Become a Mystery Shopper for ExxonMobil

If you have a digital camera, a computer and a scanner/printer you are in business. I am relatively new to witing Hubs so bear with me.

I've been a Mystery Shopper for Corporate Researach International for almost one month now. Being retired I wanted to do a little more than I was doing, that is, working with stained glass and carving hiking sticks. I stumbled upon CRI by accident on the internet when I was tracking down a scam whereby I was asked to cash a check for over $2,000, made out to me from a place I had never heard of before. Anyhow, I made contact with Annie Harris (aharris@corpi.com) who got me started. If you do contact her please give her my name and ID# 596845, it will help me out a little and at almost 80 I appreciate any help I can get.

Once you get signed up (for free), you are directed to a page where you put in your zip code. Then you can choose how far out from your place you want to go from 10 miles to 50miles. I stick pretty much to 10 or 15 miles. A list of all the availiable sites come up with the approximate mileage from you zip, the name of the business, the address, a job number and two buttons for each job. One button is bring up a map of the business you have chosen which you can print out. The other button is for details about the business. I have been dealing only with gas stations so far, so the details tell me if they are full service or self service or both; if they have a convience store, a bathroom, etc. The details also list he amount of the commission you will get and what kind of reimbursement you will get.

Generally you are asked to buy an in-store item for $1 or less (I usually get a wmall bag of peanuts) and you will get reimbursed up to a dollar for that purchase. You are also required to make a gas purchase. I usually get $3 or $4 worth of gas at a time. Sometimes the commision is only $4 but sometimes it goes up to $10 or more depending on the time of the month and how many stations they have that need to be "shopped." (sure hope they have a good spell checker on this program.)

You have a list of things you have to look for and a list of pictures you need to take plus you have to either scan the receipt you get for your purchases or take a really clear picture of it. If you don't have a receipt to upload, you won't get paid.. For an Exxon or Mobil station there is a minimum of 4 pictures. If you are doing a Valero station, you will have to upload a copy of the receipt, you don't have to take any pictures.

You will be asked to go into the restroom of your gender, check to see how clellan it is and take an over-all picture or two, especially if you see something wrong, then you will need a close-up of that item. Then you go into the sales area and look around for cleanliness, look at the coffee counter, food counter, fountain counter, check to see if the pricing is easy to see, or there at all. You have to get the name of the person who waited on you and a discription of that person. You have to notice if they have a name tag, if they are wearing a kind of uniform, etc. It is all spelled out for you in the instructions you get with each job assignment. You also have a person in the CRI who is your "schedluar" , she helps you with getting things lined up. My shedular is Vicki and she has saved me a lot of time and worry. You will find out that you can schedule up to 3 jobs in advance and your schedular can sign you up for five jobs in advane.

If you try this out and fine out that you really like doing this, your schedular can set you up with a "route" of from 25 to over 100 jobs in an 18 day period. I do one job a day, 5 days a week. Some Mystery Shoppers will do 5 or more "shops" in a day. They make a lot of money, well, not a huge amount but it is possible for a hustler to make over $800 in that 18 day period. Some, of course, make a little more and many make less.

Being retired and having the time, I guess I could do more but I enjoy doing my 5 each week. It takes me, well let me tell you about the shop I made this morning. I drove up to the pump at 9:34 AM and left the pump at 9:48. That means I went into the store first because the sign on the pump said I had to pay first. So I went into the store and asked for the restroom. I went in, closed the door, looked around. There was a minimal amount of paper on the floor so I didn't mark that down. There was a soap dispenser, paper towels and an air blower, the urinal was clean as was the sink and the stool. I backed into a cornier and took one piecture from one side and another from the other side as fwell as one of the stool area. Everything looked ok and I checked to make sure my pictues were clear and showed what I wanted them to show. The handle in the door was loose but there was one of those sliding bolt things to make the door secure.

When I filled out the online form I made note of that. Then I went out into the sales area, checked the floor and mats, the coffee area, the food area and the fountain area for litter, spills, etc. I walked around by the coolers to make sure they loooked clean and that they were well stocked without too many gaps in the products. I looked at the shelves in the snack area to see if they were well stocked and priced correctly. They weren't. I picked up a .59 bag of peanuts and took them to the checkout counter. I noticed if the checkout counter was clean and uncluttered as I walked up to it. I also noticed how many clerks there were and how many cash registers were open. I noticed if the my clerk had on a uniform or street clothes or a combination of both. I also noticed if he/she had a name tag and what the name was; I also noticed how tall the person was, color of hair and length, if they were wearing glasses and about how tall they were. I paid attention to the greeting I received, how fast the transaction was and how accurate. I had to ask for a receipt, no receipt no pay. When I turned to go I also made not of wht kind of "goodby" I received.

I walked out to the pump which the clerk had turned on for me before I left the store. I was getting $4 worth of gas. As I pumped the gas I took note of the pump (#11), what kind of condition it was in as well as the hose and the nozzle. Was there a squeege and paper. I washed the rear window of the car. Were the trashbaskets neat and clean or were they overflowing. Was the big signs by the road in good condition, if they had landscaping was it in good condition. I had pulled forward enough when I arrived so that I could get a full picture of the pump and the surrounding area.. When I took a picture of the big sign by the road I took in some of the landscaping. Just before I left I took a picture of the store front and the lot. I marked down the time and I pulled away. It took me about 14 minutes to do all of that. The first time I did a job it took a lot longer.

So that's it. I enjoy doing this, it gets me out and moving and I feel that i am doing something worthwhile. Take care and be careful driving, there's a lot of nuts out there.

Jim Burnett