Confero is a Fortune 500 customer experience measurement firm that specializes in mystery shopping services. Founded in 1986 and based in Cary, North Carolina, Confero is one of the larger mystery shopping companies around today. Confero is a charter member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Other affiliations include the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Better Business Bureau, and other local North Carolina business and commerce organizations.

Mystery shopping jobs with Confero are available in all 50 United States, Guam and Puerto Rico. Confero has an international presence in Canada, China, Europe, Japan and Mexico.

Confero client companies range from the banking and finance, automotive, food and beverage, airport, and retail industries. Shops are offered in either an on-site or telephone format. Shop fees range from $5-30. Many shops require a purchase and a reimbursement is offered in addition to the shop fee. Reimbursement amounts vary from shop to shop.

Payments to shoppers are made via paypal. This is currently the only form of payment the Confero uses. All payments are made within 60 days of the shops. Payments are sent out bi-monthly; on or near the 10th of the month and again on or around the 25th of the month. For example, shops performed and submitted January 1-15 would be paid on February 25th. Shops performed and submitted January 16-31 would be paid on March 10th. When pay dates fall on a holiday or weekend, payments are made the following business day. Confero requires that shoppers use the same email address to register with their company that you use to sign up with paypal.

Schedulers use the Sassie system for assigning mystery shop opportunities. When registering, you provide certain demographics that are used to determine your eligibility for shops. If a search is performed and you are within the criteria, you will be contacted via email with shop details. At that point you will access the job board and apply or self-assign the shop if interested.

Once you have been assigned a shop, you will receive email confirmation of the assignment. The shop will show up on your Shopper Log in the Confero Sassie system. If the shop is assigned to another shopper, you will also be notified by email that the shop is closed.

MysteryShopForum.com has numerous discussion threads regarding Confero. The overall consensus is that Confero is a well established and reliable company. A long pay cycle is noted by shoppers on the forum but they also report that they are paid on time per Confero guidelines. Negatives about Confero include picky editors who at times provide unclear feedback or none at all and the occasional rude scheduler. Topics regarding the company are noted on the forum back to 2006. Visit Confero on MysteryShopForum to review threads and topics regarding Confero.

I have personally completed about 3 shops for Confero. My first shop was a popular grocery chain and the experience was not fun, to say the least. I found the requirements a bit extensive considering the measly $10 fee, but I was a newer shopper and wanted to earn my stripes. I earned a 7 for my shop report and vowed to think really hard before accepting one of these shops again. One other personal experience occurred when a local gym facility shop opened up. I was sent an email from a scheduler asking if I could complete the shop which had been bonused at this point. I agreed to complete the shop and it was assigned to me. The day before the shop, I received an email from another scheduler stating that “as I know” I had been assigned to the shop as a back-up in case the other shopper did not complete the shop and that they had in fact completed the shop, so I was not needed. I was not aware of being assigned as a back up as it was never indicated in my initial communication with the first scheduler nor was back-up indicated in my shopper log anywhere. Furthermore, the shop completion date was for one day and one day only. So, I’m not sure what happened, but I found it weird and didn’t appreciate being assigned a shop and then having it ripped from me for who knows what reason. Otherwise, I have always been paid on time by Confero, though they do have a longer pay scheduler.

If you would like to become a shopper for Confero, visit this link to sign up. The company utilizes the Sassie mystery shopping system which offers an ease of use as well as a high level of internet security. You can feel comfortable entering in your information as the site is SSL secured.