Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys?

Mandles

pudding06 wrote:

Damn - I did a pub visit yesterday and needed a receipt for the meal. I asked for one but there was a blokey standing next to me shouting an order at one of the staff and she mustnt have heard me. She didnt givve me a reciept, but I couldnt really ask again without it bieng obvious I was a mystery shopper. So thats me £15 down.

I have to say the meal was nice, but I wouldnt have chosen to eat in that pub unless I was going to get the money back.

I've explained on the form but I'm not hopeful for the reimbursement.

pudds

The machine chewed up the reciept when i went so i just got another reciept that was lying around as proof once (i did tell the mystery company)and i still got paid. We all learn through mistakes. I often ask for reciept when i hand them the money so they are still listening to me and better still try to always use my switch card so that i dont have to ask(much less hassle).Hope you get paid. Explain and they may be ok.

chocolategirl

pudding06 wrote:

Damn - I did a pub visit yesterday and needed a receipt for the meal. I asked for one but there was a blokey standing next to me shouting an order at one of the staff and she mustnt have heard me. She didnt givve me a reciept, but I couldnt really ask again without it bieng obvious I was a mystery shopper. So thats me £15 down.

I have to say the meal was nice, but I wouldnt have chosen to eat in that pub unless I was going to get the money back.

I've explained on the form but I'm not hopeful for the reimbursement.

pudds

Bad luck. Did you get a credit card receipt? At least that would be better than nothing...

We were lucky, we had a bill brought at the end of the meal so it was easy! Mind you, we were supposed to buy a set item, and it wasn't on the menu so wonder what will happen there!

System

Wondering if anyone has been spotted as a ms yet? I think I may have done yesterday - the guy in the shop went to put his name badge on half way through the transaction :rotfl:
I know I didn't on another day because the sales assistant was positive they didn't sell the item I was briefed to ask for and referred me to a competitor shop Got there in the end when I kept saying "I'm sure my sister saw item X here!"
Love this job, never get bored, thanks for all the helpful posts that got me started. :T :T
Rachel

Becles

pudding06 wrote:

What is POS?

POS = point of sale material.

It can be anything from a poster, those wobbly things on shelves/tills, a display unit, leaflets to take away - anything extra you see to promote a product.

Congratulations becles, just seen your signature. Ah - the patter of tiny feet.

Thanks - it's my third, but I'm still mega excited about it as if I'd never done it before

prawncocktail

Hi all, i'm thinking of joining a mystery shopping company, I think maybe retaileyes or others? Will they forward my name to the tax collection people so they can send me a tax return to fill in next year so I can pay the taxes? how does it work as I don't want a fine to pay. Thanks

hornetgirl

prawncocktail wrote:

Hi all, i'm thinking of joining a mystery shopping company, I think maybe retaileyes or others? Will they forward my name to the tax collection people so they can send me a tax return to fill in next year so I can pay the taxes? how does it work as I don't want a fine to pay. Thanks

If you are self employed, which you would be with Retail Eyes, it is your responsibility to notify the tax man. You need to do it within (I think) three months of becoming self employed, to make sure you don't get fined.
Best to give your tax office a ring as soon as you get your first job - they're very helpful.

prawncocktail

Thanks for the reply. How would they find out i'm doing a mystery shopper job if I forget to tell them? I'm not sure if i'm going to do it for a long while, just try it out for a month or so to see if I like it then tell them.

Becles

Even if you did one shop, earned £5 and decided to do no more, you would still have to tell the tax man about it.

If you don't and are found out, you'll immediately have to pay £100 fine for not registering within 3 months. It does happen - read back and you'll see people on here who have had to pay it.

In the worst case scenario, you could be convicted of tax evasion which has stiffer penalties. You'd have to go through a tax investigation which is stressful and intrusive.

There is a risk that you won't be caught, but personally for the sake of a bit of paperwork I don't think it's worth that risk.

Darren21

prawncocktail wrote:

Thanks for the reply. How would they find out i'm doing a mystery shopper job if I forget to tell them? I'm not sure if i'm going to do it for a long while, just try it out for a month or so to see if I like it then tell them.

If you just want to try it out then join a paye company like tns or nop, that way you don't have all the tax forms to fill in.

Dormouse

I did a shop yesterday that I did a few months ago (you're allowed to do it every 3 months), and I got the same member of staff. Not sure if he suspected anything as he did do everything very well, but then again he got a good report the first time round as well.

It's just funny trying to keep a straight face in situations like that. I'm standing there thinking, "Wonder if he remembers me?", and he's probably thinking, "Wonder if she's a MS" :rotfl:

I think I'll give the next wave of MSs for this store a miss, otherwise the guy will think I'm a stalker :rotfl: He was quite cute