Hello Mel - Lots of shoppers use them and are happy with their results. Early on in mystery shopping, I thought I had to have one of these so I bought one. I did not record the actual shops but used mine to make verbal notes after I left the shop and got back to the car. I found that I would record copious details on each shop. Back home, I spent a lot of time listening to myself ramble on about minute details that didn't make any difference anyway. I decided I was spending way too much time reviewing recordings and I went back to handwritten notes on the front of the job folder. This kept the notes with the job and cut down on my report time considerably. Not many shops require exact quotes from interactions. You may or may not be happy with the results of spending your money on a recorder and then spending time reviewing your recordings. It's another way to think about it. You'll find shoppers posting pro and con on both sides of the issue, but most of them will be all pro. I don't think the cons will comment much, but I think they're out there. If you have a smart phone, perhaps you can use that instead on the rare shops where you are required to enter exact quotes.
Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.