yes, if you are doing mobile shops, pictures, notes, and of course for GPS

Yeah, I don't use my phone to complete shop entry. Too time intensive to do so. Its great for pics, email, using geoverify if I need to, etc... but I regretted it the one time I used it to try to enter an actual shop and haven't since.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

But on a serious note, smartphones aren't all about typing on phones. I sometimes check my email on my phone and get shops that I otherwise wouldn't see until I got home. They are good for much more than completing shops on, but that being said, some of the shops I do that are heavily bonused and have 0 narrative can be completed with ease on a smartphone using an app.

To each their own, however, and if the rotary phone works for you, that's great!

But if all the questions are yes or no and there is no narrative it's super easy to do a report on your phone. They have apps that some MSCs use that are great for that. Takes about 5-10 minutes, no report time at home later.

I am also in the market for a new phone. My wife also suggested a phone with a good camera.

I always do my reports on my computer. However, a couple of weeks ago I did a report from my tablet. I did not have any problems but I prefer doing my reports on the computer.

So I will see

I use my phone for work. While practically anywhere, I apply for assignments, self-assign assignments, and correspond with others regarding assignments. My phone takes good enough images of most things that are required for assignments. It is essential for GeoVerify. It is essential for app shops. The app shops are convenient, generally, and many require little time to complete. It is optional to complete some shops on-site with an app while performing an assignment. You may need a certain type of phone in a certain price range or additional in order to accommodate apps. How many apps for all purposes will you need to have on your phone? For narrative, I prefer the largest computer screen I can find. (Sometimes, this is my laptop while traveling.) This is most comfortable for me (an ergonomic factor). However, if necessary or convenient, I will even compose and edit my narratives on the phone.

On the other hand, I intensely dislike holding the phone. This is uncomfortable for me. Larger phones with larger screens are easier to see, but they are as uncomfortable in my hand as the smaller phones. That is another unique ergonomic factor. Phones do not yet come with leashes or lanyards. If they will be on lanyards, they will have to weigh considerably less than they do now. I have yet to find a phone with a tiny retractable cord. These conditions may improve in due time.

But enough about me. How you work your work and live your life is what matters for you.

Someone asked if we would buy the iphone X.,

Is this the $1000 phone?

HahahahAAAAAAA!


No.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2017 01:23PM by Shop-et-al.

Just to answer your straightforward question...yes it is possible to mystery shop without a smart phone. I have been doing it for years. I work part time though and am in it more for reimbursements than income. I think that having a smart phone for a full time shopper would help to bring in the income you need and worth the monthly fees. I rarely do yes/no question shops as they do not fit the type of shop I like. I also live in a big city so I do not spend time miles away from home or go from shop to shop to shop all day. I can easily come home and enter all my shops on my nice big screen computer.

@pi2fly wrote:

So, I've shopped a bit before, and am now returning in earnest. I don't currently have smart phone, just a tablet, digital camera, and home computer. I'm wondering how helpful is working from or with a smartphone? Thanks, all, and good luck!

I only have a tablet and a computer right now. I do this full time and I have done pretty good. There are shops that I can't do because I don't have a smart phone. But later on I am thinking about getting one z

I have been with Verizon for almost 10 years. Their service is reliable, but they are very expensive to buy a phone from. They charge a fee for you to buy a phone from them; they bill you monthly for the phone; and this is in addition to the monthly service fee.

Look into eBay to buy a smartphone. I have done that since my last BlackBerry in 2014. Make sure it is activated on Verizon Wireless, then take it into a store to activate it and port your phone to them. No charges!

As for the phone itself, it's your GPS, timer, alarm clock, note keeper, calendar, dictionary, camera/video, GeoVerify, phone, instant email, rewards keeper...endless!

I think having a smart phone is the best thing to bring with you. Take can secretely take pictures, just say your texting. You cant do that with a digital camera. I did a shop one time where you had to take a picture of the manager while standing in front of them. That was a tough, but possible with a smart phone.

I upgraded to a Galaxy S6 from an S5. My S5 went to my Dad, who has an S3 and might send a text once in a blue moon.
While the S5 is a great phone, as far as the operating system, camera, security, etc., it doesn't have Samsung Pay or fingerprint unlock. The cameras on the later models is definitely better. It is a great phone, the S5, but not superior in any aspect to later models.

@walesmaven wrote:

I love to buy "behind the curve" for phone tech. I highly recommend a Samsung 5 phone, if you can find one. It has a great camera, much better than an iphone. It is superior in most respects to the later Samsung models. Allows any aps you might later want for MS work.

Do you deduct your cell phone on your taxes?

I like my smartphone for shop help. I sound like a rep here, but I am not. I have an ATT Go Phone. There's a few perks to this particular phone.

It is $45 per month but it's prepaid via cards you load up. It has an online platform so I rarely have to talk to humans to get any issues worked out. If you pay with auto-pay you save $5. If you add a second phone, you save $5 and an additional $5 with auto pay so 2 phone lines gets you a $75 bill with unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 12 gigs of data for the month that will roll over.

Another benefit for me is that I can buy cards on some shops and they sell them in $5 and $10 increments, which means if a shop is to the right place, I can buy phone minutes for the purchase requirements.

I use mine on the go. It has a mobile hot spot -- meaning I can tether it to a laptop or tablet that isn't getting WiFi. If I have cell service, then I have internet and I can connect with a password to my laptop and work from there. Makes things better for me. My smart phone has a nice enough camera for most jobs. I also have different apps and things on there for shopping. There's a couple of apps you can download that have microjobs that pay via paypal. Those are pretty cool. I can also list things I bought on a shop and sell on eBay with my smartphone (if I can't just return it).

There are cheaper smartphone plans too. I recently bought the LG Pheonix 3 from BestBuy for $49.99 with a $5 rebate through retailmenot. It has 16G memory so you get about 8.1 onboard to load things to. Overall, a good buy for me and if I can't afford it or don't want to, I can always let it lapse but I like my phone number.

If you can get by without one, I do not think that I would bother with one now. If you decide later that you may need one there are plenty of cheap smartphones out there they may not do exactly what them to do. But they are cheap and the first months try isn't that expensive. I use the cheap ones for voice recorders as I work in a one-party state. Though the sub $30 ones are not that great and probably wouldn't work so well.