Does anybody else do this?
Basically you get paid for shopping!!!
Not just any stuff, but what they ask you to buy, you take photos of the item
and report on the shopping experience.
i.e. whether the assistant smiled, wearing correct uniform etc..
I've done a few pizza home deliveries and collections so far.
I got paid £5 per shop and the price of the pizza refunded.
I use this site, they've got a few jobs available around the country for pizza delivery.
www.nationalshoppingservice.com (http://www.nationalshoppingservice.com)
You will need to register, they also pay by paypal.
Some problems occur with mystery shoppers who do not understand the poor assistants job.
For example....
The mother-in-law as now got to have a disciplinary due to the fact she did smile and say hello at a mystery shopper within one minute of him/her entering the shop floor.
The fact the in-law was serving a customer at the time and was the the only assistant on the shop floor on Saturday afternoon seems irrelevant!!!!.
The mystery shopper to me, must understand that when assistants are serving other customers they may have to wait. It seems to go to some peoples heads
If assistants are simply talking, then yes complain but not for being busy helping other customers.
Maybe because it was Harvey Nick's they expected something different.....
Purpose of my speech/rant.....
If you are a mystery shopper,before you write your report, look at the situation the assistants are in before you judge...It may be your daughter or wife in that situation one day
My mother and sister, are types of mystery shoppers, but they do cruise liners and posh holidays. My mother has to use a battery tricycle for the disabled and my sister is her career,. They go all over the place and all they have to do is fill in a questionaire when they get back. I've got my name on the list but vacancies do not come up all that often.
I might give that one a try. I'm also registered with pineconeresearch.co.uk who give you online market research surveys to do, usually about new or potential new products. All online, you get £4 in Luncheon Vouchers for each one you do. Sometimes I get a couple a month, then nothing for a bit, but £4 to spend in Sainsburys is great extra for me. :) (you can spend those vouchers in loads of places)
Last time I tried a mystery shopping company they wanted me to sign up as an employee and sent me IR forms, I wasn't thrilled with that idea so didn't do it.
Tina.
I looked at the application form but noticed that you are responsible for completing your own quarterly tax returns etc.
Sounds too much of a palava for me.
Shame, I fancied that.
Sand
Quote from: timelady on March 26, 2007, 20:33:43
I might give that one a try. I'm also registered with pineconeresearch.co.uk who give you online market research surveys to do, usually about new or potential new products. All online, you get £4 in Luncheon Vouchers for each one you do. Sometimes I get a couple a month, then nothing for a bit, but £4 to spend in Sainsburys is great extra for me. :) (you can spend those vouchers in loads of places)
Last time I tried a mystery shopping company they wanted me to sign up as an employee and sent me IR forms, I wasn't thrilled with that idea so didn't do it.
Tina.
me too, we go to morrison's and get a meal, makes the 10 minutes or so really worth it ;D
I too understand the pressure put on staff by mystery shoppers, however i found out the other week that i actually served a mystery shopper and was given 100% score by him/her :o ;D
My employer rewarded me with a £10 gift card :P
And i should think so too ;D
I'm a market researcher by trade (amongst other things). I'm the person that writes the questionnaires, books the interviewers, analyses the data and reports to the client company.
In my opinion, mystery shopping is PANTS and I refuse to commission these sorts of projects.
1. The mystery shopper is 'measuring' things that sometimes have absolutely no relevance to 'good service' in the eyes of the actual customer i.e They are given 'tick boxes' for things like smiling within a nano-second, asking if customer needs help etc. Some of the 'boxes' that need a yes to be a positive score can sometimes be detrimental to the shopping experience for the customer. It's just a list of things that Head Offices come up with to measure customer service and claim to train employees to do things that any person with an ounce of common sense would do ANYWAY IF APPROPRIATE.
2. The mystery shopper is approaching the task through the eyes of a RESEARCHER getting paid, and not through the true eyes of a customer. You're only going to get false results using mystery shoppers.
3. Tick-box data LIES! A questionnaire about 'softer issues' like satisfaction etc. doesn't work. It is produced by people who have pre-supposed what your answers could be and then you have to fit your answers to their boxes. From this, spurious data is produced that tells the client company absolutely ZILCH about the true shopping experience and is generally used to prove to Managing Directors that everything's running smoothly!
4. The only way to get the truest data possible is to talk to customers and evaluate their experiences by LISTENING to what they have to say and analysing the qualitative results. This takes exceptional skill (and no, I'm not saying I'm exceptionally skilled!)
So many times I've seen absolute RUBBISH reports sent to client companies that base their service training, product development, pricing and designs on DODGY DATA. And then they wonder why the results make not a jot of difference to their bottom line (which is all they're interested in anyway!)
