Martin_Canada @ Dec 29, 2020, 4:24:13 PM

My furthest shop was in Waikiki Hawaii on vacation. I got the Airport shuttle as a mystery shop and a dinner show. :-) Also did a timeshare presentation (Non mystery shop) but got a $100 prepaid credit card.

Now I think you're just bragging, Martin....lol

Hi Alex, I am in Newfoundland and the shops here are also minimal. When I started last April, I signed up with any and all companies I could find that operated anywhere in Canada. From there, I took on any and all shops, no matter how minimal the pay was, just to get my foot in the door with each company. Now that I have several successful shops under my belt, I am more selective of the types/amounts of shops I do. I now have MSP's that I have done a lot of shops for, contacting me direct to see if I am interested in bigger paying shops. Start small and work up to where you want to be. It is not a full-time gig for me by any stretch, but I am an old retired guy just looking for extra beer money.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I took on several jobs assessing Covid protocols, some of these were in banks. Not only did I think I wouldn't get away with taking photos inside as required, but the 1st bank I went to wasn't letting customers in without an appointment. The greeter at the door asked what I needed there, so I flat-out told her I was doing Covid compliance checks (she assumed I was contracted by the bank; I didn't tell her any different). The end result, the bank manager came out to talk to me so I asked him the questions I needed answered, but he wouldn't let me take pictures. I told the MSC I would not be doing the remaining bank jobs.

I have run in to the same issue. Usually it is because someone else has grabbed the shop before you had a chance to log on and apply/assign it.

I have done several gas station shop/reveal jobs. Pay for gas at the pumps, go in and check the washroom and make a small purchase. Then reveal myself and do an inspection of the premises. Never had an issue with these ones. I have also done price audit checks for cigarettes. Go in and ask what the cheapest brand is; as long as the clerk names one of the selected brands they get a gift card, then I get the prices for the client brand and competitor brand. Generally quick and easy, but I had one store where the owner served me, when I revealed myself he would not tell me the prices and told me to leave the store. I did the same store a couple of months later (hoping maybe he just had a bad day the last time) and of course the owner served me again. This time he was a lot more colorful in the language he used and followed me out in the street swearing at me. He said he would be calling the tobacco provider to complain about me. I immediately called the scheduler to give her a heads up, and I told her I would not be going back to this location.

The easiest way is bring up the call info on your smart phone and take a screen shot of that.

I use a Galaxy A8. To see the geotag details, bring up the photo in the Samsung Photos app, slide your finger from the bottom of the picture to the top, and all of the metadata will display.

I agree with Todd about the first one (or few) taking time. I have done several of these shop/reveal audits and other than keeping up on the current advertising allowed, they are pretty simple. In fact, I am making a cross-Canada trip this month so I reached out to the MSP's that I have done these shops for. So far, I have been assigned gas shops right across the country, that will cut my actual fuel bill at least in half. I'm working on getting a few hotel shops along the way now, but they seem to be few and far between.

Martin, I am signed up with SQM but they don't have anything right now. I am also signed up with Service With Style, and have applied for a couple of hotels along the way.

If anyone knows of MSC's that do hotel or motel shops, please let me know.

I do Field Agent now and then. The Costco scavenger hunts are stupid. Even if you put the product code they are looking for in the Costco website, most of them don't show up. I have done other product displays, covid compliance and a couple of fast food shops with FA.