Company Overview: Located in Lincoln, NE, Service Research Corporation has been in business for about 20 years. There is no data on their site regarding the industries and areas they serve. Going through the Prophet system, I was able to determine they currently have a restaurant in two or three states. Their website is http://www.serviceresearch.com….
Written by Dspeakes. This is part of a special series of articles about tax essentials for mystery shoppers. Click here to view all of the articles. Part 2: Deductible or not? When you are in business you can deduct anything that you incurred solely because of your business, as long as it is “ordinary and…
Company Overview: Founded in 1994 in Pacific Grove, CA, Service Check (not to be confused with International Service Check), was the first 100% web based mystery shopping company. They have a wide variety of clients in the retail sector. In addition to traditional mystery shops, Service Check also conducts competitor shops and telephone shops. Registration…
Overview: Signal piracy shops is a fancy way of saying showing a program without paying for the right to show it. Generally you’re going to be shopping a bar. The bar can be any type of establishment, from a relatively classy place to a dive. Project variations: There’s pretty much no variation from assignment to…
Written by Sue De La Bruere, Jancyn Mystery Shopping You have accepted your mystery shopping assignments, carefully read all instructions, appeared at the right place at the right time, and taken copious notes about the encounter on your smartphone. Now you are ready to head to your computer and create the perfect report that thoroughly…
Company Overview: Founded in 1992 in Columbus, Ohio, Anonymous Insights prides itself on being a MSC that is 100% female owned and operated. The company on their website lists that they have clients in the following industries: retail, restaurant, grocery, gas stations, convenience stores, mass merchandisers, banking, automotive, lodging, and airports. As I was finishing…
Company Overview: Founded in 1998 in Napierville, IL, Ann Michaels & Associates began serving businesses in the Midwest with reports being filed by mail and fax. As the technology changed because of the personal computer, AM&A changed with the times, obtaining a quicker turn around for reporting and being able to expand their service area….
Written By Dspeakes. Part 1: Record keeping for the Schedule C Imagine how easy it is to do a tax return when you start out with easy access to the right information. What is the right information? Accurate sums for the income you received, the expenses you had totaled by type, a mileage log for…
Overview: Not all audits are revealed. I recently completed an audit for an upscale manufacturer where I was to pose as a typical customer interested in purchasing their top of the line product. Project variations: You may not always be assigned a top of the line product. In any case, be observant for attempts to…
Company Overview: Business Evaluation Services was founded by the current President, Charles Stiles. Charles comes from a background in retail; owning a number of retail gift stores in national malls for over 8 years. Quickly realizing the only way to really differentiate his stores and stand out from the competition was to develop a consistent…
Company Overview: ASCAP was founded by composer Victor Herbert in New York City on February 13, 1914, to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members, who were mostly writers and publishers associated with New York City’s Tin Pan Alley. ASCAP’s earliest members included the era’s most active songwriters—Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and John Phillip…
Overview: The last time I was in one of these “Adult Entertainment” emporiums was in the early 80’s shortly after graduating college. At the time, these were places where you generally went at night, parked behind the building or, if you were forced to park on the street side, you did your best to back…
It’s the New Year. Time to turn over a new leaf, get rid of the bad habits and improve yourself for 2014. OK, who am I kidding? Realistically we can all find areas to improve. I contacted some shoppers on www.mysteryshopforum.com and asked them, on the condition of anonymity, to share some of their mystery…
Company Overview: Based in Tampa, FL, Regal Hospitality Group is, “a quality assurance/integrity shopping firm that provides an array of services for hotels, resorts, restaurants and retail shops around the world.” There is no obvious indication of how long the MSC has been in business, although their website has a copyright date of 2008. Personal…
Company Overview: Faith Perceptions, based in Cape Girardeau, MO, actually does mystery shop churches. Actually, I prefer what they call the program on their website—Mystery Guest. While the company offers several programs for churches, the one of interest to shoppers is the Mystery Guest program where you evaluate the friendliness of a congregation towards visitors….