Crap Jobs – Mystery Shopping
Over on Money Saving Expert there is a huge thread about mystery shopping that begins with a very helpful introduction to the various agencies that offer crap jobs to perform undercover tasks along with easy to follow information about the implications of becoming self employed – with simple details about calculating profits made on payments for each job done and income tax rules and regulations.
Amazon has a book – image on right for those who want to read about many other crap jobs.
crap jobs
Just how crap are these crap jobs?
Some years ago I signed up for work with a Mystery Shopping Agency – Grass Roots (who coincidentally headed the list of Mystery Shopping UK Job Sites and was thrilled when an e mail arrived detailing my first assignment.
The jolly message was along the lines of “Your mission – if you were to accept – is to visit a branch of the [highstreet bank] and simply ask for information about opening an account. Pretty straightforward so far – money for old rope – so I pressed the accept link.
Then came the crap
Next day a bulky A4 envelope arrived packed with forms and detailed instructions. What was a simple job of popping into a bank for a couple of minutes had suddenly become a major review of the branches and its staff.
A strict script had to be adhered to and specific questions asked, the answers noted along with the names of who you had dealt with.
It Gets Worse – Double Trouble
Not only was the sheer volume of paperwork off putting but the job required visiting two branches in different villages. I planned to do them both in the same afternoon but imagine my surprise to find that rural branches don’t open through the week and only one could be visited on this occasion. I performed the duties as requested and completed the paperwork and checked the opening times of the second branch in order to return another day. Two days later I made my second journey and having had a dress rehearsal stepped into0 the bank and asked at the counter if I could talk to someone about opening a new account at the branch. “Yes of course Mr errr Muncher” replied the Tiller ” please take a seat and someone will be with you presently”
Identity crisis
When the solid wooden door opened and the same woman I had talked to early that week entered I almost evacuated my bowels – which would have been a truly crap job. She greeted me as though nothing was amiss but did apologetically and politely enquire if I had been at another branch previously. Such a professional.
“Nah – that’ll be my brother – thats why I’m here he was really excited about opening his first bank account. He said he was made to feel really important buy [highstreet bank] at [other village] but they aren’t open today”
“Thats right my team and I run both branches” she explained and we continued.
Anyhoos – the same questions and surprise surprise the same answers but it all still had to be recorded on the second job sheet.
After posting all the paperwork for both jobs I calculated the rate of pay. I spent a total of five hours traveling 40 miles, visiting the two branches and writing up reports and for this I received a cheque for twenty pounds. Now I’m no book keeper – accountancy jobs are for sandwich nibblers – but four pounds per hour less petrol is crap. I still receive occasional emails with the latest vacancies
Mystery Shopping – CRAP JOBS!
It’s a pretty simple rule of thumb that if something appears too good to be true, it surely is. The entire work-from-home industry and network marketing industry is built on the same premise – sucking people into something that sounds too good to be true. It’s not that money can’t be made in these programs; some people do. But those people would probably be making money no matter what they do. Most people don’t make money because they are expecting it to be handed to them (that’s what they are being sold, after all).
I have had a few mystery shopping crap jobs like this. I took mostly the assignments that let me eat and went for nearly eight months getting at least 2 meals a day seven days a week. Granted fast food wasn’t the best thing I could eat, but someone was paying me to eat meals and gas for the car was cheap then too. What more could a college student want besides food someone was paying him to eat.
i use to be a mystery shopper, its fun beause it gives you something to look during your time of eating.
I’m writing a book about crap jobs. I’ve had over one hundred. Please tell me about yours, wherever you live.
I am based in Halifax, Yorkshire, (UK)
Cheers,
Andy Owens
@ email encryption software
You are so kind to leave a comment and yes a crap job DOES give you something to look
@andy
A hundred crap jobs that’s amazing – you would have thought that one of them would have been half decent. Recently I was offered work to dress up in a huge foam pasty costume and try to sneak into Disneyland Paris for a promotional video but the Security staff were sniffy about the possible BSE implications.
