Mystery Shopping Tips

This is one of the larger mystery shopping companies out there. They specialize in “Financial Services” mystery shopping. Which means if you sign up for them, they’ll pay you to go out and evaluate the customer services of various banks. Including Capital One, Chase, TD Bank, and Wells Fargo.

So…What will you do as a mystery shopper for this company? In short, you will go to their website and apply for assignments. If you are accepted, you will need to review the requirements, then visit the business at the correct time, complete all the required tasks, and then submit your report.

Be sure you understand the assignment requirements before going out to do the shop. If you have any questions, contact Ath, or ask on a mystery shopping forum.

Shopper Sign-up and Login Information

Athpower has a seperate domain name just for it’s mystery shoppers. From their you can sign up, log-in, and find mystery shopping assignments in your area.

Here’s the URL:

http://www.athpoweronline.com/index.norm.php

They have a good reputation among mystery shoppers. They are known to be slow to pay, but they always pay on time. They usually pay by check. Expect payment up to 2 months after the shop is completed.

Some shoppers have complained that Ath Power’s phone shops don’t pay enough for the work involved.

In short, this is a well established, legitimate mystery shopping company. For a company their size, there are relatively few complaints about them. They are the fifth most discussed company on MysteryShopForum.com. (View their discussions here.)

Scam Warning

Be aware that many mystery shopping companies are victims of ‘identity theft.’ This means that you may be offered an assignment by someone posing as a representative of Ath Power. To avoid this, make sure you only apply to assignments directly through their website.

Also, NEVER deposit large checks as part of a mystery shopping assignment. In general, if something seems ‘too good to be true’, it most definitely is. Especially in the world of mystery shopping.

If you’re looking for a new mystery shopping company to sign up with, one option is Certified Field Associates. They are mystery shopping company, as well as a merchandising, and auditing company. They were recently acquired by Market Force, which is quickly becoming the behemoth of the mystery shopping industry.

They are now known as the “Purple Portal” part of Market Force.

To get started working with Certified Field Associates, you can sign up here.

Their have been conflicting reports of payment difficulties with this company on MysteryShopForum. Though, I would not let this get in the way of giving them a try, especially now that they are owned by Market Force.

Types of Assignments Available

Certified offers a number of types of assignments, including:

• Trailer Checks. Basically, you get to go to the movies to make sure the right ‘trailers’ are playing before the movie starts.
• Seat counts, open checks, and blind checks. Each of these involves counting the number of seats, or the number of patrons.
• Retail auditing.
• Mystery Shopping.
• Promotional display setup.

As you can see, many of these assignments are quite different than the typical mystery shopping assignment. If you’re getting bored with mystery shopping, these types of assignments might be a good change of pace. Certified Field Associates is a good place to get started.

Certified Field Associates Scam Warning

Keep in mind, this is a legitimate company, with real assignments. However, there are scam artists out there who occasionally pose as this company in an attempt to con unsuspecting people.

Fortunately, these scams are almost always very easy to spot. Basically, they send you a large check and ask you to deposit it. From their, you’re usually asked to ‘complete an assignment’, and then wire money back to the company.

The catch is, the check is either fake or has been stolen. And then you’re left owing a lot of money when the check bounces. Be warned: Sometimes the check seems very legitimate. Your bank might even say it is real. But it is not. Never accept a large check as part of a mystery shopping assignments. Even if they’re from “Certified Field Associates.” You’ll never earn more than $10-$50 as part of an assignment.