Has anyone done this? Total PITA or should I go for it. How long did it take? It's $28 in my town right now, like a mile down the street from me.

I LOVE those audits. They are so easy and that's a nice fee they're offering you.

I had to take photos, of course. The employee or manager will help you answer questions, especially the ones where they HAVE to give you information.


***Edited.
The easy ones are the $12 ones. That's what I meant.

I haven't done the other one and from what I've been reading here this morning, I think I may pass or wait until the fee increases. Lots of work it seems.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2014 11:59AM by Canuck.

Verizon or At&T? AT&T ones are quick and easy all day at $28.

Verizon is the subject title.

I love love them.

That is a good fee - I would take the shop. I have done tons of these and they are not difficult. Just be sure you get all the pictures that you need so you don't have to return to the location. The associates have always been helpful and only one time did someone give me a hard time. She was probably nervous and had me call her manager - no big deal - I still did the audit.

Yes, the phone number for the Area Manager is very handy. I used it once and got a mix up straightened out very quickly.

I am seeing a lot of these of the boards right now and am wondering if it is the same audit. The other audit had about 9 piks and went pretty quickly but this one seems different. Anyone see the shop requirements yet? I am a little nervous about accepting these in case they turn into a PITA. Thanks any heads up would be appreciated.

I've done a few of these and I always seem to miss something and have to go back. Having said that though, I'd do them again.

I haven't done any of their audits, but I see two different ones for the same location. One paying $12 and one paying $28. The one for $28 warns it is likely to take over an hour.

I haven't done one. Must be iffy, as they are already bonused here.

This is NOT NOT NOT the same audit! I took one thinking it was the "Authorized Dealer" audit which I (and lots of you I'm sure) have done many times. I should have been suspicious of the fee which was about 4 times the starting fee of the "usual" shop. It looks like a NIGHTMARE to me, but others may enjoy. Have to follow planograms and verify all sorts of merchandising requirements (is the so-and-so display organized according to the planogram? Is item X exactly in the right spot?) LOTS of pictures, starting with a minimum of NINE interior shots showing all displays and stands.

The PDF file with instructions is 36 pages long. There are a minimum of 10-12 photos with a possible 34 more if infractions are present. And you're encouraged to take and upload lots of extras.

If I'd have clicked "cancel" any faster, I actually would have traveled back in time to before I clicked "accept", causing a paradox and rupture of the space-time continuum, which could have ended the universe as we know it.

(tl/dr: I canceled it really really fast after reading the requirements)

Some of you may actually dig this, and the fee is higher than normal (probably because of the time it'll take on site plus organizing and editing photos at home and entering the report.) Maybe if you like merchandising this could be good for you. Have at it.

This brings up the old argument about being able to see instructions and requirements before accepting shops. Too few MSCs allow this, but tonight it would have saved me trouble for sure!

I LOVE, Love these!

I love taking pictures and I'm a merchandiser, so these are really fun!

I recall the last one, you take shots of all the POP, front door, window clings, exterior signage, front desk, any marketing materials, counter cards, standees, and any defective items therein...

I'm in Heaven: Shpikus wrote: "The PDF file with instructions is 36 pages long. There are a minimum of 10-12 photos with a possible 34 more if infractions are present. And you're encouraged to take and upload lots of extras."

If you hate taking photos, this assignment might not be for you...

It sounds like it is different from the ones I have done. They were the Authorized Dealers. Is it even the same MSC?

I grabbed two of the $28 ones and then went to grab the $12 ones at the same locations and someone else snagged them up already. The MSC "encouraged" the same person to take both. They didn't last long enough on the board for that to happen. I clicked on the $28 ones and someone else clicked on the $12 ones.

I'm going to use the two color pen trick and only print it once at 36 pages. This instructions are easy. Basically snap a photo of all the displays and signage and check to make sure they dont have any rougue case or phones in the displays that are not set up according to the Verizon corporate planners. I think I'll do better without an employee standing over my shoulder as the reason it's 36 pasges is because they have photo examples of everything.

It seems some corporate marketing expert decided exactly what phones go in the displays and if a store thinks they know better or is out of one and substitutes another, that is not acceptable.

The cororate stores are going for that cookie cutter image in that every store has the same exact displays set up exactly the same way.

