Overview: A Customer’s Point of View, Inc. (ACPVIEW) is a privately owned corporation founded in 1997 and headquartered in McDonough, GA. The company provides mystery shopper services, service discrimination testing, customer service and telephone evaluations and training throughout the US. According to the business’ website, ACPVIEW services the retail, food service, transportation, utility and housing…
Overview: All-Star Customer Service (ASCS) is a privately owned corporation established in 2002 and headquartered in Crowley, TX. The company conducts mystery shopping and audit assignments in the US, Canada, Mexico and Central Europe. They specialize in the retail, hospitality, healthcare and financial industries. After an extensive search of the BBB, even though All-Star Customer…
Overview: Customer Impact, LLC is a privately owned mystery shopping company, founded in 2008. It is based in Bryan, TX and serves over 100 clients in the restaurant, hospitality, grocery, retail and financial sectors. The business and has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. New shoppers can register at: https://www.sassieshop.com/sassie/SassieShopperSignup/Signup.php?EmsID=BK1I8MXAf18. MSM talks…
Overview: Business verifications, also known as on-site inspections, are conducted for the purpose of determining the legitimacy of a business and to prevent fraud. The clients are typically credit reporting agencies and resellers, background check suppliers and financial institutions. The in-depth inspections are all revealed; the photos-only assignments are usually unrevealed. Since 2007, credit reporting…
Company Overview: Favored Panel, Inc. is a privately owned company headquartered in Westbury, NY. The business was incorporated in 2011. According to the Favored Panel website, they operate throughout the United States and offer inspection and audit services to “retailers, banks, mortgage companies, insurance providers, credit bureaus, and any company that needs a national or…
Company Overview: Mintel Group Ltd. is a privately owned, global market intelligence agency, based in London. Mintel was founded in 1978 and, today, maintains offices in London, Chicago, Shanghai, Belfast, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Munich, New York, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. The business is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has earned…
Company Overview: Primo Solutions, LLC is a privately owned, full service Mystery Shopping, Training and Consulting company based in Phoenix, AZ. It was established in 2007 and is headquartered in Phoeniz, AZ. The company specializes in the senior housing industry and offers services throughout the United States and Canada. Primo Solutions has earned an A+…
Company Overview: Measure Consumer Perspective (MCP) is a privately owned company, which engages in mystery shopping, brand auditing, compliance checks, and field research. It is headquartered in Louisville, KY. Their clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and interest groups and offer category experience in healthcare, multi-family housing, senior care, financial services, insurance,…
Company Overview: Edlund Data Services (EDS) is a privately owned mystery shopping and market research recruiting company. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Silver Lake, MN, located 60 miles west of Minneapolis-St. Paul. EDS specializes in recruiting for small projects and hard-to-fill locations, although they do also offer scheduling and editing services…
Company Overview: KSS International (KSS) is a privately owned company, headquartered in Boston, MA. They schedule, recruit and edit for the mystery shopping, merchandising and demonstration industries. Currently, KSS has the resources to provide contractors throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Puerto Rico. KSS enjoys an A+ rating…
We just got a press release from SurfMerchants, publishers of the Sassie and Presto mystery shopping software platforms. They’ve just announced their plans for new software that could change the industry dramatically. Businesses will be able to order “spot check” mystery shops with the press of a few buttons. Here’s what they sent us: John…
Company Overview: Ocean Road Consulting is a privately owned training, human resource consulting and mystery shopping firm. It is based in Bluffton, SC. New shoppers can register at Ocean-Road-Consulting.com MSM talks with Patricia Licata, PhD, Founder: MSM: After spending over a decade in high-level executive positions in corporate America, you founded New Heights Consulting Partners,…
Company Overview: ACE Mystery Shopping is a privately owned mystery shopping company, headquartered in Warrensburg, MO. They service a broad range of industries, with clients in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. The business enjoys an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. New shoppers can register at http://www.acemysteryshopping.com/. MSM talks with Julie Simbro, CEO,…
Overview: Presto Insta-Shops was created by the makers of SASSIE with the goal of providing shops, which were faster, easier and simpler for everyone involved. Just as the name implies, it allows for instant program creation, instant shopper sign-up, instant self-assign, instant surveys, instant review and almost instant payment (within days). John Hsu, Co-Founder of…
