@GeeDeeUu wrote:

They said I had to buy an item with a price sticker on it in the case by the register. None of the items on the sales floor had shelf tags. The guidelines state to buy ONE item with the price clearly displayed on the shelf or the menu board. The words "clearly displaced on the shelf or the menu board" are underlined. The denial said the guidelines states that I have to buy an item with a sticker on it. It is not in the guidelines.

That's odd. I've bought stuff that wasn't priced, even stuff that didn't ring up as expected (t was concerned that one would be rejected but it wasn't). If was at a bakery, and I included a picture of it showing that there was no price and I made clear in my comments what the situation was. I find that is one of the most important things with these shops. Get the required photos, write it up in the format they show in the sample, and explain anything out of the ordinary, like your (or my) situation of no price showing.

Right to both post Gee & Misterbill. You can buy an unpriced item with photos and explanations but if any of the photos accidentally show ANYTHING with a price on it (such as a candy bucket at the register saying "25c each" or a cigarette display behind the counter showing prices) those are the things you would have had to buy. Whether you want them or not. In other words, you have to make sure that no prices show in any pictures - even the building picture that may have a cigarette ad showing a price of less than $8.

This was not stated in the guidelines of any Visa debit shops that I have completed. Maybe we are referring to different shops.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Right to both post Gee & Misterbill. You can buy an unpriced item with photos and explanations but if any of the photos accidentally show ANYTHING with a price on it (such as a candy bucket at the register saying "25c each" or a cigarette display behind the counter showing prices) those are the things you would have had to buy. Whether you want them or not. In other words, you have to make sure that no prices show in any pictures - even the building picture that may have a cigarette ad showing a price of less than $8.

I understand this, but it should be in the guidelines. It is not very ethical to deny a shop for a reason that is not in the guidelines. I would not have gone to this sketchy, out of the way, convenience store if I had known it would have been denied for a reason not stated in their guidelines. I see why there are several posts about this on this thread.

It sounds like I got lucky and dodged a bullitt! You are correct, this is not in the guildelines that I read! Some of these are straightforward and easy (i.e. the small restaurants with a menu board), but like you stated, the sketchy hemp shops are not as straightforward. I picked one up that was bounused and found hemp shampoo and conditioner not near the front case and it luckily had a price posted, but many of the items did not. I do not trust any edibles or gummys from these places.

@GeeDeeUu wrote:

I understand this, but it should be in the guidelines. It is not very ethical to deny a shop for a reason that is not in the guidelines. I would not have gone to this sketchy, out of the way, convenience store if I had known it would have been denied for a reason not stated in their guidelines. I see why there are several posts about this on this thread.

@GeeDeeUu wrote:

I understand this, but it should be in the guidelines. It is not very ethical to deny a shop for a reason that is not in the guidelines... it would have been denied for a reason not stated in their guidelines.

It is not in the guidelines, nor is this MSC ethical in any way as regards shoppers. You take your chances with them on every project, every time. They are lax on full shopper intructions and enthusiastic about rejections. That's their business model. That's how they roll.

Wow! I am sorry this happened but glad I read this. I have take on several of these that made sense based upon location, fee or product to purchase. I will be on guard in the future.

A couple of local shops showed up so I took one (wasn't interested in the second one). I got a couple of smoothies and was under $8 so I left a small tip to max out the reimbursement. The shop got approved in a couple of hours and I got paid for the tips.

Not many shops in my area this month, but the remaining ones went up to $25 yesterday. Did one today near me that I'd been resisting at $14.

Update: a bunch of new ones just got posted at $14!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2025 09:38PM by MisterBill.

I saw one for $25 today. But not where I am, and not where I had intended to go to today.

I'll look again tomorrow before I leave. I only have one grocery shop that I mistakenly did on the wrong day, so I get to do it over again, all by itself, for no good reason other than I made a mess of my calendar, and I don't really know how it happened. It would be nice if I could make a paying day out of a losing $$ day, even if it's only $25.

They're taking several days to approve them recently, which is odd. Earlier in the week, it was extremely quick, before they released a bunch more. I submitted one and had it returned for more info within ten minutes, and then approved within ten minutes of submitting.

BTW, new rule, if you only get one receipt for your debit card purchase, you need to explain why. I've been mentioning it even when I get a single receipt that has both the itemized item and charge information.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2025 05:01PM by MisterBill.

