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Mystery Shopping Thread 25 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

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Comments

  • sukitnsee
    sukitnsee Posts: 91 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    212 wrote: »
    MF have a pub about an hour from me with a very nicely increased fee! (About 4x what it normally is!). I'm guessing someone let them down (start date is 2nd Feb til today). Makes me wonder if it's worth pre-booking the ones closer to me, or leaving it and chancing some being re-released later on. It's not the first time I've seen a re-release at higher fees on there.

    RE: The charity shops, I had the same thoughts about 'taking' money, but in the long run you are helping to generate sales. There is absolutely no way I could spend 15 minutes in mine, and ask BOTH those 2 questions, without being noticed!

    I posted just the same thing about MF last week 212 as I sometimes seem to be able to pick up a visit or two at short notice and for higher fees presumably because someone has cancelled at the last minute.

    By the way, was it a pub with the initials WB by any chance?
  • scaredofdebt
    scaredofdebt Posts: 1,663 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 3 March 2014 at 6:46PM
    I think it's best to leave picking jobs as late as you dare as many MS companies do increase fees, pay bonuses etc. Of course if you leave the job then you run the risk of losing it.

    I was paid four times the usual fee for a pharmacy job pity it doesn't happen more regularly.
    Make £2018 in 2018 Challenge - Total to date £2,108
  • mrbanjo
    mrbanjo Posts: 279 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    I think it's best to leave picking jobs as late as you dare as many MS companies do increase fees, pay bonuses etc. Of course if you leave the job then you run the risk of losing it.

    I was paid £65 once for a pharmacy job that is usually £15, pity it doesn't happen more regularly.

    Please no talking of fees on here, the regulars will rant.
  • 212
    212 Posts: 241 Forumite
    edited 1 March 2014 at 11:31PM
    I think it's best to leave picking jobs as late as you dare as many MS companies do increase fees, pay bonuses etc. Of course if you leave the job then you run the risk of losing it.

    I was paid £65 once for a pharmacy job that is usually £15, pity it doesn't happen more regularly.
    True, I think for the ones I don't really want I'll do that. I've not seen any put fees up as deadlines approach though, only after the deadlines when they've been let down - so I always think someone else will get them for the normal price as they start ringing round.
    sukitnsee wrote: »
    I posted just the same thing about MF last week 212 as I sometimes seem to be able to pick up a visit or two at short notice and for higher fees presumably because someone has cancelled at the last minute.

    By the way, was it a pub with the initials WB by any chance?
    I've never seen it to this scale before - this evening they've released quite a few with identical higher fees! I'd quite like to do a few of them too - but need them to remain for another few days! Highly doubt that'll happen :(

    Nope wasn't those initials. I think if the start date goes back a long way (e.g. start of Feb) then it's from within that slot and people have let them down. Although there are a lot of shops being pushed back (ID test) that are set at the same fee but keep getting pushed back a day or two at a time - but with a start date of the current date (e.g. Mar 1st to Mar 1st. Or Mar 1st to March 5th). When really these are recycled from 2nd week of Feb!

    I've been phoned a few times before, and taken jobs at the fee offered as I was starting out - is this the time to negotiate, as they're fairly desperate to be phoning round?
  • bethem
    bethem Posts: 27 Forumite
    212 wrote: »
    I've been phoned a few times before, and taken jobs at the fee offered as I was starting out - is this the time to negotiate, as they're fairly desperate to be phoning round?

    If they're phoning me up then I always negotiate, I presume they need them doing ASAP if they are ringing round. I always start out by saying I'm not sure about doing the job as it's quite far away/ bad time or whatever. They have always offered me more in this situation.

    It's always worth a try!
  • elainec
    elainec Posts: 206 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I had a look at the charity shop jobs but knew I wouldn't feel comfortable asking one of the questions so didn't accept it! other than that I think they are just like every other shop trying to get more customers and keep the customers coming back so would not have any problems doing them for that reason.
    :j
  • 212
    212 Posts: 241 Forumite
    bethem wrote: »
    If they're phoning me up then I always negotiate, I presume they need them doing ASAP if they are ringing round. I always start out by saying I'm not sure about doing the job as it's quite far away/ bad time or whatever. They have always offered me more in this situation.

    It's always worth a try!
    True :) Even RA, when I didn't want (or have time) to do the job so made an excuse, they were trying to offer me more, although she didn't go into exactly what

    elainec wrote: »
    I had a look at the charity shop jobs but knew I wouldn't feel comfortable asking one of the questions so didn't accept it! other than that I think they are just like every other shop trying to get more customers and keep the customers coming back so would not have any problems doing them for that reason.
    They do seem 2 very strange questions to ask - the first I can just about understand if you did it in the right way (I've made a donation....), but the second!?!
  • 212
    212 Posts: 241 Forumite
    Found out my answer to the MF re-released assignments, they were 100% let down, as I could see the previous photos that were uploaded when I went to submit mine!
  • Larac
    Larac Posts: 958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    [QUOTE=212;64855252
    They do seem 2 very strange questions to ask - the first I can just about understand if you did it in the right way (I've made a donation....), but the second!?![/QUOTE]

    I thought too they were strange questions to ask, it seems to come with the territory in MS work of let's ask really weird questions that no normal customer is likely to ask. The Gfk stamp shops seem to specialise in this in some of the scenarios.
  • Sunny_spell
    Sunny_spell Posts: 729 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Photogenic Combo Breaker
    edited 3 March 2014 at 1:00AM
    Found this info - could be useful:
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    HMRC also offers a range of pre-recorded webinars which you can view at a time to suit you.
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