Company Overview: Based in Perrysburg, Ohio, Intellishop has been in business since 1999. Perhaps their website describes their business drive the best, “We’re just different. We hope to convey that here, but a website can’t really say everything about who we are, why we’re different, how passionate we are about what we do, why we think we’re the best. And it also leaves out the most important part: getting to know you, and how we might be of service.” The company has both traditional and video shops.
The company is accredited by the local BBB. A check of the file reveals some complaints. Of relevance to mystery shoppers is that Intellishop has become a victim of the “check scam”, where checks are sent to unsuspecting people, they cash them, forward a portion of the money, then discover the checks are bogus.
Registration is fairly straightforward on their site: http://www.intelli-shop.com.
Personal Experience: I have done 11 traditional shops for Intellishop, mostly in automobile sales, although the company does have a wide variety of shops. I have been pleased with the communication that exists between the schedulers and shoppers. I have not completed any video shops with this company.
What Others Have to Say: With over 70 discussions on Mystery Shop Forum, Intellishop is one of the most discussed companies. Some of the typical comments include, “I find they are cheap and petty with their criticisms and shop grades. And they take over 60 days to pay!” and “I used to do a shop for them every few weeks or so. H. A. always wrote me back. Then in 2013, I have sent them some 13 messages (no phone number to call) NO replies from anyone. All of my pending applications just disappear. I am about to deactivate my account and quit wasting my time even checking their available jobs.” Perhaps the most telling exchange was when a shopper received an e-mail advertising a “highly bonused” automobile shop. The shop was $18 instead of the usual $17…
Overall: If you can cut through the superlatives used in their job descriptions, a beginning shopper can find some good jobs to break in with. While their automobile shops do pay on the low end of the spectrum, they are a great training ground to help a novice learn what is expected and can pave the way to more lucrative shops. I did a two-star hotel shop for them and a three-star hotel for another company. Even though the three-star report was reimbursement only, versus a reimbursement plus fee with Intellishop, I found the three-star report much easier to do.
I can draw no conclusions regarding their video shops as I have not performed any video shops for them and the only discussion regarding video shops seems to most likely be a prank, as the OP claims they were given permission to do a covert video shop with a cell phone.