I am new to Mystery shopping started about 6 weeks ago. When you claim an assignment and you get a due date. Do you have to go on that date, or can you go a day earlier? Example a shop says start date nov1 to nov 8. I claimed it for the 7th. Can I go to the site on the 6th? As long as the report is in by the due date?

Welcome to the fold! Will look forward to hearing about your exploits moving forward!

The due date thing varies by MSC.

Most of them equate the assigned date with the due date, as they have to maintain particular scheduling requirements on their end when administering a program.

The main exception to the rule is Ipsos. Many of their projects are self-assigned, and provide considerable scheduling flexibility.

The due date is just that... the day your report is due. You are free to perform the assignment anytime before the due date. Typically the shop guidelines will require that the report be filed by midnight (Eastern time zone) on the day the shop is performed.

There is currently a quirk in their system where you can actually assign shops one day after the date window specified.

They also allow you to change the due date once from your end. Combined with the fact the time window for most projects will extend means even greater flexibility. And, if you can't get one done for whatever reason, they will just drop from your board without issue, as long as you don't do it too often.

They have been my #1 vendor for awhile now, and I specialize in gas stations, including multi-day remote routes. I take full advantage of their system as provided: book every shop for the last day possible in the current time window, and save the date change if needed for when the time window extends.

This affords me the time to crank out the maximum number of shops each day on the road, without having to spend the time to get reports in. I much prefer doing reports from the comfort of a hotel room vs. while sitting in my car or in a convenience store seating area.

While I miss the midnight submission thing quite often while jamming on the road, it has yet to be a problem. All my reports are accepted without question, as long as they are in by the due date.

Hi. Thank you for all the information , it is very helpful. There is a lot of work in my area and now these next 2 weeks will be doing 3 to 4 a day. I hope to increase it more and work at this full-time . Also doing work as a merchandiser so trying to figure out how to create routes for all this so not all over the place . When you plan your routes do you use any type of scheduler app or anything to see your planned routes?

@Jackie716 wrote:

When you plan your routes do you use any type of scheduler app or anything to see your planned routes?

I use saved Google Maps to visualize my routes, with a layer for each day's stops. I printout the daily map as a quick reference that goes on my clipboard.

I also use Google Maps to determine drive times that I don't already know, even though you can't do that within a saved map, then I pop things into iCal on my laptop. That lets me eyeball my calendar on my phone to keep track of progress for time-sensitive stuff.

Thank you

Not *every* Ipsos shop allows date flexibility. The red button drive in and the Australian steakhouse are notable exceptions. The date you pick is the day you're expected to go. When in doubt, ask, but don't wait until the day you want to go to do it.

I've been able to reschedule the red button jobs. Best I can tell they are part of the IShopFirst programs which allow it.

For clarity, the IShopFirst program is administered via SASSIE. I don't see any Ipsos shops in my broad searches that do not meet the program criteria on that site.

They have a whole mess of other programs administered via Shopmetrics in the more traditional scheduling format which do not allow the shopper to change the due date.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2024 05:33AM by CoolMusic.

Red button (and probably Australian steakhouse as well, I don't know for sure) can be rescheduled assuming it won't violate the rotation rule of three days between shoppers at the red button location. For these two programs, your pick date is the day you go; you can't go on an earlier date in the range unless it's available as a reschedule.

The programs that I know of allowing you to select the date furthest out but go on any date in the range without needing to specifically do a reschedule:

Blue hardware
Cell phone stores
Light blue pattern/red and black star gas stations
Black and white bears (I think - haven't done one in a while)

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

I sit corrected.

There's now a slew of regional bank shops (one and done for me) that are on the SASSIE side that are "old school" i.e. apply for a hard schedule date and await approval from a scheduler.

The red/silver or white/sometimes blue&orange gas stations are also IShopFirst jobs, and are my personal favorites thanks to their flexible purchase parameters. You can visit scores of stations when you are only putting 25¢ or less in your tank at each stop.