It seems that the new, more complex requirements are focused on whether or not shoppers are completing these per guidelines or just lying to make reimbursed purchases. Many of the questions and photos have an accusatory feel, to me. But I'm sure there are plenty of schemers out there who do fabricate info for personal gain. I guess that's what you get when you get your clients' data from any moron who can dowload an app to their phone, rather than using long-term, reliable, honest shoppers who have a proven integrity track record. Maybe we're all morons to them.

I'm not proposing dishonesty, but some of the posted locations are places that I am familiar with. I have yet to have a location in this area tell me that they charge a fee so I've yet to purchase anything.

@lcubed3 I hear you. Charging a fee is one of the triggers for making a purchase. Do you know for sure that those locations don't have a minimum purchase on non cash transactions? I know you aren't proposing dishonesty, but even if you know the answer, you still have to ask these questions when you do the shop.

We get to pick which locations we shop, but it seems irregular that none of your shops have signs about surcharges or minimums or that employees have told you the same. I don't know how many of these shops you've done, but perhaps you are selecting a business category that doesn't have these types of fees. If you told me that you've only done vape shops or nail shops, then I would be shocked because less than 10% of vape stores haven't had a minimum or fee and the few nail shops I've done, they all had a fee. I've had some shops where they have a fee, but everything in the store is above the reimbursement level and I just put that in the notes.

Today I came across another merchant that told me that they are going to impose a fee on credit cards very soon.

I wonder why they don't require a pic of the front and back of the Visa debit card from prospective shoppers with the last 4 digits showing. It would stink if you had to upload the card for every shop like you do for the Visa contactless shops. By doing this they would know that the last four on the receipt has to match the last four of the card you submitted to them.

@luckygirl0100 I should know this, but what happens to shops that are not open when they should be? Yes, we the shopper get half pay, but do they throw them back up on the board this cycle? I've checked store hours online and they were closed upon arriving when they should've be open. I've also had situations where the hours posted on the door indicate they should be open, but they are closed for some reason and there isn't another sign saying Sorry, Closed for Family Event or something like that.

Several years ago I went to a mom and pop restaurant that was only open for breakfast and lunch

At the time, they did not charge extra to use your debit/card. However, there was a sign at the register that said $ 5.00 limit to use your debit/credit card.

I drove by there a few months ago and I notice a sign on the door that said There will be a charge if you use your debit/credit card" (or something to that degree).

Due to my work schedule (I work days), I have not been in several years.


Even if they don't charge to use your card, you must spend a certain amount in most places..

@heywave wrote:

@lcubed3 I hear you. Charging a fee is one of the triggers for making a purchase. Do you know for sure that those locations don't have a minimum purchase on non cash transactions? I know you aren't proposing dishonesty, but even if you know the answer, you still have to ask these questions when you do the shop.

We get to pick which locations we shop, but it seems irregular that none of your shops have signs about surcharges or minimums or that employees have told you the same. I don't know how many of these shops you've done, but perhaps you are selecting a business category that doesn't have these types of fees. If you told me that you've only done vape shops or nail shops, then I would be shocked because less than 10% of vape stores haven't had a minimum or fee and the few nail shops I've done, they all had a fee. I've had some shops where they have a fee, but everything in the store is above the reimbursement level and I just put that in the notes.

Today I came across another merchant that told me that they are going to impose a fee on credit cards very soon.

I wonder why they don't require a pic of the front and back of the Visa debit card from prospective shoppers with the last 4 digits showing. It would stink if you had to upload the card for every shop like you do for the Visa contactless shops. By doing this they would know that the last four on the receipt has to match the last four of the card you submitted to them.

@luckygirl0100 I should know this, but what happens to shops that are not open when they should be? Yes, we the shopper get half pay, but do they throw them back up on the board this cycle? I've checked store hours online and they were closed upon arriving when they should've be open. I've also had situations where the hours posted on the door indicate they should be open, but they are closed for some reason and there isn't another sign saying Sorry, Closed for Family Event or something like that.

You would think they would be back on the job board. They used to be. I did a location MONTHS ago (late fall) at a drive in food place. This local place is only open in the summer. I wasn't paid at all. (Told I should have not have gone to the location... Google listed the place open but HUGE signs at the location said "see you next summer, thanks for a great year" this place was put back on the job board because I saw it & felt sorry for the next person who grabbed it and had the same result as me.
But the few I've had rejected lately (like the nail place that supposedly charges a fee NOW not starting this coming June like I reported) have not been put back on the job board at all.

I was also paid $5 (instead of $10) for a food truck location that was not parked at the address given to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2023 12:46PM by luckygirl0100.

@luckygirl0100 Last cycle they threw up another shop at a location I had done and was paid for a couple of weeks prior. This time around I saw two locations I did last cycle. These two locations are part of the batch of shops that appear for a short period of time, disappear, and then pop up again. I was looking at the map with the lower count and decided to refresh the map and the higher count of shops appeared suddenly, I clicked one from this batch and it said no longer available.