And now I've had that rant, I can safely say that I will NOT be doing any more research in the near future for clients of this nature! And that is probably why I haven't worked for the last year (having turned jobs down!)
Far more important things to do anyway. How can I carry out a multi-thousand pound project in the summer when I'm watering me tomatoes? It just doesn't make sense. And anyway ... I'm not an executive any more, I'm an urban hippy and I like it much better ;D
No offence intended to anyone mystery shopping out there. It is a good way to earn money, especially for anyone who needs flexible working hours.
May you and yours and what you grow live long and happy and may Tescos NOT!
OOPS! Have I nicked someone's avatar there ;D
Trixie, I agree with you about useless questionarres that don'r reflect a true picture.
When my husbands company was moving accross Canada a few years ago, he had two choices,he could move with them or take early retirement. He took the latter. Due to some dopey law,policy or whatever the folks who opted for the second HAD to attend a conference at which they had experts with loaded 'pick a box' question pads . The idea was to evaluate them so if they wished they could look for other work in a field chosen by experts on the basis of their answers.
My husband is a super guy but is very quiet and shy, says very little, dislikes confrontation and is not good in emotional situations. Oh and our faith by the way is Christian as we are Mennonite.
The results said he would be best as a social worker or rabbi.
Nuff Said.
XX Jeanni9ne
So were the results of the questionnaire based on religious beliefs or 'behaviours' due to beliefs Jeannine?
I have no idea what Mennonite means ... I will have to Google :)
No,it was based on all kinds of things John said, likes ,dislikes, preferences re jobs, eg manual,previous education levels and skills, it was intended for people looking to change their career. But it was rubbish, my husband is extremely kind, a pacifist but he could never in a million years be a social worker and how can a non Jew be a Rabbi. XX Jeannine
It's a church descended from the radical wing of the Protestant Reformation, many of whom fled to the Americans because of persecution in Europe. They're throughgoing pacifists, baptise adults, but in many ways they're just like other Protestants. Some of the more conservative groups avoid some modern technology. It's been a while since I studied the Radical Reformation though, so please do put me right if necessary!
Robert, you are right about what you said. To add....
We are pacifists,who believe in peace, a simple life ,the teachings of Jesus Christ and living his teachings on a daily basis in everything we do.
We are called plain people.
We are known as the Peacemakers of the World and often serve by doing Missionary work.
Although many Mennonites do normal jobs , go to University many still choose to live on the land.Many of us are self supporting.
We are often confused with the Amish who seperated from the Mennonites in the sixteenth century Many Old Order Mennonites still choose to wear the traditional dress which is mandatory to the Amish
The Amish have no electricity,they drive a horse and buggy and don't use tractors.thay plough fields with horses. Old Order Mennonites often live in a very similar way but many do have electricity and phones.OOM also wear the same head coverings that the Amish do, less conservative Mennonites choose these things for themselves, dictation to follow rules is different for Mennonites, we each find our own line in the sand which is were decide is the right place for us.
Drinking is not forbidden to us, may Mennonites do drink a little, some even smoke.many still wear a head covering which goes back to original old order, and many do not.
The Amish choose to practise their faith in their own community, whereas the Mennonites largely believe in using their Faith in Christ as a means of serving a larger community.
The Amish choose to live in communities where their daily living eg what they wear, what they have in their homes what schools they attend( own their) and are governed by a set of rules to live by. They do not accept Welfare, they do not pay into Medical Plans.I f someone is ill he is cared for as is anyone else, the cost is covered by the Amish thereselves with help from their community.They do not need Welfare as they look after there own. They accept no penions etc from their country.
In my case, my line is drawn with the following personal rules for me.
I do practise my faith on a daily basis,my beliefs figure in almost everything I do,some things would be wrong for me but perhaps not to another Mennonite.
I am a pacifist, I would not hit, not even to defend myself,I would not want a death penalty for a crime against my family ,
I do believe in jail to protect folks from potential bad guys.
I do believe that the final reckoning comes after someone dies and it is not up to me to pass judgement on them therfore I would not sit on jury.
I would not participate in any action that involve war or assist in any way that was connected to it.
I do not gamble, not even a raffle ticket, although my husband will buy a lottery ticket which I will not...his line is slightly different to mine.
I do not cut my hair, and I do wear a head covering although it is very small. I do wear plain clothes in plain colours, I have been known to swear, my husband does not.
I am very happy with my faith,my beliefs to guide the decisions in my life.
I struggle very hard with the very imortant aspect of my beliefs which is not to be judgemental.I have a sense of fun .
I would not personally take anyone to court.I do not hold a grudge
I am very content with my faith,and I give 10%of everything I earn back into the community.
Hope this is of interest to someone XX Jeannine
Yeah but i bet ya can't put a fruitpastuale in ya mouth without chewing. ::) ;) ;D