Mystery shopping thread 26 *please read the op first**please no client names or fees

MysteryMan00

elverson wrote: »

Hi all. I've been on MF for the past few months doing Central London sites. Before Christmas there were regularly jobs available for both the 'expensive Belgian lager' and the 'coffee shop with the French name' all over Zone 1, but now it seems that the work has dried up except the 'occasional Japanese lunch place'.

Are the contracts still in place / are there more shoppers chasing work than there used to be?

My drinking has gone right down since the lagers stopped. Was always too tempting to pick one up on the way back from somewhere!

No bad thing I suppose. It's not like the fees were making me rich!

missymouse

I think for alot of us the motto is don't give up your day job.

shell_belle

Would like to say I'm surprised by the tainted arches comments but I am not!
However, I have a couple of things to add...firstly, sorry for not replying to your PM last month, I was unsure if you were with the company as you haven't posted on here in years. Sorry you have had this experience with them but can't say I'm surprised.
Secondly, they pay their proof readers peanuts and by that I mean the fee (if you can call it that) would literally buy you a bag of peanuts!
Horrible, horrible company to work for and there are so many better ones out there.

Wizzbang

Sunny_spell wrote: »

I did lots of shopping center visits for them in the past. I stopped working for them a year ago because they refused to pay for my visit. The client claimed my report did not follow their brief and refused to believe that a member of staff (jewellery shop) did not do their job properly. I wrote to J and also spoke to her on phone as well. J sent me a copy of the client's email and took the client's side. I suggested checking the store's CCTV in order to confirm that everything I had written in my report was true but they did not reply to my email. The fee was minimal and I decided that it was not worth any further stress.

Sounds like you are talking about a certain company called AA? I had almost the exact same scenario with them a couple of years ago, soon after I first started out. They could have been enough to put one off!!! They are an absolutely disgusting company- I carried out their brief to the letter and they refused to pay me, apparently because the member of staff thought I seemed nervous and therefore thought I was a MSer. I fail to believe this was the case because I was the same as I ever was and ever have been, when MSing and I've never had a report denied to be paid from that day to this, nor before. Basically, their crappy brief gave the game away- who walks into a shop to buy a gift and claims they have no idea how much they want to spend or what kind of watch they want to buy?! AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. I swore never to work for them again and I never have. I hope they go under.

MysteryMe

I'm just thankful I ditched them before I got shafted. We all have our favourite MSC and what works for one person may not work for another but that particular MSC just comes up time and time again. Avoid.

No-name_2

Re the Amber Arch discussion here, it's surprising that all these mystery shopping companies seem to have ridden out the recession whereas in many other market sectors companies seem to be being taken over all the time. I mean if Poundland can take over the 99p shop can somebody put AA out of it's misery!

System

Done a visit for GR.

The inputting of the results is so slow today. Normally when you select a bullet point answer (can be only one answer questions), it does not go onto the next question immediately. Frustrating!

System

Apart from the orange supermarket, which other clients do ABa do?

ISWMLE

shell_belle wrote: »

Would like to say I'm surprised by the tainted arches comments but I am not!
However, I have a couple of things to add...firstly, sorry for not replying to your PM last month, I was unsure if you were with the company as you haven't posted on here in years. Sorry you have had this experience with them but can't say I'm surprised.
Secondly, they pay their proof readers peanuts and by that I mean the fee (if you can call it that) would literally buy you a bag of peanuts!
Horrible, horrible company to work for and there are so many better ones out there.

Yep! I now agree. I would not touch them with a bargepole now. The awful thing is that I bought one of the coats from their outdoor wear shop. Now I don't want to wear it at all because it reminds me of them. I think I will stick it on ebay now and buy something else or even try to take it back. Even before all of this hit, yesterday, I had decided I would never actually buy a pair of shoes in their shoe client store because they 'appear' to age discriminate against shoppers (or so the golden McDs said). This is farcical because I go past one of those stores in Bluewater most weekends and the place has as man middle aged and grey haired people as they do young people.

Don't worry about the PM, it is always hard talking to strangers on forums because you never know if they are representatives of the same company. I can assure you that I am not. I am their 'arch' enemy now (LOL!). I still can't believe what that !!!!! superviser of 'J's said to me yesterday (this wasn't 'E', and how my 2.5 year seemingly good relationship with them ended and the pack of unsubstantiated lies it was based on are clearly evidentially refutable.

ISWMLE

No-name wrote: »

Re the Amber Arch discussion here, it's surprising that all these mystery shopping companies seem to have ridden out the recession whereas in many other market sectors companies seem to be being taken over all the time. I mean if Poundland can take over the 99p shop can somebody put AA out of it's misery!

I expect AA is only worth 98p.