I work for a number of reliable companies:
National, Certified, Shopnchek
However I only performed one shop with Amusement Advantage, and they were unhappy that I took a few days to fax the receipts. But I learned from this that I needed to be always ontime with my work.
You may not wish to take the low paying jobs. But it allows you to tell other companies that you have experience and gives the company that your working for an idea of how you work. If you do well then they will consider giving you better assignments.

One of the best companies that I work for is Corporate research. They always pay and have a wide selection of assignments. They also pay weekly which helps.

Hi,,I too am employed with corporate research but have never had a shop only because I just can't seem to get my shop to my cart what am I doing wrong?

I noticed that Corporate research asks for your social security number...is this safe?

I had just dropped shopn'check because they use any pretext to invalidate your shop. I had done quite a bit but the reasons they gave me to invalidate were unreasonable. In one instance they said that I hadn't sent a scanned business card, well I had sent it 3 times! so I sent it again and cancelled my membership. They don't pay enough for me to deal with that, there are plenty of better companies where I haven't gotten any trouble.

what does it cost to join, I also wanted to call funeral homes you advertised bit can't locate it

It doesn't cost anything to join the good companies that I work for. I work for two of the greatest people you can find and they are Certified Associates/Maritz Research and SSANET( Sinclair Mystery Shoppers). The pay isn't that good but I have made some pretty good friends through them. Also it helped get me introduced to my new town and it's people. I really love doing these shops. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me. Lin

I AM NEW TO ALL THIS .ANY GOOD ONES THERE? I LIVE NC

I really enjoy working for SG Marketing, Shop N Chek and Corporate Research. They all pay according to schedule and I have never had a problem with any of them.

I also work for Corporate Research they are a great company to work for.I like the weekly pay.I would recomend anyone to give them a try.They are also very flexable and willing to work with you.I have had as high as five shops in one day.This has been real slow so far with assignments they is ok I'm waiting.I 'm going to check out some of the companies you are suggesting.

I shop for a number of companies. One of my favorites is Shopnchek. Never had a problem with them. I also like Maritz, Intelli-shop, Baiservices, Corporate Research Intl. and Trendsource. I find that if you mess something up, these companies are all willing to listen and help you fix the problem. I have never had a shop invalidated (knock on wood!!) and I do occasionally mess something up. I live in a depressed rural area, but I am still able to locate shops and try to coordinate them so that I do several the same day, same town, often different companies. I won't get rich,but mystery shopping does help pay the bills.

What are the websites for Certified, National, and SG Marketing?

I live in Missouri. Would like to hear from anyone else who lives here, about reliable companies they work for. I am very interested in doing Mystery Shopping, but don't want to get taken. Thank you for any help you can give me.

Beware of Shop N'Chek. I am a beginner mystery shopper, and I did several small shops for them. The first one was invalidated because I didn't scan the right form. The second was noted as validated on my member page, but when I tried to sign up for additional shops and was unable to, I contacted the Help Desk. They told me I had been dropped as a shopper because I over-inflated an amount on the form (of course, you can never look at the form online because once you fill it out, it disappears), and unless you want to waste reams of paper to print everything, you have nothing to prove it. My receipts were scanned the same day, and apparently I just made an input error. However, at no time did Shop N'Chek contact me to tell me I had been "fired" as a mystery shopper. At no time did they contact me to ask me about the variance, which could easily have been cleared up had they taken a minute to send me an e-mail or call me about it.

This company appears to be suffering from a lack of talent on their website management and their people skills. My people skills pretty much disappeared when I found out they took me off their list because of alleged dishonesty. I called and talked to one of their VP's, Ellyn, who said they took everything at face value, and if it was wrong, that was pretty much my fault. She said I should have printed out all the forms. I had also asked the Help Desk a question earlier in the process and did not get much usable feedback from them. So much for joining the 21st century and the paperless society. What is a website for if not to be able to check and verify documentation online? I have very successfully completed a number of assignments for other companies. When I have had questions or issues for these companies, they have been very responsive and very understanding. No so with Shop N'Chek. To think that I was trying to cheat them out of $15, or whatever it worked out to, was so unbelievable that I was truly insulted. I have never in my life been so blatently accused of cheating. The fact that they had no respect for me to contact me and explain the issue was even worse.

I have no desire to work for a company who treats people in such a manner. So mind your manners, print out hundreds of sheets of paper to use as proof if you do something wrong, and expect for them to look for anything at all to keep from paying you. Something for nothing is always great for a company, but it's not the way I work. I used to think I had high work ethics -- Shop n'Chek not only feels differently about me, but I question their work ethics as well.

Beware.

