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Mystery Shopping Terms and Conditions

1.      Independent Contractor Status  

The position of a mystery shopper with Spot Check Services Ltd. (herein referred to as “SCS Ltd.”) is that of an independent contractor. You are not an employee of SCS Ltd., and are therefore exempt from entitlements of an employee.

You are not covered by the company’s Worker’s Compensation insurance or any of its other insurance policies. It is your responsibility to obtain appropriate insurance coverage on your person and your vehicle. 

You will not be provided with a T4 slip, as we are not required to make deductions for CPP, EI, or Federal Tax. It is your responsibility to submit your federal income tax. SCS Ltd. does provide a payment inquiry section on your shopper profile to assist you with tracking your earnings. 

You are not guaranteed assignments. When work becomes available in your area you will have the option to request assignments. You will then be notified if you have been given the assignment. SCS Ltd. has the right to assign work at their discretion. You are a representative of SCS Ltd. and must conduct yourself in a respectable, professional manner while on an assignment and when filling in your report. 

There is no binding contract between you and SCS Ltd. You are not obligated to take any assignments, and may discontinue shopping with our company at any time. If we feel your performance does not meet our standards, or if you are in violation of any of our policies or procedures, we reserve the right to remove you from the database without notice. 

SCS Ltd. is not responsible or liable for any damage, injury, death, or accident involving you as a shopper or any acts on your behalf which might result in lawsuits or claims against the company. 

You are not authorized to make statements or claims on behalf of SCS Ltd., nor can you enter into any contracts or agreements on behalf of SCS Ltd.  

2.      Privacy and Confidentiality 

All information obtained by you through mystery shopping with SCS Ltd. is confidential. This includes, but is not limited to: names of our clients, checklist questions, instructions, emails, and training materials. These materials cannot be reproduced and/or distributed by you. You may print the checklists and instructions for use in completing an assignment, but may not show them to any third-party. Confidentiality must be maintained whether you are an active shopper on our database or not.  

SCS Ltd. does not sell nor share your application information. All information is used explicitly by SCS Ltd. for the sole purpose of assigning shops.  

We make every effort to ensure your identity remains anonymous to the client, and we expect you to do the same. You must never divulge to the client or their employees that you are a mystery shopper, regardless of whether you are on an assignment or not. 

You cannot request any assignment for a client that you currently work for or have worked for in the past. Nor can you request the assignment if you have family or friends that work for the client. If you personally know someone at the location it may affect your ability to complete your shop properly.

3.      Payment 

SCS Ltd. does not require any sort of payment for becoming a mystery shopper, nor do we ever ask for credit card information.  

Once you become a shopper with us, you will be required to provide us with a VOID cheque, as our method of payment is through Electronic File Transfer (direct deposit). Payment will be deposited on the 15^th of the month for all shops completed in the previous month. In order for your shop to be considered complete, we must receive all required documentation in our office prior to the end of the month. Each assignment will specify whether the receipts for the shop need to be mailed in or if faxing/scanning is sufficient. We will not reimburse you if we do not receive the receipts. 

Each assignment has a predetermined shopper fee and shopper expense associated with it. The shopper fee is the amount you are paid for completing the shop. The shopper expense is the amount you will be reimbursed based on the purchase requirements of the shop. SCS Ltd. does not pay postage, mileage or other travel expenses. 

If your report must be rejected for any reason, you will not be paid the shopper fee nor reimbursed the shopper expense. Reasons for rejection are noted throughout the shopper instructions, checklists, and Q & A section.  

4.      Filling Out Reports

Completed reports must be submitted to our office no later than 24 hours after conducting the shop. SCS Ltd. reserves the right to reject any report received after 24 hours, unless arrangements have been made in advance with the Account Manager. 

Before being sent to the client, your report will go through our Quality Control department. If they have any questions or concerns, they will notify you by email to review your report and make corrections. If you do not make these corrections within 24 hours from being asked to do so, your report will be rejected.

 A report is a professional document. As such, it must contain proper spelling, grammar, and sentence structure; and any questions requiring additional explanation need to have factual, concise comments. Any reports not filled in properly will be sent back for re-entry. If the report is not filled out in a manner that is appropriate to provide to our clients, it will not be accepted.

 5.      Liability 

Several of our audits require the purchase of alcohol. If you are required to make a purchase from a liquor store, you are not required to consume your purchase. If you are required to order an alcoholic beverage at a restaurant/lounge you are only required to sample the lesser of 3 sips or 1 oz. Any more than that is at your own risk and by requesting these assignments you agree to hold Spot Check Services Ltd. and the client blameless should any mishap arise as a result of the consumption of alcohol.

By requesting your first assignment, you acknowledge that you have read the Question & Answer section of our website and understand the information contained within it. You realize that failure to comply with any policies, procedures, and instructions provided by Spot Check Services Ltd. may result in your report being rejected without compensation, and at our discretion, removal of your name from our database. 

If you do not agree with anything contained in the above clauses, please do not click on the “I AGREE” button. By filling out the on-line application to become a mystery shopper, you acknowledge that you have read the terms and conditions and agree to abide by all policies, procedures, and instructions provided by Spot Check Services Ltd.