I am interested in shopping or auditing hotel. does anyone have any information about this. Thanks. I am new here but not to mystery shopping you guys are great!

I'm interested in this area too. I would like information too if you get anything.

Thanks, Janie

I don't know what part of the country you all are from, but try...

Dataquest

Anonymous Insights

and Bestmark

Have read about some others on other boards, but can't seem to find them right now. I'll keep looking around for them.

Thank you so much nwazshopper I will try these. Im in Chicago, Illinois

Try a-closer-look.com

and

freemangroupsolutions

Coyle does them too. And guest check

Freeman can be okay, I guess, but I would recommend doing some research here and on other boards (MSFreedom for example) about other shoppers experience with them before I decided to sign up.

SOME people like them, but many others say they had problems gatting paid from them...you decide what's acceptable to you.

I have had good luck with www.freemangroups.com

Like I said...SOME people are happy with them, but MANY people say they are slow to pay (if at all) and that they only received payment (a whopping $20) after they waited 3 or 4 months, emailed them 3 or 4 times and called them a couple of times. You will have to decide if you are willing to be a collection company in addition to shopping. Personally, I have better things to spend my time on...but that's just me. YOU decide.

I signed up with one company (I don't remember the name) they offered Hotel and amusement park shops. I was interested in both, but after reading about it, they weren't paying me to do this. They make it sound like they are, but you are paying $25 for a three night stay, and then have to review it. PLUS you have to give them a $100 deposit upon making your reservation, and it is refunded AFTER you fill out their forms. That wouldn't be too bad if you were wanting to go on vacation, but who wants to work on vacation. I'm still shopping around for the ones who pay ME not the other way around.

I love this forum....I want to do Hotels, but Freeman goup doesn't have anything in Los Angeles. Do they ever fly you anywhere or pay gas for Hotels that are long distance? I would apprecate any replies as I need info. on this.

Freeman group does take on experienced shoppers for hotels and resorts that are not listed on their Prophet website. They do a fairly thorough screening of folks for experience both as shoppers and as travellers, income, education, writing style and such. Once screened, there is a lot of reading and studying and tests before you are "ready to go" because a shop that you might undertake is a several thousand dollar cost to the client, what with airfare, hotel costs, meals etc. The fees paid look great until you realize just how much time goes into the venture in terms of preparation, travel, observations and reports. They are slow to pay--they claim 30 days and generally at 45 days I start contacting them. Most of the time it is 60+ days to get paid and reimbursed and they are always the last open item on my monthly shop sheet awaiting payment. And while it may seem like a dream to be flown off to exotic places, when your entire time on the ground is spent observing the facility and services and writing reports that are due hours after you check out, you come to realize very quickly that it is just a job and you are getting no benefit from being in an exotic locale.

Flash, could you suggest to the scheduler that you are interested in those special visits?

I love the schedulers but am not fond of having to call them after 2 months to ask for my check.

Hopefully that is fixed now!

Thanks

I have pretty much stopped shopping with them because it seemed I had to fight for every darn paycheck after the first one that was appropriately prompt.

You can always suggest to your scheduler that you want "better" shops or a different type of shop. You can also suggest that you need bonus pay for distant shops and such. That is part of the nature of being an independent contractor. It of course does not assure that you will get any and all of the above Of course suggest it in a business like manner and if, based on the work they have seen from you, they think that you are ready, they are likely to pass your name along.

But realize that these shops are not quick, nor are they easy. You have a sheaf of checklists and narratives to be done and they have their own special writing style. I note that a nearby hotel that is on their regular board is being reposted again this time around. This is a superficial shop compared with most of their evaluations. I always find myself wondering if the person that grabbed it went into a panic when they saw the requirements and flaked or whether they screwed it up so badly that they can neither be paid nor reimbursed for the hotel stay. The price is now doubled per the email I got, though it still shows on the website at $20. But $40 is still not enough to persuade me to drive 44 miles each way to do a hotel shop. Last time I did it they found a fine dining experience they could throw in to help make the trip worthwhile.

re freeman

i did a restaurant shop for them in mid april. i have not been paid yet. now they are saying they got the receipts june 6th. that is true, but only because I RE-SENT them then...i am not sure about them. that was my first shop. they are saying 60 day from june 6th-for an april shop? food for thought, not my pocketbook.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2008 07:15AM by dee shops.

I don't know whether they are representing 30 day payment now or 60 day. So many companies have stretched out their pay date it is almost hard to keep track of them. I have done nothing for Freeman in 2008 and my last 2007 shop was paid in almost exactly 60 days. Usually when we are this close to the middle of the month I have very little from two months ago still unpaid. This year I have almost 20% of the shops from two months ago unpaid and about 50% of last month's paid. At least the shops from three months ago are all closed and paid.

