A friend shopper today was wailing because she went to get a credit card and was denied based on her credit score. She checked her credit report and the bad news there was the many many inquiries she did for insurance shops. It had been indicated to her that all similar inquiries in a 30 day period would be lumped as one "event". That is not what happened. When she appealed to the MSP for help, their reaction was, too bad.

Be very careful. If you do the tax refund anticipation loans during tax season or payday advance loans or cell phone shops where you at least begin the purchase process or ANY SHOP WHERE YOU MUST GIVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER you are likely to have your credit checked. Those hits will reduce your credit score such that your credit card interest rates may rise even if you are perfect in your payments. They may also reduce your credit score such that you cannot get reasonable financing for a car or appliances or a house. Some employers also must check your credit score, so if it has been whacked by mystery shopping, you might not even be able to change over to a full time job.

While any loan based shop where you are to follow through to receiving a check will include a credit check, with some of the insurance type shops where you are getting a quote, see if you can just give a verbal estimate of what your credit worthiness is because "If I decide to do this, I understand a real credit check would be required and that may change the price, but I'm just trying to get an idea right now." I would have this conversation by email with the scheduler so that you have the email to support getting paid without having given out your SSN.

I would make this post sticky, using a post-it note.

Or some bubble gum

A very disturbing follow up on this post. It would appear that one of the insurance companies shopped had the audacity to cancel the automobile insurance of the shopper. The shopper has notified their own insurance company that they had not authorized such a cancellation, nor did they want to cancel. They have also contacted the MSP, which was totally unconcerned about what had happened to the shopper's credit rating. Discussion with a person who works at the DMV indicates that this is a problem they run into not infrequently with persons who have been shopping around for car insurance and suddenly discover they have been driving uninsured for months.

If you have done these shops, contact your insurance company to make certain that your policy is still in force.

If you have the right relationship with your agent, which I do, let him know
that you are staying but doing a mystery shop of insurance companies, He will
see that there is no problem.

Very interesting matter, now I has an answer to my every night question; I perform some cellular shops last month, and my credit been dropped about 100 points of my score, is there any solution or I has to go to Credit Agency?

If you are not going through the process of actually getting a cell phone for the shop there is no reason to give out your social security number. Be very careful of the ones that have you sign up for service and then cancel them because indeed they WILL affect your credit score. Opening bank accounts usually requires a credit check and can reduce your score. Be very wary of any shop that needs your social security number.

As for damage already done, you could check directly with Experian or the other big three agencies for the procedures to file a protest if indeed your credit report shows a large number of cell phone "hits" to your record. Otherwise over time your score should recover with the usual responsible use of credit and avoiding situations that would lead to inquiries on your creditworthiness.

Thank you.

Soemthing simular was discussed in another thread about applying for a mortgage.

I haven't been offerred an insurance shop yet but I will decline for sure.
Too much baggage in these shops applying for loans, insurance, cell phones. Like Flash says anything you do that makes them touch your credit report can be "sticky"

I wouldn't outright reject all insurance shops. Generally they want you to work through the process to get a quote. Even in the real world when I am looking for quotes and the agent asks for my SSN I tell them, "If I decide to go with your company I will obviously give you that information, but I just don't want my credit being checked over and over while I look for who has the best deal." Now because insurance is based in part on your credit worthiness, the agent will tell you that without your SSN they can't give you a quote. "Ok, Charley, how about give me a quote based on EXCELLENT credit and of course you can back away from that quote if I decide to do business with you and when you check my credit it is not EXCELLENT." Most of the time that will work, but make sure if you are going to do this on a shop that you have cleared your method with your scheduler. You may not get the quote, in which case call the scheduler ASAP and see how he/she wants it handled. In the real world, if they won't give me a quote I just hang up and call somebody else.

Well I saved a lot of money with Geico.Then because I had got so smart I spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express and got a lot smarter...LOL!!!So far I've not been offerred an insurance, cell phone or mortgage and most likely I would decline.  I want to be assured my credit is "squeaky clean"  I may want to buy a new car soon.

That is an excellent approach!

The "but"s here are that you can do a lot of the cell phone shops as information gathering without giving out any of your personal information. Just don't take one that requires you to even start the application for new service, much less go through the whole process and then cancel.

You can do bank shops where you are inquiring about mortgage rates and such without filling out any paperwork or giving indication that you want to start the mortgage process.

In general any shop that you are on that wants your social security number, abort the shop if you started and cannot continue without giving your social security number. Then contact the scheduler as quickly as possible to tell them why you aborted the shop. Any shop where the instructions require that you complete a process where a social security number is normally requested, talk to the scheduler before you undertake it to see what alternatives they would find acceptable.

Very Sound advice Flash. If I get offerred an insurance or anything else that might require my SS number I'll follow your advice and see how it goes.
I'm not anticipating any of these shops as the companies I'm working now don't seem to have those shops.

