Company Overview: Sinclair Customer Metrics was started in 1976. They shop a variety of clients including fast food, financial institutions, retail, and automobile [both traditional and video]. Their website is easy to navigate and registration is fairly straightforward at http://www.
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the company displays the BBB Accredited logo on their site but, when checking their BBB listing, the BBB site indicated that Sinclair is not accredited. Nevertheless, the company does have an A+ BBB rating with only one complaint that had to do with a mystery shopper trying to deactivate him/herself. It turned out that the shopper’s contact person had left Sinclair over a year previously and, once Sinclair was made aware of the problem, it was resolved within a matter of hours.
Personal Experience: I had my first video shopping experience with this company. I must say that were it not for the assistance of an experienced video shopper on Mystery Shop Forum, it’s probably safe to say that I would have run away from video shopping. Sinclair sent the most basic of instructions. I’m sure they would have helped a person who had perhaps done a video shop before, but for a video novice, the instructions left something to be desired.
There is one area of difficulty on the company’s website. If you want to look for shops outside of your immediate area, I have found the process for adding Zip Codes to be difficult to find initially.
What Others Have to Say: Most of the comments at www.mysteryshopforum.com that deal with Sinclair seem to revolve around the lowered pay for the work involved. The reports are sometimes lengthy, but most posters feel they are within reason. Narrative is required and opinions vary from excessive to alright, with the majority of posters leaning towards the narrative requirements being neutral to in line with the pay.
At the same time, shoppers praise the company for timely payments, easy and prompt communications, and the shopper being treated like a team member. Based on the comments posted, Sinclair gets a solid “A”.
Overall: Sinclair Customer Metrics, in this author’s opinion, is a company that should be on every shopper’s list. They have projects that are good for beginners and, when I’m working on a route, I do take a look to see if any of their video shops are available to be “fillers” along the way. They have shops that are in malls so, if you’re lucky and the stars align just right, you might find yourself able to pick up three or four shops at one stop.