You want to be a mystery shopper but aren’t sure which service providers are your best choice? This is an evaluation of the Premier Service mystery shopping provider to help you assess your options.
Service provider company
Premier Service
www.premierservice.ca
Premier Service was founded in 1991 and provides services across Canada with their corporate offices in Montréal, Québec. They have shopping missions in both English and French.
Premier Service works in mystery shopping services but also merchandising services, customer satisfaction surveys, and others. They are active in retail, the service industry, manufacturing and distribution, but also marketing and market research.
Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA)
Premier Service is a member of the MSPA. They are specifically associated with MSPA Americas and follow the same code of ethics as all other member companies.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Premier Service is not listed with the Better Business Bureau.
Cost to you
Registration: free
Mobile app download: N/A
Supporting app: MobiAudit – free
Pay range
Premier Service has a large variety of shopping types. They pay you within the range of $4.50 CAD to $60.00 CAD plus expenses per shopping mission. Keep in mind, you can only claim the expenses they have outlined in the shopping instructions. Examples of expenses:
- An item you buy to evaluate the service
- A promotional item you buy to confirm pricing
- Sometimes you can claim mileage expenses if you need to travel beyond your own neighbourhood to perform your tasks
Occasionally, they have more premium shopping missions which pay higher rates. But those missions will be given to shoppers who have proven their reliability and have good quality records.
Read our article, Mystery Shopper 101 – How Can You Be Great and Earn More?
Payment method
Premier Service pays through PayPal so you need to ensure you can receive payment:
- When you register as a mystery shopper, ensure the email you use for registration is the same email you use for PayPal
- If you registered with a different email, then you need to add that email to your PayPal account
Payment frequency
Premier Service mystery shopping makes payments by the 18th of the month following the month when you completed the shops.
For example, if you did your shops in May, then you get paid by the 18th of June. Before you get paid, Premier Service sends you an invoice that lists all your shops so you can confirm the amount is accurate before they pay you.
We can personally tell you that Premier Service is very reliable and they pay on time.
Report submission
When you have finished your shopping mission you must enter your report or survey online.
Premier Service lets you enter that information from their shopper site. Or you can use the free MobiAudit mobile application (only if confirmed an option for that particular shopping mission).
Either way, your reports must be done within 12 hours of completing your shopping mission. That is a much shorter timeline than most other service providers who accept 24 hours. If you are unable to meet that deadline, you should not accept the mission.
Website usability
Premier Service has a fairly easy shopper site interface containing:
- Profile section
- Job board
- Dashboard of assigned missions – shops you need to perform
- Dashboard of certifications – for many Premier Service shopping missions you need to write a pre-test to demonstrate you understand the instructions for the shop
- Invoice history – a list of all the completed missions
You can use the job board filters to show the shops in your neighbourhood but you can also view any other region of interest. In addition, you can display the shops on a map view or a calendar view instead. This can help you schedule your visits.
Social media
Premier Service is on Facebook and will sometimes post their shopping missions there as well as their job board.
Shopping mission availability
The number of shopping missions available varies depending on your location. There are more missions available in larger urban areas but there are also more people competing for those missions.
An urban area like Toronto will generally have around 100 shopping missions available at any given time.
Shopper support
The schedulers are your support team and they coordinate all the shopping missions. The schedulers at Premier Service mystery shopping are very accessible and available by email or phone.
You can reach out to them if you need clarification on the mission or the report. The email turnaround is usually within a couple of hours, at the latest. The schedulers will often provide a contact number during any “rush” shops to ensure you have additional support.
Like this post? Put a Pin on it!
How does it work?
If you want to start shopping, follow the steps below.
Registration
- Go to their website, www.premierservice.ca, and in the top right corner click the link that says, “BECOME A SHOPPER”
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Continue”
- The site will refresh to their shopper site, shop metrics, where you click on the button “NOT A MYSTERY SHOPPER YET? REGISTER NOW >>”
- Fill in the profile information and register with the same email address you use for PayPal
- Once registered, fill out the extended profile information:
- Describe why you’d be a great shopper and some recent shopping experiences – this gives them a feeling for your writing style for the reports
- Provide clothing size and car make – this can help you get more retail shops and car repair or test drive missions
- Upload some head-to-toe photos – they want to see how you present yourself, especially important for the premium shopping missions
- Upload a government-issued photo id – this proves you’re eligible for more of the premium missions. If you are uncomfortable adding this right away, not to worry. Wait until you’ve performed a few missions and upload it when you’re comfortable.
- Complete the basic certification – this is required as it explains how the shopping missions work and how to handle special situations. You need to score a minimum of 80% on the certification but it’s open-book and you can retake the test as many times as you need.
Shopping
- Now you browse the job board for available missions. When you see something you like you click on the “Apply” button beside the mission on the far right. Read the instructions for the mission and at the bottom of the page you select the date you’ll perform the mission and submit your application. But do not perform the shop until your application has been accepted.
- You’ll receive an email when you’ve been given the shop and it will also now appear on your dashboard under “My Missions.” But you still have to accept the mission before you can perform it. Don’t forget this step!
- Most shopping missions require a pre-test. This is just a review of the instructions for the mission to ensure you know what you need to do. You have to score 100% on the certification before you can accept the mission. But it’s open-book and you can retake the test as many times as you need. Once completed successfully, the mission is yours to perform on the day you committed.
Want More?
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Or perhaps explore some other topics? Choose from one of the categories below to see more:
Subscribe to our newsletter to have information delivered right to your inbox.
Recommendation
We have performed a number of shopping missions with Premier Service and rate it very highly:
- Shopping mission availability – there are many shopping missions available and they have a decent variety
- Shopper support – the schedulers are readily available and helpful
- Pay range – the pay is linked directly to the scope of work required for the shop
- Payment – they pay on time with the added benefit of an invoice for easy record keeping
Have you worked with this service provider?
What were your experiences?
Do you agree with this evaluation or have some suggestions of your own?
Click [Submit Comment] below to let us know!
