Reimbursement of expenses

I would like to know if you accept a shop and they say they will pay you $100.00 for doing the shop and up to $1,000.00 for expenses. Do companies always reimburse for the expenses even if they do not want to pay you for the shop? I would like to accept a shop but it does have a high dollar amount for expenses. I would not want an editor to fid something wrong with the report and not get reimbursed for money spent.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Reimbursements

No. If they reject the shop because you do it wrong, they do not send you any money. Not the fee. Not the reimbursement. I do fine dining shops knowing the risk. The world will not end for me if I don't get my $250 back, but I would be disappointed. I have chosen not to do hotel shops, not because of the fear of not getting reimbursed, but because of the amount of work - it would not be a vacation for me. Same thing for time shares and cruises (a vacation for the family, apparently non-stop work for the shopper).

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

@ispy46 wrote:

I would like to know if you accept a shop and they say they will pay you $100.00 for doing the shop and up to $1,000.00 for expenses. Do companies always reimburse for the expenses even if they do not want to pay you for the shop? I would like to accept a shop but it does have a high dollar amount for expenses. I would not want an editor to fid something wrong with the report and not get reimbursed for money spent.

Most responsible companies will not let you get into a situation where they might not be able to reimburse you. It is why there usually are a bunch of qualifications before doing such a shop. Those qualifications might be testing, prior excellent experience with the company, etc. They will be less concerned if the expenses are for something you could return for refund, but those kinds of shops generally have you return the product anyway either in person or by shipping it to them. If it is non refundable, such as a hotel visit, reputable companies will be sure you can handle it before assigning it to you.

I never take a reimbursement shop unless I would pay for the item anyway (such as gas). I do this because I don't ever want to risk having a shop rejected and never recouping the $100 (or whatever) I paid. We had one shopper on here who did a high end shop and paid out $900 in expenses. Her/His shop was rejected and she/he was out the $900. I should clarify though that it did appear that the shopper made several errors in the shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2015 06:27PM by jpgilham.

ispy, I am also mentioning this more for all new shoppers since you mentioned a shop that sounds like it is a high-paying shop. If this involves a check that they sent to you first for a shop to be completed (hasn't been done yet), it is most likely a scam. Run!!!!

A typical mystery shop involves you doing the work (the shop and the report), submitting the report, the MSC grading the report, then paying you between two weeks to three months later. Instead of relying upon offers sent to you unsolicited, please visit the Official List of Mystery Shopping companies at the bottom of this forum and sign up with these known legitimate companies.

Also, "scammer checks" can have a known legitimate company listed on it and that still does not guarantee that the check is real. Be sure to do the "Does this make business sense" test to yourself before getting yourself in trouble.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

@ispy46 wrote:

I would like to know if you accept a shop and they say they will pay you $100.00 for doing the shop and up to $1,000.00 for expenses. Do companies always reimburse for the expenses even if they do not want to pay you for the shop? I would like to accept a shop but it does have a high dollar amount for expenses. I would not want an editor to fid something wrong with the report and not get reimbursed for money spent.

There's always an element of risk, even when dealing with a legitimate company. If the assignment is not performed correctly and the report is not accepted by both the MSC and the client, the shopper does not get paid and does not usually receive any portion of the reimbursement.

I would probably not do a shop with a $1,000 reimbursement.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Reimbursement of expenses

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine