Mystery Shopper Magazine

Company Overview: The majority of mystery shopping companies have a wide variety of different assignments. However, some specialize in a specific sector. Informa Research Services is one such company.

Informa Research Services, originally Meyer Interest Rate Survey, is a division of Informa PLC. It operates out of Calabasas, California, and has been in business since 1983. It has over 6500 clients, including all of the nation’s top 100 financial institutions. Those include retail bank, credit unions, mortgage companies, insurance, brokerages, and mutual funds. So if you are looking for a company that specializes in the financial industry, Informa is a company you should sign up with.

Sign up with Informa on their website at www.informars.com. Click on “Be A Mystery Shopper”, and then on “Register”. Fill out the profile and submit your application. Once you are given access to the job board, you can view available assignments and self-assign. Informa’s website operates on the Prophet software system.

Payment is made via check approximately 30 to 45 days after the report has been reviewed and accepted.

Shoppers have many good things to say on www.mysteryshopforum.com about the pay rates Informa offers for their assignments. Comments such as “good paying”, “above average pay”, “one of the best paying MSCs”, and “quality pay” are posted frequently. Shoppers also state that the pay is reliable and timely.

On the other hand, many shoppers have experienced issues time and time again in receiving promised bonuses. Informa sends bonuses out separately from regular assignment fees. There seems to be some kind of operational issue in tracking bonuses with this company. Often shoppers have cause to contact Informa to inquire about the whereabouts of their bonus checks. This problem in receiving bonuses in a timely manner is a recurring annoyance.

The bright spot is that Informa has an active member on the forum willing to be of assistance to assist with problems. Shoppers report quick resolution after contacting the Informa representative.

In all other respects, shoppers have nothing but positive things to say about Informa. Many have said that this company has some of the best schedulers in the industry. Forum members consider them outstanding, professional, easy to deal with, and easily accessible.

As far as what shoppers have to say about the company overall, shoppers have stated that they feel valued by this MSC because the fair pay in most cases is more than suitable for the amount of work required. Others have posted that this is a first rate company with clear expectations. Discussions describe Informa as being reputable, dependable, and first rate.

Reporting for this company is reported to be straightforward without tedious details and excessive narrative. Assignments have clear guidelines that are reasonable.

To sum it up, Informa shows up frequently in forum lists for “best schedulers”, “best MScs”, and “best pay”.

In recent times, multiple shoppers are reporting seeing far fewer assignments available from Informa.

Personal Experience: After researching this article, I went back through my own records out of curiosity to double-check on my Informa payments. Unfortunately, I found an assignment that had not been bonused. I have notified the company of this, but as of the time this article was published, there has not been a resolution to the matter. I am hoping that will soon change. I also hope that Informa will adopt a better and more reliable system of paying its shoppers the bonuses that are owed to them in a timely manner. My suggestion to other shoppers that until such a system is instituted is to ensure you are closely tracking your bonus payments.