Informa Research Services
Overall Rating: B+
Volume of Jobs: Low
Number of Individual Clients: Low
Type of jobs: Financial, retail, telephone
Rate of Pay: Above average
Speed of Pay: 8-10 Weeks
Method of Pay: Check
Bonuses available? Not known
Software: Prophet
More Resources:
> Company Website
Pros:
Informa Research Services offers mystery shops at a reasonable, above-average fee, both considering other similar shops in the industry as well as the amount of time required for their shops. They are responsive to emails and professional. While this company is smaller than many of the big mystery shopping providers, I have had very good experiences with them and their reputation for pay and treatment of shoppers is good. They have seen an increase in available shops since August 2007. Overall, the shops are easy to do and with professional-looking and thorough documentation with clear instructions. You can also reschedule, cancel and self-assign shops, which is particularly welcome for telephone shops that occasionally require rescheduling based on their criteria.
Cons:
Informa badly needs to update to more current industry practices regarding documentation. Invoices, which are required for all their mystery shops, must be filled out by hand and mailed - no fax, email, or online option is available. Pay is also only done 60 days after receipt of invoice, which is an excessive wait. Without these two problems, this company would be a definite A rating.