Donna,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Shopn"chek, I have done well over 100 shops for them and have not had any problems. There were a couple shops that were rejected, but it was my fault for not following the guide lines. mistakes can be made in data entry, but we need to check ourselves also. I know that at the end of all my Shopn"Chek reports before they are submitted there is a review page, everything is there for the shopper to check and agree to.

Mike

I work for ShopnCheck quite a bit, and they are sticklers. They are one of the founders of Better Business Bureau On Line. They are not interested in amateur shoppers, but they treat you superbly if you are a professional. My first shop with them was refused by the client, when I had followed instructions and things had still gone wrong. The scheduler said I had done everything right, and I was paid.

I wish I could tell you, Donna, what went wrong. I can tell you that they have this little menu called Shop Management, and they absolutely insist you go through the stages. They also insist that you respond to them if they call, or write to you. If you don't, you are gone.

I think this site was written by engineers, because the choices on the menu are anything but intuitive. If you want to see your shops, for example, you click "get Paperwork." They expect you to follow your receipt from stage to stage, and if it comes up rejected, to fix it, without having to have them tell you to. They treat you like an adult: they will let you reschedule your own shops, should something in your life interfere, but if it conflicts with their contract, they expect you to live up to your original agreement.

You MUST print a contract with every shop, and enter it, then scan your evidence, then check to see if it is scanned.

If you have crossed any of the lines I have just given you, you have no chance. If you haven't, write a letter, honest about what you know you did, and what you might not have done.

They have the shortest questionaires I know, and they always make perfect sense. I consider them one of the highest payers, because you never waste time, you get in, do the job and get out. At salary per hour, they are one of the best, for their shops rarely take more than an hour, shop and form total. And they do pay both bonuses and gas, when they get desperate. (Don't tell them I told you that.)

If you like, personal mail me, and I will talk to my scheduler about you. He has always been more than fair with me.

One thing I don't like about shopnchek is that it takes them a long time to respond to your questions. Sometimes they don't respond. Another company that is horrible about responding is Gapbuster. If you have a problem, forget getting any help! I needed help with a shop and I never heard back from them. There were no reschedule dates so I had to cancel it.
I have had one shop rejected by shopnchek because I shopping the wrong time frame. That was my fault though, I guess you learn the hard way sometimes. I didn't realize they were such sticklers about scanning! I haven't heard anything about my scans yet...

I have learned a trick about communication. Don't use the links on the sites; I think chimpanzees man those, they never call back. When you have a job, and you have a confirmation letter, save one for every shop house. Put it in a file and name that contact your personal contact with the company; you now have their email.0. If they are perpetually.... grumpy......find another one. Don't bug them, but when you need them, they are there.

Don't let someone else tell you they are reliable. Make your own reliability.

Corporate Research is a reliable company. They don't pay very well, but they pay weekly with direct deposit. They are easy to work with too.

Companies aren't reliable; people are reliable. Find a good source at your chosen site, and life will be easier.

Be reliable yourself; call if you have a problem, don't leave them hanging. They will love you for it.

You are right Beth...they never call back!!

Ryan at Marketing Endeavors gets back with me right away, and I always use the site's link if I have a question or concern. I highly recommend them!

~Christina

(only problem is the long turn-around time for pay, but that is stated right up front, so, I can't complain!)

I to had a bad experience with shopnchek also, the fast food restaurant I reported did not meet corporate standards for efficiency so shopnchek for the not so stellar report dropped me as a shopper. Its funny because in the shoppers guidelines they want accurate and precise timing and reporting, well guess not.

Please consider shopping for ATH Power Consulting Corporation.

www.athpoweronline.com

I have a "better" checking account with a nationwide bank. Once I got the hang of what the shop requires, I have completed many shops.

The company pays by check. I've never had any diffculty whatsoever.

I have done over 200 shops for shopnchek since the first of the year and have never had a problem with them. If you print your cpi sheet the minute you sign up for a shop then you should have no problem. If I have to email the help desk they get back with me with in several hours. I also love shopping for sgmarketing, they have the greatest scheduler. THEY ROCK!!

Thanks for the good info y'all.

I used to do some work for Sho n' Chek. All of a sudden I could not access shops on the website. When I call the help desk they told me that I was being removed as a shopper but would not give me any reason why and also told me it would not do any good to contest being fired. What a company.

Could be just me, but this thread, disinterred, is old and irrelevant enough to go back to the grave.

Yes, certainly it has gotten old and stale. Of course SG Marketing that was mentioned is now part of MFI, as is Shop n' Chek. It probably should return to the grave. But to Angel444's comment, that does happen sometimes with MFI and it usually is a statistical issue rather than anything she has done. Their 'top secret' software seems to pick up on certain shopper patterns and **pow** you are out of there with no indication of how or why.

I am new to the industry. Could you recommend 4 or 5 of the best companys that pay on time. Can a person make good money doung this? Seattle girl