Where have the long time posters with great experience gone?

Not that you all don't have great experience, but I've noticed that several long time shoppers with valuable knowledge about shopping and great stories are no longer posting. bgriffin, SteveSoCal, SoCalmama, LisaStLS... What happened? Come back, come back wherever you are!

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

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Don't forget Irene. I reached out to a few of them recently but have not heard back.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Oh yes, Irene. I think she retired...many times...from shopping, but I thought she might still come around and post now and then. Hope she's okay. She was a hoot.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Another poster I sorely miss… Sybil2. Where you at, girl?!

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

We are still here but can make far more money from other adventures…. I did a phone call survey today, ten minutes $100. I mystery shopped way back from when results used to be sent in on post cards. Times have changed. App shops are put there in multitude….. no paperwork. Paper towel one yesterday $15 plus $10 of free towels….the days of the mystery shop as we know it are gone.

Three of the five people you mention live in So Cal. So do I. The cost of living here is very high. I see a fraction of the number of shops I saw pre covid and for a really long time during covid there were virtually no shops available. Restaurants, bars and hotels were closed or barely open one week and closed the next. Steve and SoCalMama did a lot of the types of shops that did not exist during covid. Irene was no longer traveling to town to shop. I suspect they just found other ways to live during that time.

WOW!!!!!!

@Tarantado wrote:

Another poster I sorely miss… Sybil2. Where you at, girl?!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

That is true. Restaurants shops went dry even prior COVID. COVID wiped down the rest. I am taking only shops (restaurants) that does not require long time to be inside. 15-29 minutes no more. I am doing some banks/tellers only that even less time consuming. Not a lot but still some $$. Plus apps. Doing them during lunch time or evenings and only in close by to me area, NOT LONG TRAVEL.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2021 12:31AM by gene.

I've largely been on a hiatus from shopping - life outside of this world has just gotten way too busy. I did my first two shops today since April, when I did about four.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

some MSC disappeared as well..

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

I looked, and SteveSoCal last posted 11 months ago. Many of his shops involved international travel, and other high-end shops that disappeared. I hope he is alright.

SoCalmama posted as recently as 2 months ago. She got attacked in at least one thread, and when back and edited her posts to remove all of the words. I think she got fed up. I haven't looked for the others.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

You are correct about SoCalmama. It's unfortunate for the rest of us who enjoyed her posts.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

this is a sign of the times...

The Covid has stopped a lot of things and closed a lot of people and places to rethink things.

I was thinking about SoCalMama and her "back in the day" experiences, as she called them. At least she had them. Some newer shoppers might not find such great experiences in the near or distant future...

Bach is not noise, Madam. (Robert, in Two's Company)

My first shop was 1974 on yellow postcards for the answers......

deleted

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Moderator Note:

Inappropriate post removed. Name calling and personal insults, whether overt or implied, are in violation of our guidelines.

Did you ever shop Eaton's? When I worked at the Waterloo ON store in the 90's, we had shoppers in the store constantly. I've often wondered about people who shopped back in the day in Canada, how many went to Eaton's.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

My first shop was 1974 on yellow postcards for the answers......

By then I was in the US but I did Macy and Daytons which I think was an offspring of that and it was definitely shopped.
They were known to hang the reports in the dressing rooms for all to see.
I caught one once that I positively knew was mine since I mention ned this weird purse by description and it was super obvious, no one else would have mentioned it.
Anyway, I stood there and read my entire REVISED report. They changed a flunk into a pass.
All my time wasted. No reason to actually do them. Company still shopping.... that "source"... is not on my fav list any longer....I called them on it and of course they denied it.

@heartlandcanuck wrote:

Did you ever shop Eaton's? When I worked at the Waterloo ON store in the 90's, we had shoppers in the store constantly. I've often wondered about people who shopped back in the day in Canada, how many went to Eaton's.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

My first shop was 1974 on yellow postcards for the answers......

I'm not one of the people mentioned, but I stepped away from doing assignments for awhile and I am now just getting back to doing a few.

Arguing with fools is like playing chess with a pigeon...
...No matter how good you are, the pigeon will s@^t on the board and strut around like it won anyway.

Not scheduling for ANY company.

I have been doing mystery shops since 2008. I was helping my parents do mystery shops as early as 1961 in the days of carbon paper, snail-mail, and $0.21/gallon gasoline.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I have been very active since 2005. Have done video shops since the equipment was about 4 times the size of the PV500 and have met and compared notes with shoppers who did video back when the equipment was carried in a small backpack. Unfortunately, those folks are no longer with us.

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.

Hi, I seen you post and have the new neo pro which keeps letting me down, do you know of an alternative to this, not a watch or glasses as they are too obvious? Many thanks.

JASFLALMT and CoffeeQueen. I miss them. There was some type of fuss between posters and now they're gone.

MCE, PV 500 is what you need if you are serious about video work. End of story.

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.

personal opinion...... there are MANY choices.... dont stick to one persons opinions

I am in Monterey County, mid-coast of CA. Gas is $5 a gallon. I ask for a gas bonus, otherwise I lose $ on shops.
Anyone done the Maine Cousins Lobster shops? Seems like a multitude of questions for a $5 fee. How to take a menuboard picture discreetly?

I did some lobster shops BC time in NYC. No gas bonus. Just simple walk. 30 minutes in and out and time inside.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

Canadamommy,
Please name the makes of video equipment that are among the "many" options for video shops. And, please tell us what types of video shops they are good for.

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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Where have the long time posters with great experience gone?

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