Secret Shopper Assignment has cost me BIG TIME!

[shugibr]

I'm on a tight budget to so i got so happy the other day when on my e-mail i got a offer to go to the hard rock casino in biloxi and they were giving me $100.00 to come over there sat.the 10th.well my husband got one too wow i said this couponing is good they got our names and were going!!guess what just recieved an e-mail sorry we made a mistake its $10.00 so i called them up the lady says sorry but some vendor pushed the wrong button and sent out 10's of thousands of theseso if u come well give u free buffet!!what a joke that casino has more money than i'll ever have and i think u should honor this no maam sorry we don't operate like this it was just a mistake. i get so tired of hearing that i could SCREAM.. So no casino trip for me.

[kdphi_uh]

I'm on a tight budget to so i got so happy the other day when on my e-mail i got a offer to go to the hard rock casino in biloxi and they were giving me $100.00 to come over there sat.the 10th.well my husband got one too wow i said this couponing is good they got our names and were going!!guess what just recieved an e-mail sorry we made a mistake its $10.00 so i called them up the lady says sorry but some vendor pushed the wrong button and sent out 10's of thousands of theseso if u come well give u free buffet!!what a joke that casino has more money than i'll ever have and i think u should honor this no maam sorry we don't operate like this it was just a mistake. i get so tired of hearing that i could SCREAM.. So no casino trip for me.

Wait..so you are complaining that instead of getting $100 for free, you only get $10??!!! WOW! I understand the disappointment but come one! If you are on a tight budget it's probably better that you couldn't go to a casino anyway.

[angelmvm]

I'm on a tight budget to so i got so happy the other day when on my e-mail i got a offer to go to the hard rock casino in biloxi and they were giving me $100.00 to come over there sat.the 10th.well my husband got one too wow i said this couponing is good they got our names and were going!!guess what just recieved an e-mail sorry we made a mistake its $10.00 so i called them up the lady says sorry but some vendor pushed the wrong button and sent out 10's of thousands of theseso if u come well give u free buffet!!what a joke that casino has more money than i'll ever have and i think u should honor this no maam sorry we don't operate like this it was just a mistake. i get so tired of hearing that i could SCREAM.. So no casino trip for me.

Depending on how far the drive is.. I'd go anyway. I mean.. free dinner and $10 bucks to drop in the closest video poker.. I'm a happy gal.

Stinks that they got people excited about a $100 offer.. but at least they notified you well in advance of actually arriving.

[tangeemct]

Well I got my review from the shopper site - I get an 8 out of 10. The comment was "Very detailed, great information, use complete sentences" My other shop said "Don't use run on sentences" apparently my grammar stinks. Who'da thunk it?

The 3 legit charges hit my card, the 2 wrong charges are still hanging out in the 'holds' section - 94 bucks worth. Hopefully it will clear up. Meanwhile the manager called back and invited us for dinner on him any time we'd like. Should we take him up on it? I mean technically dinner was on them the first time as I'm sure they are the ones that pay the secret shopper folks who in turn pay me.

I appreciate all your comments and help along the way. Just to let you know, we only use cash or debit. Secret Shoppers must use credit or debit to get refunded. Two years ago I was a victim of Identity Theft and it was awful. 117k in credit and 62k in cash. The bad news is, I can't recover from it and must file bankruptcy trust me three financial advisers tried to correct it. The good news is - there are 6 felony warrants out for the jerk that did this. It is called KNOWN Identity Theft as the person who did this was a guy I dated for 8 months after my divorce.

So now we deal in cash or debit card only. I am on my banks website daily and keep a close eye on every penny. Ya live and learn. Sometimes money issues bother me, but for the most part I have the attitude "I can make more" People were amazed at what the ex boyfriend did to me and they don't understand how it wasn't about the money ever - it was that I trusted someone and they were able to betray me that way. I am still dealing with the feelings of stupidity and self worth of it all but every day gets better.

I'm leaving now because ONCE AGAIN I'm babbling. I really do need to get some sort of life. LOL.

[navybaby1113]

I would go back and honor the manager on his free meal. They did drop a heavy plate on your hand.

[tmsmalley]

Absolutely take up the free meal. They're lucky that they don't have a bill from the ER for you. Put out of your head about who paid for the last meal. As far as the manager knows, you paid for it (5 times!).

Tess

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Hey that stinks! I stopped doing mystery shopping when the only offer here was to review a cell phone shop...how many times can you go in and pretend to be interested in a cell phone? It was the only shop available and they let me do it like 10 times. LOL

I would take the manager up on the free meal...yep def. would do that.

[sewnmom]

I have done secret shopping over the last fifteen years or so. I remember I did them by fax. I was given a fax machine by someone and that thing was put to good use. I was able to do jobs faster by having a fax rather than waiting for the mail. I had to mail in the originals but they processed them on the faxes. When the person gave me the fax, they gave me a whole box of the ink sheet on a roll refills. I rewound those things twice to reuse. It was great! I also used calling cards I got from pepsi or coke products to fax the non 800 number ones! It was a win win win situation.

however I will say this - you need to have some cash available to do the shops. I was always paid on time, still am paid promptly. One company does paper checks, others do paypal and a few will put on a preloaded debit card if you make enough. I was able to get into a routine and I got all my gas paid for by doing six shops one week and then a few the next week then wait a month to do more. I had to buy gas anyway so I just bought a gift card and put the $4.00 in at each station and did my routine. I learned which ones didnt have bathrooms which cuts down drastically on the amount of time you have to spend in the stores.

I had recommended a few friends to MS and one loved it. The other two were complaining they had to spend money on gas or whatever to get paid. That is how it works. If you dont have a bit of money to work with then this isnt for you. However if you find something that you are going to buy anyway (I found gas at a station three blocks from my home and several more all on the way to my kids's schools and where i go on errands) so you can work that into your schedule. It does take some planning but if you are diligent and want to do it, it can be a nice little side income. Hey even just getting your gas for free (and a pack of gum from inside) is a perk that can really help out.

If you get into a rythym or routine with a few companies, you will have money out on expenses. When you get your first pay you have the expense money plus your shop fees. I rolled that over into more shops with another company. After a few months i was clearing a nice sum every month without taking more money out of my pocket.

[christinalkc]

I am always interested in secret shopping but with all the bad economy, I am just so afraid of scammers. How do I find out which ones are reputable ones to work with? Any pointers?

Cheers...

[kleenaechs]

I have mystery shopped for over 10 years, but gave it up a few years ago. I had not had a shop where I couldn't use a credit card to pay, are you sure on that? I understand your issue with them, but you can use a preloaded card you can buy at Walmart and other places. I would just use it for mystery shopping, that way you don't endanger your checking account.
I never had to have separate receipts either. They just paid the amount they paid and not the full bill, no problem. That in it's self could identify you to the server. As far as I know, they will not be given your receipt number or any info that could identify you specifically. However, they may be told what you report. If you mentioned the receipt issues, the server may recall that. You want to not stand out to the place in any way.
You have to report the part about the server dropping the pan on your hand, but it also may identify you. I once was outed as a secret shopper at the Post Office. It was because the package I was sent to mail, had been smashed in transit. The cashier recalled me because my package stood out and she asked me questions about it due to that. It was in no way my fault (I didn't make a bad report on her either) and I wasn't in trouble with the mystery shop company. I was notified I was not able to shop that specific place again because they now knew me as a mystery shopper. So bearing that in mind, I would not go back for the free meal they are offering if you want to be assigned there again.