A cycle or two ago, an editor reprimanded me because I used bing or yahoo instead of google to confirm shop hours. The other search engine listed it as open, but google listed it as closed. I told him/her that the guidelines did not explicitly state you must use google -- which was just some bs rule the editor came up with on the fly. They rejected the shop and I didn't get an appeal button for the shop.

@heywave wrote:

@luckygirl0100 Last cycle they threw up another shop at a location I had done and was paid for a couple of weeks prior. This time around I saw two locations I did last cycle. These two locations are part of the batch of shops that appear for a short period of time, disappear, and then pop up again. I was looking at the map with the lower count and decided to refresh the map and the higher count of shops appeared suddenly, I clicked one from this batch and it said no longer available.

A cycle or two ago, an editor reprimanded me because I used bing or yahoo instead of google to confirm shop hours. The other search engine listed it as open, but google listed it as closed. I told him/her that the guidelines did not explicitly state you must use google -- which was just some bs rule the editor came up with on the fly. They rejected the shop and I didn't get an appeal button for the shop.

An editor named Michelle Montpelier (or something really close... i didn't dig up the email chain to check) has a MAJOR power issue..
A locations address on the receipt was not correct. The address on the door and the business name matched the shop info. I was told to note this incorrect address "in the PROPER place".
I went back with "where is the PROPER place, what question #" and all she would respond with is "the address on the receipt doesn't match, note this in the PROPER place"
I resubmitted the shop without making any changes and it is still pending review (original done Saturday)
I tried to explain the only question about address asks if the address on the building matches that of shop info. Which it did for this shop. I emailed her a photo of the door with the business name (that matched shop info) and the address (that matched shop info)
You want me to check the receipt for accuracy? Then add a question about that.

Another thing to watch out for if you decide to do these debit surcharge shops is you are only reimbursed up to $10. The guidelines say "Grab something to purchase that is $10.00 or less." If you buy something for $9.99 and there is a 4% fee and 10% tax. The total purchase comes to $11.39. Your reimbursement will be $10 and you are going into pocket for the $1.39 to complete the shop or you are making $8.61.

The guidelines should make that clear, but it leaves this fact out. It shouldn't say purchase something that is $10 or less when 90% of states charge sales tax. If it says purchase something for $10 or less, then they should cover the tax and fee to use the card or just say shoppers we will reimburse a max of $10 so when making a purchase, take into account the fee and sales tax if applicable and plan accordingly I know there are a few states that don't have sales tax, but not sure if those places have a county sales tax.

A couple of hours ago, ALL of these debit surcharge shops disappeared from the major markets I checked. Anyone still see these in their area?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2023 06:00PM by heywave.

Gone here... i was planning a few for today but then got sidetracked making Mickey Mouse pirate eye patches for our cruise. I hadn't actually assigned them yet.

@heywave wrote:

Another thing to watch out for if you decide to do these debit surcharge shops is you are only reimbursed up to $10. The guidelines say "Grab something to purchase that is $10.00 or less." If you buy something for $9.99 and there is a 4% fee and 10% tax. The total purchase comes to $11.39. Your reimbursement will be $10 and you are going into pocket for the $1.39 to complete the shop or you are making $8.61.

The guidelines should make that clear, but it leaves this fact out. It shouldn't say purchase something that is $10 or less when almost I know there are a few states that don't have sales tax, but not sure if those places have a county sales tax.

A couple of hours ago, ALL of these debit surcharge shops disappeared from the major markets I checked. Anyone still see these in their area?

Crazy…the one I saw was a nail salon. The cheapest thing I could purchase is a $40 manicure.

@Phoebe70 wrote:

Crazy…the one I saw was a nail salon. The cheapest thing I could purchase is a $40 manicure.

You purchase a gift certificate for $10... use it later, give it away or whatever but you get your $10 pay

They’re all gone from my area

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@Phoebe70 wrote:

Crazy…the one I saw was a nail salon. The cheapest thing I could purchase is a $40 manicure.

You purchase a gift certificate for $10... use it later, give it away or whatever but you get your $10 pay

Who would buy a $10 gift certificate when the least expensive item is $40? That just seems really odd.

The reason that you would get a gift certificate is you could be buying someone a small gift. The receiver would use the gift certificate to offset the cost of their visit.

I haven't done many nail salon shops, but don't some of them sell products? I remember one of these nail salons doing facial or eyebrow waxing or both and those services did not cost anywhere close to $40.

@Phoebe70 wrote:

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@Phoebe70 wrote:

Crazy…the one I saw was a nail salon. The cheapest thing I could purchase is a $40 manicure.

You purchase a gift certificate for $10... use it later, give it away or whatever but you get your $10 pay

Who would buy a $10 gift certificate when the least expensive item is $40? That just seems really odd.

I have several at home. I'll use them as a discount later....
Who cares if it's odd.