Insurance Event

There are several insurance events in my area. This is for a MAJOR insurance company. It is suppose to be a light shop to do. Can bring the paper work with me and evaluate if they are following the guidelines. Do not even have to know anything about their insurance. The time frame to be there is a little over an hour. Then there is an online report to do, and materials to send in. Pay is $15.00. I do not see anyone grabbing any of these. They are all on different dates. Some are at hospitals and some will be in RV's in parking lots. Has anyone ever done a shop like this before?

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I have 17 of these scheduled this month with a different MSP that is paying $25. I find them very amenable shops, especially since I introduce myself to the presenter rather than any hocus pocus of being a mystery shopper.

I know I can not say the name of the shop, but can I mention the name of the company that is doing this shop for the client? One of the instructions is if you do multiple shops with same presenter you can not bring the paper work with you. But if the presenter is different, you can bring the paper work with you. Also, there is no mention if you can tell them what you are doing. Should I wait in your opinion to see if the rate goes up. They are all so close to me.

If it is the company I think it is, the rates will not go up, only the number of emails for them. The other company has them at $25 to start with.

I've been planning to try those out, Flash.

These are health insurance events that are US specific.

I'm doing a bunch of those right now. Good info, especially since my in-laws are over 90. None of these are a reveal though. The hour-long shop became 2 1/2 when the presenter went into extra innings with everyone's questions. I couldn't slip out the door because the presentation was held in a social hall in FRONT of the door. Would have been too obvious. You have to take their paperwork and hand-outs and mail them back to the MS company.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

2 1/2 hours is a long time for 15.00. How did the report go? I know nothing about medicare. I was just on their web and still, no one in my area has picked up one yet. If I recall right,dont you have to take a form with you and fill it out there?

Yes, I appreciate that in my market the presenters are very clear up front that the seminar has parts A, B and C, with C being the Q&A and after that they will deal with individual, personal situation questions privately. I arrive about 15 min before "start time" and have never left more than an hour and 10 minutes after the start time. Because the session has a distinct 'end' after the general Q&A there is an exodus of those who decide the plan is not for them or they want to interact with an agent in a more private environment or they are a shopper. Monday starts a new game plan as the AEP period begins. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

What I dont get,if you have a form to fill out, isnt the presenter going to wonder what your up to. I thought this was a secret shopper shop.

The shops I did have no checklist or document to take with you to the presentation. I blended in with the crowd and they even gave you a notepad and pen there at the sign-in table to take your own notes during the presentation. It wasn't hard to make up a phony name and phone number for the attendance form. For this company the shops were only $15 fees and reimbursement for mailing in the papers you were given at the event. You got to keep those luxurious mementos like the breath mints and potato chip bag clip.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Oh my! Mine don't even provide those luxurious mementos! The closest to that is a little printed card to keep in your wallet to list your meds on. After some turkey shopper in my market interpreted the optional sign in sheet as being a sign up for the insurance product itself and evidently reported it as such, they no longer even check the list of who reserved or offer a purely optional sign in sheet.

Yeap, I doubled checked, and there is a form you take with you. I still dont get why no one in my area are grabbing these. Maybe the length of the stay. I did 2 shops last week for the same amount of money with only a 10 minute stay for each. Plus reports were under 15 minutes. Pity, I have to wait a year to do those again. Dreading next week on 2 of my shops, but the pay is double. I get so nervous doing shops I have never done before. Does any one feel my pain?

Yes, there is always a certain degree of anxiety regarding a new-to-you shop. Is it a disguised pig in a poke? Is it going to flow smoothly? Have the report and instructions given you enough information to actually know what the heck it is they want?

Funny that a shopped 'event' also arrived in a mailed invitation from the insurer. The invitation included a $100 dinner. Maybe that would be a way to gain experience and a comfort level before shopping it.

The shops I've seen pay $15-$30. Most mystery shops pay less and require driving around and/or purchasing stuff.

An MSP took on some of these assignments, and quickly partnered with a scheduling company. I got a call from the scheduling company to see if I could attend the phone training, to begin one hour later. The presentation/shop was two days later. Yeah, right.

I'm doing a medicare seminar with either breakfast or danish (15.00), they say to just stay one hour, that's all that's required. The last one I did had danish and coffee. I received a planned event (mailed), at a great restaurant in town, and they had a beautiful dinner for two...they do try and sign you up, and your on their mailing list forever, but I was on it before doing it, so, they get your address one way or another. This was for Financial planning. I think that a better deal, 15.00 is on the low side.

Live consciously....

Charlene, I (think) I just did the same one as you, but had no form to bring in...it was very informative and made me re-think my health Ins., due to changes in 2011. My Ins. is dated, they are offering so much more and very competitive now. This shop was easy and informative, have to mail in stuff. Lasted one hour although said to last 90 minutes. Hours from MSC was 8:00AM, didn't start till 9:00...got up at the crack of dawn to do this, then waited. There was no purchase, no pressure to sign, and had a nice buffet at the Hyatt Hotel.

Live consciously....

Irene, I have not done one. There is a form you have to take from my MSC to fill out while you are there. I am not doing any, due to the fact no one is grabbing them. I believe there are about 11 or 12 in my area which some have expired. Something is up with them, but do not know what. There has to be more than a few shoppers in my area because all the good shops go fast. I have at times would wake up before dawn just to check to see what is in my mail. And there have been many shops taken of which I would have done. Wish I could do an insurance shop like the one you did. Sounds SWEET.

Mine was for Medicare Ins...so, maybe your town has no seniors shopping. This was sweet, at the end, no one had a question, so we were out in one hour. They went to the providers in the lobby and asked questions. They have been having them in several locations, but seem to be over now. I don't know if we are talking about the same MSC, but the 15.00 fee makes me think we are. They do have a large expense mailing back the stuff, but they reimburse.

Live consciously....

Mine too. But there was no mention about mailing in anything. Maybe they would have if I did the job. Hate when they do not tell you everything up front. Seems like you have to apply for the shop, then ALL the little perks that you really do not want to do or understand, you are stuck. Had one email today that would not tell me anything, just the location and pay. Logged in, and no explanation of anything. Good bye to them. Even sent a email, and no response. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe some shoppers signed up to do the shop, Med. and when they saw what was envolved they cancelled. Who Knows!! Just applied for a shop for an in home shop, and I was under the impression I would be paid for the shop,but no, I have to pay out of my pocket, then they will pay me after the shop is done. SOOOOO much involved. And if I mess up (which has never happened, yet) I do not get paid, so I will be out of the money. Hate to cancell, but I can not sweat this one out. Would not even see pay for 2 months if done correctly. Hey, it's X'mas. I need money, do not need to spend for the MSC.

In some markets there are two companies shopping the same event. One company is shopping on behalf of regulators and wants stuff mailed in. In my market I am shopping that seminar on behalf of the insurance company. No mail ins and higher pay. I note that a second insurance company is now being shopped by the company who does it on behalf of the regulators and am amused to see that the insurance company is having a different company shop the seminars on their behalf. Very interesting to note that in this second case the fee is exactly 2X what the shop on behalf of the regulators pays.

Flash, hint pls.

Live consciously....

The second company in my market is doing a plan that is only local to my area and parts of NC and SC. I have seen shops with Trendsource for a different local plan that is more likely to be nationwide, but those all got jerked off to Kern for scheduling.

Thanks anyway....

Live consciously....

I have done well over ten shops this year starting in February and both companies are presented by 2 different MSC's. One did for the smaller volume company and the next week I ran into her a the other MSC's shop. I called my scheduler and they said mark as can not and put in the reason and i still got p[aid

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