Pros and cons of 'Mystery Shopping'

[Adoration]

I've read that some of you ladies have tried out the "mystery shopping' program. It tries to hook you in by offering a 1000.00 gift card to different stores.It looks to me like you sign up for credit applications and programs which later bill you, and lock you in to stuff you may not want.
What's the real deal behind 'mystery shopping' , and do you recommend it?

[wife]

I did it for a few years. The one you are talking about sounds fishy.

The ones that I did didn't require money unless it was for a purchase that they paid me back for or that I had to return as part of the shop.

I wish I had more time to do it. It was really fun when I did them

[MrsBri]

I've read that some of you ladies have tried out the "mystery shopping' program. It tries to hook you in by offering a 1000.00 gift card to different stores.It looks to me like you sign up for credit applications and programs which later bill you, and lock you in to stuff you may not want.
What's the real deal behind 'mystery shopping' , and do you recommend it?

What you describe is a gimmick or con. There are real mystery shopping programs out there, I know someone who does it & will try to get information for you on how to apply. What I can tell you, is this: true mystery shopping programs only pay 20.00 to 50.00 per assignment, plus reimburse you for your expenses. There is alot of paperwork involved, you must save your receipts & be very observant to accurately describe your shopping or dinning experience. Just for example: the true programs will never tell you to purchase a Sam's Club membership....they will only use those who already are Sam's Club members.

When you are a Mystery Shopper, the company you work for will send you a list of assignments to choose from. You will not fit the criteria to do all the assignments because they are very specific with what kinds of information they are looking for. They may need people who regularly get their perscriptions filled at ________ & who use a specific medicine. In this case, they may be looking at how well a pharmicists reminds the consumer about side-effects or the mixing of potentially dangerous drugs.

There are fun restraunant assignments that anyone can do...but it may include embarrassing yourself by being an abnoxious or difficult customer.

[Cookies4me]

I was looking in to this. If you know of a good company you have worked for in the past can you pm me the company's website please.

[Adoration]

Thank you all so much for the 'heads up'! I thought this was a scam too, and I was surprised because I've read that quite a few ladies here had done it.
But the ad I got is most definitely a con of sorts! So beware out there ladies...not every mystery shopping plan is the same.
(darn....I thought that 1000.00 gift card was too good to be true! :sad)

[brownsfan1970]

I do it regularly. It's a great way to make a little extra cash and get free food. Go to volition.com. It's a great site that lists all the companies you can apply to.
Don't ever pay for mystery shopping. Those ads are a scam.