# Mystery Shopping



## nansue (Jun 17, 2005)

Have any of you ever considered (or do you already) do mystery shopping while on the road?  Seems it would be pretty compatible with the lifestyle - especially some of the fast food shops.


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## turnipbwc (Jun 17, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Never heard of "mystery shopping" ?


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## C Nash (Jun 17, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Turnip, the mystery is why anyone would want to shop :laugh: .  Never heard of it myself


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## turnipbwc (Jun 17, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

c nash,
Guess we are both from the "old school". We are just not up to these new things. Maybe someone will let us know what this "mystery" is. Where is Columbo when you need him?


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## nansue (Jun 21, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Oh, sorry.  Here's what MYSTERY SHOPPING is:  Let's say the client is a fast food restaurant.  They wonder how their customer service is.  So, they hire a "mystery shopping" company.  That mystery shopping company has hundreds of "shoppers" all over the country, who are independent contractors.  Typical scenario is:  Let's say one of the fast food restaurant locations is in Whatever Town, Tennessee.  The mystery shopping company contacts its shoppers in Whatever Town, to see if they would like to do it.  When the shopper accepts the job for a certain day & time.  Let's say it is a drive-thru.  They drive-thru, order what is required to be ordered, and evaluate things like whether the employee smiled or made eye contact, whether they got what they orderd, and the quality of the food.  The shopper is then reimbursed for the meal by the mystery shopping company, which is reimbursed by their client - the resturant.

I was just thinking that when I become an RV traveler, I would like to get free meals that way.


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## turnipbwc (Jun 21, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Now I have heard it all.   Chelse what do you make of this ?


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## Kirk (Jun 22, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

I have only met one who has done it. But the one who did was not only sent to visit resteraunts, but also stores or some times specific products. They received reimbursment for the cost of the products as well as some monitary reward. At one time I had a link to the website of the company that they worked for, but I can't find it at the moment.


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## C Nash (Jun 28, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Turnip, I don't know.  Afraid most would get a bad grade from me :laugh: .  When I go through one of the drive throughs I generally tell them to just give me whatever they want because I very seldom get what I ordered. Finally decided they figured you were taking it to your dog anyway. I did have a friend whose mother had a job of going in stores and shoplifting (for real) to see if she could get out of the store without being caught


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## fulltimer5er (Nov 27, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

We signed up for it payed our $99 did one shop and thats all weve gotten well never do it again I think there nothing but a rip off  Jim


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## fulltimer5er (Nov 27, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

We signed up for it payed our $99 did one shop and thats all weve gotten well never do it again I think there nothing but a rip off  Jim


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## TexasClodhopper (Nov 28, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

You mean that you have to PAY to go shopping for these folks?


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## SnowbirdInFlight (Nov 28, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Yep, looks like you have to 'join' to participate. Here's one place I found that is only $24.99. But, also sounds like there are a lot of scam places too.

This one is supposed to be rated the number one Mystery Shopper Site:  
http://www.corlandmysteryshop.com/

This one is rated number two:
http://www.secretshopjobs.com/?hop=clkbk

Of course they have testimonials, but I'd like to 'hear' it myself from the real folks who've done it.


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## nansue (Nov 28, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

No - the ones you pay to sign up for may not be legitmate.  But, there are plenty of companies that are.  It is free to sign up, and they DO pay you.  Most are on the internet now, and require you to submit the results of your evaluation online.  Feedback Plus is www.feedbackplusinc.com - it's free to register, and they are often looking for shoppers in remote areas.


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## TexasClodhopper (Nov 28, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

Ah, forget it!  There's not a single mystery shopper job at a gift shop in an RV park!


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## AnotherRookie (Nov 29, 2005)

Mystery Shopping

nansue

Looked at the website.  Sounds like it could be fun.  As a retired small businessman, bad customer service is one of the things I always feared.  I actually got some of my friends to mystery shop me from time to time, especially when I was out of town.


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## tsprague1 (Mar 14, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

You should never have to pay to start mystery shopping. *Never!*

Legitimate companies do not charge you to sign up! 

You sign up with a company, choose which jobs you would like to do, request that job, download the paperwork (there are usually questions you will need to answer online), do the job (the paperwork will tell you *exactly* what you are to do), then go online and submit your report. Quite often you will need to purchase something, like a meal or an item. In that case you will need to either photograph or scan the receipt and send it to the company when you do your report.

I have a list of mystery shop companies on my website.
http://tlsprague.com/mysteryshopping.htm

I'm subscribing to this topic so if you have any more questions, just ask.


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## Dave Scott (Mar 15, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopper is one of the all time favorite internet scams.  I'm surprised most of you haven't already received tons of spam emails regarding this topic.  There is NO centrallized company that handles mystery shopper employment.  Use Google to search for <mystery shopper scam fraud rip off> to learn more. :8ball:


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## tsprague1 (Mar 15, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shop Companies are legitimate. There is even a Mystery Shopping Association, it is at http://www.mysteryshop.org/. It is legitimate as are the companies that are listed on this site.

I have been doing Mystery Shopping for over 6 years. It is most definitely a legitimate occupation. It is also perfect for RVers.

Go to the site above. Check out the Association and the Companies. Judge for yourself. 

Remember, though, that you should NEVER need to pay a fee to Mystery Shop. While you may need to pay for your meals or items, you will be reimbursed for your puchases plus paid a fee for the job (called a "shop"). You sign up with individual companies and look for and accept  shops from them. Most people who Mystery Shop work for more than one company. You can't usually make much working for just one company.

There are also different types of shops. Most are anonymous, where the store being evaluated does not know that they are being evaluated (yes, this IS perfectly legal), but there are other kinds of shops where you restock a display or make sure that there are current brochures where they are supposed to be.

While there are a lot of scams, there are for practically everything. Check it out for yourselves. The Association above is made up of Companies that abide by certain standards and so do the Shoppers who deal with them. There are certifications for Shoppers also, although they are not required. When you work for them you are not an employee, you are an independent contractor. Most of the companies pay on a regular schedule and most of them now use Direct Deposit or PayPal.


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## Dave Scott (Mar 15, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

I anxiously await, albeit dubiously hearing from all the folks that sign up for any of these services and start hauling in some dough.  FYI in the interest of satisfying my curosity I went to one of the web sites you list and proceeded to go through the process of becoming a shopper. I stopped the minute they started trying to bilk me out of personal and financial information and even attempted to get me to give up my social security number.  Being a mystery shopper is one thing being made a sucker by some mystery web site is quite another.


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## tsprague1 (Mar 15, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

They are not trying to bilk you out of anything. As an independent contractor they will issue you a 1099. For their accounting records, they need to ask these questions. If you really object, email them and ask if you can give the information after you've done your first shop.


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## bandaddie (Mar 20, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Some things we have done on the road;
1. Kayaking guides - FL, NC, Coasta Rico & Canada (our company was oft inspected by mystery shoppers. I found them to be a great help in developing marketing tactics.
2. Swimming pool repair - worked for a company out of Mn. Worked each job for about a week, maybe two, then moved to next job. Averaged $1400/wk! No kidding! It is hard work and I earned every cent. This was at hotels, parks, and other high end places so we stayed at some nice spots. Our supplies were carried in a trailor behind our class C. I have a HASMAT on my CDL, which is required for those chemicals.
Now we live in a non-moving home, and I took a "day job" a couple of years ago. We had a baby!
Figure out what skills you have now, what skiils you would enjoy learning, and your ability to improvise, adapt and overcome. Do not limit yourself to RV parks. Never think you are too old or over qualified for anything. I am in my mid 50's, engineering degree and do very well in construction.
Above all; network network network. talk to every one you meet.


