Another Site to Avoid: Shopper Systems February 16, 2010
Posted by Ann Michaels & Associates in Uncategorized.Tags: how to find mystery shops, legitimate mystery shopping, mystery shopping scams, pay to mystery shop
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Sites that appear to be something they’re not are one of my biggest pet peeves in this industry….I’ve come across another site that fits the bill and wanted to share.
Shopper Systems is a site to avoid for mystery shoppers. At first glance, they appear to be a mystery shopping company. When I tried to register, all I got was a telephone number to call. Not a good sign.
Upon further reading, I did find out that they do not claim to be a mystery shopping company; instead, they provide “academic training” and “practice shops” for new shoppers. I can’t tell what the fees are, but they do mention registration and “tuition” – definitely red flags in this industry!
There are many reputable and free sites that compile shop information from other companies, and these are sites where company members actually post their jobs, unlike sites such as Shopper Systems, where they compile shop postings from other companies without our permission.
Just a friendly warning to all mystery shoppers – this is one site to avoid!
If you are looking for new companies to work with, try Jobslinger – it’s free and has up to date shop information from legitimate mystery shopping companies.
Until next time…happy shopping!
i signed up, took the certification test, which i passed without study and started looking for assignments. first, you are basically picked to do the assignment from a list of other shoppers, you are not guarrented the assignment. second, all the assignments, which were a lot, were within 25 miles and the highest paying one was $20. all others were $11 or $5 which wouldn’t pay for my gas. in a matter of 2 hours i cancelled my membership. it’s there but just not they want you to think. i wouldn’t go there
Hi Michael,
Thank you for sharing your experience. In some ways, what you described is typical – once registered with legitimate mystery shopping companies, you will receive shop postings that let you know shops are available and the details for that particular shop. If you’re interested and qualified, you can apply, but are not guaranteed a shop.
The difference with Shopper Systems is that 1) they are asking people to pay to get shopping assignments. Any site that asks you to do this is not one you want to work for; there are hundreds of legitimate companies out there and they don’t charge you to register with them, and 2) they are not a mystery shopping company, and the shops they are posting are usually out of date, no longer exist, and are not actually posted by the company that has the shops available.
You can check out the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (www.mysteryshop.org) to see the companies that are legitimate, or Jobslinger (www.jobslinger.com) – you can register for free and search by zip code to see which actual companies have work in your area, and then register with them.
If you’re interested, I hope you will give mystery shopping another chance and see what your experience is like with the sites above. Good luck, and thanks again for sharing!
do not fall for the hype, they will take your money w/o your consent, un-be-knownest to me, you give them permission to take the $49.95 after 7 days, they take it out of your acct. automatically, if not before. they charged me twice on the $2.95, so to repeat, do not fall for this, it is a con.
PS: i had to cancel my visa card to make sure they did not take anymore money out of my account. I was lucky, they only got me for $6, which i will not get back, so beware
as ii am here due to my research AFTER the fact. my bank has cancelled my card and is re-issuing me a new one. they charged me the 2.95 fee which, by the claims of my bank, is not yet disputable. so, that amount is being taken as a loss. now, the representative that assisted me suggested ii contact “shopper system” to cancel my membership. she says that customers have called before where they deem a service as not legit, but the companies making the charges (in this case “shopper system”)may contact the bank and dispute the transaction. even if this company is NOT legit, as ii expressed to her that my research is the reason for this conclusion, am ii obligated to contact system shoppers?
to add to my last comment. the charges that they may dispute is in reference to the 49.95, after the seven day trial period. if they attempt to charge me and they cannot, as the card ii provided them is no longer valid–cancelled. will they actually go that length to contact my bank and what not? even if ii needed to contact them, by what ii have read through my extensive research, it is almost impossible to reach them.
am-I rec’d a text on my cell phone from this company about mystery shops paying 50.00. When I phoned the number in the text message they did begin by telling me that they have information on all types of shops, interviewed me so to speak asking age, if I had access to a credit card, could spend and wait to be reimbursed, experience as a mystery shopper, etc. It wasn’t until give them my name, address, phone, email address that I was told they would be processing my membership for 2.95 to review the web site, log on,review the job posts, create a biography, take the tests to qualify. I thought this sounded okay so provided them my credit card number for the 2.95 and then was informed that after 7 days they would be charging my account $49.95 in order to be able to see the shops they had available. I was a becoming very leery but decided to check out the web site. Then after reviewing the web site, researching mystery shopping companies on the web and reading about them on several Mystery Shopping Blogs I decided to cancel on the 2nd day. When phoning to cancel they of course try to keep you from canceling and said they would give me an additional 30 days to pay the 49.95. I was convinced that I wanted to cancel. The rep then told me that since I was unsure he could put me on a 9.95 monthly fee. Truly convinced at that time that I wasn’t going to do that either. I requested a cancellation number and told them this is my FINAL answer…l want to cancel this. I will have to wait and see if they bill my card. I did receive a cancellation number. So as Karen posted on 6/08 BEWARE! Save yourself time! Look elsewhere for mystery shops!
I also had a horrible experience w/ this company. I signed up and did everything as they recommended. I never got one assignment. Not to mention they kept insisting I keep it for another 30 days for only $9.95 after I was charged, $2.95 & $49.95. I finally got assertive and said I didn’t want anything to do with their company again that it was a scam. They are making a fortune off of us, I wish there was a way to put a stop to their lies and scams.