I’m getting ready to do my first assignment with them. I will be retrieving some items from a local store due to a recall has anybody worked for them?

They have been supportive and amazing to me. I love their jobs as well.

Great company. I had an issue the other week and it was on the weekend. I was able to actually get in touch with them and get the issue resolved while still on site. Their jobs are easy and the app walks you through it all. Just be sure to read the guidelines and go prepared with anything they ask. For example, sometimes for a recall you may need a sharpie and a garbage bag. Just be prepared.

I've been with them since 2006. Great company. However, I am a little irritated that the current assignments are a flat payment of $16 with no mileage paid. Most of their assignments in the past either paid a flat fee of $20 plus mileage or they paid hourly ($20 for most people) plus mileage. Guess I am spoiled. Currently the locations in my area are not close to my house so I am not going to do any of them for that $16 flat rate. I did some a few weeks back that were just a few miles from home, but if I have to travel 20 (or more) minutes to get there, 20 minutes in the store, and 20 minutes back home (plus the cost of gas), then 10 minutes to submit expenses, it isn't worth it to me.

Add me to the list of RQA lovers. Unless they are overwhelmed by lethal snack food recalls they are always quick to respond and supportive of their contractors, and they typically pay a bit quicker than the average MSC.

I've yet to see any $16 flat/no reimbursement jobs. It all depends on the project. I've done one with 3 locations in my area for $30 per + .30 mileage and no other payment option offered. It's probably my favorite as it's usually less than 20 minutes of admin and onsite time.

I've been lucky to score a one-off labeling gig in a massive refrigerated warehouse in my area, and they overpaid me for that one.

Only tricky thing is choosing between the $20 per location vs. per hour for a new project. I've got a new one coming up for next week with 2 local visits putting stickers on garbage disposal packaging. I went with per location and the drive time is 48 minutes. So I have to hope my onsite time is well under 36 minutes per store. I'm betting it is based on the other similar projects I've done, but you never know.

If I have a complaint, it's that the camera in their latest version of their app is totally awful. It only works in portrait mode and you can't zoom in or out. Results in a lot of less than optimal pictures, but that's their problem. Their old version worked just like us mystery shoppers need a cameraphone to work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2025 01:33PM by CoolMusic.

The current assignment you have is probably an effectiveness check. The app will take you through EVERY step. You do need to print out the instructions and the LOA because you need to take a pic of them on site. The sites should have already addressed the recall. Don’t be surprised if you don’t find product. Still, bring the marker and small refuse bags.
They are great to work with.

The newest assignments are putting labels on garbage disposals at home improvement stores. They start this coming week as soon as labels are received.

@emm2131 wrote:

The current assignment you have is probably an effectiveness check. The app will take you through EVERY step. You do need to print out the instructions and the LOA because you need to take a pic of them on site. The sites should have already addressed the recall. Don’t be surprised if you don’t find product. Still, bring the marker and small refuse bags.
They are great to work with.

Yes, this seemed to be a short lived issue as I too saw one assignment (about 44 miles round trip) that was at that lower rate and NO mileage. I was like, yeah no, what the heck are you thinking?
That job sat there unfinished.
They are back to the $20 and mileage thankfully and have had some work lately.

@Jusa wrote:

I've been with them since 2006. Great company. However, I am a little irritated that the current assignments are a flat payment of $16 with no mileage paid. Most of their assignments in the past either paid a flat fee of $20 plus mileage or they paid hourly ($20 for most people) plus mileage. Guess I am spoiled. Currently the locations in ------

I think you may have chosen wrong on that one as there is always a lot of wasted time trying to find an employee to help get the merchandise (back room or top of shelf) and to sign off on your work. That part can account for more time than both the driving and the work itself. I I
l always go for per hour if I have more than 10 min drive time / and or there is going to be a fair amount of employee interaction needed (just waiting for someone to show up in Walmart is half the battle).

@CoolMusic wrote:

.....Only tricky thing is choosing between the $20 per location vs. per hour for a new project. I've got a new one coming up for next week with 2 local visits putting stickers on garbage disposal packaging. I went with per location and the drive time is 48 minutes. So I have to hope my onsite time is well under 36 minutes per store. I'm betting it is based on the other similar projects I've done, but you never know.<<<<

I too LOVE this company for many reasons, pay rate and their responsiveness and helpfulness.

