Mystery Shopping Thread 23 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

Big_Graeme

Middy wrote: »

Its a bit quiet for me after tomorrow - got two. The others in my area have been auditing ones or only want someone to do it Monday - Wednesday when I work.

It happens, first week of the month goes a bit mad, second quietens down a bit, usually it picks up again mid month.

Stryder

And of course - the big fees come at the end of a wave, which for some are the end of the month. These tend to be 22nd - 31st of most months for a number of jobs.

Stryder

A lot of negativity today, and for once, not aimed at our antipodean friends! As I do this as a almost full time job, I like all the companies that help pay my bills ... although I am not sure how many Retail Active and Amber Arch jobs I would have to do to pay the rent? each company has its pros and cons and just because it does not suit you, does not mean its bad. Generally we are after results and we can work together. Yes we all get shafted once or twice, but you would working in an office. My gripes are these:
1) certain company coming back to you with enquiries. like "The MoS was called john, !!!!! a managers badge, had short black hair and was approximately 6'2"." Query - please can you complete the description. Was 6'2" Manager John male or female?
2) Another company tends to ask about 4 questions about the same thing. "Do you realise you have to ask x? Did you ask x? What answer were you given to x? How did the answer make you feel?"
3) Exec's who will not give you any extra when your offering to do 4 jobs in some far off town. To be fair, half the time they come back and offer the same amount (as for all 4 jobs) to do one or two.... I am never generous after I have been refused a couple of quid.
4) Brief where you have to say "Hello, Please tell me why I should select ultra bright 2000, the leading washing machine in the UK, and can you tell me the finance package, the fee bonuses, and tie me up and call me Susan, I am not really a Mystery Shopper".
5) Companies with briefs that say - Phone store, make sure they are open and get their opening hours, spend 15 minutes with sales (usually ends up 45) then buy, then return next day. Fee £4.

Ooooo I feel better. To be fair most are a lot better than that and I find the mood I am in affects the speed of report writing and how annoying I find an assignment.

yonk

PeteW wrote: »

Had 5 GFK reports to submit this evening. Does anyone else find their assignments a right pain in the bum? Actually doing the assignment itself is normally fine, but it's the briefing sheets which seem to needlessly complicated everything, to the point that it's quite hard to work out exactly what you're meant to do and it's quite easy to miss something important and get caught out!

Totally, they're trying to micro-manage every detail. I gave up when the briefing sheet was more pages than the number of £ in the fee. I found the language difficult to as I tended to focus more on the threats of non-payment than the actual requirements and it was hard to sift them out of the rest of the document.

PeteW

yonk wrote: »

Totally, they're trying to micro-manage every detail. I gave up when the briefing sheet was more pages than the number of £ in the fee. I found the language difficult to as I tended to focus more on the threats of non-payment than the actual requirements and it was hard to sift them out of the rest of the document.

Exactly. So much of it just isn't relevant that you can miss the bits that are!

I know lots of people hate MF for various reasons, but I have to say their briefing sheets are excellent - short and to the point.

mimi1234

Does anyone work for QDOS? I keep getting emails offering me hotel stays which I reply to straight away, but they always go to other people. Do they have preferred shoppers? Anyone know how their allocation works?

chuichi

chuichi wrote: »

Hi all, I have another question (did take a look on front page but didn't find what I wanted) this time regarding ABA.

Has anyone of you made a purchase and then refund it later on? Does ABA allow it?

Bump... does anyone know the answer to my query please?

Big_Graeme

mimi1234 wrote: »

Does anyone work for QDOS? I keep getting emails offering me hotel stays which I reply to straight away, but they always go to other people. Do they have preferred shoppers? Anyone know how their allocation works?

The chosen few get the good stuff, the rest get what they don't want, bit like working for Associa.

Big_Graeme

chuichi wrote: »

Bump... does anyone know the answer to my query please?

On one of the cat jobs?
If so I'd not make a multiple purchase as they get arsey about it, the main part of this job is timings and they get knocked out if you have two or more items..

chuichi

Big_Graeme wrote: »

On one of the cat jobs?
If so I'd not make a multiple purchase as they get arsey about it, the main part of this job is timings and they get knocked out if you have two or more items..

I wouldn't be making multiple purchase, as there's a minimum spend but the fee doesn't cover all of the minimum spend.

I'm just thinking if I don't see anything I actually want to keep, can I just buy any item to get the job done and return the item few days later...?