I do mostly apartment and housing shops. I've expanded my shopping a little more just in the past few weeks and doing more unique and fun things.

I think most of us work in a niche for a while before expanding into a few other shops and perhaps changing our niche. Certainly the variety of shops available in your repertoire and the variety of shops available can keep this from being boring, repetitious work. Certainly doing the same shops over and over and over can become mind deadening.

Yep I like the coffee shops and donut shops. They are fun, short surveys and you get some great morning pick me ups. Pay is pretty good considering the type shop.
I also do electronics.
And I like a little retail. I got a really neat job of retail and it's going to be a lot of fun. Gift card to spend on any thing I want plus my pay. Short survey.
And sit down restaurants. Love those 2-4 nights a week eating out.

I was asked yesterday to do a Zoo. I was planning on doing the shop till I got all the info. The pay was good but the cost of ticket, purchasing one item and the entire tour of the Zoo and taking pictures to prove a point seemed a little much. Then there was the travel involved of over 60miles one way.
A 30page survey, uploading all the pics of each individual animal area. Time, effort and end up pay after gas was nearly (0)

I'm not for doing a lot of work for nothing.
Long as I clear a little to make it worth the effort I'm satisfied.

I've signed up with more than a dozen shops and I'm getting some pretty good diversity. But so far no insurance, cell phone or mortgages.

I would never do a shop that required a credit check or use of my ss number.

But I still do lots of shops! I do about everything else ('cept haven't gotten a hotel yet...) I do banks, cell phones, electronics stores, vendor shops at the apple store, all the way up and down the food chain of restaurants (except the drive thru/walk in combo), high end to low end retail, pastry, coffee, services, apartments, chocolate, low work audits, bar integrity, restaurant integrity,grocery stores...you name it. I'm definitely not bored, but there is something to be said for doing some enough that you could sleepwalk through it, especially when it has a good bonus attached!

Yep I like those bonus!!

My thoughts exactly there are so many other shops to do besides insurance or anything requiring a SS number or credit check.

I was reading every-one's posts regarding the insurance cancellations that don't seem fair. I didn't read that anyone mentioned contacting their local insurance commissioner's office regarding the problems. I'm a retired insurance adjuster and always found that working with the insurance commissioner's office was a positive experience. They have power to cause an insurance company/agent to undo and reconsider situations that don't seem on the up and up in their eyes. Trust me! No one in the insurance industry wants to have the Insurance Commisioner's Office in their business. It's possible different states may generate different responses, but perhaps it's worth the effort. I'm in Florida and fairly certain you'd get assistance and guidance!

Thanks everyone for the heads-up on the social security number/credit issues. So far, I haven't tried for cell phone or insurance shops. I enjoy the other types out there and appreciate the variety. I did two bowling shops on my 50th birthday and had a blast! I hadn't bowled in probably 30 years. Fortunately they weren't as complicated as the zoo one mentioned above.

I didn't realize what a wonderful outlet this is! Thanks for including me!

You're an asset to this forum, Joan.

Billie knows this story. I did a pretzel shop safety inspection that required my driver's license #, supposedly to prove my identity to the owner of the store. When he got ticked off about my inspection, he threatened to have security throw me out, have my car towed, and sue the shopping company. I vamoosed, but there he was with my name and driver's license #. I refused to submit my report, fearing this guy might track me down. This is so funny--When I first related this story, Billie wrote "Thrown out of a pretzel shop? Isn't that like failing kindergarten?"

At a Burger King shop in Sept., a few of us were threatened by the managers for taking secret photos. Shopping companies often do stupid things for their own benefit, endangering your safety and privacy. Their excuse is "The client asked us to do it."

Thanks Sneakers! When I do safety inspections or something similar where my identity is required or for security reasons when doing merchandising, I request that the company provide me with a letter confirming my visit. That way they know very little about me, personally. The letters all seem to be pretty standard and the moment I mention it, I find it shows up among the downloads needed for the visit.

Sounds like you had what I call a "Nightmare Shop"!! I wouldn't have submitted it, either. That was good judgement. I know how unsettling that situation must have been for you. I wondered about those pretzel shops, thanks for the heads up!

When I get questioned for taking photos, I merely turn it into a positive and say how impressed I am with their location and wanted to let their home office know about it. I just make them think I'm a regular and genuine concerned customer. You be surprised how far they let me go!!

I've done this practically my entire life. I'm thankful to have stumbled into mystery shopping because now that I'm retired from the insurance industry I still get to utilize the skills that have become second nature to me.

DON'T give out your SS number, unless you have agreed to with the MSP (like loan shops). Any MSP worth its salt will protect you from this. If you have to, make a SS number up. Related, I use a different first name when I shop; if the target does a follow up phone call, the other name is a flag to my kids not to touch the call, and to me that I am "on" as a shopper.

