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

Bunnie1982

Got my first MS assignment of this financial year on Sunday. Been so busy at work that I have not been able to find the time to do any assignments, however my husband has been really busy with assignments so generally I have been helping out with his.

Bunnie1982

I have just managed to get a second one as well for later on in the month and at a really convenient time for me.

Bunnie1982

Does anyone know if mystery shopping companies also carry out assessments of days out attractions?

debtfree1day

HI

I am going to a pub Mystery shop tomorrow, with a £5 fee and a £30 expenses limit. I have looked at the food menu and reckon it will come to about £17 - £18 including the drinks.

I have to send in itemised receipts. Is the receipt the max I can claim?

OR

1 - Can I claim £30 and keep the rest
2 - Take a friend and spend another ten / twelve pounds and send a receipt for that too

Cheers?

Lisa

wensie

debtfree1day wrote: »

HI

I am going to a pub Mystery shop tomorrow, with a £5 fee and a £30 expenses limit. I have looked at the food menu and reckon it will come to about £17 - £18 including the drinks.

I have to send in itemised receipts. Is the receipt the max I can claim?

OR

1 - Can I claim £30 and keep the rest
2 - Take a friend and spend another ten / twelve pounds and send a receipt for that too

Cheers?

Lisa

Sounds like RE to me ...

1 - No, you can't. You will only get refunded what you spent and as they want the receipt they will only refund what you spent - or £30 if you spent more than that.
2 - Unless it specifically states that you can't take someone with you it's not a problem and yes, then you can spend the extra and you will get it refunded. Just get one receipt for the lot.

debtfree1day

thanks wensie

well its an incentive to have an extra glass of wine or 3.

OH can drive!!

Lisa
x

jobbingmusician

If it is RE, they only want the receipt for the food. They won't want you to ask for a receipt every time you buy a drink or round of drinks, as this is not normal shopper behaviour.

You may conclude from this that they won't actually know how many drinks you buy or how much you spend in total

debtfree1day

Jobbie


so could i conclude that some people with RE have claimed more than on the receipt and been paid?

lisa

Becles

debtfree1day wrote: »

thanks wensie

well its an incentive to have an extra glass of wine or 3.

Be careful drinking alcohol on visits. If the pub/restaurant gets a bad report, they can challenge it by saying you were too drunk to make suitable observations.

I know of situations where this has happened before, which is why some companies state in the brief that you are not allowed more than 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks.

jobbingmusician

debtfree1day wrote: »

Jobbie


so could i conclude that some people with some mystery shopping companies have claimed more than on the receipt and been paid?

lisa

You can safely assume this. I am happy to be cited as one of these people. As I said, they DISCOURAGE people from asking for a receipt when they just order drinks. Unless your brief actually asks you to order your drink and meal together* you can normally assume that they will NOT want receipts for your drinks. I send them the receipt for the meal as I truly believe this is what they want. They also do some 'drinks only' visits where they specifically tell you NOT to ask for a receipt. Just make sure you are really certain you can prove you have been there - make sure you note the shops either side, and your descriptions of staff are good.

*Even if it says to order them together, I did make a genuine mistake on one of my visits and ordered the drink first, so just sent in the receipt for the exact meal I had been told to purchase. No query was raised on this occasion. However, they do ask what the total amount you spent was.