MSCs that do business inspections

I am looking for alternatives or competitors to Trendsource. Business inspections are my preferred type of shop and I was doing 2-3 per week for them most of last year but the past 3 months they have almost completely dried up so I am looking for suggestions. Thanks in advance.

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Just curious, what is meant by a business inspection? Is that similar to an audit?

Bena Wrote:
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> Just curious, what is meant by a business
> inspection? Is that similar to an audit?

Similar I guess, companies that want to buy credit reports or background checks on potential customers or employees submit to a very basic screening. No purchasing or narratives and zero calories.

I have never seen them anywhere except Trendsource.

Thanks. I'd never heard of them before. Sounds fairly easy, how are the reports?

I did one for strategic reflections.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Often, they include many pictures, not much narrative, and a lot of check-boxes - yes or no and A,B,C. Have a good night!

I'd do business verifications all day long. No stress jobs, you just follow the script and take the required pictures. Usually 20-30 minutes onsite. The hardest part is finding the address (sometimes). But for Trendsource you have to pass a background check to get to do them.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Has anyone done a BV on a repo company?

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

I have done a bv on a repo company. Why the question? They are no different than any other company.

And, no, a bv is not like an audit. With a bv you are basically confirming that the business is legit and that they keep their records secure. The pictures I've taken add up to at most 10/11.

OMG, not the one I did recently. The inspection lasted over 2.5 hours, due to the 70+ questions and 30+ pictures. I was required to "walk the fence" and look for any damage or gaps. The property was huge and irregular and, well, it took forev-va to walk that d*#m fence. Then there was the time required to download and label all of the pictures. Then there was the online report............I'm embarrassed to say how long the whole thing took me, so let's just say "many hours".

I've done a year's worth of BVs and have never run into one that was so time consuming and so severely underpaid.

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

stilllearning Wrote:
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> OMG, not the one I did recently. The inspection
> lasted over 2.5 hours, due to the 70+ questions
> and 30+ pictures. I was required to "walk the
> fence" and look for any damage or gaps. The
> property was huge and irregular and, well, it took
> forev-va to walk that d*#m fence. Then there was
> the time required to download and label all of the
> pictures. Then there was the online
> report............I'm embarrassed to say how long
> the whole thing took me, so let's just say "many
> hours".
>
> I've done a year's worth of BVs and have never run
> into one that was so time consuming and so
> severely underpaid.
>
> (heart)

Yep, that's pretty much it. I added the jist of that, with the specs, in the space the MSC has 'for their eyes only' and that I felt the fee was to low in relation to others I had done. They added extra $$ after the fact, not what I would have requested had I known, but I was pleased by the gesture.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2014 12:17AM by eveb.

I was suppose to do one of those once. I was to go to a woman's home and make sure her office door had a lock on it and the like.

I called to confirm and she said she expecting me. I went to the house and no one was home. I went back home and called her. She was miffed because she had a full day and I didn't show up.

It turned out I was given the wrong address and she lived over an hour away.

I've never done another one.

When you call to make an appt. you are to verify that the address you have is correct and where the business files are located. I've done inspections that are different but the regular bv is almost always the same. There are some where you have to visit the property and those are entirely different.

stilllearning Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OMG, not the one I did recently. The inspection
> lasted over 2.5 hours, due to the 70+ questions
> and 30+ pictures. I was required to "walk the
> fence" and look for any damage or gaps. The
> property was huge and irregular and, well, it took
> forev-va to walk that d*#m fence. Then there was
> the time required to download and label all of the
> pictures. Then there was the online
> report...........

Still--That sounds more like the insurance audits I've done. BVs are usually just a checklist of office observations and some questions for the contact. Did the company call it a business verification?

I have done them for several companies. I've been having a hard time getting anything from TS any more because of the competition (pre-assigned?) in my area. TS pays the least out of all the companies I work for.

*********************
I'm "Sandi" in the Middle!

eveb, I did exactly what you did and they added some extra $$$ as well, which I appreciated, but, at the same time, the upfront fee should be double, based on the time required to prepare, inspect and report.

Sandi, I think you're exactly right. At least, I now know, going forward...

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

Please read the instructions carefully. When you make the initial phone call, the MS has already given you a script to follow, you always ask if the files are located at the address given.

The bv assignments are usually for companies purchasing credit reports or background checks. The one that stillearning is talking about is, I believe, one that probably was requested by a mortgage company or a bank. With the latter I pick and choose as there are various levels of inspections and I don't do the ones requiring walking around the building, etc. I will pick up the ones that only require a visual inspection from the street and pictures of the front and sides of the building or property, and pictures of the street up and down in front of the building/property. Those are pretty easy to do and do not require me to draw a footprint of the property or to walk the perimeter. Some of the perimeter ones require using a wheel to actually measure. I just do the "easy" ones.

