are secret shoppers for real?

Question

are they a sham and if they are not were can i sign up.

Answer 1

Yes, secret shopper (or mystery shopper) is a real legitimate occupation. I do that for about 3 years. It will give you some income, however it is very difficult to make a living doing just mystery shopping. It is more lucrative in a large metropolitan areas. You can sign for many companies for free. Don't let anyone charge you a fee for signing. All mystery shopping companies warn their potential shoppers about that. Just do a search on "Mystery shopping companies", and you will find hundreds of them. This site will help you start: http://www.bmiltd.com/index.html

Answer 2

I don't know that I would pay anyone for that. I worked for two grocery store chains in the past and they each employed secret shoppers. They hired them on their own and I'm not sure that service could help you get hired in any way. Than again, $20 is not alot of money so, if you really want to do it, it may be worth $20 just to find out.

Answer 3

They are indeed real. I used to work for a casino and secret shoppers would come in to test how well we reacted to customers and to make sure we played nice, lol.

There are agencies that usually will do such things, as will Private Investigaters. I'm afraid I do not have exact agency names, but I'm sure you'll have a few answers with sugestions.

Answer 4

I did a secret shopping job a couple of years ago, and while there are legit companies out there, most don't pay much money. You will most likely get some lame job like I did...shopping a retirement community under the guise that I'm looking for a place for my in-laws. I got $14 for it. Not worth the 2 hours I spent doing the shop. The other jobs I get send are worth a couple of bucks and take more time than they are worth too. If you are looking for a way to make lots of money, this isn't it.

Answer 5

Mystery shoppers are very real. I work in a restaurant and we had a mystery shopper. Basically their job is to see what is going wrong in a restaurant or shopping place and report it to the right people to correct it and then it is publicize to the public so that restaurant receives kudos or the receive the middle finger.

Answer 6

Great article about secret shoppers
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol121/mystery.htm

Answer 7

They are real. I did that for about a year at our local department stores, some coffee shops and restaurants - great work, but you gotta be on your toes. In a way, it's nice to be able to have an effect with those real nasty salespeople that give you attitude, and be able to award the ones that are great! At least, you hope that's what happens ...

Answer 8

Some companies are legitimate and yes, this is a legitimate opportunity. However, like every other endeavor, you have to be careful to sort the good from the bad. Never give your bank account number (for direct deposit) until you have received several checks from the company. Good luck. There are ads in newspapers everywhere as well as the internet.

Answer 9

Yes they are for real. They are used for several reasons. I know of a major corporation that uses them to find if a vendor is properly using their product as promised. Sort of a "checks and balances" method. They will send someone to that shop posing as a customer to poke/nose around and report back with the results. I understand, though, that it does not pay well and there are a lot of scam ones out there. Please do your research on the companies you apply with (Better Business Bureau listings to start with- on the Internet). Good Luck with your search!

Answer 10

No i tried do not waste your time or money. I did , and when i got the pamphlet i called like 30 differ ant business to secret shop and they all had differ ant excuses as to why i couldn't work for them. Then i called the company that sold me the pamphlet and they said no refunds. Just remember if it is too good to be true it probably is.