I saw IPSOS post some gas assignments today that a another company has as well. I hope they didn’t poach this brand! I like doing this brand with the current company!

They sure did from what I can see and are offering a fraction of the price the other company paid me earlier in the month for the exact same jobs in the same locations. Sad :-(
Maybe folks will hold out for a bit until they raise the fees - $8 is pathetic.

@turfman wrote:

I saw IPSOS post some gas assignments today that a another company has as well. I hope they didn’t poach this brand! I like doing this brand with the current company!

Sassie or Shopmetrics? I'm not seeing anything new in my neck of the woods. It may be a brand that's not bear me.

Sassie but for some reason you cannot see them unless you click the links in the email that was sent.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Sassie or Shopmetrics? I'm not seeing anything new in my neck of the woods. It may be a brand that's not bear me.

Bummer. My email has been having technical difficulties for 2 days and I can't get in. They say they're working on it.

Yeah bad news all around, I really like doing them for the previous company. In fact I just did two the other day for $40 a piece. Now I kind of feel like I should have signed up for all of them and made the long drive down South.

As someone who was dropped by the previous msc, I was happy to see the listing. Chickens coming home to roost is how I see it.

Marketforce still has some $35 audits near SE Gulf of Mexico.

Guess my high paying $60 ones are gone

I sure hope not, that’s my bread and butter. Did 3 yesterday, 2 at $50 and 1 at $75. Then 5 today at $50 each. I can’t imagine $8.

Don't do them at $8.

Just like the other clients, the gas stations require 100% completion. They will pay what they have to to get them done. It's important not to accept them for the low, beginning fees.

I used to do an 1100 mile route of these at $125 each.

Them was the good ole days!

(Grammar deliberate, for the grammar police! )

Note: Interesting, though, same stations still listed on the old MSC at make an offer....maybe I can pick up a few after work this week.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2022 05:34PM by ceasesmith.

Cease,

I would gobble them all up ASAP. All of the stations South of me here in AL have been pulled off the board, either that or Patman stole 'em from me.. ????????

Ha! Nope, I was looking and the only ones I see left are 3 in northwest MS and 1 in Jackson TN :-( I don’t travel too far these days…

@Morledzep wrote:

Cease,

I would gobble them all up ASAP. All of the stations South of me here in AL have been pulled off the board, either that or Patman stole 'em from me.. ????????

I am glad they are changing companies, since Ipsos does not require them to be scheduled for a specific date like the old company. Doing multi-day routes, it is so inconvenient to have to select a specific date and then reschedule them depending on how many I get done in a day. The other good thing about the new company is that you can see all the jobs available, rather than having to search by specific zip codes. It is also easier to work with a scheduler on routes with the new company, rather than having to email the help desk and wait for a response.

IPSOS now controls the evaluations for every single gas brand in my area. That makes me happy, actually, because I can pull into almost every intersection in a city, do about 15 minutes of work on each corner, and drive away with anywhere from $60-90 in fees and reimbursements - to be paid the following Tuesday.

My biggest problem is now what to do with all the gasoline I’m pumping. My car gets 35 mpg, dang it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2022 01:29PM by ColoKate63.

Well, I will tell you what my father did when he evaluated a particular brand of gas station in the 1960s (it now has a different name, but was then the dominant brand in NJ). In the 1960s, all mystery shopping was done using snail mail. There was nothing else. He had to buy 5 gallons of gas (he probably paid less than $0.20 per gallon) at each stop and evaluate the service (full service only in NJ then and now). The stations were often only a few miles (or less) apart. He could make real money if he could solve the gas usage problem. He found a college fraternity that followed him around with a pickup truck, gasoline cans, and a siphon hose to remove gas from his tank. At the time, the gas company was running a promotion for "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" and after buying $25 of gas (roughly 125 gallons in a 2-month period), you got a large stuffed tiger. That was a lot of gas. After we had 2 stuffed tigers (each about 2 feet tall), he started supplying the neighbors. He asked for and received bonuses from the mystery shopping company (Wilmark Services in New York City) because he was the only one among their shoppers with a seemingly bottomless gas tank. Wilmark Services asked him how he was getting rid of the gas. He wanted to get paid for telling them. They refused. Each time they asked, he raised the bonus he wanted. They said no, and then called him the next day and approved the bonus. His technique has remained a secret until today.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

My biggest problem is now what to do with all the gasoline I’m pumping. My car gets 35 mpg, dang it.

That is a fantastic story!!

I grew up in Detroit by a Sunoco gas station. I remember collecting tiny plastic cars and aluminum coins they gave out as incentives. If there had been actual stuffed tigers, I would have lost my mind completely with joy.

