Mystery Shopper Magazine

Company Overview: When I was a new shopper with this company, I thought its name was highly ironic after some of my nonsensical dealings with one of its editors.

Luckily those issues are a thing of the past. Like so many other shoppers, I consider Reality Check to be among my top companies. This is one of the least controversial mystery shopping companies in the industry.

Reality Check has been in business for over a decade, and offers opportunities in both the U.S. and Canada. This mystery shopping company is a member of the MSPA. Reality Check’s clients are varied. Industries that are evaluated include retail, hospitality, property management, assisted living, hotels, resorts, and grocery.

Payment is made via PayPal or by check 30 to 60 days after assignment completion.

Reality Check posts assignments on its own job board, but assignments are also announced via a scheduling company, KSS International. They used to post assignments on the Mystery Shop Forum, but haven’t done so in over a year.

As with most mystery shopping companies operating on the Sassie software platform, signing up is straightforward. Go to http://rcmysteryshopper.com to get started. Navigate to the “Mystery Shoppers” tab, and click on the Sassie logo. This will take you to a brief application with no writing sample required.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, some time ago mystery shoppers were sharing the same experience I had with one of the editors at Reality Check. Discussions on www.mysteryshopforum.com described the nitpicky discouraging feedback received on a continual basis from this one individual. However, a positive change took place about a year ago, and no one has reported unconstructive and redundant feedback since then.

Instead, most shoppers on the forum state that they very much enjoy working with Reality Check. Shoppers describe payments as being made on a regular and timely basis, and editors as courteous. Forum members state that their in-house schedulers are great to work with and that it is easy to communicate with the company.

Personal Experience: A year or so ago my experience mirrored that of other shoppers in dealing with one of the editors at Reality Check. Although my reporting was highly rated and praised by the other mystery shopping companies I worked with, I could not please this editor. I could not find the “Goldilocks” zone with her. If I was careful in providing details, she would tell me that I had included too much information. If I then was more succinct in my reporting, she would tell me that I wasn’t being thorough. I always thanked her politely for her guidance and told her I would note her feedback to improve my future performance. Unfortunately, that only encouraged her to be ever more nitpicky and petty. It wasn’t until I ignored her feedback and took a break from taking assignments from Reality Check that the editorial hassles stopped. I don’t know if she left the company or was censured, but I haven’t dealt with any unreasonable editorial feedback for over a year now. Instead, I receive positive ratings and comments that are useful and encouraging.

The types of assignments I complete for Reality Check most often are grocery stores, pubs, casual restaurants, and electronic retail. Reporting narrative is reasonable.

However, Reality Check now has a trend of requiring the shopper to take pictures for an increasing number of assignments. These include location exteriors, and in the case of restaurant assignments, the food. Yet there has been no increase in fees. I’ve noticed some assignments staying for longer periods of time on the job boards now.