Great forum to stumble upon!

Hi! I am new to the forum, but have been mystery shopping for a little over a year. I am very picky about my shops but have had fun in the process of learning. This is not a lucrative business, and some of the shops I have seen posted with their requirements sound rather comical. My favorite shop was a brokerage firm and my least favorite was conducting exit interviews at a high end restaurant. Nothing like interrupting diners to complete a 4-page, small font, 36 question survey in a dark restaurant for no incentive!

My next step is to start grouping shops, so I can complete a number in one day. I have enjoyed reading your wisdom in the forum. There is a lot to learn about mystery shopping and look forward to delving in a little deeper.

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Welcome to the forum! It sounds as though your business is progressing nicely! Congratulations!

Welcome CoCogirl. I think you are in the Bay Area, as well. I saw that Restaurant shop. It seemed like it payed okay, but I thought it would not be fun to do such interviews. Nobody wants their meal interrupted. Especially at a place like that.

Yep...that was that restaurant! The restaurant is in my hometown and my mom still lives there. We would eat there now and then, mostly for lunch. After I did that shop and saw how CHEAP the owners of the restaurant company where by not providing any incentive to their customers, I will never dine there again and I have forbidden my mom to ever stop foot in the place. I think I saw a thread on here about becoming customers of places where you shop, but it can definitely work the against the client as well. Lucky you for being seasoned enough to avoid it.

Often, you can check here to see what experience other shoppers have with a shop. As far as I know, though, the interviews you did have not been offered before. Also, I think they had only two locations. Did you do the one in LG? I think there was a North Bay location, as well.

Unfortunately we all step in our share of dog poo before we learn to recognize it. Even after years, I have ended up with shops I regret having taken.

The dog poo was in LG!

Lesson learned: If something is paying more than "normal" mystery shopping pay, there's a catch! Run!

Not always. Sometimes a shop really does just pay more. It is really hard to know, sometimes. You can always ask to read the guidelines. Sometimes a scheduler will send them, sometimes they won't. It doesn't hurt to ask, though.

Coco,
Depends on what is normal for the type of MS work. $70 and up would be normal for many longer interaction shops; $50 and up for certain types of bank shops. That's where your forum friends can be of great benefit. Just post and ask what folks here think is/should be "normal." BUT, if you get a large check in advance of doing any work, run like hell and post afterwards!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

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Great forum to stumble upon!

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