Shopping with kids?

I'm new to mystery shopping. I've learned the hard way that kids aren't allowed on most if not all jobs. I had to cancel a job with a company because it didn't state anything in the job description about no kids until after I signed up. Oops! That said, I've picked up a a couple weekend gas stop jobs with Market Force and haven't seen anything in any of the details about needing to go without kids. I'm anxious to get my feet wet and want to pick up more jobs. Does anyone know if kids are/are not allowed on gas stop jobs with Market Force? Anyone know any companies that are more kid friendly? Thanks! I've enjoyed reading a lot of your posts and am learning lots!

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In general a lot of assignments require the shopper to be alone, no kids, no friends along. If the gas station assignment is an announced audit where you will be introducing yourself to an employee before taking pictures, it is definitely no kids allowed.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

It's not an announced audit nor does it involve any sort of timing. I've tried connecting with MF but haven't heard a reply yet.

Ads or articles about mystery shopping tend toward the myth that we do the things we would normally do on a given day and just get paid for it. The reality is MS is a business and the assignments are real jobs. Just like any other industry it will be rare to find a job where you can take your kids to work. A lot of stay at home parents still find the flexibility to be a benefit. On site assignments can be done while they have child care available and reports after the children are in bed.

That's what I've been doing so far and it's working well! I completely understand how kids can be distracting! I just thought I'd check since it's the first time I've had a job that didn't specify "no kids".

I'm hoping a parent might chime in. In general, if the guidelines don't prohibit something it should be allowed. Keep in mind the phrases, "in general" and "should be."

Market Force does tend to have some of the better guidelines, redundant as all hell but better. When in doubt you can shoot an email to the Help Desk. They are good about responding in a reasonable length of time and won't chew you out for asking questions.

I take my kids to the grocery shops and some restaurants.

I would love some feedback on this as well. I took a lot of time off mystery shopping when I had kids, b/c mostly what I did before was dining and some retail and when I did it before the dining usually says lunch/dinner for two no children. Now that it's summer and my kids are off I would love to know what others do. I'm doing car washes, gas stations, coffee shops, mall candy shops, ice cream shops, some retail ie: jewelry, furniture. These are all places that I normally would not hesitate to have my kids in tow. So far I'm just doing it when my kids are at camp...

I don't feel MSCs are generally anti-children and while it may normal for you to take them to the types of establishments where you are forbidden to as a professional, the clients are looking for detailed reports on specific behaviors. Often they evaluate across an entire chain and want consistency in the shops. Another downside for the shopper, no matter how well your children behave 99% of the time, just one big meltdown is going to make you quite memorable. You're then in the position of abandoning the shop which you may or may not be able to reshop AND reporting what happened because in all likelihood it impacted the associate's behavior.

Also, I just read the guidelines for a chocolate shop that I have later this week it says explicitly:
If you take a child with you on your shop it will not be accepted.

Yes, I learned after I started applying that most shops don't allow kids to accompany you. Please believe me, I'm not saying this to complain! I totally understand how kids can be a huge distraction! I received a response from one company saying that if it doesn't explicitly say kids aren't allowed and if they won't be a distraction, I am allowed to bring them. I thought this was very generous. I would never expect any company to allow me to bring kiddos on anything that needs to be timed or involves extensive conversation with an employee. I was just curious if anyone knew of any companies or shops that tend to be more lenient towards allowing kids. Thanks for your input!

It didn't come off as a complaint at all. It's obvious you understand the why of the children rule. In the near future another shopper may search for the same subject matter and will find the reasoning behind the prohibition.

Liz36,
Can you share which MSC that was?
THX

It was with Market Force. So far, they are the MSC I've found the most jobs with in my area so I need to be careful not to burn bridges. It may be a while before I attempt any shops (assume they are approved) with kids. Thankfully I'm just working for Disney money so I don't feel like I need to overwhelm myself while I get my feet wet.

Liz36, have you checked jobslinger.com? That's a great place to see what other MSCs offer jobs in your area.

I have. Unfortunately I live in a small(ish) town surrounded by desert.

I'm nearly 200 miles from a major city. The small jobs may be all I get but with 2 kids (and another coming soon) it may be just enough to keep me busy.

I have seen some assignments such as at a retail clothing store for children and some children oriented restaurants (think Chuck e Cheese) where bringing kids is required as a normal customer would have kids along. I have also seen some kid's entertainment areas too but those sometimes have narrative heavy reports.

Also, check the car wash shops as some of those have "child in car" scenarios.

I have not done any of these as my "child" is 18 but I have seen them on the boards.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

I recently got permission to take my kids to a family casual restaurant where the requirement was to bring at least one guest. Also, I mentioned one of my kids interacting with an employee at a grocery store (gotta put it out there, right?

) in my report and didn't receive any kind of negative response from the editor about it.

aayaey,
Are you registered with Reality Based Group? I just did the best shop with them! It wasn't paid but I just took my family out to a restaurant and we were able to eat within their maximum reimbursement--including tax and tip! The survey was super easy! I would definitely do it again for a fun night out without cooking!

(The guidelines say to bring at least one guest and I checked ahead of time and kids were ok to bring!)

Yep, I've done a few shops with them not a food one though. Most of the food in my area from RBG is the German bread and sweet bread in the mall. There is a bar restaurant from them in my area too but obviously I won't take my kids there and another one that's a bakery / coffee shop kind of place. I'll keep an eye to see if I see any family restaurants from them =) Thanks for the heads up!

In the giant scheme, there are so few family friendly shops out there. I've done one Chuck E Cheese shop, a bunch of hotels and the odd breakfast restaurant. Otherwise, no go for kiddos.

Overall, it's pretty rare to find the shop you can bring the family along. Normally the ones that allow it, I grab up pretty quick because I like to shop with my family when I can. Most of those shops are certain restaurants or some amusement advantage shops at various attractions in the area. Otherwise, I'm shopping alone for the normal retail type assignments. Usually the stipulation on whether you can or can not shop alone is pretty clearly spelled out in the guidelines. If it does not say you have to shop alone, go ahead. But be aware you will still be required to make excellent observations, and no MSC is going to accept the excuse "I was dealing with my kids" if you're not able to make those observations.

proudly shopping in the D.

My kids are long since grown and have not provided grandchildren, so I am mostly pretty far from being around kids, but remembering my own, I know that 'all kids are not created equal' and all parenting is not equal either. My kids were not allowed to 'make a scene' in public. If we were in a store or restaurant and they started behaving unacceptably they were given a warning to shape up and the next step was out the front door where they were spoken with, asking if they would like to behave or wanted to just go home. If they could behave they were taken back inside and if the unacceptable behavior returned, we left. We didn't have to do that often for them to get the point and thank heavens I was not attempting to do a shop when the garbage behavior happened.

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