Why Good Manners Can be a Problem for Mystery Shoppers July 8, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: Find mystery shopping jobs, mystery shopper, mystery shoppers, mystery shopping reports, secret shopper, secret shopper reports
add a comment
Recently, I was shopping (not on a shop) at a local retail store. As the cashier finished the transaction and handed me my receipt, I instinctively said, “Thank you.” The cashier replied, “You’re welcome. Have a nice day!”
Now, really, that’s not so bad, right? Where this becomes a problem is when you’re answering a question that is typical on many retail mystery shopping reports – “Did the employee thank you at the end of your interaction?”
I didn’t give the cashier a chance to thank me. Of course, she could have thanked me in return and then wished me a nice day. More times than not though, when you thank an employee first, they say “You’re welcome” and the interaction is over.
If that were a shop, how would I rate the question? How would YOU rate it? You can’t say yes, because she didn’t thank me. Saying no isn’t entirely fair, since you didn’t give the employee a chance to thank you. There usually isn’t a N/A option, so what do you do?
When you’re doing a shop, remember that manners may get in the way of fairly evaluating employees. Next time you’re talking with an employee, remember to wait for them to end the interaction so you can fairly evaluate the process.
Until next time…happy shopping!
Why Do Mystery Shopping Companies Send Me Shop Notices for DE When I Live in MI? July 6, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in General Mystery Shopping Information, Mystery Shopping Jobs.Tags: become a mystery shopper, Find mystery shopping jobs, finding mystery shopping jobs, how to find mystery shops, mystery shopper, mystery shoppers, mystery shopping, Mystery Shopping Jobs, mystery shopping lists, secret shopper
add a comment
I wanted to share a common complaint we hear from time to time….mystery shoppers will email schedulers asking why they are sending email notifications for shops in other states. This fills their email boxes with too many emails that they say are not relevant to them, and can be a waste of time.
In most cases, reading the entire posting will reveal that the email invitation may be pertinent to someone in your area. There are many cases in which this might be true:
1. Aiport/hotel shops: when these shops are available, schedulers don’t know who might be traveling to the areas where these shops are located. If we only contacted people who live within 10 miles of the airport/hotel, we may be missing out on potential shoppers and have more difficulty finding people to fill these shops. These are usually sent out to the entire country.
2. Telephone/online shops: the quantity of this type of shop has increased substantially over the last couple of years. Typically, you do not need to live in the same state where the call is to be made. Sometimes the client specifically requests that mystery shoppers call from a different part of the country. Because we are required to list the city and state where the company is located in our systems, at first glance it may appear that this shop does not pertain to you, but in fact it does.
3. Clients with multiple locations throughout the country: schedulers make every effort to group locations when scheduling shops to keep the emails pertinent to the area. However, there are many times in which this cannot happen, so one email invitation will be sent to several states. If you only look at the first few locations listed, you may not think there are shops in your area. Or, a location in your area may have originally been on the list, but already assigned if you did not get a chance to view the email soon after it was sent.
While I’m sure there are times mystery shopping notifications are sent in error, schedulers make every effort to send them to only those who it is relevant to. We know that you are very busy, and we want to keep your job search time to a minimum.
I hope this explains the system better, and helps shoppers understand the reason for the emails they receive.
Until next time…happy shopping!
Update: Mystery Shoppers with AOL Email Addresses July 4, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: Aol email, become a mystery shopper, mystery shopper, Mystery shopper not receiving emails, mystery shopping, Mystery Shopping Jobs, Sassie and AOL, Sassie companies, Sassie email, secret shopper
add a comment
Yesterday I discussed how mystery shoppers using AOL email accounts may not be receiving offers from mystery shopping companies who use Sassie. If this affects you, please review the following discussion on Volition’s forum. Sassie is participating in this discussion and is asking shoppers to sign a petition in hopes that AOL will allow emails from Sassie.
The discussion can be found here.
I am hoping that this may reach mystery shoppers who may be affected but are not aware of this situation.
If you check your Sassie profiles and see that your email notification is switched to off (and you’re an AOL user), turning it on might not do much good right now. However, there are some things you can do to make sure you’re not missing out on shops:
1. Login into your shop log with the companies you are registered with and check the job boards on a daily/every other day basis.
2. Review available jobs in your area on message boards, such as Jobslinger.
3. Complain to AOL – send an email to postmaster@aol.com and explain that this issue is preventing you from getting work and you would like to have email from sassieshop.com whitelisted.
I wish all of you a very safe and happy Fourth of July!
Mystery Shoppers With AOL Email: You May not be Getting Shop Notifications July 3, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: how to find mystery shops, mystery shopper, mystery shoppers, mystery shopping, Mystery Shopping Jobs, Sassie and AOL, Sassie companies
add a comment
If you are a mystery shopper for companies who use Sassie and you have an AOL email account, you may not be getting email notifications when shops are available in your area.
Sassie has reported a known issue with AOL, which you may or may not have heard about. They have required that Sassie not email people with AOL email addresses – this means that any company who sends email invitations for shops, recruitment emails through Sassie’s system, and possibly some Jobslinger emails may not be reaching you.
Sassie has sent out a link to shoppers with more information and a survey they are asking shoppers to complete if you are affected by this. You can read the document here.
Sassie suggests using a Gmail account to add to your Sassie profiles to ensure that you are getting all of the shop notifications. This can be cumbersome, especially if you work with many companies who use Sassie. However, it may be less time consuming than checking the mystery shopping companies’ job boards or Jobslinger on a daily basis.
If you do opt to switch to Gmail for your Sassie companies, remember that you will need to add this email address to PayPal if the company pays with Paypal, as we need the current email address linked to PayPal on file in order to pay shoppers.
Sassie continues to try to work on resolving this issue, and as we learn more we will share it with you. I encourage any affected shoppers to use the link above to complete the survey to help Sassie in their efforts.
Until next time….happy shopping!