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## macamper240 (Apr 13, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

I've done a lot of restaurant reviews.  The list of restaurants to be reviewed comes out each month around the 20-27th of the month for the following month.  If you know where you will be each month that works out OK.  I have only been paid for the exact amount of the meal and tip (receipts are sent in) for my husband and me, never anything beyond that.  Also, each restaurant allows only a certain amount for their "shop".  For instance a P.F. Chang's might allow $30 for lunch (including tip as long it is under $30) and you are required to visit say May 3-5 between 11:30 and 1:30.  Everything is specified, even some guidelines about what you can order.  You have about 10 pages of "things" that you are looking for -- usually restrooms, how clean they are, if paper was on the floor when you went in the first time was the paper still there when you went in the second time?  Etc., etc.  This is not a fun meal.  I actually bought a stop watch that I wore under a long sleeve blouse or jacket.  You're expected to say how many seconds (no rounding up or down to the nearest minute) from the time you arrived till someone greeted you.  How long till you were seated, how long till your waitperson came to your table.  Also, while you're figuring out all these seconds, you can't let the waitperson or anyone else there know that you are a "shopper".  You can go in the restroom stall and make notes, etc.  How long from the time you ordered until your drink arrived, your dinner arrived, etc. Did the waitperson "talk up" any of the activities going on that weekend, etc.  After trying to keep track of all these things (you didn't really want to have a real conversation with your husband, did you?) you have 24 hours to do a complete report on the computer of all the questions you were required to answer.  It usually took me a couple of hours to complete the report on on line.  Fun!!!  Not really.  I did it for quite a while (a couple of years) because I thought it was interesting to see how the whole process worked.  I haven't done it for probably six months now because the last review I wrote up was for a big restaurant chain location that was so bad I'd never go back even if it were actually free.  I received a lot of heat because the review wasn't good. If you're still interested in being a "shopper" the website is www.a-closer-look.com.  Good luck.


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## macamper240 (Apr 13, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Because I don't want to mislead anyone, let me quickly add that the above restaurant that had a terrible review was NOT P.F. Chang's.  I used that restaurant as an example at the beginning of the reply, but I've had good reports there.


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## Al Wells (Apr 13, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Any Mystery shopping in Canada? With our outrageous cost of fuel and taxes, the real mystery is that we can afford to shop at all! 

Al


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## tsprague1 (Apr 13, 2006)

Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopping is just a name for doing Service Evaluations. The main criteria for doing this is that you are very good at paying attention and following directions. Liking to shop doesn't really help you in this profession. You really need to be a detail type person.

On a job, I always print out the questions that I'm going to be asked online. After the job, I get in my car/MH and pull around the corner and fill out these papers. I paperclip the business card/receipt to these papers. Doing it this way, the experience is still fresh and you tend to remember more details. Also, once you get online to file your report, you have everything already to input. If you have a laptop computer, put you answers to the questions in a document file. That way all you have to do is cut and paste your answers, you don't have to write them a second time.


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## Kilian1111 (Jan 16, 2021)

nansue said:


> Mystery Shopping
> 
> Oh, sorry.  Here's what MYSTERY SHOPPING is:  Let's say the client is a fast food restaurant.  They wonder how their customer service is.  So, they hire a "mystery shopping" company.  That mystery shopping company has hundreds of "shoppers" all over the country, who are independent contractors.  Typical scenario is:  Let's say one of the fast food restaurant locations is in Whatever Town, Tennessee.  The mystery shopping company contacts its shoppers in Whatever Town, to see if they would like to do it.  When the shopper accepts the job for a certain day & time.  Let's say it is a drive-thru.  They drive-thru, order what is required to be ordered, and evaluate things like whether the employee smiled or made eye contact, whether they got what they orderd, and the quality of the food.  The shopper is then reimbursed for the meal by the mystery shopping company, which is reimbursed by their client - the resturant.
> 
> I was just thinking that when I become an RV traveler, I would like to get free meals that way.


Lol - I want to be a mystery shopper too! Free food! Thinking ahead. Loved - "I would like to get free meals that way."


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## Francis7Bos (Mar 24, 2021)

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