Though I mostly agree with what’s been said above, the possible amounts of money earned shopping are VERY low. I have a full time job and still make $2000 monthly doing this.
It's not just the quantity - it's the quality.
Today, I did two shops - for $300.
Friday I did three shops - for $200
It's up to individual companies to determine if they care about the badges. I pay little attention to them. However, the more shops you complete successfully, the more shops you can self-assign. I only shop a little bit on iSS - I primarily shop for companies not affiliated with this platform. However, I have done enough here to be able to self-assign five shops at a time (which is all I every really need/want here). There are folks who can do a lot more.
They were video shops - I posed as somebody looking to purchase a new home. There were no expenses - other than gas. (The two shops were a 3 hour drive). The company is not affiliated with ISS, so I will not mention them here. They are also a company that seeks out its own shoppers, looking for folks who have a proven track record with video shops.
I just saw this... Look up the guidelines on your phone. Find out exactly what the requirements are for the "restaurant." Is the bar a part of the restaurant at the casino? Or, is it a different thing altogether? Were there specific directions as to when you should visit the restaurant? Etc.
If there is not an obvious answer in the guidelines and you are already stuck on site, you can try to visit the bar and hope it works out. It will likely depend on exactly what the client wants/needs evaluated. It is nearly always the shopper's job to verify hours at a location and make sure that s/he visits in plenty of time to complete the shop as directed. Rarely would it be acceptable to arrive at a restaurant less than 30 minutes before close, so you may not get a lot of sympathy from the MSC if the restaurant closed 15 minutes early.
If the guidelines are clear that the bar is not acceptable, you are likely looking at getting the shop rejected. If that is the case, you can likely reschedule. and tray again another day.
You are correct that folks who make $70K annually do this full time - and that is a very small percentage of shoppers. I only made that statement to point out that there really is money to be had here. I do this part time as well. I've earned over $20K this year mystery shopping. That does *not* include reimbursements.
If you arrived in a reasonable amount of time to complete the shop and the actions of the casino staff led things to take far longer than they should have, you should be fine. Just make sure that you are clear with the details. Good Luck!
So, you are looking for more work near where you live, yes? (I live in Seattle and venture into Portland with some frequency...)
Some questions for you:
* How close to home are you trying to stay?
* Are you only working with companies on iSS, or have you signed up for others??
* Where in Oregon are you? Opportunities will be different in Portland, Medford, North Bend, Tillamook, etc.)