Its a nice post about online shopping because Online shopping is fast becoming the most preferred mode of shopping whereby shoppers can reap the advantages of Internet shopping from the luxury of their homes.
Online shopping is now a easy way of buying anything which they want by using the internet.so people want to know more about this.
Its a nice post about the same thing.
Thanks
Well I just quit my mystery shopping job yesterday, it was a horrible, crap job
I got fired because of a mystry shopper! But saying that I was crap pat my job.
James
My wife one was mystery shopped, got a score of 98% highest in her company….now she earns pin money by mystery shopping in a high street mobile phone shops. Funny the way things work out
If you find the right company, mystery shopping can be great. Examples of high value mystery shops:
- Casino Shops (Hotel + Gambling Money)
- Teeth Whitening Shops
- Hair Plug Restoration Shops
- Upscale Restaurants (can get up to $150 meal reimbursement).
- Tanning Shops
I’ve see these types of shops offered by BestMark Mystery Shopping every day.
Its a nice post about online shopping because Online shopping is fast becoming the most preferred mode of shopping whereby shoppers can reap the advantages of Internet shopping from the luxury of their homes.
I help run a mystery shopping agency in the UK. There are now some agencies who won’t let you sign up to a Post Office job (to get a fiver’s worth or stamps) unless you agree to do four burger jobs (with no fee).
We don’t work like that, and we don’t take on crap jobs because we like a lot of our mystery shoppers and we don’t believe in saddling them with overcomplicated jobs paying little or no money.
Consequently, we don’t get a whole lot of contracts but the ones we do get are worth signing up for.
Wow , now thats a particularly unpleasant experience , not to mention awkward with the bank staffer.
Well the company hired you should be ashamed of themselves , they advertised their job description as several times easier and less burdening than it truly is , well I’m sure they won’t last long because I’m sure word about their little ruse will definitely spread.
LOL that is crazy, my wife wanted us to do the mystery shopping, but after seeing what a pain it was going to be for one assignment I told her I would rather deliver pizzas for extra cash.
Ouch , that sucks , this is another case of false advertising, they have all these glowing benefits and they give you this crappy excuse of a job.
Hope a lot more people read this so they wont bamboozle any more poor souls.
@pasty Shopper. Gosh, in the bank that second time, You were super quick on your feet, my friend.
My friend up in Telford, used to run 6 Barclay’s bank, so I know what you mean about the same senior staff.
That cliche line about your brother’s recommendation both mollified their suspicions and allowed you to carry on, but that’s some serious natural acting ability my friend.
I laughed outrageously when I read that, lol.
Here in Canada, I have never heard of a mystery shopper, but it can’t be long before we have them here too.
Neat blog.
Over on Money Saving Expert there is a huge thread about mystery shopping that begins with a very helpful introduction to the various agencies that offer crap jobs to perform undercover tasks along with easy to follow information.so i think so its good and mystery shopping so i like it very much.really its amazing.so i appreciate to your views and thoughts.
I have been a Mystery Shopper for 4-5 months now and I enjoy every aspect of it. Its great experience, especially if you want to work within retail or work in retail now as you can pick up a lot of things about customer service, etc.A company pays you to go into a shop and makes enquiries and possibly a purchase (like any normal customer) and you then have to report back, mostly by web form or sometimes by telephone on the quality of the customer service you received.
Cam someone offer some resources about how to get into this sort of work. I currently do a lot of product reviews and I suppose this is just another angle of that really. Many thanks.
I’ve always wondered about those mystery shopper jobs. Scam city.
I am sorry for you, mate.
That really is a crap job 4 quid per hour + your own petrol. I would never advise anyone to work for this crap agency. They’re just using people, ugh…
Rob
I’ve seen a lot of these ads in Craiglist. A couple of those that I have read even asked for a scanned copy of your drivers’ license and bank routing information so they could wire you the payment. Well, that’s after you’ve spent xxx bucks at a so-called shop which is actually a money transfer to them.