The 1 repo inspection I did was advertised as a regular BV, no mention of all the additional requirements. I accepted, thinking it was the regular: call and make an appt, take about 10 pics, a questionaire of anywhere from 20-50 (easy) points, however, when I was approved and saw what it really entailed I did think, "seriously all this for $$?" I could have canceled or asked for more $$ but didn't because sometimes the instructions look worse on paper than they really are. It was afterward that I decided to let the MSC know I felt this particular type should be more $$. I didn't ask for more, they added it on their own.
I was lucky in that my location was pretty small, so not a lot of yard/fence to walk.

Ditto everything eveb said, except the "pretty small" part. The good thing, if there was one, (except that I finally finished the report) was there was no measuring or drawing involved.

(heart)

PS
You don't get to see and/or print out the shop details, until after you've scheduled the appointment. You live and you learn....

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

Over the past few years, most of mine have been for trucking brokers! It's a good thing we don't have to judge if the offices are clean.....yuck. Last summer I was greeted by a Rottweiler who had his own office
chair! LOL!

*********************
I'm "Sandi" in the Middle!

I signed up to do these for Trendsource a couple of years ago. Paid the fee for the background check. Signed up for my 1st one....checked and doublechecked everything before leaving home....got to the location and it started raining. Oh joy, taking pictures in the rain. Finished getting everything I needed (took me longer than it probably should have since it was my 1st one and I wanted to be sure I had extra pics just in case). Then I found out the Trendsource had emailed me WHILE I was performing the inspection to tell me it was "no longer necessary." Soooooo....no report, no payment.

I emailed them and asked if that happened often, since I was already on-site performing the inspection when they sent the email. They never even had the courtesy to reply....and I didn't sign up for any more.

There are scads of them available in my area....but I'm leery of paying for another background check only to have THEM flake on ME.

lburcher, from my experience, TS is a very reasonable company. I would suggest emailing them again and, after relating the total experience, expressing your disappointment about not getting paid, particularly since they sent the email after the inspection was scheduled to begin (or while you were en route). In my humble opinion, you should, at least, be paid 1/2 or 3/4 of the fee, if not the entire fee. I see an assigned shop as a commitment from both the MSC and the shopper. Please, don't give up...

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

I agree with Stilllearning, although I suspect that, because of the time involved, you won't get anywhere. Trendsource does offer a partial payment if there's a problem and the assignment cannot be done.

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

Trendsource should have ABSOLUTELY paid the fee ~ the FULL fee ~ for that. The snafu was on their end, and thoroughly their responsibility. You did exactly as you contracted. It wasn't right for them to pull the contract AFTER you'd agreed to it, and AFTER the job could be reasonably expected to have begun.

That said, they have been good to me over those horrid pizza shops.

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

dhilpert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am looking for alternatives or competitors to
> Trendsource. Business inspections are my preferred
> type of shop ... so I am looking for
> suggestions...

dhilpert ~ I too was / am wondering about the same thing...are there other MSCs out there that do Business Verifications besides just the one...TS.

I've read all the replies, and tho many replied, only one person gave up a name, and another said they had worked for many MSCs that required BVs, but gave no MSC Name.

I guess it's back to the drawing board for me...

******* ***** ***** *****
To the World You Just Might Be One Person,
But to One Person, You JUST Might Be THE WORLD!
******* ***** ***** *****

I emailed Trendsource more than once when it happened...three times, to be exact. Never got even a "tough luck" reply. And I agree that they should have paid something. I was doubly frustrated because I had paid for the background check...after having 3 very intensive ones done within the previous 6 months (due to caring for a child in my home, being a school chaperone, and being a Girl Scout Leader). Seems a bit redundant to me...sure wish people would "share" info that's already been gathered.

Since then I've done other shops for them...but not ones where I've had to shell out money unless it was something I wanted anyway.

iburcher, I can't help but feel TS has let you down. I think you should call the "onsite inspection" department, but, then, it's up to you.

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

the best inspections are ones you do for banks that
own homes. Just go to the house take 4 or 5 quick
pictures and you are done. No phone call to make,
no appointments etc.

= + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = + = +
There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==
When you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody

Are these the "no stepping foot on the property" ones, techman? If so, I've done a couple and that's enough. You can have all of mine, since I think we might be in the same corner of paradise.

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

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