Bluegreen Vacations

Has anyone done these shops? They've been sitting on the board in my area and are now heavily bonused. Makes me wonder what the catch is. Thanks!

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Already a member? Log In.

I did one a while back that did NOT involve a purchase. Easy but a little narrative heavy. My husband did one last night that involved a purchase, they are supposed to reverse the charges within 48hrs.... I will let you know. Again a little narrative heavy.
Thanks, lyckygirl0100! May I ask how you took a photo of the associate without appearing creepy? I never understood why they'd want such a photo.
I did a non-purchase shop and other than being a bit heavy on the narrative, I didn't find it to be bad.

As far as the picture...that was easy. Nikon D60, 200mm lens, about 100 feet away...he never knew I was taking his picture.

.
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
Cell phone sound on silent and no flash, pretending to text before I got too close to the kiosk.
Grrrrrrrrr editors.... I have never had any score below 8 and my husband below 9. The editor for this one did NOT give him a grade and wrote in the comments that the requirements were met but he did not paint a vivid picture with narrative.

Ok, rant over..... He only picks up random shops that either only a male can do or shops with a bonus near his work/commute....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 01:13AM by luckygirl0100.
BEWARE the Bluegreen Vacation mystery shop -- the Questionnaire looks deceptively short at first glance when you try to size up what will be required before you accept the shop and commit to make the report. In truth, the Questionnaire is quite lengthy, just in hiding. Many of the "yes / no" questions, once answered, EXPAND into a requirement for a full narrative explanation. So the "short report" you first previewed before accepting the assignment turns into quite a lengthy, narrative-intensive report after you begin answering. This is deceptive and I have brought this to the MSC's attention but they won't do anything to fix it or warn shoppers in advance, instead hoping to lure more unsuspecting shoppers into a monster of a report for very little pay.

Furthermore, the questionnaire won't let you save your work and close if you have multiple yes/no-to-expanding-narrative questions partially answered, thus forcing you to try to write the narrative before their 30 minute timer automatically times you out and loses what you haven't previously saved. Literally, the questionnaire will not let you save and close when you have any partial answers (e.g. the yes/no part answered but the surprise pop-up narrative to explain the yes/no answer still outstanding.) This effectively traps you into a desperate situation to try to save what you have already composed on other answers before the system times you out and dumps your work. You must copy your answers to another worksheet and save there -- or try entering partial narratives / token verbage to fool the program into believing you have answered, then go back and complete the narrative answers later. But don't make the mistake of answering all the quick yes/no questions first to see how many times the questionnaire expands to ask for narratives in an effort to size up this monster report before tackling it. If you do, you may get trapped by the programming glitch and not be able to save any narratives you've already written. VERY user-unfriendly!

And as one other shopper reported here, the Proof-Reader handling the Bluegreen Vacation shops (in my case, "Proofreader 3" who won't reveal their identity / take accountability for their grading) is overly harsh, punative, and gets upset / deducts grade points if they have to do any additional proofing of your work after their first pass. They literally ask you for more details on your initial answer (oftentimes lost by the automatic time-out and expanding question trap), then when you give them what they ask for, deducts points because they had to do more proofing on what you submit and they only want to do that once, i.e. blames you the shopper for the quesionnaire's programming glitches and their own requests for more info -- QUITE unfair and the sign of an inexperienced or even juvenile Proofreader employed beyond their capabilities. And there is no appeal process at this MSC or a Shopper Advocate in their group who will help you if you ask (the Bluegreen Vacation Shop Scheduler on this account will not respond or help should you point out what's wrong with the questionnaire or ask for help with Proofreader 3's severe / unfair grading.)

This particular MSC has also carelessly asked for shoppers to pose as CRIMINALS on recorded video on other shops (e.g. Money Transfer client / human trafficking scenario) with ZERO regard for the potential danger to the shopper should they be reported or detained by the authorities as "suspicious". This MSC does NOT treat shoppers with care or concern for their safety, much less their time or fair treatment in business dealings.

In summary, the Bluegreen Vacation shop took HOURS to complete, was fraught with programming glitches and disappointments, was managed by the MSC in an unprofessional manner, and paid NO WHERE NEAR what it should have for this much work, frustration, and disappointment. I will never accept another Bluegreen Vacation shop again from this MSC unless they clean up their questionnaire problems and offer pay that is commensurate with the extensive narratives required.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 10:18PM by Yohan.
Yohan, you are right on..... neither one of us will come near a shop scheduled by Blaine Timmerman ever again.

The $199 still has not been refunded. Giving them till the end of the day and first thing tomorrow morning I am calling the credit card company and dealing with it that way.
There may, perhaps, be an ICA violation or four in that post.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
And still not refunded... going through the credit card company as the only reply from the scheduler was "the receipt was forwarded to the client"

Yea, my thoughts are pretty negative on this one....
Sorry about all your troubles and thanks so much for the feedback! Sounds like a nightmare shop. I hope you'll get the charges reversed, luckygirl0100.

Now I'm glad the jobs disappeared from the board before I scheduled one.
Thanks for the forewarning. I just had that funny feeling that getting the charges reversed would become time consuming.
I passed one of their kiosks today and almost started laughing.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
I haven't done the purchase/reimburse shops, but I have done the non-purchase shops and I don't have a problem with those.

.
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
Still not reimbursed. Going through the bank to dispute the charges. PLEASE be careful of the purchase shop!!!!
Oh, no, luckygirl0100! I hope your bank will take care of it. Thanks for keeping us updated. You're the reason I'm not in the same situation.
I'm so glad that you started this. I sent an email asking what kind of a bonus they would offer for me to complete a job about an hour away. Now I don't think that the bonus can't be nearly big enough.
I have also passed on these shops and never completed one due to the same hesitations mentioned above. I am glad to know that I am not missing out! Reading everyone's comments has been helpful.

@luckygirl0100, I am sorry to hear about your trouble with getting reimbursed!! I had a gas station shop rejected by Blaine about a year ago. I was falsely accused of providing information that did not match the video recording. When I tried to defend my case, he stopped responding to my emails. Now, I am very picky about the schedulers that I will accept work from at that particular MSC. That was a flat out burn on Blaine's part. There are only two or three schedulers that I actually enjoy working with at that particular MSC.

As for the editors at that particular MSC, I agree! They are very picky. I also agree with the low pay. I prefer the shops with high bonuses; when they are actually worth the time. I tend to stay away from this particular MSC.
I've only done the non purchase shop, no problems.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login