Mystery shopping pays but if the involved people are not of right nature or attitude, it may spoil whole marketing game also. So, it needs close monitoring.
I wonder if mystery shopping is real and not just any other scam that has been spreading fast this days. This are hard times, we don’t need another scam in our life.
Online shopping is a very convenient way to buy products. We don’t need to go and find products in stores. Just explore the product on website, pay and ship it to your place, and its done.
Online shopping is a very convenient way to buy products. We don’t need to go and find products in stores. Just explore the product on website, pay and ship it to your place, and its done. Still hurrah for crap jobs – harry_cool19@hotmail.com
Well, I’ve done apartment shops and pizza shops and felt I was paid well for my time and gas. You can pick your shop assignments in most cases. Doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get it but at least that way you don’t have to be concerned with crap jobs (or assignments). Those being the ones that aren’t worth your time and gas. If you’re in it for the money then you’ll want to pick your assignments accordingly. If you’re in it for the free products and services, then choose your assignments accordingly. It is possible to do both. I’ve done it and am content with the product/service plus reward that comes along with it. I, however, haven’t responded to an ad for mystery shopping though. My first mystery shopping job was through a staffing agency called Spherion in Austin, Texas. Didn’t cost me a thing and paid about $25 for one hour’s worth of work. I wrote about it on my blog if anyone cares to read my personal experiences.
The direct link to my experience is: http://www.makemoneymine.com/become-a-mystery-shopper/how-easy-it-was-to-make-money-on-my-first-mystery-shop-assignment
At least you got paid. It’s a crap job, but at least you get paid for it. A lot of people filled out form with their credit card, bank, and personal info and got their identity stolen.
Hi, sorry to hear you had a bad experience. There is a lot of variation in the amount it’s possible to earn mystery shopping and it pays to choose jobs wisely. I’ve been sent a few jobs by http://www.retailactive.com and by cherry picking ones that are nearby and available to visit a reasonable times for me have made some decent pocket money.
Yea, I wouldn’t recommend anyone pay for those listings. You don’t have to. I don’t think people are aware of how easy it is to locate the real mystery shopping companies in search engines. Type in things like ‘register to be a mystery shopper’ in the search engine and should pull up the registration pages found on mystery shopping companies. Even better just go to http://www.mysteryshop.org – which is the Mystery Shopping Providers Association and they have a database of current assignments available right there for anyone to search absolutely free. It’s unfortunate that people do have bad experiences with the ads found in newspapers and online where they are actually giving out their financial information. If it’s not a book found in a bookstore of a list of mystery shopping jobs then I’d stay away from it. Again, I’ve personally never responded to such ads, but doing some research after my first successful mystery shop assignment via a local staffing agency was the start for me. Google has the information free. Just people tend to be lazy or not know what terms to use when searching. If anyone does the research, then they’ll save themselves from identity theft. Most people like convenience which is what these “listings” in newspapers and such thrive off of. At some point I’ll be posting over 50 mystery shopping agencies I’ve found in the search engines on my blog. But for now, I think the site I gave above is more than enough for you since the database is current and of course free as well.
Hi. Just stumbled across your thread whilst googling new video mystery shopping equipment.
My husband and I both earn our living as freelance mystery shoppers. Whilst I accept that there are some scammers out there, there are also several reputable agencies that supply us with work on a regular basis. We both specialise in video mystery shopping which pays between £20 and £50 per job, plus mileage allowance. On average each of us earns about £100 – £150 for a full days work (depending on the location we aim to do between 3 and 6 jobs in a full day).
Don’t know if that helps anyone out there but I just wanted you to know it is possible to make good money mystery shopping.
Thanks for reading.
