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

shell_belle

mrbanjo wrote: »

Well done!!! I have sacked RA and TNS within the last week. These companies are not worth drawing breath over. React are hanging by a show string, the new intake are are useless at best

I sacked off RA months ago because I could not understand what the payments were that they were sending me and the fees were shocking. I also sacked them because they constantly called me to take jobs I did not want and sent me to places that had closed with no fee being paid.

As for TNS, I got rid of them because they refused to pay for a job I had completed in good faith at short notice which took substantially longer than the average job. I finally got my money but told them I would never work for them again and have not.

Neither are any great loss to me and not having to hang around the phone shops for almost an hour at a time that TNS have on their books for a paltry fee or going to a tile shop for RA are not jobs I miss.

Larac

I dont do the phone shops either as both the report and the shop took ages to do and the fee did not recognise the work required. Judging by the daily emails from Tns with offers of work others were of the same view. The diy shop for RA with 4 enquiries is a complete joke for the fee. They seem to languish on the boards for weeks - the fact nobody can be ars**d - you would think they would get the message.

MysteryMe

I did one TNS phone shop, only because they doubled the fee and paid travel but I lost the will to live in the store and then the report form seemed like it had been compiled by someone not of this earth. Naturally the in store experience was far removed from the video!


I'm in no rush to do another.

shell_belle

scrooge2008 wrote: »

I so wish that I had listened. Of all the MS jobs that I have ever done those have to be the worst .................

That was the feeling I had when I was doing it. Would never touch one of those again. The effort involved just does not match the fee

shell_belle

Kayleighpea wrote: »

Hi all

Is anyone available that has done a food visit at a theme park for me to ask a question on private message?!

Thanks!

PM away if you still need too

shell_belle

Wail wrote: »

I have just done my first Gyp job. How do I know if I have been successful and the job has been approved after I have done it because I've not seen anything including any emails.

General rule of thumb is if you don't hear anything then everything is okay but if you do get an email or a call then there is an issue. It depends on what MS Company it is but you can get a call or email months after jobs. I wouldn't worry though. They will usually contact you within a couple of weeks if theres an issue:)

shell_belle

whitelabel wrote: »

I was finishing up an overt audit in a store with another shopper and had an "urgent" mf email alert for the store literally across the road. I told the other shopper about it if they wanted it - the reality was neither of us could be bothered for the fee despite its proximity. We valued our time more than mf did and would not give them the satisfaction of doing it. If more people did that, fees would start to increase.

That happened to me last week and when I said I would not be near the store they wanted urgently covered but could if expenses were paid, the call was terminated.

As you say if more people in general stopped hoovering up poorly paid jobs quickly then more bonuses would be paid and we would all be better off!

Larac

These recent posts made me ponder the worst MS assignments over the last year I have done:


1) Merchandise jobs for the company that does not like to be named. The stock is never in the large stock room and the local supermarket staff are really rude and unhelpful. Fees don't cover any form of re-visit which always likely.


2)TNS phone jobs - take too long in the store as usually there is a queue of people with complex enquiries. The reports you fill in, have got be the worst I have seen - whoever put them together has no idea, how long they take to fill in as a consequence. The whole experience has put me off of buying phones in a phone shop and buy online instead.


3)The big blue and yellow torture chambers - three enquiries and there is never anybody on the floor to ask and report needs lots of narrative. Spend ages waiting around to speak to people. Thankfully you can only do these every six months.


4)Tile shop and DIY enquiry - only did once, never again fees too low, require too much of you in the store and briefs are white flag you are a MS.


Apart from that 'happy days'

secondhand

I think MS companies need to realise that there are only so many good shoppers who will keep the job up. No doubt they can recruit new ones all the time (probably after they read articles about someone who made £45k and got a load of shopping!) but I bet many soon give it up once they realise they have to read 5 pages of brief, perform several tasks, remember a number of things, then write it up in the Queens English. All for £notalot.

So the companies will end up with a lot of jobs not shopped (due to little coverage in some locations) and jobs that have been done poorly.

On our side, I think it is important to consider why you do it. For me it isn't an income of any kind but if I can do a shop in the same town or a place I'm going to anyway then, hey, I've got some free shopping or burger. I could earn the same money far quicker doing something else but I can be a bit daft like that! So I only do jobs with no travelling and for something I want.

If the few quid isn't worth much to you, then don't spend all afternoon driving 10 miles, asking daft questions about tiles then driving back disappointed.


Btw - there seeemed to be quite a few jobs round here when I got back into MSing (after a break). For the last couple of months there have been a lot fewer. I don't live in a big place though so there are only so many jobs possible before you have to travel. Maybe people are taking them or jobs have ended. Not sure.

shell_belle

Larac wrote: »

These recent posts made me ponder the worst MS assignments over the last year I have done:


1) Merchandise jobs for the company that does not like to be named. The stock is never in the large stock room and the local supermarket staff are really rude and unhelpful. Fees don't cover any form of re-visit which always likely.


2)TNS phone jobs - take too long in the store as usually there is a queue of people with complex enquiries. The reports you fill in, have got be the worst I have seen - whoever put them together has no idea, how long they take to fill in as a consequence. The whole experience has put me off of buying phones in a phone shop and buy online instead.


3)The big blue and yellow torture chambers - three enquiries and there is never anybody on the floor to ask and report needs lots of narrative. Spend ages waiting around to speak to people. Thankfully you can only do these every six months.


4)Tile shop and DIY enquiry - only did once, never again fees too low, require too much of you in the store and briefs are white flag you are a MS.


Apart from that 'happy days'

Worst jobs I can think of....

1. The TNS phone shop jobs....the wait was over an hour in one shop and I actually left the store to call the company about this to see if like a competitor agency's jobs you can leave after a set time frame - I was told no. In total I was in there for an hour and a half and it was the usual crap fee!

2. RA DIY and Tile jobs - the time taken to do them far outweighed the fee and that was before I even got around to filling in the report!

3. The supermarket app jobs! Seriously, how the hell are you supposed to stand in one area of the store for the best part of over an hour trying to doing a covert audit when you look at best like a t**t!

4. Any job for IMS who also pay terrible fees and except a lot for nothing - mainly there merchandising work!