Company Overview: Founded in 1992, Reality Based Group is a company that provides mystery shops across the United States of America. They provide a variety of mystery shops ranging from valet parking to restaurants. The shop pay ranges from reimbursement only to reaching over twenty dollars. This depends on the specifics as well as the expected length of time needed to complete the shops. Since some assignments can be quite similar to each other, having only minor differences, care must be taken to not confuse the requirements of a current shop with those of a similar, or even nearly identical, shop as this can cause the shop to be invalid and need to be re-shopped. The company uses PayPal for shop payment with completed assignments usually being paid by the twentieth of the month following the month the shops were completed in. An example of this would be for all shops completed in April, they would be paid by May 20^th.

In order to join this company, a potential shopper must first go to the evaluator login page on Reality Based Group’s website. The link is the following:http://www.realitybasedgroup.com/shopperlogin.php. Once on this page, near the bottom and to the right there will be a phrase asking if a potential shopper is a new evaluator. Below this it will give details on how to sign up. At the bottom of this information paragraph, there will be a go hyperlink. This will redirect to a page on the Sassie website for Reality Based Group. It details instructions on how to sign up and there is a link that takes shoppers to an application page. It will need to be filled out in its entirety and an email confirmation will likely be sent. In addition to this, an email verification, to make sure the email that was provided will likely be sent. Once the sign up process is completed, shoppers will be able to go to the job board and see assignments that may be in their area. The search can be performed based on the country, state, or distance from a zip code provided by the shopper. Most of the shops have to be requested instead of it being on a first come first serve system. When requested, a notification will be sent to a scheduler of a shopper’s wish to perform an assignment. If chosen, an email will be sent to notify the shopper of the awarding of the assignment.

On www.mysteryshopforum.com, the reviews are mixed. There were some comments on receipt issues as well as on how the company handles issues. However, it was brought into question as to whether the comment was directed at the right company. Other comments were more neutral such as asking if Reality Based Group offered video shopping since some wanted to expand their business potential. The commenters noted to make sure that the store prints the receipts correctly so that there are no issues when it is time to send the receipts to the company.

Personal Experience: Overall, I have had a good experience with this company. They have shops that are relatively close to my location and are places I enjoy frequenting. The reimbursement is usually more than adequate and I can have the option of bringing someone with me or not, depending on the specifics of the shop requirements. The shops I have done with them have been for restaurants and have been reimbursement only. When there were times when I had to reschedule a visit, due to changes in my work schedule, they were very accommodating and friendly with allowing me to do the shops on a later date. If there were any problems, as I once lost my receipt, they told me that I could go to the site and ask for it, pretending it was for business purposes. Ironically, it actually was for business purposes. I retrieved the time I was there from my notes and was able to successfully obtain my receipt. I was paid for this assignment even though I couldn’t finish the report on time because of the receipt mishap.