Recently I was offered work to dress up in a huge foam pasty costume and try to sneak into Disneyland Paris for a promotional video but the Security staff were sniffy about the possible BSE implications.
I signed up for work with a Mystery Shopping Agency – However my commitment to writing comments on random blog posts gets the better of me every time and I failed to complete a mystery shopping assignment.
OMG…forget Grass Roots.
They do not pay expenses, pay around £10 & the feedback is like 100 questions to answer.
So, where are all these jobs that say £5-£25 for 15 mins & then paper work for 10mins?
One website was saying that he was earning £300 per week for 3 days work, 3 assignments per day???
We don’t work like that, and we don’t take on crap jobs because we like a lot of our mystery shoppers and we don’t believe in saddling them with overcomplicated jobs paying little or no money.
On October 18th, 2008 at 12:22 am, Michal From Weight Loss said:
Well I just quit my mystery shopping job yesterday, it was a horrible, crap job
“I agree with you”
I love mystery shopping been doing it for 3 years now….The jobs are fun and you play a big part in improving customer service performance to organisations. If you do this as a full time job and plan your days correctly along with other market research the potential earnings are very high. Mystery shopping is not crap if you know what your doing.
I had some friends of mine try to sign me for mystery shopping because it’s “free money” they said, but after they did there first assignment the quit, and told me it was not worth the hassle you have to go through to get your money.
21 OCTOBER 2009
TRUE; MYSTERY SHOPPING JOBS CAN BE HARD but I have kind of gained a bit of funds, free meals and occasional material items from carrying out the assignments.
I find myself putting 5 hours into the report for ONLY ONE JOB in most of the cases and it is quite demanding – FOR USUALLY A FEE AS LITTLE AS £3, £5, £7-8 AT THE MOST.
Due to the demanding hours spent in doing reports, I’d rather carry out one visit per day but companies that reimburse travel expenses tend to expect you to do multiple visits in the same area, falling within the same deadlines on the same day.
For some assignments, there are no fees; only reimbursement of purchase expenses. With others it’s say £5 fee in addition to £3 maximum spend on a sandwich meal deal.
Only one of the companies I do assignments for reimburse travel expenses by public transport or mileage.
The companies differ in the way they give you assignments but all require reports completed within 24 hours or sometimes on the same day; there is a particular company which is a bit flexible.
…………………….
1. For some you are allocated assignments on first come first served basis.
You have to log into their website WHENEVER and apply if there are assignments available, answer up to 8 questions based on the assignment instructions and if answers are correct and you are quick enough, you get ALLOCATED THE ASSIGNMENT.
Nevertheless, I have carried out about 15 assignments in my first few months and I would say that I do about 4 visits in a month. This particular company has regular assignments available.
They also have a very user- friendly website and have 2 pay runs per months; fortnightly.
………………………
2. You apply when you have browsed the job log on the company’s site by clicking the button. You receive an email to tell you if it has been assigned to you or another shopper.
With them, I have done 4 in about 3 months after a terrible false start which resulted in a loss of about £40 travel cost. I could not get to all the locations and each visit involved return to the location on another day; so after that huge loss, I decided not to complete the return visit to the only location I was able to get to.
I have done 4 jobs in about 3 months and they pay about £15 minimum but the jobs can be on and off and you cannot visit the same location until after 6 months.
I am yet to receive my first payment; you send an invoice to them at the end of each month and it is not month end yet.
……………………
3. You do same as above but a window opens asking you to write a short statement saying why you are suitable for the assignment. THIS PARTICULAR COMPANY HAS A WAY OF HAVING YOUR APPLICATION LOG VANISH FROM YOUR PAGE WITHOUT INFORMING YOU THAT IT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO ANOTHER SHOPPER.
With them, I have done 3 jobs in about 4 months and they pay about £10 minimum but the jobs can be on and off and you cannot often ever visit the same location. One of their regular assignments involves visits to a popular Funeral Home.