Company Overview: CIMA Insight is a privately owned mystery shopping company (MSC) headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The business specializes in providing customer experience evaluations for the banking industry. For more information, see our previous review of this company. New shoppers can register at here. MSM talks with Ellen Schlafer, Chief Executive Officer: MSM: In…
Company Overview: CIMA Insight is a privately owned mystery shopping company (MSC), headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The company was founded in 2010 by Ellen Schlafer and sold in 2012 to 360Current, “a full service marketing, advertising and digital agency”. Current360 enjoys an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Registration: New shoppers can register…
Mystery shopping scams are a frequent topic of discussion on Mystery Shop Forum. Often it starts with a post asking, “Is this a scam?” The poster is sometimes posing the question a little too late—after they have deposited the fraudulent check. To those who are familiar with the scammers’ typical modus operandi, it appears obvious;…
Overview: Members of Mystery Shop Forum have frequently asked if it is financially feasible to survive solely on mystery shopping income. Volunteers, who were successfully earning $2,000 or more per month, were solicited and Mystery Shopper Magazine is proud to present the fifth in a series of interviews on the topic. MSM talks with MJT9598:…
Company Overview: Eagle Eye Retail Intelligence (EERI), is a privately owned video mystery shopping company. It was incorporated in 2006 by Jonathan and Cherie Przybyl and is headquartered in Gilbert, AZ. The company specializes in the retail industry. The business is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has earned an A+ rating. New shoppers…
Company Overview: LeBlanc & Associates is a privately owned sales performance evaluation company. It was incorporated in 1997 by Mary LeBlanc and is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. The company’s singular focus is on the housing industry and it currently services the continental US and Canada. The business enjoys an A+ rating with the Better Business…
Overview: White Clay is a privately owned company, headquartered in Louisville, KY. It was co-founded in 2006, by Mac Thompson and Mike Wright. White Clay offers Information Solutions, Management Consulting and Customer Experience services. The business enjoys an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Shoppers can register here. MSM talks with Ziggy Zubric, Customer…
Mystery Shopper Magazine is pleased to present the fifth in a series of mystery shopping scheduler interviews. In this issue, we bring you the scheduler, who is well known for his humorous email titles, such as, “I’m Going To Learn Spanish and Assign All The $5 Spanish Phone Shops For Monday To Myself! Apply While…
Overview: BARE International (BARE) is a privately owned mystery shopping company and customer research evaluation firm, headquartered in Fairfax, VA. It also has offices located around the globe in Antwerpen, Belgium , Africa, Russia, Budapest, Hungary, Sao Paulo, Brazil , Santiago, Chile, Shanghai, China and Mumbai, India. BARE was founded in 1987 by Dale Bare…
Overview: Sensors Quality Management, Inc. (SQM) is a privately owned company, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was co-founded in 1993 by former Ryerson University classmates, David Lipton and Craig Henry, when they recognized a need for Mystery Shopping within the hospitality industry. Throughout the years, the company has expanded its focus and grown its…
Overview: In 2000, Elaine Moran founded Mystery Shoppers Training Group, which offers basic mystery shopping classes at over 30 community colleges throughout California. In addition, Elaine has written a book, “How To Become a Mystery Shopper”. The book is both a comprehensive guide and a great resource for beginning mystery shoppers. MSM talks with Elaine…
Mystery Shopper Magazine is pleased to present the first in a series of interviews with mystery shopping web developers, SurfMerchants LLC. They are the creators of, among many other products, SASSIE, GeoVerify, Presto Insta-Shops and PrestoMap. Note to Readers: This started out as a (yawn) interview with the founders of SASSIE, however as we read…
Mystery Shopper Magazine is pleased to present the fourth in a series of mystery shopping scheduler interviews. Overview: Traveliz lives in Central Illinois with her husband. Together, they own a second home in Windermere, FL, which is located about twenty minutes away from Orlando. She almost literally broke into mystery shopping in 1998, while indulging…
Overview: Members of Mystery Shop Forum have frequently asked if it is financially feasible to survive solely on mystery shopping income. Volunteers, who were successfully earning $2,000 or more per month, were solicited and Mystery Shopper Magazine is proud to present the fourth in a series of interviews on the topic. MSM talks with LisaSTL:…
Mystery Shopping Magazine is pleased to present the third in a series of mystery shopping scheduler interviews. MSM talks turkey with Erika Wooton, ACE Mystery Shopping Scheduler: MSM: Please give us an overview of your life before you entered the world of mystery shopping and tell us what led you to the job of scheduler…
