| What to Avoid in Mystery Shopper Companies |
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| Written by Ethan Hunter |
| Thursday, 24 July 2008 18:02 |
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Although the majority of mystery shopper companies in existence are reputable and honest, some are not. As customer demand has increased, the number of mystery shopper companies has skyrocketed. Today, you will find more than 400 just in the United States. A quality company will have the customer, as well as shopper at the forefront of concern, working hard to provide services that will improve customer satisfaction, reduce liability, and increase profit. To show the huge growth, from 2003 to 2004, mystery shopper companies increased by more than 11%. It is estimated that more than eight million shops were performed in the year 2004 alone, making this an industry with a value around $600 million. While it is important to know what to look for in good mystery shopper companies, it is also important to know what to avoid. So here you will find the main things that you should avoid in your search for the right company to suit your needs. For example, some of the fraudulent companies will pay their shoppers with bogus checks and they will provide a fairly horrid service. So you need to know as much as possible how to stay clear of these companies. One of the main ways to tell fraudulent mystery shopper companies is through advertisements that are sent to you through the post or through email. They make mystery shopping sound too good to be true and they promise to make you a lot of money quickly. One of the main types of fraudulent mystery shopper companies are the ones which require you to cash checks. They will basically ask you to wire the money to an address which is usually in a different country. You should stay clear of any company which asks you to do this as you could get into serious trouble if you take part in it. The potential mystery shopper is told that they will be able to keep some of the check, but when the check is cashed, it will bounce leaving potentially large financial issues for the person who cashed it. While efforts have been taken to educate people of this potential scam, there are still people out there trying to take advantage of innocent people; so be aware of this when you are searching for companies to work with. If you are looking for one of the best mystery shopper companies then MSPA is one that you should contact. They aim to give businesses exactly what they need in order to improve and they are also constantly exposing various different fraudulent schemes. Some of the tips provided by the executive director of MSPA include never paying a fee, even a small one, to become a mystery shopper. If you are asked for anything more than $10, red flags should be raised. The real, mystery shopper companies are happy to hire on quality shoppers free. Additionally, mystery shopping companies that make a promise to pay for services using money transfer or some type of check cashing service, run! As with GFK, the professionals at MSPA have worked diligently in building their 200-member base company, servicing the world and they will work just as hard to stop fraudulent attempts on customers and shoppers alike. About the Author: You need money, they need shoppers. Mystery shopper companies need you to tell them what they are doing wrong. Your words, their money in you pocket. Free Mystery Shopper Kindly provided by LJ-Marketing.dk You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |