I realize that we have readers from around the world, but allow me a bit of reflection… July 4th will be the 238th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It’s a three day weekend this year, so please take the time to be extra careful in your travels. At the same time, let’s take the…
Company Overview: In a mystery shopping world with many companies choosing their names from similar words like service, shopper, mystery and the like, their identities can get lost in the crowd. This company does not possess that flaw. The name is also accurate. Dale and Michael Bare founded this company in 1987 in Fairfax, Virginia….
Mary Davis Nowell has decided to devote her writing talents elsewhere, including a book that she has been planning for some time. We wish her well and hope she might occasionally grace our pages again. Her last column will be in the July 7 issue of the magazine. We need someone interesting in writing a…
I have received several requests for books that I consider useful for a mystery shopper. The following is my somewhat eclectic list… The Associate Press Style Manual and Libel Handbook. This book is now printed in two volumes, AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, and AP Guide to Punctuation. I use the style manual…
Recently on Mystery Shop Forum there was a lively thread about “double dipping.” What do we mean by double dipping? Doing two, or possibly more, shops at the same location at the same time. While the consensus was that the mystery shopping companies involved need to be contacted, it did raise the question as to…
Today’s chapter is brought to you by the letter “T.” T is for: tires, terrain and tickets. If you are like me, you roll your eyes and murmur, “Yah, yah, yah,” whenever you see another article that reminds you that you can save a lot of fuel costs if your tires are properly inflated. But,…
Overview: Market Force is a privately owned mystery shopping and customer intelligence company, co-founded in 2005 by three successful businessmen, Karl Maier, Paul Berberian and Rushton McGarr. It is based in Louisville, CO and serves over 350 of the leading brands in the restaurant, grocery, retail and financial sectors, and the movie theatre and motion…
Written by jpgilham I’m not from round these parts. I’m from a country called New Zealand where our closest neighbors are Australia and the Antartica. In fact, from my home in Timaru, New Zealand, I could look out my kitchen window onto the beach and see penguins. Pretty much everywhere in New Zealand is next…
There are several different Bottom Of Basket (BOB) scenarios for grocery stores. The one that we are concerned with in this article is where you have a single, large item, not to exceed a given dollar amount, usually $5. If the cashier does not catch the item, then you are to walk out of the…
This edition of “Loose Ends” is taking care of some emails and MSC updates. One shopper wrote to complain about Wrapmatch. As we have said on several occasions, based on the lack of action with the company, we no longer are recommending this company as an income source for shoppers. If you have signed up…
Someone on the forum recently mentioned having returned to a restaurant they had shopped previously because they had enjoyed the food and being asked, “How did you hear about us?” and was wondering how to answer and whether it would be okay to say that they had mystery shopped the location in the past. Of…
Doing a mystery shop feels even more secretive to me when I am recording it. Considering that hidden cameras come in many forms these days, including buttons, eyeglasses, pens, cell phones and other modes, a shopper can be very discreet and effective. Before even considering which camera mode to use, however, shoppers need to first…
Company Overview: Reality Based Group (RBG), formerly Gamefilm Consultants, is based in Austin, TX and has been in business since 1992. The company originally focused on video-based apartment shops. According to the company website, RBG now serves the industries of retail, dining, banking, hospitality, homebuilding, property management, auto, health and fitness, insurance and government agencies….
I’ve been mystery shopping for 10 years. I found it, as I think many people did, through the proverbial back door. I had had a career in the editorial field, serving as an editor of publications for an international non-profit group, a business trade publisher and, lastly, a publishing division that produced books and magazines…
If you’ve browsed very many mystery shopping job boards, you’ve probably seen assignments available for gas stations/convenience stores. We’ve previously written about these assignments. But, they’re not as straightfoward as they might seem. In this article, we’ll walk you through preparing for these assignments, so that you can take full advantage of the opportunity they…
In last week’s issue of Mystery Shopper Magazine, we reported on shoppers who had either not been paid, or have only received partial payment from Gapbuster. After we published that article, a shopper posted the following email on Mystery Shop Forum. They say it came from “Nathaneal” at GapBuster. Thank you for your email I…
Would you climb Mount Everest? If you were a mountaineer you would. Maybe. You would realize the road to the top of the world’s highest mountain is a long and arduous journey that requires extensive preparation and is for the seasoned mountaineer. Mystery shopping also has its apex. You have seen the inducements: Meals at…