Hello,

I'm brand new to mystery shopping and I live in the Chicago land area. Could anyone please suggest any good Mystery Shopping Companies to start out with? Thanks for your help.

If Maritz is in your area, this is a good company to shop for. The reports are easy and the pay is quick.

Generally I like to suggest that folks start with Corporate Research International, Market Force (the Blue Portal of it), and Maritz would be reasonable. The reasoning is that both Corporate Research and Market Force have large, nationwide clients, so virtually anybody, anywhere in the country can find some jobs to perform with them. Both companies are reasonably friendly to new shoppers and both offer instructions that are detailed enough so that a new shopper will know what is expected of them. That being said, both companies pay poorly, but they do pay reasonably fast compared with other companies.

Once you have done a few jobs you will have a good idea of whether the whole mystery shopping idea works for you. Then it will be time to expand your list of companies you are signed up with. I usually suggest you check Jobslinger.com (its free) for companies to sign up with. The jobs you see on their board in your area have probably been taken already, but at least you know they have clients in your area.

Then begin with a legitimate list of companies to sign up with as many as you need to to have the level of work you want. There is a list of about 200 companies in the first post of the first thread of the Mystery Shopping Company Discussion section of this forum. You will find that many of the companies are likely to have no jobs in your area at the present time--and you never know that until you sign up and look at their job boards--but most of them will send you an email if/when they get a client in your area.

When I visit my daughter in Chicago (she lives there), I always get a restaurant and maybe a hotel and we have a treat. Have eaten at Rivaon Navy Pier and their sister steak house...really good. When you get some experience there are terrific shops there, enjoy. Start at above mentioned and build your repertua (is that a word, it is now), you'll soon graduate to better shops, and the eating there is off the hook!

Sorry Flash, once again, I disagree with you on a topic =) Gasp! What?? Haha
Havingfun66, I wouldn't recommend CRI at all--unless you are 100% certain that you can follow their directions to the tee. My very first shop was completely rejected because I misunderstood one tiny little detail.
My recommendation would be imyst. I'm not entirely sure what locations they cover, but I think they have a pretty good range. They're a great starter company--you can start out with their phone shops that they usually post weekly. They only pay $2 a shop, but it gives you a taste of what the forms are like and you don't even have to leave the house for it.
Whatever you do, just make sure you read the guidelines and the survey over REALLY carefully before you do your shop.

Heck, it is a difference of opinions that makes the world interesting. It would be truly boring and difficult if we all wanted and found attractive exactly the same thing(s). Your experience and mine with CRI are quite different. In my early shops I found them clear about what they wanted and helpful when I had questions and forgiving when I fouled up as long it was not a big time screw up. I have done very little with them in the past few years because the jobs here are grabbed up at the lowest possible price, which tells me that a whole lot of either beginners or very desperate people are finding they work.

Companies such as Corporate Research and Market Force and Maritz are also companies that if you foul up and manage to get terminated, they are not a huge loss as you got your feet wet with them and are ready to move on anyway to more challenging and better paying work.