I picked up two over the weekend. Both were restaurants and when we arrived at one, it was clear that most of their business derived from Door Dash or other delivery services. The other was a small Mexican restaurant. My husband and I chose dine in for both just because if we had ordered carry out, we would have just been awkwardly standing there. This made me think, I wonder if anyone has called in for carryout two separate orders (that are the same, of course) for any of these Presto Visa shops. For instance, I call in and say, " I need to place two orders for two separate checks. Both will be the chicken quesadilla." When I arrive, I pay for one with the Visa Debit and the other with cash. This seems more practical. Has anyone tried this for certain restaurants?

I have done 4 in the past week and I am literally on pins and needles to see if they get approved. These are so risky but there were some good food options around this time.

Same here! I only picked up two and will pick up more once these are approved. One makes me nervous because there was no signage about paying cash and receiving a discount, however, our cash payment came with a significant discount. The place had hardly any signs at all and the card reader was a little hand held Apple pay machine! I did get a picture (barely).

@Datagirl wrote:

I have done 4 in the past week and I am literally on pins and needles to see if they get approved. These are so risky but there were some good food options around this time.

Helena opines--It is not in the guidelines, nor is this MSC ethical in any way as regards shoppers. You take your chances with them on every project, every time. They are lax on full shopper intructions and enthusiastic about rejections. That's their business model. That's how they roll.

Bob agrees--The above is as concise and accurate as possible. I am reminded of the parable of the freezing snake and its savior. After being bitten and as he lay dying, he inquired of the snake, "I saved you, why have you bitten me?" The reptile replied, "You knew what I was when you picked me up!"

There seem to be some locations that are only occasionally showing up. There was a deli near me that I wanted to try, saw it yesterday around 1pm but I was going to do it today and didn't want to give myself so little time to submit. Then it disappeared for the rest of the day. Fortunately it showed up again a little while ago, after which a bunch of locations that showed up with this one disappeared again.

They seem to be taking the full 72 hours to approve lately. I am waiting for my Friday shops to get approved. Got paid for three locations today, including an Italian restaurant that had moved a couple of miles away so had to be reported as closed (too bad, I would have loved to be able to buy stuff there).

Today's shop should be easy to do per the guidelines. The deli actually has separate cash and credit prices listed on the menu.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2025 06:30PM by MisterBill.

Ugh, they're up to five days for approval. Just had two that I submitted Friday afternoon approved. At least they did it in time to be paid tomorrow. I still have two more waiting, one from Saturday and another from Monday.

I have one from Saturday and one from Sunday still not approved. There were tons listed in my area and now they are gone. I hope they get caught up on approving shops and relist the others.

@gigishopper wrote:

I have one from Saturday and one from Sunday still not approved. There were tons listed in my area and now they are gone. I hope they get caught up on approving shops and relist the others.

My shop from last Friday is still not approved. This is really unacceptable.

Mine have not been approved either. They took the “insta” out of Presto!

@MisterBill wrote:

@gigishopper wrote:

I have one from Saturday and one from Sunday still not approved. There were tons listed in my area and now they are gone. I hope they get caught up on approving shops and relist the others.

My shop from last Friday is still not approved. This is really unacceptable.

I bought hair products in salons. There is a contingency for shopping locations where there are not any retail products or services available under the reimbursement. You have to prove the least expensive items are over $8 and they say to buy the next appropriate, least expensive reasonable item for reimbursement up to $20 for each purchase. Hair products were 16+. I was reimbursed $16 + $16.
I am waiting on a review of a high end steak house. The cheapest thing on the menu was a side salad at ?? $7.00 or baked potato/$11. Since it would not have been reasonable to me to go there to order two of either of them I ordered two vegetable sides. They started at $16 but I purchased the creamed spinach they are famous for. The order served 2 @ $18.00. Yup. I spent $36 on spinach.
Since there is a pizzeria next door that sells salads and the baked potato was a peculiar order, I asked to be reimbursed at the rate of the least expensive Veg side for $16 + $16.
We’ll see what gets approved.

There was a shop posted in my area for a small kiosk-type store within a grocery store selling wine. It was tempting, but I felt uneasy about it. It seemed like a re-posted shop that no one wanted to pick up.

Emm2131, Please let us know! Unfortunately, from experience, I find the MSC unwilling to part with reimbursement money and can almost picture them all having fits when they see those amounts. You might be told you should have bought sodas.

@Okie wrote:

There was a shop posted in my area for a small kiosk-type store within a grocery store selling wine. It was tempting, but I felt uneasy about it. It seemed like a re-posted shop that no one wanted to pick up.

Not sure why you think that. For one reason or another, some shops don't get taken. I did a couple in my area for $25, including one for a snack kiosk at a big mall. I don't know why no one wanted it, but it was easy enough to do. A friend did a taco place like yours which was $25 and he seemed to have no problems doing it, and they had a 3-taco special for $6.50.

