Questions we often get asked about mystery shopping
There are lots of questions you might have before signing up to be a Mystery Shopper. We have tried to answer as many of them as possible here, but, if you do have more questions, you can contact Lamyaa, our Volunteering and Networking Coordinator at [email protected] or you can call the office on 020 7383 7979.
Can someone go to the event with me?
Yes – most venues and festivals offer personal assistant tickets at no cost to you and we can reimburse your personal assistant or carer’s travel costs. If the venue doesn’t offer personal assistant tickets, we may be able to cover the cost of it – please get in touch if this is the case.
Is it okay to have help to do the form?
Of course! A personal assistant or carer can support you to attend the gig and fill in the form. However, the answers must be from your perspective.
What if I’m a family or support worker of a disabled person and want to support them to mystery shop?
It is fine to support someone to shop but make sure you help them to register in their name and the feedback you give is based on what they think.
Do I buy my own tickets?
Yes – you will need to purchase tickets yourself, or ask a personal assistant or companion to buy them for you.
What about expenses?
After the gig or festival, Mystery Shoppers submit an expenses form for the cost of their ticket and travel. Travel includes using your own car, where we will reimburse you on the actual cost of petrol used (at 20p per mile). The expense limit for tickets and travel is £50, with more for festivals. You can read the expense policy here.
You must submit any expense claim within eight weeks of the event. Otherwise we may not be able to approve the costs.
Expense claims can take up to eight weeks to be processed. We try to process claims faster than this where possible but cannot always guarantee this.
Do you assist with other costs such as food?
No, we do not reimburse food, drinks or merchandise purchased at the gig or festival.
Can I buy tickets and then ask to shop the event?
You can do this but we cannot guarantee we will approve your request. Please submit your request before buying tickets if you could not otherwise afford the tickets.
Can I go to any event I want?
We can only approve shops for live music events. This does not include musicals or theatrical shows. Additionally, we don’t usually work with stadiums or outdoor sports grounds, so we cannot usually agree to shops at this type of venue.
How far can I travel?
You can travel as far as you like but there is a maximum cap for how much you can claim in expenses. Please check our expense policy if you are not sure.
How many people can go with me?
We can reimburse the travel expenses of one personal assistant or companion.
What if I can’t go?
We understand that sometimes emergencies are unavoidable. Please let us know as far in advance as possible if you can’t make it. We cannot usually reimburse you if you do not go but you are welcome to request an exception
Are there any expectations on how I behave at the event?
There are a few expectations. Broadly speaking, you cannot tell anyone you are a mystery shopper, bring Attitude is Everything’s name into disrepute or use your connection to us to your advantage at the gig. You can read our full code of conduct here.
Other things to be aware of
If you’d like to go to a gig at a non-charter venue, we may ask you to volunteer your time at a charter venue we need shopped as well.
Certain venues, like large arenas, receive numerous requests to be shopped. There are several things we take into consideration when allocating shops, including (but not limited to) the cost of tickets & travel, and how often someone has shopped for us previously.
We will not allocate festival shops until the end of March so that everyone gets a fair chance to apply. Whilst you can apply for festival shops after this date, they may already have been allocated.
If you buy festival tickets in advance of your shop being approved, we may not be able to reimburse you the ticket cost. We strongly recommend waiting until your shop is approved to find out whether it is necessary to purchase festival tickets, or if we are able to obtain the tickets for you.