My only issue is also with the app and having it delete things I had already saved (like the signature). Sometimes I have to do a few of the things in reverse order when I get an employee on the hook and know I only have them for a few minutes. There just isn't the ability to move forward and backward in the app to achieve this end (backward yes) so I often just take "placeholder" photos so I can get forward to the spot that I need then I can go backwards and replace the photos.

Who is RQA?

@jpgilham wrote:

Who is RQA?

Google RQA, the one that has the maroon and blue logo with the planet image is who we are talking about. They handle recalls and package updates, that type of thing. Not mystery shopping but still gig work.

What is RQA (am I allowed to ask that?)

OK, I found it....but how do I find work with them?

apply for a job and they send you assignments when they have them

The garbage disposal job showed you the on hands before you accepted. I took one with 16 because it made a route and that was the only one with backstock. The rest were quick, with 3-6 on the floor.

Might be a bit old, but yeah I wish there were more companies like RQA. Pay by the hour, by the KM.

It's a good resume builder since you have to learn so many skills that can be sold to other employers.

For those complaining about rates.

Ask for a raise, the worse they can say is no.

I noticed the same thing on a single assignment that was too far to drive for just one job so I ignored it.
Such a strange thing for them to do when they normally pay well and cover mileage, can't figure out why this one was different.
I do seem to recall an email that said something about making an "offer" that would cover mileage so maybe that was the alternative, I just didn't bother to do it for a single job.

@Jusa wrote:

I've been with them since 2006. Great company. However, I am a little irritated that the current assignments are a flat payment of $16 with no mileage paid. Most of their assignments in the past either paid a flat fee of $20 plus mileage or they paid hourly ($20 for most people) plus mileage. Guess I am spoiled. Currently the locations in my area are not close to my house so I am not going to do any of them for that $16 flat rate. I did some a few weeks back that were just a few miles from home, but if I have to travel 20 (or more) minutes to get there, 20 minutes in the store, and 20 minutes back home (plus the cost of gas), then 10 minutes to submit expenses, it isn't worth it to me.

I finally got around to applying with them. Hope they have some stuff by Detroit. I like doing the stuff they do and have done recall/fix it work like this in the past. Hope I hear back from them.

I can’t find a company with that name on the list so that I can go sign up. Can someone give me the link, please?

[www.rqa-inc.com]

my question to those who worked rqa longer, is it always a limit of 3 per round or can we get bigger routes? I did my first 2 jobs without any issue. and was curious.

The number depends on the particular assignment. I have often seen a limit of 20. Last week I did a route (actually 3 mini-routes) totaling 17 stops spread across 3 states. Then I did one limited to 3 shops, and RQA called and asked me to add 2 more. I have done routes of 1, 2, and 3. It depends on what store carries what. I have also done one-off retrievals when picking up an end-customer return.

@spetey13 wrote:

my question to those who worked rqa longer, is it always a limit of 3 per round or can we get bigger routes? I did my first 2 jobs without any issue. and was curious.

I just did my first assignment with them. It was a recall. I signed up for 10, went to the 7th location and they are all gone. I got an email that they removed the last 4 locations. No explanation. Is this normal?

It happens. Is it common? No.

I had this happen, as well. I assigned some yesterday. I received a call this morning as a reminder.

Over the phone, I confirmed that I had 48 hours to do it from its launch. I asked after completing the ones I had assigned if I would be able to assign more. The person said that I could. But also said all of the locations in my region had been assigned, and after 20 locations, no more is needed. I assumed this meant that exactly the limit of 20 locations had already been assigned, and no more.

To me, it sounded like I had until 48 hours to complete the ones that I had assigned. In the afternoon, I received an email that all of my locations had been removed. I confirmed that this was correct. I did not know that once 20 had been reached in my area, the rest would get unassigned. So in hindsight, more than 20 locations were assigned in my area, and the first 20 to submit were accepted, with the remaining ones being unassigned. Weird.

I'm kind of glad now, though, because I wasn't looking forward to it.

Also, I wish all of the TY/CI discussions would get moved to this section



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2025 05:08AM by paniconmon.

Yes that is exactly what happened to me. I read about the 20 locations and thought the same thing as you.

What doesn’t make sense is this company hires RQA to make sure the stores have gotten rid of the ice cream. Why would you not check all stores and not just 20 per area? I did have one store that still had the ice cream in the back freezer.

I did a similar assignment last year. I don't remember 20 locations being done within hours of the project launching.

Sort of good thing for me is that I'm a procrastinator, though, and was planning to do it the next day