The Shop Logs

Well, oh my. It has been a long time & OH how things have changed!
My son is now 17 mo.old & this alone should explain everything.

But, that wouldn’t make much for your blog reading, now would it?

I think what really brought me back into the game was a scheduler call I received over Christmas break. I have the same email since 1995 and have been receiving the same amount of annoying daily Mystery Shopping emails as the rest of you that have been shopping out there. I just delete them daily too (mostly). I have even taken some calls for rediculously low fee/high work gasoline store shops & the rest of the stinkers you folks aren’t snatching right up.

So it didn’t start out as anything unusual when I received a call to complete some cell phone shops (glad I update my phone numbers regularly too). I had told her no thank you and that I wasn’t really shopping anymore already when she finally had the chance to work into our conversation that she could give me $50 total - and she wanted three done the next day. “Pardon me? Well…” She reeled me in obvs.

The next day I was hitting the *rural* road and for a four hour trip & a shaking-the-rust-out-report-writing session I netted $150. I followed up with a nice thank you email. That type of work is appreciated around Christmas & when I had the time off from work anyway - fabulous!

Although I started out pretty rusty I regained my sea-legs fast enough. I checked the job board & noticed she had a few that she might not figure out were also within my range, for the right pay of course, and fired off an email the next day after my previous jobs were accepted. She tried to negotiate me down, but since I knew how desperate she was for those last three I couldn’t imagine who she was going to get to complete them - eventally I got my asking price & had an equally profittable day the following week!

It’s not a fish story, but I can tell you I am looking for the next big, juicy worm! I’m back Baby!!

Well, I have taken a first step back to shopping in my new home state. I guess you could question my thought process, shopping a chunk of my new shops for a company associated with the previous G3 mystery shopping company that left many shoppers unpaid, but what’s a little potential controversy between me and virtual strangers on a website/email? Well, it seems like a large project for them - so, here’s hoping!

It is a menu survey audit. I knew I’d be rusty & it would take me time to get back into my groove, but geesh, I over estimated my own ability I’d say.

The route was pretty easy to plan, because by now I know the major intersections (we’re talking FF places here, so they are easy to locate). Although I was caught a little off gaurd when three FF places within .2 miles of each other were all in three different towns. Apparently I Shop the Nexus of the Universe should be my new signature line. I did the 18 shops over 3 days and did remember how I LOVE the flexible scheduling you have when MSing. Although, I was bummed using a Prophet system, not being able to rescedule after the first time (something always comes up to change your route) and I had to email a scheduler. He was a little concerned the second time understandably, so in the future I’ll just do the shops ahead of time for them & then email saying they are done early - please move my due date up so I can enter the data.

We had a friend staying with us & I had intended to reschedule the audits, but, my AC went out in the house so we really needed an excuse to get out & about. Turns out it was a good thing to do because my eyesight has deteriorated drastically in the last year. He needed to read prices to me. We only did five (that was all I could stand being such a hack & really knowing better) and then I took to him the mall for the remaining shops, but he hardly noticed/minded those.

I picked up some good ideas & the rest of the audits this week have flown by! I have 10x binoculars (less than $20 at Wally World) in the car. I do the Play areas first on the two big chains & I can usually get a better shot of the hours for that place if I get out of the car. I take pics of the menu boards as I pull up to order, just asking for a minute to decide. At the end, on the way out, I take pics of the turned menus (breakfast if it is PM or Lunch if it is AM) instead of two trips, luckily that has worked on all of the places that offers two separate menus. I copy the prices at the Big Mac store, at the Whopper place I rely on the pics when I get home, at the Baconator place I copy the prices there. 10 minutes at the places I need to copy the menus and 5 (with a bout 15 at home looking at pics) of the take-a-pic-&-drive places.

All in all, I think I might be ready to jump back in! Selectively of course…….

Well, this is one reason I can’t say I’ve missed mystery shopping.
I accepted an easy shop at a music store around tax day. I dragged DH to the mall with me and to his credit, he held on longer than I thought he would. He found athletic shoes while I did my shop. I got the paperwork done as soon as we got home, even checked it (within thenext couple of) business day. Looked like that one went through fine according to the shop log.
Little scenarios like that make me think about getting back in to mystery shopping just as hobby, just to get out there, an excuse to have something to do. It gets lonely in a new place, you don’t always know your way, or any people….
…and then…..
Erin emails me today: that the “evaluation was returned for more information on 4/17 and again on 4/20, with no response” - interesting that this is the first email I have received! No messages on my phone either. How urgent can this be? I check the shop log and there it says “URGENT, 2ND REQUEST! This evaluation is being returned to you for additional information.” Now, I know my schedule didn’t cause me to miss this because LITERALLY this is the only shop I have done so far this year. If she emailed/called she coudl have just said ‘you did a shop for me’ and I woudl have known EXACTLY to whom I was speaking. I emailed her back saying this was the first I had been contacted & I woudl update the shop within ten minutes. What a dorky system they must have over at beyondhello-themirror if that is the best they can do with contacting such a busy shopper as myself!

I’m so frustrated at a MS company because they are refusing to pay me for a shop saying that they didn’t receive the pictures I sent. I sent pictures directly to the HelpDesk and a copy ot myself. The email copy to me came through just fine with the pictures!

Do they always try to get out of paying people for problem shops? This shop they sent me to was no longer the brand gas station it was supposed to be, in fact, the pumps were shut down with “No Gas” signs on them. I’m thinking that they are having a hard time getting reimbursement from their customer and so are trying to blow me off..

It is true this was not a good MSing year for me. I have just enjoyed the first holiday this year were I was not remodeling, or interviewing for a job or moving - - - I almost forgot what it felt like to relax! As I reflect on this non-mystery shopping year for me I can say I am looking forward to more shops in 2007 and new ways to be involved in Mystery Shopping, preferably from the comfort of this seat in front of my computer, we’ll see about that in the months to come.

Instead of reviewing my personal (lack) of MSing fortune this year I decided to give you a peak at who else was reading the Shop Logs in 2006. (I LOVE the stats that 1&1 offers - check them out through their links on the bottom of the page)

In the upcoming New Year I hope to be just as much an online presence as an anonymous MSer in the field - either way I’ll be seeing you!