Hot Spots

A few months ago I signed up for a Hot Spot on my iPhone. I figured if it was avaiable, why not get it and use it. We could then connect our iPads to the internet using the hot spot. I have used it with my iPad a lot, when we are out and about, but it is never really been NEEDED. Well, yesterday our electricity went out and when it came back on, our FIOS TV and internet would not connect. I called Verizon and talked to a really nice guy who walked me through some trouble shooting ideas. Nothing worked and a technician is coming some time today.

Meanwhile, I had one shop to input and three more shops to do. I rescheduled one of them but still had two more to do. Before leaving, I turned on that hot spot and made sure it would connect my comoputer to the internet. I could not get it to connect to my desk top computer, but it would connect to my laptop. I went and did my two shops and then came home and was able to do the input. It is a bit of a hassle, because I scanned my receipts on my desk top computer and then saved the scans to a USB thumb drive and then moved them to the laptop. I can deal with that hassle as long as I can input my shops.

I am now sitting at home waiting for a technician who will come some time today before 9PM! Elijah is watching CARS 2 on the DVD player and maybe I will get some housekeeping done! I am keeping my phone handy though so I don't miss that technician's phone call!

Sometimes Companies Call Too Many Times

I wrote a blog a while back about answering the phone even if you don't know who is calling, because it might just be a mystery shopping company offering an incentive. I still believe in this, BUT sometimes these companies call a little too much. There is one company that I really like, but they have called me four times in the last two days about a specific kind of shop. It would require me to be out late at night and I won't do them during the work week. I remind them that I have signed up for several of these shops over the next few weeks, but will only do them on a Friday or Saturday night. Once school is out, I can do more, but these shops end the week after I get out of school.

This company doesn't even offer an incentive to do these late night shops. Well they do, they are $2.00 more than the day time shops, but if they are that desperate then offer a bit more! Another company I work for starts offering incentives within two weeks of the shop being posted. I do have this company on my caller ID and I sometimes don't answer and see what kind of message they leave me. I also can't believe that they can't put something in the notes of my shopper page stating they have already called me and DON'T need to call me again for at LEAST a few days or even a few weeks!

Right now, I have more work than I need. I am working it hard on the weekends and don't need ANY more shops at this point!

It Really is a Job!

A family member in another city just started mystery shopping. I had helped her choose a printer and suggested a few companies to start with. She finally signed up with two companies and got started. My partner and I had suggested she start slowly and sign up for only one shop!

I had talked to her the night before her first shop and she said, "this really is a job." She had to pass a quiz before she could do the shop and that took two tries. She then had to print the shop and study how to do it. She called me and I gave her several tips and answered her questions. She then called during the shop and clarified a few things and I gave her some hints on completing the shop. Later, she called me to help with the input, uploading the receipt and electronically signing off on the shop. She then signed up for her second shop!

I am glad she has gotten started. Helping her reminded me of how nervous I was doing my first Shop! Now, after two and a half years I can do most of my shops easily. New scenarios are a small challenge, but they don't make me nervous.  I am sure I'll get a few phone calls today on her new shop, but as she does each one it will get easier.

You Don't Have to Take Every Shop!

I have been mystery shopping for a bit over two years now. I work for seven different mystery shopping companies. When I first started, I took just about any shop I could get. Since the, I have learned to pick and choose. I don't do bank shops any more. They are boring and tedious. They can also take up a lot of my time on a weekend, and that keeps me from doing other shops.

I like doing the food shops, especially at the restaurants that I really like. In fact, I am getting three times the pay to go to one of my favorite places to eat tomorrow night, plus my meal is paid for. I have learned to read the fine print before taking a shop. Sometimes the pay just isn't very good or there is no reimbursement. Sometimes the shop is just too far away.

We are going out of town in a few weeks, so I just blocked off my calendar for no shops on that weekend. That is the best thing about mystery shopping....I can work as much or as little as I want. The second best thing is I get to pick and choose the shops I want.

Answer the Phone

I have learned that sometimes I just have to answer my cell phone, even if I don't know who is calling. It just may be a scheduler at the other end of the phone ready to offer you an incentive to do a shop! Just this morning, I was getting out of the shower when my cell phone rang. I didn't know the number, and I figured it was a mystery shopping company! I almost didn't answer it, because I wasn't sure I wanted more shops, but I thought "YOU can always say no!" I am glad I answered it, because it was from one of the new companies I signed up for. The scheduler offered me three retail shops that are $10 each, with no purchase requirements. I had signed up for them about a week ago, but hadn't been assigned them. I gladly took them and she put them on my schedule board!

I got another phone call today from another company I work for, and got another gas station for next week and was cleared to try some other shops that they have. Sometimes, you just have to take a chance and answer the phone! You never know who might be on the other end!

Searching for Shops

There are a few times a year when it seems that shops just SLOW down. By slow down, I mean, there just aren't that many shops. I have been pretty busy for the first part of this month, but have just a handful of shops after the 15th. It seems to be this way with all of the mystery shopping companies I work for. I am hoping that the gas station shops show up again at the end of this month, but you just never know. I have been off of work this week because of Spring Break, and wanted to work a bit less, but a few more shops would have been nice! Just remember, with mystery shopping, you can only get shops when they are there. There are times when the shops just aren't there!

Incentives!

An incentive in mystery shopping, is when extra money is offered to complete a shop. One company I work for, offers these on a regular basis and it can be as little as $2.00 extra to do a shop to $40 to do the shop.

Several things can impact the size of the incentive:

• The distance the shop is from your home.
• The time frame of the shop. If the company has a deadline, they want to get it done!
• The size of the city where the shop is located--if it a small town in the middle of no where, odds are that there are not too many shoppers in the area.

There is one large company that I work for that RARELY offers incentives and if they do, it is just a dollar or two. However, they sent an email out recently stating they NEEDED shops done and to give them a call. They were even offering incentives. Well, I looked and there were five shops within an hours drive from me, in an area that I know well. I called and asked about doing them and asked about the incentive. The associate asked me how much I wanted for each shop and I said $5.00 extra. She put me on hold and came back that they would give me $5.00 extra for each shop. This meant a total of $25 in incentive. The actual shop pays $10 plus around $9 in reimbursement. Just the incentive and fee alone are $75! Needless to say, I took the shops!

I once got $35 in incentive to do ONE fast food shop that was 45 minutes away. I took it and found a few more shops to do along the way! Once you sign up with a company, start looking to see if they offer incentives. They can really add to your paycheck.