Shopper FAQ

Before I begin

What is mystery shopping?

How do I apply to become a mystery shopper?

Do you have missions in my area?

Do mystery shoppers have to pay income tax?

Did you send me a cheque in the mail? Is this a scam?

How do you pay your shoppers and how often?

I signed up, but did not receive a login for the new website.

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After I’ve started

I cannot complete my mission on time. What do I do?

I received an email for a mission but it is not on the website. How do I apply for it?

I’m travelling. How do I find missions for a different city?

What are certifications? Why do I have to complete them?

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What is mystery shopping?

There are many resources available on the web that will help explain Mystery Shopping. Our clients pay us to analyze the service and cleanliness of their stores. In turn, we pay people like you to visit the stores, posing “undercover” as a regular shopper, to evaluate the customer service you receive. You then complete a survey, and a few weeks later, we pay you.

Please keep in mind that just because you are posing as an everyday shopper, mystery shopping has nothing to do with being a store detective. You are not there to catch shoplifters, nor to entrap cashiers. You are given a very specific and detailed list of service requirements, and you are then required to comment on each them. There is seldom any role-playing involved. Rather, you are there as a normal, polite, customer that is willing to be served.

If you enjoy shopping and eating out at restaurants and you have a passion for customer service, you will find mystery shopping to be fun! It is flexible as well because you are never obligated to apply for a mission that you do not want to do.

How do I apply to become a mystery shopper?

Please apply online at premierservice.ca. Click on “Become a Shopper”, which will lead you to our mystery shopper supplier application form. The application will take approximately 5-10 minutes to fill out, but many fields are not mandatory.

Do you have missions in my area?

If you live in Canada, then chances are, that yes, there are missions in your city. We have missions in virtually every city and town from sea to shining sea. In the United States, we have a very limited number of missions. Please do not hesitate to take the ten minutes to apply, so that you could be in our shopper list and view the available missions. Premier Service is growing rapidly, so even if we do not presently have shops in your area, we probably will very soon!

Do mystery shoppers have to pay income tax?

As a self-directed supplier of mystery shopping services, you are an independent contractor. Consequently, you will not receive a T4 slip from us at the end of the year, and we will not deduct any taxes or source deductions. If you earn over $500 in one year in mystery shopping fees, we will send you a T4A at the end of the year. Please do not avoid paying taxes. The penalties are not worth it.

Did you send me a cheque in the mail? Is this a scam?

Premier Service does not send cheques in the mail. If you received a cheque from a company claiming to be Premier Service, it’s not from us.

There are many fraudsters out there, and we are not one of them. Premier Service is a well-respected company, in business since 1991. We are members of the MSPA, the Retail Council of Canada, and the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. We also ranked on the PROFIT100 list as one of the Fastest Growing Companies in Canada.

How do you pay your shoppers and how often?

Premier Service pays all mystery shoppers on the 18th of each month for shops performed during the previous month. During these 18 days, our clients will have a chance to verify your surveys, and you will have a chance to confirm the amounts owning. We do all our payments via PayPal, and we cover the PayPal fees. If a shop is $20, you will receive $20 in your PayPal account – not $17.50.

I signed up, but did not receive a login for the new website.

Please check your spam or junkmail folder. You may avoid this occurrence in the future by setting our email domain (@premierservice.ca) as a safe sender. If you do not see an email in your junk or spam email folder, you may retrieve your password by going to the login screen (visit www.premierservice.ca, click on “Login”). Please click on “Forgot password”. You will be prompted for your email address (this is the email address that you used to register on our website). Once you enter your email address, then your password will be emailed to you. You may then log in.

I cannot complete my mission on time. What do I do?

Please contact your scheduler immediately if you are unable to complete a mission on time. We understand that emergencies can happen, so please be sure to let your scheduler know as soon as possible. Please contact your scheduler directly. If you look at your survey summary, there is a direct link to your scheduler’s email account. If you have trouble finding the email address, simply email schedulers@premierservice.ca and explain the situation.

I received an email for a mission but it is not on the website. How do I apply for it?

If a mission shows in an email but is not available when you log into our website, it means that the mission has been assigned to another mystery shopper. Often if we have many mystery shoppers vying for the same missions, and many are very quickly assigned. New missions open up every few days, so please check back regularly!

I’m travelling. How do I find missions for a different city?

It is quick and easy to check for available missions in other cities. Simply go to “Available Missions” from your home page, and then fill in a postal code from the new city and a distance at the top. Please be sure to click “Update Filter” and then you will see current missions for that city.

What are certifications? Why do I have to complete them?

Since upgrading to our new and improved online system for our missions, we require that all of our mystery shoppers complete our brief certification process online. It does not take long to do, and the certification has excellent information about mystery shopping with Premier Service. The important certification to do is the “Basic Certification | All Missions”. The other certifications are only completed on an “as needed” basis, for specific mystery shopping missions.