Maximising income - Mystery Shopping? Surveys? (Part Two)

Timmne

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Gosh, I think a couple of you above are being rather precious.

I take my MS seriously and do excellent reports (which is why I get a phone call almost every day offering me extra and enhanced work). However, it is a lark. Think about it - it is generally at less than the minimum wage, and yet they are recruiting graduates + to do the work.

I for one don't have any qualms about telling friends I do it, and sharing funny stories with them. There is no chance these stories will get back to the coffee shops and other places I MS (although I did do one pub once where a friend lived in the locality and knew why the service was so bad )

Absolutely spot on!

Dollardog

Josie - and the others that seem to agree with you, I am one of the ones out there that do mystery shopping for a living, and take it very seriously.
It has to keep the roof over my head.
It is not 'just a bit of fun', or 'a lark' to me, nor should it be to you. The companies are paying you to do this research for them, be it by fee, or just reimbursement to cover your expenses. When you sign up to do this work, you agree to abide by their terms and conditions, which state that you are not allowed to mention confidential details about Clients.
It is people like you, and your apparent slap dash attitude, who get mystery shopping a bad name, who encourage people to do it, just for the 'freebies', people like that come into the profession with the wrong attitude. Most of them soon learn that it is not just a free meal ticket, that there is preparation to do beforehand and reports to submit.
It is because of people like you, that fees for jobs are going down such a lot.
Mystery shopping is a market research tool that is important to the Clients, who expect an honest, detailed report. If they don't get that, then companies soon lose their contracts.

Timmne

Dollardog - we know it's important, we take it seriously when we're doing the job, we give exactly what they want and need. You're getting upset about the use of 'lark'.

Maybe us who take the jobs a bit more lightly actually give better results as we're not acting like some sort of spy!

Dollardog

Timmne [/Quote]Maybe us who take the jobs a bit more lightly actually give better results as we're not acting like some sort of spy![/quote]

I doubt it!!

headoutthesand

regardless of who does it for a lark or who does it seriously - it is a job.

It's like saying people who go to work in an office and have a laugh aren't doing the same job as their collegues who sit with their face tripping them all day.

you all seem quick to judge josie. i didn't read that she does [EMAIL="cr@p"]!!!!!![/EMAIL] reports - is that just an assumption because she doesn't rely on MS as her main income?

surely if bher reports were [EMAIL="cr@p"]!!!!!![/EMAIL] she wouldn't get paid?

Becles

I don't mind helping people who genuinely want to do this sort of work as a job. Everyone needs a helping hand at first, and it can be a lonely occupation working from home with nobody to chat about stuff with.

There's been a lot of stuff on this thread that has made me feel uncomfortable though. People treating the job as a lark to get freebies, people inflating expenses to make a loss to avoid paying tax, people not reading the brief or missing something out then moaning because they didn't get paid and so on.

It's really frustrating when you get a call or email asking to complete a job at the last minute because a shopper has let the company down by either not doing the job or doing a bad report that cannot be used. Sometimes I can't help if I'm fully booked, but if offered the job originally I could have done it to an acceptable standard.

It's also annoying for the MS company who has the stress of finding someone to do urgent jobs, and delayed results for the client. Upsetting the client could result in the contract being lost. I've been in the job long enough to see shops moved from company to company, usually with a reduction in the fee paid to the shopper.

MS work is important feedback to the client. They are ultimately paying for a service and expect to get results. Therefore I feel people should treat it seriously and follow the rules, otherwise their actions can spoil the job for the rest of us.

Sarahsaver

Very well said;)

Timmne

Can I change the subject slightly?

Just thought I'd ask if anyone else constantly has the feeling that they've been sussed in the back of their mind?

The reason I ask is that I did a clownburger shop last night and the service and food quality was absolutely exceptional. The funny thing is there's no way they could ahve known I was an MSer - I didn't even have to ask for a receipt which usually gives them a hint!

The managers were buzzing around the store and one even came over to ask how I was enjoying my meal!

I was shocked - I've never been to this company before and been positively impressed; I'm rarely upset with the service, just neutral really!

Makes you feel good that their efforts were noticed though

just_jillie

josie wrote: »

I just do it for a bit of fun, pocket money and free meals out, so am fairly laid back about it and I do tell people who I MS for and which shops/restaurants/bookies etc., and don't mind sharing this info with others.

quote]

Sharing info with others is breaking the agreement you have with the MS company, its called a confidentiality agreement. Read their small print and wait for the backlash....

leni

I did a total of £42 MS between august and jan and am just about to attempt my tax return (even though I don't understand it!)

The issue is I got reimbursements for 19 of them but can only find 6 reciepts! what do I do? I have all the figures, just not the reciepts!