Thought I would start a new thread dedicated to these guys!
They get a bad rep on the green site but I actually really rate them as a company. A search on the green site will reveal people getting ‘the sack’ for no reason and complaining about low fees, while this may have been true years ago it has not been my experience for the last 3 years. They’re lovely on the phone, always helpful, and you can get high premiums on last minute assignments.
They are a mystery shopping company who ALWAYS have work. However, you have to be clever, as their base fee for a golden arches burgers assignment is just £4 (plus a reimbursed meal). I never do assignments for £4. On average I get double or treble this value, plus a free meal, simply by waiting until the last minute to offer my services for an assignment, and asking them for higher fees.
This company pay a month in arrears. So assignments I complete in July I’ll get paid for at the end of August. This means you can need up to £30 or more of your own money up front to pay for meals, depending on how many assignments you do, which won’t be reimbursed until the following month. If you’re not okay with that, this isn’t for you.
Here’s my handy guide to making Gapbuster work for you.
1) You have to be comfortable taking accurate lap timings to the second on your mobile phone, or similar device, without being *too* obvious. For the burger shops, you start the timer when you join the queue – this is easy. Simply play on your phone in the queue, it looks natural. The second time will be at the counter, when they’ve told you the total price of the meal. The third time is also at the counter after you have received all your items including drink. I keep my phone below the counter and pretend I’m texting. I know other people set the voice recorder app going and then give the speaker three sharp taps at each timing point. Find a way that’s comfortable and works for you. Personally I use the stopwatch app on my phone and just try to be casual.
2) Don’t worry if you’re recognised. By the time I’ve ordered, my regular restaurants have usually either recognised me, or twigged that my order of one of 5 or 6 extra value meals, to eat in, on my own, during a MS time slot (8-10am, 12-2pm or 5-7pm) at a time they know they are due a MS… basically, they almost always figure it out. If they don’t figure now, asking for a receipt always does it! Then you’ll notice:
* The manager suddenly appears over the MoS’s shoulder checking they do everything correctly and ask the right questions.
* Suddenly MoS will appear on the shop floor giving out balloons to the children
* There’ll be two or three MoS repeatedly cleaning the same area around you
* A MoS will beat you to the toilet to check that it’s clean
* You will be asked if your meal is okay – while those around you are ignored.
* An MoS will hold the door open for you, full of smiles.
* One site a couple of times even approached me with a bit of scrap paper and a pen asking me for some ‘feedback on my visit’!!! Umm, no!
This is what I like to call their ‘floor show’ ! Yes, they’ve recognised you and they know that you know they have… but just play along. I’ve had some lovely conversations with managers that I recognise. They’ll always ask you if it was okay – don’t ever say anything except a polite non-committal response. Your report goes online, not direct to the managers!
3) Know your local fast food places. (PM me) I have one opposite my house, three by my work, and many more nearby. I personally don’t have a lot of time so I stick to the ones near me. If you have to travel far, it will be less worth your while.
4) Be flexible. The best value assignments are the urgent, last minute kinds. Once you’ve shown you’re reliable and consistent, they will ring you with urgent assignments that might need doing that day or the next day, or reshops. I’ve done assignments for a £20 or £30 profit before. This isn’t the norm! But it happens often enough. On a ‘normal’ month, I’ll do my regular ones for between £8-12 profit. For 15 minutes in the shop and 15 minutes on the report (I know the questions off by heart and I have it down to a fine art). This means if you can do a few a month, it’s an easy £50.
5) You don’t have to eat all the food! I don’t mind the odd one, but if you’re doing this regularly, you really don’t want to be eating the entire meal. I tend to sample a few fries, then stuff a napkin in the top of the container, and sample a bite or two of the main, then close up the packaging. I sit there sipping my drink on my phone for the rest of the time, then bin it. If you do takeaway assignments, find a homeless person and donate your meal to them once you’ve sampled it. GAP only need to check the food is hot and neatly presented, this doesn’t require you to consume it all! They’ve said this to me directly, so you will still get paid.
6) Don’t be upset if they challenge your report – but ensure it’s accurate.
All they really care about is the timing. Make sure it’s accurate, to the second. Make sure you keep a notes app in your phone and just jot down the timing for each assignment, in case of a query. It will generally come a few days, or up to a week later, when the report has gone to the restaurant and they realise the timing was out of their target. So what they do is challenge you. You get an email, often in the middle of the night, asking you to confirm the timings and some other details. You must reply within 12 hours or they do a reshop. Simply restate your timings and you don’t hear any more. Also be prepared for them to identify you – they have CCTV, and they know how to spot you.
7) ALWAYS GET A RECEIPT!
Get into the habit. After they’ve given you your meal and you’ve stopped timing so can focus, ask for the receipt. The card or the VAT receipt is fine, either. Anything with the date and time on it to prove you were there.
8) Don’t order anything but what’s on the required list. You don’t want to buy a meal and go to the effort of the report to realise you bought the wrong one and you won’t get paid a thing.
9) Don’t be afraid to ask for more money!
I’ve been working for them for years and I never allocate the assignments myself on the website. Two or three assignments this month were showing for a £6 fee (plus reimbursement). I emailed them and said I could do the assignments on x,y,z dates at specific times for £8 fee each (reimbursement). They said yes. If they can’t go any higher as they aren’t urgent enough, they’ll tell you. If you agree to do it for the lower fee, they can give you supermarket or petrol assignments (very quick) to make it more worth your while. There’s absolutely no harm in asking. Don’t ask, don’t get! This is particularly true on the phone. When they have you on the phone, ask them what they have, and make them an offer. They’ll check with their supervisor and 9/10 they can do it for the higher value.
10) Don’t be afraid to say no.
If they want me to travel 1 hour across town for a measley fee, I tell them it’s too far. Tell them it’s not worth your while. They’ll still offer you work. You aren’t obliged to do a certain number of assignments for them. I last did some in February/March and I’ve dipped back in this week and they’ve been fine with me. That’s after ignoring their calls and emails for 3 months!
Oh and if/when they ask, you love eating fast food!