Overview: Members of the Mystery Shop Forum have frequently asked if it is financially feasible to survive solely on mystery shopping income. Volunteers, who were successfully earning $2,000 or more per month, were solicited and Mystery Shopper Magazine is proud to present the third in a series of interviews on the topic. This interview differs…
Disclaimer: These suggestions are solely the opinion of the author. As widely documented on Mystery Shop Forum, one shopper’s “best” shops are another shopper’s “worst” shops. In addition, many more shops could have been mentioned, but due to space limitations, only five examples were cited. Welcome to the World of Mystery Shopping, New Shopper! Although…
Overview: Members of the Mystery Shop Forum have frequently asked if it is financially feasible to survive solely on mystery shopping income. Volunteers, who were successfully earning $2,000 or more per month, were solicited and Mystery Shopper Magazine is proud to present the second in a series of interviews on the topic. MSM talks with…
Overview: Sales Quality Research Group (SQG) is a privately owned company, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in 1993 and incorporated in 1997 by Jim Rensel, the principal owner and President, and Dr. Kenneth Kehrer, a part owner. SQG provides research services for banks, thrifts and credit unions, as well as their brokerage firm…
Members of the Mystery Shop Forum have frequently asked if it is financially feasible to survive solely on mystery shopping income. Volunteers, who were successfully earning $2,000 or more per month, were solicited and Mystery Shopper Magazine is proud to present the first in a series of interviews on the topic. MSM talks with Ms….
Overview: Dixie Whiskey resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with her husband and two children. She began mystery shopping July 22, 2013 and, in the middle of October of this year, accepted a full time field coordinator position with Service Metrics, Inc. (SMI) in Toronto. In her new role, she does both scheduling and editing, while…
Mercantile Systems Inc. (MSI) is a privately owned company, headquartered in Brentwood, CA. It was founded, in 1954, by Robert Cosgrove and focused totally on mystery shopping. Today, MSI also offers its clients a multitude of other services, such as compliance audits, sales improvement programs, training seminars, employee theft monitoring and management and much more….
We are pleased to present this interview with Shelly Martin, a scheduler for Kern Scheduling Services. Shelly is the 2014 winner of the Scheduler of the Year Contest presented by Mystery Shop Forum. She received quite a bit of praise from shoppers during the contest. If you’d like to learn more about Shelly, be sure…
Mystery Shop Forum debuted on July 27, 2006. Jacob Jans, then age 24, created it with the hopes it would become a valuable resource for both new and experienced mystery shoppers. Mystery Shopper Magazine, an online publication, was introduced in February of 2012 and espoused similar goals. MSM Talks with Jacob Jans, Owner, Administrator and…
Overview: TrendSource, originally Mystery Shoppers, Inc., is a privately owned mystery shopping company, headquartered in San Diego, CA. Kevin Moll and his brother, Rodney Moll, founded the company in 1989, when Kevin Moll was looking for a company to “shop” his restaurant. Today, TrendSource serves clients in the retail, healthcare and restaurant industries as well…
Overview: Market Force is a privately owned mystery shopping and customer intelligence company, co-founded in 2005 by three successful businessmen, Karl Maier, Paul Berberian and Rushton McGarr. It is based in Louisville, CO and serves over 350 of the leading brands in the restaurant, grocery, retail and financial sectors, and the movie theatre and motion…
Overview: Customer Impact is a privately owned mystery shopping company, founded in 2008. It is based in The Woodlands, TX and serves over 50 clients in the restaurant, hospitality, grocery, retail and financial sectors. They have an A- rating with the BBB. (The BBB states it does not have sufficient background information on this business,…
Second To None is a privately owned mystery shopping company headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI. Jeff Hall, the current CEO, founded the company in 1989. Today, Second To None serves clients in the food and beverage, retail, healthcare, financial services and hospitality industries as well as in the public sector. They have an A+ rating…
I dabbled briefly in mystery shopping in 2009, which I should not really count, since I had no idea what I was doing and it was such a short-lived venture. My specialty was Maritz and whatever they dared to send my way. Fast forward, four years later: We relocated from the frozen tundra of Illinois…
From the early 1980s until the mid-1990s, I had an incredible job with American Airlines at a major airport. The wonderful job was made even more wonderful by the awesome employee recognition programs. One such program, which recognized exceptional customer service, was called “Run Through the Warehouse” and was held in a large building on…