wrote: »

I dunno about timeframes but if you know the staff you shouldnt really be doing the shops. But the receipt will have given you away most likely.

I don't know any staff personally, just familiar with most due to being a fairly regular customer IYSWIM

lclose62

lanny275 wrote: »

Hi, I need some advice please. I did my first mystery shop today for GAP at a burger restaurant in my local town.
I am positive the staff believed me to be a mystery shopper. I usually go to the restaurant about once a week or so so am quite familiar with the staff, usual state of the place, usual service etc.
Today however ALL the staff were asking customers if they wanted a receipt. In all my years of frequenting this restaurant I have NEVER been asked this, nor have I ever heard anyone else be asked. As this is a fairly small branch there are only 4 tills so easy to eavesdrop on other customers being served.
As soon as I said yes to a receipt it was like someone has pressed a buzzer! I suddenly had 2 people serving me, a fresh burger was made up for me, even though I could see they had what I'd ordered in the warming bay. I was offered sauces, extra salt all with big bright toothy smiles!
To be honest I found the whole thing a little unnerving.
I then sat down to eat my meal and noticed 4 staff members, one of which must have been a regional manager as he wore no uniform, name badge etc. They were all huddled in a corner whispering then looking at me! I know I sound paranoid, I'm almost laughing at how conspiratorial this sounds but it was SO obvious.
During my meal I was approached by an employee asking if everything was alright with my meal and the second I reached for my coat another employee came, asked if I'd finished and whisked away my tray to the bin!
A lady at the table next to me even asked what I'd done to get so well looked after!
I then left my table to check out the toilets followed swiftly by a cleaner who just sort of hovered about in the loos for a few minutes waving a mop at the floor!
As I was leaving the restaurant I was asked by 3 different employees if everything was ok with my meal etc and thanking me for coming.
In all it was the most bizarre experience I have ever had at one of these restaurants. I usually find the staff to be mildly helpful at best and downright rude at worst.
I would also add that no other customer was receiving this 'special treatment' which made it all the more obvious.
I am wondering what timescale the restaurant is given for a mystery shop and whether they figured it was probably me because I wanted a reciept. As previously mentioned I have never been asked or given a receipt before, even when paying by card.
Should I tell GAP about my suspicions?
Sorry if I've waffled on a bit, any help much appreciated.

The standard floor show! Next time, ask for a plate, knife and fork, and ask if they will clean your shoes. They probably will!

spender

Right I am going to annoy a lot of you so I will apologise in advance and buy you all a virtual drink and if you are really good you can have a chocolate left over from Christmas.

I am completing my first tax return as SE. Now I think I have got the hang of the following points.

Reimbursement and fee (if you have to purchase as part of the assignment then this is tax deductible)

Reimbursement only including the "dining" assignments. This is seen as a benefit and therefore taxable.

I know I can claim £3.00 a week towards heating and light. Now how about my phone calls. I am on an inclusive package for calls so do I claim part of the line rental and calls or do I charge per individual phone call?

Mileage I know the rate is now 40p however I will completing when the old rate was in force. Do I have to show all mileage costs separately or do I just include it in the total overall figure. Each job I complete I note down the costs such as mileage and printing, calls, parking etc so therefore I only put down the profit or loss as my total.

Now the final question, if we are undertaking mystery shopping as an income how come so many are owed tax? I can not see how the tax man would not be investigating if nearly everybody makes a loss? Even though I have been doing this in addition to my main job I have still managed to make a profit even with all expenses taken off. Not a large profit but a profit nevertheless which I will have to pay tax on. I can not get my head around the fact that people get a rebate of tax. What am I doing wrong?


Any way ready for the sighs and I know we have talked tax before but with the thread being so large I can not find it.:A:A:A:A:A:A:A

yonk

Earning too much, if you earn less than your personal allowance in total over all your incomes, you get a rebate. I'm working hard to ensure I don't earn enough to pay tax. :-)

Tax for cars is 45 per mile, I think.

hsa_3

Anyone else think that the customer service in the main supermarket which TNS shop is going downhill? I don't seem to be able to get anyone to take me to the item any more, they just point. You would have thought with all this unemployment that the quality of staff would be going up, so maybe it's a failure of the training. I haven't managed to get on a cycle of shopping other supermarkets so it's hard to make a comparison, but my personal shopping experience suggests they may fare better. What does everyone else think?

N.I.M

I've found them all to be much the same at this time of year. But compared to the GR and GAP ones the staff are a bit worse...although I'm fairly reliably informed the training might not be matching the staff instructions anymore.

Skiergirl

spender wrote: »

Right I am going to annoy a lot of you so I will apologise in advance and buy you all a virtual drink and if you are really good you can have a chocolate left over from Christmas.

I am completing my first tax return as SE. Now I think I have got the hang of the following points.

Reimbursement and fee (if you have to purchase as part of the assignment then this is tax deductible)

Reimbursement only including the "dining" assignments. This is seen as a benefit and therefore taxable.

I know I can claim £3.00 a week towards heating and light. Now how about my phone calls. I am on an inclusive package for calls so do I claim part of the line rental and calls or do I charge per individual phone call?

Mileage I know the rate is now 40p however I will completing when the old rate was in force. Do I have to show all mileage costs separately or do I just include it in the total overall figure. Each job I complete I note down the costs such as mileage and printing, calls, parking etc so therefore I only put down the profit or loss as my total.

Now the final question, if we are undertaking mystery shopping as an income how come so many are owed tax? I can not see how the tax man would not be investigating if nearly everybody makes a loss? Even though I have been doing this in addition to my main job I have still managed to make a profit even with all expenses taken off. Not a large profit but a profit nevertheless which I will have to pay tax on. I can not get my head around the fact that people get a rebate of tax. What am I doing wrong?


Any way ready for the sighs and I know we have talked tax before but with the thread being so large I can not find it.:A:A:A:A:A:A:A

I'm not sure about a lot of this but the phone calls I do know about. You need to work out the proportion of calls used for private/business use and claim a proportion of the bill for each month, this includes rental and calls.
I included mileage as part of the overall expenses figure when I did mine. If your turnover is below 70k a year, you don't have to break your expenses down, just put in an overall figure.
I'm obviously doing something wrong too, as I made a small profit too, but am tempted by a tablet for business use

N.I.M

You guys done your spends on stationary / printing / office supplies etc? I missed that off first time round.