@gigishopper wrote:

My shop from last Friday is still not approved. This is really unacceptable.

My Saturday shop just got approved. Still have one more from Monday.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2025 03:12AM by MisterBill.

Long time shopper, always forget about this forum.

So... these shops have really changed requirements over the past couple years and the vague guidelines really don't make any of the changes clear, so you just get to roll the $ dice and find out the reviewer rejection way.
Anyway, overall I've made some good money off these shops, but like many of you, I've had shops rejected randomly for reasons not stated in the guidelines, for adhering to previous guidelines even when the new ones didn't make a change explicit, and also sometimes even when I followed the guidelines but the day ended in y.

EXAMPLES OF SURPRISE CHANGES:
(sorry I don't remember timing of all these changes, been doing these shops since whenever they started)
REIMBURSEMENT
For stores with nothing under $8:
-->BEFORE: In the beginning, if a location didn't have items under $8, you could PROVE IT concretely w your photos/narrative and buy the next lowest priced item. So a pricey beauty store with nothing under $8, you could find the next lowest priced $20 shampoo and get reimbursed for $20 x 2, total $40, with clearly documented photos supporting that was the lowest priced item. (Support would be a photo showing the shelf of items, including the one u bought and it was the lowest price item. And none of your other photos show anything with a lower price. Also, hypothetically, a reviewer could call the place to verify whether they have anything cheaper so you would be honest about this as with anything you do when mystery shopping.)
-->NOW: No. They only reimburse max $8 per item even if the lowest priced item in the store is $50. That's it. Good day, sir! (IF the store requires a minimum purchase, then you get a whoppin max $10 per item...see next.) So, u go to that beauty store and get those $20 shampoos, you are getting only $8 reimbursement per shampoo. (And maybe that's worth it for you cuz u were going to buy the stuff anyway, it smells better than Pert Plus. But I bet this whole reimbursement change has tripped up a lot of shoppers and cost them $$.)

MINIMUM PURCHASES:
-->THEN: Previously, whenever a retailer had a minimum purchase amount for using a card, then you would be reimbursed for whatever items you had to buy to meet that minimum, x 2. So, if retailer required $15 min to pay with a card, you might buy two $8.50 sandwiches each purchase and get reimb $17 per purchase, total of $34. As long as both receipts identical and everything documented in narrative.
-->NOW: No. Apparently, now even when there is a minimum purchase amount it's just MAX $10 per purchase reimbursement flat, regardless of the retailer minimum purchase amount requirements. So, the retailer requires $15 min purchase and you spend $16 to meet it, you are still only getting $10. Fun.
ALSO: NOW: according to my shop rejections, there also HAS to be signage proving it! (?) So if the cashier at the c-store tells you verbally its a $10 min to use a card, BUT no signage states that (this happens a lot at random little stores to me) GOOD LUCK, cuz ___ will say "nah" on that and only give you the $8 per purchase, you can forget that extra $2.

JUST USE BETTER WORDS TO SAY THINGS BETTER
Example phrasing:: "If there are ANY items or services under $8, you MUST must purchase something under $8, even if there are other items you prefer that are over $8. YOU WILL NOT BE REIMBURSED OR PAID at all if you do not follow this rule."
Example phrasing:: "When the retailer requires a minimum purchase amount when paying with a debit card, we ONLY reimburse a maximum **$20 total for both purchases combined**, regardless of the amount of the minimum purchase requirement or the pricing of items in the store. AND: In order to qualify for this increased reimbursement, you must PROVE IT with a picture of a sign showing the minimum purchase minimum requirement AND amount."

@MisterBill wrote:

@Okie wrote:

There was a shop posted in my area for a small kiosk-type store within a grocery store selling wine. It was tempting, but I felt uneasy about it. It seemed like a re-posted shop that no one wanted to pick up.

Not sure why you think that. For one reason or another, some shops don't get taken. I did a couple in my area for $25, including one for a snack kiosk at a big mall. I don't know why no one wanted it, but it was easy enough to do. A friend did a taco place like yours which was $25 and he seemed to have no problems doing it, and they had a 3-taco special for $6.50.

This one and another within a bowling alley seemed to be disappearing and reappearing sporadically. I'm not sure why, but my spidey-senses were tingling. At one point, these were the only ones left. I was interested to see if the payment would increase even more over time, but it looks like the shops have been completed, or all of them are no longer appearing.

I would not have realized the current $8 ONLY reimbursement, regardless of beauty salons or places with nothing cheaper, if I had not read about it here first. Then again, I had never tried a business where I couldn't get something under $8 because that whole mess sounds like a sure rejection to me. Too much if/then/but/and to keep track of.