I have a done a couple for Freeman. They are great as far getting you additional information. They are great at scheduling, but I agree I prefer 30 days or less and automatic reversals. I don't like having to track my money.

I did do one for a new company that does not have a website....I was referred by a scheduler but they never said whom. I got paid $100 and mileage. But again, had to wait almost 60 days. The only good point about them was they reversed all charges on the spot at checkout.

I agree about the work. I did one alone pretending to be a business person, man was I hurting. If my husband is with me at least he can do the easy stuff and remember the names not my fort'e but it lightens my load. Train your partner is all I can say. Check with SQM (Sensor Quality Management) just beware lots of tests before you can get an assignment. Good Luck.

pcurrymorgan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a done a couple for Freeman. They are great
> as far getting you additional information. They
> are great at scheduling, but I agree I prefer 30
> days or less and automatic reversals. I don't like
> having to track my money.
>
> I did do one for a new company that does not have
> a website....I was referred by a scheduler but
> they never said whom. I got paid $100 and mileage.
> But again, had to wait almost 60 days. The only
> good point about them was they reversed all
> charges on the spot at checkout.
>
> I agree about the work. I did one alone pretending
> to be a business person, man was I hurting. If my
> husband is with me at least he can do the easy
> stuff and remember the names not my fort'e but it
> lightens my load. Train your partner is all I can
> say. Check with SQM (Sensor Quality Management)
> just beware lots of tests before you can get an
> assignment. Good Luck.

9 tests to be exact But they do have some that only pay a partial reimbursement, and you don't have to take any tests for those.

Coyle Hospitality is one located here in NY. You have to perform a few restaurant shops first, then you'll be able to get the spas and hotels.

Does anyone know how Coyle pays? good? within 30 days???

gosh_gee_golly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know how Coyle pays? good? within 30
> days???


Yes, they pay within 30 days. Their support people are little slow in getting back to you but I would imagine it's because they are so darn busy. So far I had have good experiences with them.

thanks, some great advice - im looking to wok in this field also. regards nick

I did a shop for Coyle and they paid me within 30 days. However, if you choose to work for them you had better be detail oriented as I am an accomplished restaurant critic at a professional level and I did not get the best rating for my work. And I am good at this. I was surprised that I was rated at a really low rate. But I guess that I learned that every shop is different and every mystery shop company wants different things. I even learned the color of the hostesses earrings.

Coyle has always paid me on the 25th of the following month, and hotel charges are usually reversed quickly off of your credit card, but Dr. Lloyd is right; If you are not detail oriented and an accomplished writer, the reports can be challenging.

If you live near a major city and want to get into hotel shops, I would recommend them, though. I have good experiences with Guest Check as well, but I think their hotel options are more limited.

Love Dataquest for hotel shops. Have also noticed that Bestmark is now doing some in my area.

Re; shops for hotels, spas, cruises

While I know that the companies prefer experienced evaluators, do you suppose there is a preference whether or not I am traveling to a destination on-my-own or specifically to take a little freebie vacation??? versus I am traveling there anything with DH or for my own business..
KWIM?

There are many varieties of hotel shop. Certainly if you are going somewhere and would have time to put in substantial reports it would make sense to see if Freeman has anything on their website in the area you are going. TNS is offering some time share where you must listen to several hours of time share propaganda (I think they claim only 45 minutes) and can get a couple of nights. Anonymous Insights often has hotels in major venues. But all the reports I have seen are pretty long and drawn out and need to uploaded soon after check out (can't be before check out usually because you still need to report on check out). But you can input everything up to check out, then find a wi-fi access (McDonalds, public library, Books-A-Million, etc.) to finish the upload. (i.e. if you are going to keep travelling you had best have a laptop.)

Excuse the comedy about these guest lodge shops here. It's awfully difficult to locate eco-tourist hotels, and finding the mystery shopping companies that do them is even tougher. I don't mind the idea that most of these places are labelled as having carcinogens identified by the state of California...

A friend of mine made wisecracks while doing a Doubletree Hilton shop about the lack of trees in their lobby. It's my fault, I've somehow let people know that my idea of comfort is somewhere between Gatorland and the local KOA.

Beware of Freeman, many posts on here. You have to put out the whole expense and wait forever to get paid, and I mean forever.

I did two hotel shops and got ripped off the first hotel was the worse one in the city Atlanta by the airport .. OMG was it bad .. It was so bad it took about 4 hours to do the report because, every question had a NO. I was told I would have the charges reversed when I checked out . I was there for 2 nights in a suite room service ,bar tap,every meal and tips . I had to pay everything then wait for months for the money. I am looking up the company to warn everyone.