The mystery shopping thread - part 4

leila1

ellie9ellie wrote: »

Hi all

Well I finally got assigned my first BARE garage job but it has to be done by next Monday! If anyone has done any of these please could you PM me to let me know what their like. Leila1 I've PM'd you! Never done a job for them before so have no idea what they are like. The questionnaire doesn't look that bad. Apparently I have to do a quiz but haven't found that yet!

Anyway tomorrow is my last day in work (hoorah). Have a month of for hols and then start maternity leave and a well earned rest - no MSing for me next month (unless its local or a phone call of course!!!) :j

The quiz you'll find when you "view/submit" the questionnaire. It won't let you do a planning date unless you have the code.
Good luck! I found them quite fun to do, they do insist on a test drive but just say that you already had one in another dealership or a friend's car or something like that.

Becles

Thanks for the birthday wishes all

Went to Cafe Rouge for a meal, and found it difficult as I kept wanting to time things and wanting to check the toilets and stuff :rotfl: It was very nice though.

Got a busy day merchandising in a city centre tomorrow for a company who pay mileage and car parking. Picked up another couple of mystery shop jobs with other companies to do while I'm there. Just logged onto one of the sites to check the job notes, and noticed they had a visit for tomorrow to a posh lunch place for one, so I took it. I love it when that happens

stressedofdevon

josie wrote: »

Actually, I've often wondered at these airside jobs if you're about to go away for a week or two? Are you allowed to submit the report on your return? I can't imagine doing it on a BlackBerry, or having to pay to use an internet cafe whilst abroad - more hassle than it's worth, surely?

I considered doing one of these and had the same question, so I emailed them two weeks ago and they replied that they telephone you on the mobile before you leave the country and you give the results over the phone.

Hope this helps.

bobthego

sinderella wrote: »

Bobthego you mean you've already got November jobs booked???

LOL - no, I meant that (someone mentioned November is a busy MS time), that I take on too many now, so I'm scared I'll get carried away in November

The furthest that I've got booked is the end of this month, but only two jobs then, the rest are within the next 10 days.

ellie9ellie

Has anyone worked around November/December time before. Is it a busy period? I would have thought there was not much MSing in December due to the fact that the stores are busy! I remember when my husband used to audit he wasn't allowed to audit in December.

Becles

It tends to be busy during Nov and early Dec, then goes quiet for mystery shops.

However merchandising is manic, and you can even work on Christmas Eve if you want to!

Always remember to factor in increased travelling time and the time it will take you to look for a parking space when you're picking up jobs near Christmas. There's nothing worse than wasting time driving round and round a car park looking for that elusive space, especially if you have a time slot deadline to meet!

apocryphal

Becles, do you mind if I ask what you mean by merchandising?

klane

Any thoughts? I've been a TNS shopper for some time, happily enough, and today when I tried to login (admittedly for the first time in 2-3 weeks as I've been away) it doesn't recognise my id and password. Does this mean I was deleted, without even an email from them? I clicked 'forgot password' just to doublecheck info, and it said my id and email don't match... and they certainly do as I recall.

Becles

apocryphal wrote: »

Becles, do you mind if I ask what you mean by merchandising?

In a nutshell, it's going into a shop on behalf of a manufacturer with the aim of increasing their sales through that store.

You have to sign into the store as a visitor, and then complete a list of tasks, some alone and some with store help. You usually have to get your paperwork signed to prove you were there too.

Tasks vary depending on the job but could include any of the following:

siting point of sale material (leaflets, posters, stickers, shelf wobblers, etc.)
building promotional stands and stocking them
auditing the manufacturers goods (noting allocated space, facings, etc.)
auditing competitor goods
checking the stock inventory system and correcting any errors
pulling forward stock from the warehouse
trying to secure more shelf space or a secondary siting
educating staff about the products or planned promotions
collecting feedback from staff
checking items scan through the till correctly

probably other things too, but that's all I can think of at the moment!

IMO it's more demanding than MS work epsecially if you have to move stock around, but more rewarding when you put together an attractive display or you hear your efforts made an impact and sales went up.

You also need to have good people skills, as although most staff are friendly, you do run into some rude people who are unwilling to help you and you have to try and get as much of the job done as you can.

You need to wear business dress too and be aware of regulations in different stores. For example in Asda you are not allowed in the warehouse without a high vis vest on, so you have to borrow one or bring your own. Most stores won't let you take a bag in the warehouse or on the shopfloor.

DeeDee98

I havent done a job for Gap in ages but just recieved an email warning me about the perils of using an analogue timing device for their evaluations.

Did anyone else get one of these? I'm presuming it was a generic email -either that or they're gearing up to sack me too ...