Mystery Shopper Magazine

Company Overview: If you are willing to deal with consistent but slow pay from a nationwide company with a wide variety of interesting and worthwhile assignments, then check out Service Sleuth.

Service Sleuth is a division of HS Brands International, which is also the parent company for The Mershimer Group. HS Brands has offices in Las Vegas and Boston, as well as overseas. Service Sleuth focuses on traditional mystery shopping while The Mershimer Group concentrates on loss prevention. This business also offers opportunities for merchandising, video assignments, integrity shops, phone evaluations, and competitor checks.

Its clients are from varying industries including food services, retail, gaming, casinos, alternative financial services, and automotive services.

The current CEO of the mystery shopping division is the creator of one of the most prevalent software platforms used in this industry, Sassie. Therefore, you can count on a straightforward application process. Visit www.mymysteryshop.com to sign up. Click on “New Contractor Sign Up” and provide the information requested to get started.

Payments are made via PayPal 60 days after the last day of the month in which assignments were completed.

At the time of writing, Service Sleuth had over 1,000 open assignments throughout the United States. Established shoppers can self-assign. The company states that the most important and crucial shops go to their MSPA certified shoppers. They also say that receiving hero citations will sometimes provide a shopper with preference over others when it comes time to awarding assignments. CPR, or Contractor Preference Ratings, are also used in determining how shops are assigned.

Some assignments are also coordinated by KSS International, so be on the lookout for email assignment announcements of upcoming available projects.

The overwhelming majority of shoppers posting about Service Sleuth on www.mysteryshopforum.com have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship with this company. It was impressive and reassuring to see so many shoppers with a lengthy tenure report time and time again that they have experienced no problems with this MSC. Service Sleuth was described as being a solid and reputable entity.

However, most all report that this MSC has one of the slowest payouts in the industry. Yet just as many also agree that the pay is consistent and accurate.

Forum members were extremely positive about their interactions with Service Sleuth. Company representatives were described as being responsive, communicative, supportive, easy to work with, and very accessible when needed.

There were some complaints in regards to assignment reporting, though. Narrative requirements do not seem to be consistent overall for different projects, and feedback varies greatly from editor to editor. Sometimes shoppers have received feedback that narratives were too short, while others were told their narratives were too long. Some shoppers attributed this to client preferences.

Opinions differed among forum members as to whether the reports are easy or needlessly detailed. Some consider them straightforward, and others think that an excessive amount of narrative is asked for by the editors.

Additionally, a few posters mentioned that they had the impression that lower ratings were given for reports that included mention of negative issues experienced during the visit.

Shoppers stated a preference in working with Service Sleuth directly, rather than through KSS. Some also said that the payout is better when applying through the MSC itself.

Personal Experience: I’ve completed a handful of assignments for Service Sleuth. I appreciated the positive editorial feedback. I found the pay to be decent, but like so many others, very slow in comparison to other MSCs. I will continue to work with this company in the future as I have found my dealings with them to be professional and courteous.