I'm sure we've had stories, but for those who can been mystery shopping for some time, there are some good and bad companies we've worked with. I'm curious to hear of companies you've worked with, and your opinions of the best/worst and why. No mention of people's names (i.e. schedulers/editors), but companies and why.

I don't think that is fair, because just because I have a bad experience with a company doesn't mean everyone else will. And, it isn't ethical in my opinion.

I like Intouch Insight for quick and easy assignments and know I'll be paid the second Friday of every month, even earlier last month :-)

Also, I really like the restaurant shops from Goodwin Hospitality, and find them very easy to work with.

Of course, for upscale, luxury shops (fine dining and luxury boutique hotels) I enjoy the selection from Coyle Hospitality. It's unfortunate they do not have more availability in my area. (They are a little slower to pay, however.)

I agree with Glenda. I touch Insight has always been a reliable source of legitimate mystery shops. In the odd occasion where something was missed or incomplete they have always provided the opportunity to do a redo for the missing portion. Plus they pay regularly as per their stated agreement. Any questions I have had regarding shops have always been answered promptly.

I haven't had any issues with any MSPs, but I did just have an especially good experience with Intouch Insight. I did 5 shops for them in 2 days, and they were super duper easy and all got approved right away, and I think they pay the fastest.

I do try to grab those fancy, complicated dinner shops whenever I can though! Totally worth it. Can anyone say free date night? :D

I'd love to do more Coyle shops. I've only been accepted for one shop: a recorded hotel reservation and cancellation. Their ICA also states that I can't do any restaurant shops because I work at a restaurant. No other MSP has that restriction. Any suggestions or advice?

I've been shopping for about 5 months and do about 10 shops per month. I focus on restaurants, fine dining, entertainment. I tend to go for the higher end shops. That's just more fun for me and I enjoy new challenges.

Hi Edith,

I don't think I've ever seen Coyle shops...are they in the iSecretShop system? Most MSPs on iSS only have the restriction of you not being fully employed as a scheduler or editor by their or another MSP company, but I guess different clients/MSPs have different requirements.

Coyle uses a different platform.

How is posting issues one has had with a mystery shopping company unethical. If I am being honest and not just posting to trash a company then I think posting is beneficial. Maybe other shoppers have suggestions for me. If the issue is a common one among shoppers and that is brought to everyone's attention, I would think the mystery shopping company would have incentive to change. That would make the company better, which helps their clients. I have had some truly unethical treatment by a few companies, one in particular. What recourse does one have when a company won't respond to a concern?

That said, I would not feel comfortable reporting concerns on a forum offered by (and open to?) the mystery shopping companies. It seems an easy way to be black-balled.

Hi Lisa,

You are completely right - posting about specific issues that you have had is perfectly okay, especially with the intention of getting suggestions from other shoppers. The "unethical" thing here would be naming the companies you've had issues with, since it can unintentionally create prejudice in other shoppers, for example giving off the impression that the entire MSP is not doing a good job overall and that it can be the case in all of their shops, while lots of other shoppers may have had wonderful experiences with that MSP - and vice versa.

As for the issue being addressed or reported outside of the shopper community, the first thing to do would be to write an email to the MSP in question and wait for the reply - and if you believe you have been ignored or treated wrongfully in that correspondence too, you can then open a ticket for iSecretShop so that the management team of the entire system can be made aware, and possibly even mention the issue to the MSP on their end.

Lastly, this forum is not owned by the MSPs, nor have I ever seen any of them or their staff members posing anything on it - and since we can set our own usernames and photos, and shopper ID's are not visible anywhere, I don't even think that they can even find us in the system at all, even if they did visit the forum. The forum was developed by iSecretShop as a way to give shoppers an oportunity to have their own shopper community here, exchange thoughts, ideas, questions, experiences, and generally help each other out, in order to make the whole secret shopping experience better and easier for everyone.

Happy holidays!