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

redcar_2

fazzy84 wrote: »

Ive just joined all these MS jobs and have been accepted by quite a few. Have one question. Jobs seem to have a fee which I will get for completing an assignment and a reimbursement fee. Do I have to spend the whole amount quoted as reimbursment (even if the job spec doesnt ask for anything that expensive) or will they give me that amount regardless?

It depends, some (most in my experience) will only reimburse the amount you spend but others (e.g. GAP) seem to give you the whole expenses ammount regardless of what you spend. If you don't spend all that though the extra is I believe taxable just as your main fee is. HTH

willowthecat

wensie wrote: »

I can second that. 9 visits from last week have been approved without any queries.

The problems seemed to have stemmed from when they changed their website a couple of weeks ago, so you submitted the report only to be told that half the information had been lost along the way :mad:

Everything's nice and rosy with them until you have to contact them for some reason :rolleyes:

jobbingmusician

fazzy84 wrote: »

Ive just joined all these MS jobs and have been accepted by quite a few. Have one question. Jobs seem to have a fee which I will get for completing an assignment and a reimbursement fee. Do I have to spend the whole amount quoted as reimbursment (even if the job spec doesnt ask for anything that expensive) or will they give me that amount regardless?

Depends on the company, I'm afraid.

Most will give you only what you spend, and you will have to provide a receipt.
Some will give you only what you spend, and you will have to provide a receipt for SOME of the spend.
Some will give you only what you spend, and you will not have to provide a receipt unless they do a random check on you, or have queries on your report.
Some will give you the full amount regardless of what you spend, and
Some will specify the minimum amount you will spend (which may even be MORE than the amount that they will reimburse - this happens in particular with petrol).

Regular MSers can treat the above as a test, and see if they can come up with examples for each of these categories - they all exist, I promise! But telling you which is which might breach confidentiality. Most of the answers are in this thread somewhere, though!

Confused? You will be..... (with apologies to 'Soap' if anyone else remembers this).

wensie

willowthecat wrote: »

The problems seemed to have stemmed from when they changed their website a couple of weeks ago, so you submitted the report only to be told that half the information had been lost along the way :mad:

The first report I wrote after the changes were introduced took me 2 hours for a pub visit. I nearly gave up on the report. However, I told them (twice) how long it took me and that I won't do pub visits for them again unless the fee improves again.

Everything's nice and rosy with them until you have to contact them for some reason :rolleyes:

Sorry, I can't second that. I have never had a problem with communication with RE - whether it's emails or phone calls.

willowthecat

Oh well maybe they're just avoiding me then lol

I had to e-mail them four times this week just to get them to "re-activate" a report, where they had lost most of the information

fazzy84

redcar wrote: »

It depends, some (most in my experience) will only reimburse the amount you spend but others (e.g. GAP) seem to give you the whole expenses ammount regardless of what you spend. If you don't spend all that though the extra is I believe taxable just as your main fee is. HTH

Thank you all. Ive taken some jobs with GAP so thats very helpful information.

Paul_Varjak

Timmne wrote: »

It's not just forum rules, it's in the Ts & Cs of the mystery shopping companies.

Paul, I'd be careful, especially with Assosia who are VERY on the ball and against their work being discussed on open forums (fora?)....

I see no problem saying how much someone can earn as long as they don't quote fees for jobs with a particular MS company.

Becles

I've got jobs outstanding for RE. A job the 7th is still pending, and a job from last Sunday is too. They do get done eventually!

Dim-Tim_2

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I see no problem saying how much someone can earn as long as they don't quote fees for jobs with a particular MS company.

But is it worth taking the risk ?

leila1

Happy Easter everyone and I hope you have kept a couple of free days to rest!