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1. The "Zipcode" Trick:
One of these companies has an automated
sytem that answers the phone. The system
asks you to enter your zipcode.
When
you enter your zip code the system comes
back and tells you that "Yes we do
have opportunites in your area."
Leading you to believe that there are
shops for you to do.
But
guess what happened when our consumer
advocate punched in the non exsisting
zipcode of "11111" the system
came back with the same answer. Now, how
can there be opportunities in a place
that doesn't exist?
Its
obvious that no matter what # you put
in you are going to be told that there
are shops for you to do. Which means they
really don't have job listing at all.
Its an out right scam to try and steal
your money.
2.
The "Zipcode" Trick # 2:
This is similiar to the trick above, except
this certain company has a live operator
(sales person). They ask for your zipcode.
After you give it to them they pause for
a few seconds pretending like they're
waiting for their "system" to
"look up" your area.
The
sales person then says "Oh yes we
show lots of jobs in your area. We show
JC Pennys, WalMart..." and they start
naming off common stores.
Then
we had our consumer advocate call back
a little bit later and give the zipcode
of 32063 and the sales person comes back
with the same answer of"...lots of
jobs in your area...". Well guess
what, 32063 is a very small town called
Macclenny located in Florida and the closest
JC Penny, etc., etc. is over an hour away.
This
goes to show that they don't have any
system or actual job listing of mystery
shopping jobs to look up.
Keep
reading though, we are going to show you
where you can go online and actually look
up mystery shopping jobs in your very
own city.
3.
The "Make No Less Than $50"
Trick: One of the toll free numbers
called said that you will make no less
than $50 per shop. This just ins't true.
Most shops pay from $8 to $30. Sure, from
time to time there are $50, $75, $100
and even higher paying shops.
But
to lead you to believe that you are going
to make no less than $50 for every shop
you do just isn't true.
4.
The
"You Will Be Paid in Advance"
Scam: This is another tactic
used to misguide you about mystery shopping.
You are told that you will be given the
money in advance that you need to use
on the shop.
Again,
this just isn't true. Mystery shopping
companies do what is called a reimbursement.
This means that lets say you had to shop
a restaurant and spent $30. When you send
in your shoppers report and receipt you
will then be reimbursed (paid back) that
money after the shop is reviewed.
Think
about it. Mystery shopping companies sometimes
schedule hundreds of shops a month. It
just isn't feasable or even "good
business" to give people money before
the shop is done. The mere fact that when
you call some of these 800 #'s and they
tell you this is just unbelievable.
5.
The
"You Have To Be Trained and Certified"
Scam: This is where they tell
you you have to get trained and be certified
to be a mystery shopper. Not only do you
have to get trained and certified, but,
it takes 2 hours and you have to pay them
$59.95 to do it.
This
is another lie! There are now laws,
codes or licensing requirements in ANY
state that requires certification for
people wanting to be mystery shoppers.
Mystery
shopping is not that difficult. Although,
you do have to be able to pay attention
to detail and follow instructions; you're
not really doing anything different than
you already do when you go out to eat
or shop.
The
only difference is that instead of telling
a freind or family member about a negative
or positive experience you will be putting
it down on paper for a mystery shopping
company to read. Does that sound like
something you need to waste 2 hours being
trained for? Does that sound like something
you want to throw away $60 on?
Don't
worry we're going to show you how to become
a shopper and you don't have to pay any
$59 fee for bogus training and certification.
But first read the rest of these tricks
and scams to look out for.
6.
The "You Have To Be Trained and
Certified" Scam Part 2: This
is the part where when you inform them
that there are no state or local requirements
for shoppers needing to be certified.
The sales person will immediately start
"back-peddling" to cover their
tracks.
They
then tell you "Oh... the training
and certification is for us because the
companies that go through us wont hire
you if you're not certified."
As
you can see this whole certification
thing is just a way of trying to justify
to you of why you should give them $59.95.
7.
The
"Extension # Listed After the
800#" Trick: Have you
ever called one of these ads from a newspaper
and they ask you for the "extension
#" that is listed after their toll
free number? Have you ever wondered what
that was all about?
Well,
that number is not an extension number
at all. In reality its a tracking number.
They use that number to track you and
their ads. The "extension" number
corresponds to a newspaper or newspaper
network that a particular ad is in. So
when you tell them that "extension"
(tracking) number they know where you
saw the ad.
And
why do they want to track their ads? Because,
they want to make as much money as possible
per ad. Lets say they run an ad with the
"extension" (tracking) # 5555.
If not enough people call in and sign
up with that tracking number for them
to make a profit, then they stop running
ads in that paper.
So
you see, they're not really trying to
fill mystery shopping positions at all.
8.
The "List of Mystery Shopping
Companies Book": This is where
you call and they want $49.95 out of you
for a book with a list of mystery shopping
companies. There are a couple of problems
with this.
The
first problem with this is that the book
may list the companies name, mailing address
and phone number, but yet it has no
actual job listings in it. You are
supposed to actualy contact the companies
in the book about being a shopper.
Secondly,
its going to take at least 2 months before
one of these companies will even have
you in their system to be a shopper. How
does that help you when you need to make
money now?
Here's
why it may take you so long to become
a shopper by using their book. Mystery
shopping companies don't take shopper
applications by phone. Calling them on
the phone is one of the quickest ways
NOT to become a shopper. So having a phone
number is practically useless.
Next,
its going to take 7 to 10 days before
you even receive the book in the mail.
You will need to send these companies
a letter of interest which you will probably
stick in the mail 4 or 5 days after you
receive the book. Then that letter takes
another 7 days to get there.
Then
they take another week or so before they
get around to sending you back an actual
shopper application in the mail. Then
you have to fill it out and send it back,
that's another 7 days. Well, by now you
have already wasted 36 days sending and
receving stuff in the mail.
So
now its going to take another 20 to 25
days before they even process your application
and put you in the system. Who wants to
wait that long?
Keep
reading and we'll show you how you can
become a shopper within one day not months
from now.
9.
"No
Trial Period": Ok. So
you call one of these places and you're
not even sure if your going to like mystery
shopping. A phone call isn't enough time
for you to hear enough about mystery shopping
to make a rational decision especialy
when these sales people aren't being honest
with you in the first place.
So,
wouldn't it be nice if they gave you a
trial period. But, guess what, they don't.
You have to pay them everything up front.
Where
going to show you right now how you can
get a Trial Period so you can see what
mystery shopping is all about.
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