Is anyone else bothered by posts about mystery shopping in this forum that say “in my area”? I guess people want to stay somewhat anonymous but posts would be so much more meaningful if we knew the geographical area where people shop. Even a general area such as Southern California or New England would be helpful. Sometimes posters are in Canada, which presents a whole other set of circumstances, but don’t reveal that until asked. Should we urge folks to be more specific about there geographical area or am I off base.?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2019 04:15AM by kenasch.

While I understand your point, it bothers me anyone should be urged to do so. I simply avoid the usage of the phrasing regarding the area in which I shop. If anyone is curious, it is, after all, an open forum where they may ask questions.

@nslinhar wrote:

While I understand your point, it bothers me anyone should be urged to do so. I simply avoid the usage of the phrasing regarding the area in which I shop. If anyone is curious, it is, after all, an open forum where they may ask questions.

I understand your point as well. However my suggestion is more directed at discussions about the availability of shops. Many times I see postings about folks not seeing certain shops being posted or not posted recently "in their area" which doesn't mean much to me unless I know the area. For instance, there have been some recent discussions about Ross, BJ's Brewery, Chili's, Applebees, etc with different availability in various geographic areas. I guess not a big deal, but it just annoys me when I don't get a complete picture of the situation. Maybe encouraged rather than urged?

Erased as I decided not to mention my town after the hoopla over asking for jobs....no more, no way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2019 06:04PM by Irene_L.A..

@kenasch

I understood you were speaking of the availability of shops in one's location in your opening post. Quite frankly, it is within my rights to not disclose the location in which I shop. For a number of reasons, one being safety. Did I miss a MSF rule? If that is the case, please point it out to me so I can deactivate my account here.

Again, I choose not to use any phrasing such as "In my area" so as to not open a can of worms.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2019 11:54AM by nslinhar.

@nslinhar wrote:

@kenasch

I understood you were speaking of the availability of shops in one's location in your opening post. Quite frankly, it is within my rights to not disclose the location in which I shop. For a number of reasons, one being safety. Did I miss a MSF rule? If that is the case, please point it out to me so I can deactivate my account here.

Again, I choose not to use any phrasing such as "In my area" so as to not open a can of worms.

Sorry if I hit I nerve. I only suggested that posters post their area to make threads more meaningful. I then used the words "urge" and "encourage". Nothing to do with "rights" and a "MSF rule". Feel free to do whatever you feel is best and don't even think of deactivating based upon my post.

@kenasch wrote:

@nslinhar wrote:

@kenasch

I understood you were speaking of the availability of shops in one's location in your opening post. Quite frankly, it is within my rights to not disclose the location in which I shop. For a number of reasons, one being safety. Did I miss a MSF rule? If that is the case, please point it out to me so I can deactivate my account here.

Again, I choose not to use any phrasing such as "In my area" so as to not open a can of worms.

Sorry if I hit I nerve. I only suggested that posters post their area to make threads more meaningful. I then used the words "urge" and "encourage". Nothing to do with "rights" and a "MSF rule". Feel free to do whatever you feel is best and don't even think of deactivating based upon my post.

No need for an apology. I appreciate the topic.

I often wonder how we can be expected to give an educated answer when people ask about shop availability in their area, when we have no clue what that area is? Could be anywhere in the world, so narrowing it down a bit would sure help. I just don't bother to reply, since I can't help without knowing where their "area" is. The ironic part is that those people asking for help with finding shops get frustrated when no one jumps up to assist. Keep your anonymity if you choose, but don't expect any help with finding shops "in your area"!

Many, if not most, newbies do not understand that most shops just are not "nationwide." So, they do not know to name their area.

@kenasch wrote:

Is anyone else bothered by posts about mystery shopping in this forum that say “in my area”? I guess people want to stay somewhat anonymous but posts would be so much more meaningful if we knew the geographical area where people shop. Even a general area such as Southern California or New England would be helpful. Sometimes posters are in Canada, which presents a whole other set of circumstances, but don’t reveal that until asked. Should we urge folks to be more specific about there geographical area or am I off base.?

I've been looking at this trying to decide whether to respond or not. I'm not particularly bothered by people saying "in my area." If I see a post that requires knowing the location to answer the question, I might ask for the generall geographic location. Otherwise, there's no reason for me to know their location. Since I posted in another area of the forum about my unpleasant personal experience after disclosing my location, I decided to respond. No, it's my opinion that folks should NOT be encouraged to be more specific about their location. It's their choice.. And I think folks should be strongly discouraged from asking for client lists in specific locations. And if a poster PMs asking for ICA violations, it should be clearly explained that this is not acceptable. A second PM from the same poster asking who shops a specific client or other ICA violations should result in deactivation.

When I first started to post here I disclosed my location and got PMs from people in my same area who wanted me to break my ICAs and "help" them get more shops. One even wanted me to meet her and give her my list of companies, along with a list of the companies's clients and their pay schedules. She argued that I had already done the work, so why should she have to? She got quite snippy when I explained it would be many ICA violations. When I said I wasn't going to hand over all my hard work to a competitor, she called me "selfish" and asked why she should have to re-invent the wheel. I said I didn't invent the wheel but I built the wagon using all to tools and equipment available on the forum. No need to re-invent the wheel - it's all here free, but you have to build your own wagon. Then she called me ugly names.

i deleted my location from my ill-advised post and I will never again identify my shopping area. I wish I had been smart enough not to do it ever.

Sorry you had to go through that roflwofl. Some people just don't get it.

Roflwofl...I'm glad you chose to post your experience...this will/should help those asking to see the reasons not to depend on others to do their work. Your post is "on the money" and it is a crime for another shopper to expect anyone to do that. Hopefully, this type of behavior will now stop. You are such an asset to our forum....I now wish I had never said the state I'm from, never thought anyone would be so bold as to want my hard earned jobs.

Why? MSCs have different jobs in different geographical locations.

The best advice is to sign up with many MSCs

@kenasch wrote:

posts would be so much more meaningful if we knew the geographical area where people shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2019 03:33AM by HonnyBrown.

Some live in remote and rural areas, where competition is very high. I recently visited a large city, and decided to just check out availability. A tear came to my eye when I realized I could earn as much food as I could want from grocery shops alone! It isn’t like that in my town. There are maybe 6 grocery shop chances, and at least two other eager shoppers looking to work, as well. We have to keep it to ourselves, or we don’t get much.

@roflwofl wrote:

She argued that I had already done the work, so why should she have to? She got quite snippy when I explained it would be many ICA violations. When I said I wasn't going to hand over all my hard work to a competitor, she called me "selfish" and asked why she should have to re-invent the wheel.

Hahaha. I know this isn't funny, but you couldn't make this stuff up! It's like showing up at a job on your first day and telling the manager, "I should get a promotion, because the person next to me is getting one. They've gone through all the steps necessary to earn it, why should I repeat the same work."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2019 10:33PM by shop-a-holic.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Erased as I decided not to mention my town after the hoopla over asking for jobs....no more, no way.

C'mon now, we all know it's somewhere in Lower Alabama!

Where I lived in Florida was known as LA (lower Alabama) AKA the redneck riviera. LOL.

yep, your right...L.A.= lower Alabama