BillBryaninCarthage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I scheduled several of these, after I read the
> earlier comments that these audits were simple.
> The shop manual advises that you plan to be
> on-site for 2 hours. You are warned that once you
> leave the location that you can not return to take
> pictures that you missed. The shop manual presents
> this shop to be, in my opinion, comparable to the
> detail required to conduct a red station gas
> audit, with one difference: there is no room for
> mistakes or errors when performing the Verizon
> audit, because you can't go back. Make any
> mistakes, and you won't get paid. It looks to me
> like someone with experience doing these could
> finish one in 40 minutes. Since I have none, I'll
> plan on not leaving for 3 hours if I have to.


To make sure I take all the pictures, I put a checkmark next to each required photo shot, showing that I did take that one (multiples of course) so that when I leave that store, I KNOW I took all the required pictures. Another tip, review all pics for blurry shots, as those won't be accepted.

I generally take photos of EVERYTHING. That way I never have to worry about having missed one, and you can always have the photos for reference when filling out the report. I also take at highest resolution so details are visible if it's necessary to zoom in.

I spent about 3 hours today at one. The first 30 minutes was waiting for approval as the manager never saw this coming and had to make several phone calls as this is a new program for them.

once that was cleared up, I went snap happy and took 2 shots of every display at 5 MP. One at a distance profile to show the signs, and then one over my head pointing down to capture every device and the display tags. It was the biggest store in town and I ended up with about 75 photo's. They certanly wont say I missed a shot as I dropped an extra 15 photo's at the end of the report that were "unused"

Wear some comfortable shoes. This is not a fast food shop.

I bet my next shop will take me half the time now that I know what I'm looking for.

BillBryaninCarthage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks SunnyDays2!
> How long does this audit take you if everything in
> the store is in compliance? versus if there are
> many issues that require photos?


About an hour and 1/2 and I took around 65 photos. It's better to take MORE in case you have to send more pictures. Invariably, they will ask for extra photos and you can produce!

Which ever carrier...easy peasy!

But don;t take them at 8 or 12 bucks, they get up to 20 or 30 pretty quick (at least where I am).

I've done a few as high as 50

Yuck - I took one of these and am not looking forward to it.

I must be doing them wrong.
The first one I did took about 30 minutes in the store, I've done tons of them since.
I'm in and out in 12 minutes tops with 25 pictures, 15 of them I'm using and the others are just in case.
20 minutes doing the report.
I've had maybe three requests for additional photos and never had one rejected

I think there are now 2 different audits - same company - one is more detailed and pays a bit more. The lesser paying audits are quite easy and do take only about 20 minutes but this is a different monster and you have to print out a lot of paperwork.

I did the second store today, and they seemed to be expecting me.

As soon as I walked through the front door with my clipboard, the store manager came up to me and knew what I was there for.

Before I could even greet her, she had her hand out to get the letter and glanced at it for about 10 seconds. She said, "Let me know if you have any questions." and went back to her customer.

This is a Saturday and the place was busy. I had to wait for people to move out of my shots a couple of times.

Second time around and I was still in the store for 2 hours and 20 minutes.

You can't just snap pictures and run as they want to know the color of the back of the phones/pads and you have to flip them over to see that. There are a few spot price checks on some accessories as well.

I snapped 80 photos this time using my Nexus 7 and all my photo's came in at right at about 1 MB in size.

I didn't resize or do any name changing to the photo's. I just went to the upload pictures area and highlighted all of them and clicked upload. Firefox looked like it was locked up. I then got a warning popup that said, "Java appears to not be responding." and asked if it should wait longer.

I clicked the checkbox, "Don't ask me again" and clicked "yes". It took about 10 minutes and they all uploaded with my high speed cable modem.

Then as I did the report, I'd click over to the photo's page and drag them into the right questions as I went along. The report still takes an hour.

I love the "other" VZW photo audits when the "rate change" goes into effect. However, I finished one of these NEW audits on Friday.....ACK!!! I immediately thought I should cancel the other ones I have scheduled.... For the amount of work these require the MSC should be paying about $50 per audit.....The easier get a nice increase after they get dropped or messed up. I laugh when I see "easy quick photo audit" on the board for $7. I wish we could see the paperwork before we click accept.