I received an email this morning to join another survey company, and I joined. When I arrived at their site, they had a "warning" for a secret shopping scam from a Canadian Company.  So, I thought I would take this opportunity to remind everyone..NEVER EVER EVER PAY TO WORK FOR A SECRET SHOPPING COMPANY!!! IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE FREE!!!....EVEN DIRECTORIES SHOULD BE FREE FREE FREE!!! YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO MY BLOG TO LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THE COMPANIES!!! OR VISIT VOLITION. That said, this particular scam involves the company sending shoppers money and having the shoppers send back money supposedly for training. 

For anyone interested in training, I recommend sticking with MSPA's silver and/or gold certification programs, check with your local college/university for a training course, or buy a book on the subject.  I can't say their aren't  legit companies that offer training...I myself used to offer secret shopping classes for a fee, but, if you're unsure of the integrity of the company stick with a for sure thing.  Don't  confuse training with working for a company.  Formal training is getting educated to the industry, as with any profession, which will probably have some type of price tag...working for a company should always be FREE!!!  At this point, the industry does not require any formal training for most assignments; however, it could become mandatory in the future.  I have listed some links to some books available on Amazon.com for the industry, and I always welcome feedback on any of this books I list. 

As for ACO surveys, I joined this morning, and I will blog what I learn about them.