I see the new MSC offering $8 for a task that takes at least an hour, then to spend time completing the survey to boot. How on earth do you complete one is 15 minutes? Just wandering around looking for all the POP items takes more than 15 minutes. You can earn brownie points by using a friend's (or relative) car for the gas purchase. With gas at $5.50 a gallon in CA that offer would be a real winner.

I’m so glad to see your reply! It generally takes me 45 minutes to an hour to complete a job like this as well and that’s why I won’t ever do one at base pay. I take pride in my work and try to do the best I can but I have seen many people post that they can do these jobs in 15 minutes (or less). I guess I am slow and thorough - maybe others are fast and thorough :-)

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the new MSC offering $8 for a task that takes at least an hour, then to spend time completing the survey to boot. How on earth do you complete one is 15 minutes? Just wandering around looking for all the POP items takes more than 15 minutes. You can earn brownie points by using a friend's (or relative) car for the gas purchase. With gas at $5.50 a gallon in CA that offer would be a real winner.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I see the new MSC offering $8 for a task that takes at least an hour, then to spend time completing the survey to boot. How on earth do you complete one is 15 minutes? Just wandering around looking for all the POP items takes more than 15 minutes. You can earn brownie points by using a friend's (or relative) car for the gas purchase. With gas at $5.50 a gallon in CA that offer would be a real winner.

How do you NOT do a gas station in fifteen minutes?

I have a specific way to perform a gas station; I never “wander,” I’m hustling around the perimeter snapping required photos and looking for POP and violations (damage, graffiti, potholes) simultaneously. I have a triple-camera smartphone so I can zoom in, out, take a wide-angle shot. With my triple camera phone, I can photograph a rusty canopy, the forecourt, and a pump facing/POP without moving an inch and get crisp photos of all of that.

I take my photos in-app in the order that the report requires. I don’t crop or resize, that the editor’s job. I try to avoid the messy, filthy gas stations with a ton of violations or drug paraphernalia; they slow me down too much. No chit-chat with people on site. At all. At the end of the visit, I hit “submit” and I’m on to the next one. Boom, done.

I did pick up one of the shops because I wanted to see if the guidelines changed or were the same. There are 3 more pictures now; inside store, front of store and the restroom. It feels like the light blue/turquoise gas audit on Shopmetrics with the same MSC (in my area). Not to say a $8 fee is reasonable, but it is one of the quicker/easier gas shops and it is $2 more than the former MSC started in my area. The fuzzy part is that it states up to $10 in reimbursement. You have to purchase a minimum of $3 of gas but will be reimbursed up to $7. The guidelines also state to make a small purchase to which the shopper will be reimbursed up to $2. My math calculates $9 with $1 in limbo. So now that I have 1 shop assigned, I will ask the question to the MSC and share here if I get a response.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

How do you NOT do a gas station in fifteen minutes?

One must often wait over 15 minutes for individual pumps to become un-obscured. It is not at all unusual for customers to leave their cars in front of pumps while they shop, meander, yap on the phone. Sometimes one encounters a truck or RV blocking several pumps while actively pumping for 15 minutes. And then there are the large stations with twenty or so pumps. Add several minutes standing in line register and several minutes waiting for the restroom queues. It is not at all unusual for a station to take 30 minutes or more.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2022 08:35PM by Rousseau.

I need to shadow you! Most stations have 6-10 pumps. Waiting for people to leave to photograph them without people takes time. Can you spot an infraction on a pump, such as a decal, at that distance? The food items in the convenience store take time to locate. Wow, you are a maven at this for sure.

Don't do ANY shop for single digit$.

We are discussing the newly-taken over client. They require ONE pump photo, and ONE pump bezel photo. Zero convenience food items. Forecourt, canopy, MID sign, overall.

If you can’t get a report done on-site for them in 15 minutes or less… you are a hobbyist and probably should stick to home and watch “Matlock” reruns.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I need to shadow you! Most stations have 6-10 pumps. Waiting for people to leave to photograph them without people takes time. Can you spot an infraction on a pump, such as a decal, at that distance? The food items in the convenience store take time to locate. Wow, you are a maven at this for sure.

Weren’t you just asking “what is POP?”

LOL

I sincerely hope you are joking, @ColoKate63. Otherwise your comments are rude and could be considered cyber bullying.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

We are discussing the newly-taken over client. They require ONE pump photo, and ONE pump bezel photo. Zero convenience food items. Forecourt, canopy, MID sign, overall.

If you can’t get a report done on-site for them in 15 minutes or less… you are a hobbyist and probably should stick to home and watch “Matlock” reruns.

Really pushing the bullying button, @ColoKate63

@ColoKate63 wrote:

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

I need to shadow you! Most stations have 6-10 pumps. Waiting for people to leave to photograph them without people takes time. Can you spot an infraction on a pump, such as a decal, at that distance? The food items in the convenience store take time to locate. Wow, you are a maven at this for sure.

Weren’t you just asking “what is POP?”

LOL