Joan--

The pretzel shops were NOT Auntie Anne's, but a smaller company. And ya know what? I got paid in full for the audit!

The photos at BK were of the menu board and the front door. How would you explain that if caught?

How about the shopper at MSFreedom who was chased around a gas station by a manger with a gun? She says she'll never do an open audit again!

Gentle--I do one better; I never give out my real phone number either. Let them call.

Sneaker, I did the menu board and front door and got caught. The manager came to my car. I told him I was doing a paper on Marketing for my college course.

He still escorted me out (lol).

I was doing a hidden audit for a pet arena. The manager called the cops to have me arrested for shop lifting, because he saw me stuff my list into my purse. Of course, dumped out for the cop, there was nothing. But I lost ten years off my life standing there.

Open audits are a piece of cake. REMEMBER YOUR INTRODUCTION letter. After that, they are at your mercy. Of course, if you fail them..... I have had one bad experience.

That's what makes shopping so interesting. Do you think the MSP company would have bailed me out if I had been arrested for shop lifting?

Guys, you are getting sloppy about using store names. There are schedulers on here, and you can find yourself black balled on a MSP site, and not know why. Walmart (yeah right, actually they have internal MS) may not want anyone to know they hired a MS company.

Chuckle,
Beth

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A friend shopper today was wailing because she
> went to get a credit card and was denied based on
> her credit score. She checked her credit report
> and the bad news there was the many many inquiries
> she did for insurance shops. It had been
> indicated to her that all similar inquiries in a
> 30 day period would be lumped as one "event".
> That is not what happened. When she appealed to
> the MSP for help, their reaction was, too bad.
>
> Be very careful. If you do the tax refund
> anticipation loans during tax season or payday
> advance loans or cell phone shops where you at
> least begin the purchase process or ANY SHOP WHERE
> YOU MUST GIVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER you
> are likely to have your credit checked. Those
> hits will reduce your credit score such that your
> credit card interest rates may rise even if you
> are perfect in your payments. They may also
> reduce your credit score such that you cannot get
> reasonable financing for a car or appliances or a
> house. Some employers also must check your credit
> score, so if it has been whacked by mystery
> shopping, you might not even be able to change
> over to a full time job.
>
> While any loan based shop where you are to follow
> through to receiving a check will include a credit
> check, with some of the insurance type shops where
> you are getting a quote, see if you can just give
> a verbal estimate of what your credit worthiness
> is because "If I decide to do this, I understand a
> real credit check would be required and that may
> change the price, but I'm just trying to get an
> idea right now." I would have this conversation
> by email with the scheduler so that you have the
> email to support getting paid without having given
> out your SSN.



As usual Flash you have educated us....thank-you so much, you brought up points i hadn't even thought of.
I am grateful
dee
cedar city ut.

Regarding Sneaker's pretzel shop visit mentioned above,(see post dated November 07, 2008 12:30AM), I'm curious to know what action, if any, our other forum members would have pursued in the same situation: Personally, I would take steps to make certain that said manager no longer worked at said company. I believe that agressive behavioral correction is warranted. Wouldn't you agree? I believe in turning the other cheek. But, the experience that Sneakers relates demands attention. First of all, I would have called the shopping company scheduler asking for a letter authorizing visit. I would also file a police report specifying illegal ID collection since the manager was not legally entitled to said info. since Sneakers wasn't allowed to complete the shop. For all Sneakers knows, that manager could use said ID info for identity theft purposes. I have been the victim of ID theft nine times. It is NOT a victimless crime. Until it happens to you, you're not truly able to understand how vast and prevalent the problem is. In any event, I would also have gotten that manager fired. I would have filed a personal lawsuit against said manager for illegal harassment, threats, etc. I would have filed reports against the pretzel shop with the Attorney General's Office, the Better Business Bureau, etc. But, unlike most people I meet, I don't tolerate nonsense from anybody. As but one example of this, I would love to personally get said mystery shop assignment, myself. And, I hope I meet the same manager Sneakers did. If the pretzel company didn't fire said manager on the spot, in front of customers, I would sue said pretzel company blind, until their head spins. I've sued other companies before, for less injurious infractions. I would publicize the horrendous behavior of their staff. Of course, I know people that are even less tolerant of such behavior than I am. I would love to tell them about said manager. I'm guessing said manager probably doesn't care how he treats people, not in this life, anyway. But, he will...one day. What goes around, comes around.

The MSPs cannot and will not take sides in this kind of situation. They can only report to the client what they have been told by the shopper but that, of course, becomes 'hearsay' and no client is going to discharge based on that unless there is a long history accompanied by poor financial results. As for the police, I doubt seriously they would do any more than take a report. You will note that our current economic crisis has its roots in bad behavior that was rewarded with substantial bonuses for financial results rather than leading to termination.