EyeSpy

What is EyeSpy?

EyeSpy is a mystery shopping company that specializes in hospitality, which means most “shops” involve eating out or ordering from fine restaurants. Occasionally, you may be required to stay in a hotel.

How does it work

Signing up for EyeSpy is extremely easy. You fill out a short form with your name, age and email address and receive a confirmation within seconds.

To see a list of potential jobs, you’ll need to add some information to your profile, including why you want to be a mystery shopper. But none of this is particularly annoying. After that, you will see a list of open jobs that you can request.

However, the site says the best jobs go to those who pass a mystery quiz and practice the assessment. And this “education” is unpaid.

EyeSpy review

EyeSpy is a mystery shopping company specializing in hosting. So most jobs involve eating at nice restaurants or staying at nice hotels. Not surprisingly, returns are generous.

However, the site also reviews delivery services such as DoorDash.

When we looked at this site, we found lunch assignments that would set you back as much as $75. and dinner shipments that reimbursed customers for $150 meals. DoorDash assignments typically return $45. That’s the good news.

The catch;

The bad news is that your pay is almost always compensation alone. There is no additional compensation. So, you would only take up these jobs if you are a foodie who is interested in trying new restaurants for free. Or, perhaps, a busy parent who appreciates receiving free delivery meals.

The website says some purchases are made over the phone and do not include free food and drinks. They are paid at a rate of $25 to $50 per job, depending on what you are asked to do.

Also, while the site doesn’t specifically state that there is an age requirement, most tasks involve ordering food and alcoholic beverages. So you probably can’t do this gig if you’re under the legal drinking age.

Additionally, while some jobs involve using gift certificates for payment, many expect you to put the meal on your credit card for later reimbursement. And returns aren’t always quick.

That said, the value of meals pays the equivalent of a fairly generous hourly rate given the time each job is likely to take.

Evaluation forms

The jobs listed on the site provide sample evaluation forms to give you a good idea of ​​what is expected. With a restaurant review, for example, you would expect to get the name of your waiter/waitress and the name of the service manager. You also need to rate both their greetings and whether they were attentive and helped new guests familiarize themselves with the menu and bar.

You would rate the food – of course – as well as the drinks, on presentation and taste. You must also take pictures before eating or drinking.

The forms are detailed and quite long – about six pages of comments and questions – but should take no more than an hour to complete.

Compensation

As we mentioned, compensation is generally in the form of reimbursement for an experience – most often meals out or ordering for delivery. Each task tells if you are given a gift certificate to pay for the meal or if they are returned to you later.

If you are reimbursed later, payments are generally made three weeks after your assignment.

Job availability

This site says it has jobs in over 1700 US cities in 28 US states, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana , Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington State.

However, it doesn’t work in all states and doesn’t seem to have the breadth of work you’ll find on sites like Bestmark and Marketforce. It also does not pay cash for any work. You get free food. This is.

That said, it’s hard to find plum assignments—like fine dining reviews—through Bestmark. And, finding one where the compensation was as generous as what you’ll find on EyeSpy is even harder.

If EyeSpy works near you, it’s a great site for people interested in a free restaurant meal. Given the reimbursement rates and the time it takes to do the review, including visiting the restaurant and registering, we estimate that the site pays the equivalent of $30 to $50 per hour in food and drink.

recommendations

If you are looking for extra cash, rather than free meals, this is not the site for you. A better site for this is Service Evaluation Concepts.

But, if you enjoy eating out and don’t have the budget to do so, EyeSpy is definitely worth considering. You can sign up for EyeSpy here.

What their users are saying (from Yelp)

You are not paid by Eye Spy to review. You do it in exchange for an often nice quality meal. If you do a decent job, it will take you an hour and a half to write the review.

Great experience! Good variety of restaurants to choose from. The staff is very helpful and you can work around your schedule. Some of the assessments are long with many questions, but the initiation and delivery forms are usually quick. Compensation and payment are always immediate. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a side gig.

Eye Spy is an agency that sends people to restaurants to dine in secret. The agency is hired by the restaurant’s corporate headquarters, whose desire is to have reviewers review the service and report so they can receive advice on how to improve service and atmosphere. Payment is sometimes via a refund, sometimes via a gift card.

Do you love food?

You have to be a unique character to stay a reviewer for as long as I have (hmm, I think six years now) First, you have to LOVE to eat and preferably drink. They want feedback, so dieting won’t help them. Second, you must love to write, or at least don’t mind, and have a lot of persistence. You won’t start from the best spots, but if you do well, you’ll get there. Third, you must be observant and diligent. You will need to remember and report a lot of details — and that too, within a fairly tight time frame that is aggressively enforced.

Finally, given that you’re not totally top of mind if you’re spending that kind of effort on food, but in many cases, you need to have the money to spend up front and the patience to wait potentially much longer than what’s conventionally promised. you’ll get reimbursed — unless you go for the gift certificates, which I’d recommend. This is disappointing, but to their credit, EyeSpy is extremely responsive and communicative when prompted for updates. So measure it and apply accordingly.

Slow returns

Eye Spy has a responsibility to reimburse quickly and reliably when assessments are made according to standards. This did not happen in my case. I warn you not to do business with this company. I spent my time and money to complete their reviews. Unfortunately, they consistently held up their end of the bargain and were only compensated after a long, drawn-out battle. The whole experience was, and continues to be, very negative. I recommend avoiding this company at all costs.

Great food, slow payment

I’ve been writing EyeSpy reviews for over four years. I have worked with other mystery companies and found EyeSpy to be the best. The reviews and quality of service this company provides far surpasses any other mystery service.

I had a little trouble with my reimbursements last year, but the owner and staff were in constant communication and I received checks when promised. Gift certificates are the easiest way and it seems that more and more institutions are starting to use them.

Working with EyeSpy has allowed me to visit many restaurants that I wouldn’t normally be able to try. I have learned a lot about the customer service industry as well as improved my journalism skills. It was a pleasure working with the company and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.

4/8/2024