Hi Tara,

In Canada, there is an MSP that posts shops which are performed by "associated minors" - children (of a certain age) of registered shoppers. Their profiles are created by their parents, and connected to their parent's account - this is done by clicking on the Associated Minors link on the left side of the homepage on iSecretShop.com.

I'm not sure if those shops can be performed only by the associated minors or if their parents need to accompany them on the shops - if you're interested in finding out more, I suggest contacting Intouch Insight, as they are the only MSP that is currently utilizing that system, and I believe it's only in Canada, but I could be wrong.

Cheers!

Tara is right - in order to get your Date Of Birth (or name, or gender) updated, you should upload a photo of your valid, undoctored, government-issued ID on your Extended Profile on iSecretShop, and then open a support ticket to let the iSS team know, and your DOB will be updated.

Previously, shoppers could change their DOB, name and gender at will, along with any other information, and this created security issues - fraudulent shoppers would take advantage of this, changing their profile information (name, gender, birthday, address, email, etc) often, in order to avoid being detected by the system for having multiple profiles or profiles with false info.

Since the general idea/rule is that all shoppers can only have one profile on iSecretShop, and that one profile should reflect their real information, this method helps maintain the system integrity, making it more secure and less prone to exploitation by people who are looking to "bend the rules".

Cheers!

Ha! Thanks for sharing David! Indeed, like Michelle said - using library computers, or those at an internet cafe, is a good way to start. I would suggest taking the time to "play around" on that notebook you bought - explore the options, functionalities, programs...it helps in the long run :)

Hi Michelle,

There is no need to worry about those error messages at all - those "Photos flagged" messages are there for shoppers and editors to make sure that the photos of the location exterior/interior (or other photos that have to be taken at the exact time of the shop) were indeed taken at the appropriate time, to serve as proof of visit. They are not relevant in case of photos of receipts, business cards, brochures, pages, or other printed material, as those can be taken at home at any time.

Those "Photos Flagged" messages could never prevent you from finalizing your shop report - other things (like incomplete answers, incorrect shop times, etc) can, so like Wendy said - it's always good to check if any answers are not complete, and if the start/end times are incorrect.

In 99% of the cases where shoppers are unable to finalize a report, that's the case - usually PM and AM are mixed up, or the wrong date is accidentally selected, etc.

Cheers!

Hey guys,

If you are still having the same issue, I suggest opening a support ticket for iSecretShop, and letting the devs know. Just make sure to list all details - which exact steps are you taking, exactly what happens, attach the photo are you trying to upload, clarify if you are trying to do it on a mobile network or a public/private wi-fi network, etc.

Cheers!

Hi MFJohnston,

Since a lot of MSPs are already using the "Demographic requirements" system - making their shops only visible and available to shoppers that meet certain demographic requirements (in most cases it's the Age requirement for Compliance shops, but it can be any number of requirements, from passed certifications, to having a certain level of a certain badge, etc) - this will initially be used as an extension to that - they will set some of their shops to have a requirement "Age & ID Verified", so only shoppers with that badge will have access to them. It will at first most likely be shops that require absolute integrity (I'll list a few examples below) and later on I assume it will expand to more and more shops, as MSPs are trying to guarantee to their clients the highest stands of security and validity.

Here's which types of shops you can first expect to start having this requirement:

-Alcohol and/or Tobacco ID projects, where the shoppers need to be within a certain age range.

-Casinos, lotteries, bars, breweries, banks, brokerage houses or other financial institutions.

-Apartment shops, where liability and employee safety are powerful concerns.

-Shops that may require retirees (or other specific demographics) to complete.

-Medical/dental space shops,

-Luxury automobile projects,

-High-profile corporate evaluations

-Shops that offer generous fee and/or reimbursement packages, like hotels, spas, cruises, amusement parks

In essence, any shops where the integrity of the data is absolutely critical to the MSP's clients are the ones that will start implementing this requirement first. The iSecretShop system itself is already highly secure, and relies on responsible, reliable shoppers to provide clients with accurate data - this just adds another layer to that, taking it to the next level.

Cheers!

Some of the fast food video shops I've had experience with asked for a pretty detailed report (multiple choice answers, yes/no answers, narratives, etc) and the video was used primarily for the verification of what was written in the report. Like MFJohnston said, it can be a mixed bag.

Thanks for the detailed reply Mark, I couldn't have said it better! :)

Yes, like MFJohnston and Mark said, you fill out the online shop report.

Once you have a shop assigned to you, you can always view it on the "Assigned Shops" page - there you can see all shops you have assigned, and can click "Complete Shop" on any of them to see the full shop information, the shop instructions, the questions, or/and fill out the shop report.

When you are done filling out the shop report - you click "Finalize Shop" to submit it - it will be reviewed to editors and either approved, or returned to you for additional information (if so, it will appear back in your "Assigned Shops" page).

Cheers!

There could be a couple of different scenarios why that might be happening:

1. Some shops are posted in large numbers, and when a certain limit of scheduled shops is reached, the rest become unpublished - they get "hidden" from the Available Shops page, as no more can be assigned at the time.
2. (The more common scenario) - the exact number of shops that should be done in a specific period gets posted, but the shops themselves have various scheduling rules (i.e. "Shops at the same location must be at least X days apart. Or "One shopper can only do X shops per location / per client, every X days", or "Shops can only be request X days in the future" or "Shops can only be done on weekends" etc) - when the first few shoppers grab the shops for the available dates of their choosing, the rest of the shoppers have to pick from the few available dates that remain. Sometimes, if there are several scheduling rules, there are no available dates left, but the shops themselves are still open and still need to get done. If you encounter this, the best thing to do is to contact the schedulers directly and let them know you're interested in the shop, and propose a few dates you could complete it - they have the right to override these rules and assign a shop to you for any date (if that is something they feel would be appropriate).

As an update on the above mentioned calendar improvement - the project has been created for the developers, so it is something that will be implemented - the available/non-available dates will be visually distictive on the calendar when picking a date for the shop. That should make seeing and choosing an available date much easier :)

Cheers guys!