I have also noticed that they avoid incurring expenses in phone calls and would rather have you call them FOR INFORMATION ABOUT A JOB THAT WAS TURNED DOWN LAST MINUTE BY ANOTHER SHOPPER which they are desperate to have you accept – STINGY EH? Also, they ARE NOT FLEXIBLE WITH DATES AND TIME OF VISIT. The specified time/date is usually during office hours so you cannot do them if you are in employment.
…………………….
4. This company operates on 2 sites and for visits available on one of the sites; they email you about available visits. The good news: they give you multiple assignments, reimburse travel, and pay quickly.
With them, you only keep things like food; other purchases either have to be returned for a refund after 30 minutes or returned to them by post; postage is reimbursed.
I find the assignments repetitive; ONLY ABOUT 5 LOCATIONS and I do not like the cinema and sandwich counting visits.
…………………………
I am still carrying out mystery shopping assignments but having tried a few times, I should not go for the types I don‘t like.
I have tried Cinema visits twice but as I am not really a cinema person, I prefer not to do it again.
I also do not like visiting food outlets where you have to count how many types of sandwiches, soft and tray baked items. I find this most demanding and the questionnaire has about 90+ questions.
All the Mystery Shopping companies I use pay by BACS; I think some other ones by cheque.
There is a company that pays by PayPal but I am yet to use them because of the PayPal hassles. They also rarely have jobs available for me and once offered a telephone call job paying £5.00 with a cost of recording the call at 50p per minute; 5 minutes minimum at my expense.
………………………..
ALL THE COMPANIES I USE ARE VERY FLEXIBLE WITH TIME AND DATES WHICH OFTEN INCLUDE WEEKENDS AND YOU USUALLY HAVE MORE THAN A WEEK BEFORE ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES.
Some visits can only be done at night (after 7.30 or 8.00 pm) on specified days of the week; some jobs are same day or at quite short notice for shoppers who can accommodate them.
……………………………
Overall, DESPITE THE MORE OR LESS FEW PENNIES PER HOUR EQUIVALENT FEE PER JOB, I think the little income has helped pay for a few things here and there especially because I am job seeking.
All it costs me is: the resources of my time, a few stationery, use of my personal internet access at no extra cost, my sleep during lengthy hours spent completing report overnight sometimes cost of travel by public transport and very rarely minimal costs of telephone call. I ALSO HAVE TO INFORM THE BENEFITS OFFICE ABOUT MY EARNINGS.
I don’t know how long I should be doing mystery shopping for, but for now I exercise discipline and commit to the requirements of carrying out assignments on days that I’d rather just have a break.
Most mystery shopper adds require you to “fill out a survey” that actually intails you having to buy crap from several companies before you get the gift certificate,I do them sometimes,but sometimes you have to buy things or pay for your meal but you get reimbursed and you get extra money
I also do not like visiting food outlets where you have to count how many types of sandwiches, soft and tray baked items. I find this most demanding and the questionnaire has about 90+ questions.
What kind of moron wrote this piece. Mystery shopping is easy. I do work for Grassroots and think it is the easiest work there is. Only a cretin would find it difficult.
I agree with the publisher. I had some free time and applied at a few mystery shopping jobs. Each paying 10 dollars. I go and complete the store interviews, and og home and type in the information….They expect a novel for 100 questions….So you fil out the questions. Then a day later, they emailing me wanting even MORE information. I send the more information. Then they email me yet AGAIN wanting more information. So I send them more information, then they email and tell me the CANCELED THE JOB saying I missed a question! I was so livid at this point, I emailed them back with a few choice words and where they can stick their 10 dollars. Needless to say Mystery shopping surely is CRAP.
Uk Mystery Shopper utter crap page after page of questions and your bank details from there suppliers before they even accept you.
Also your 60 Day Money Back Guarantee fails to tell you that you have to post forms to India YES India to obtain your refund. Keep well AWAY