Has anyone done them? They sound so simple, but as usual Trendsource has 50 pages of information and 10 notations on receipts, etc. and I'm wondering if it's worth the $17.00.

I am someone who won't touch a shop for less than $10, and even those I'm very picky about, so $17 is something I could take or leave normally... but it's summer so I have to work around my kids and these sounded easy.

They are overall simple. The toughest part for me has always been getting an appointment because I find the business owners to be dodgy at best. A chat with the business owner and a bunch of photos is what it boils down to basically. I will not do these to a residential address for my own safety.

They are easy but a pain to input. I also will only do these in commercial business addresses in certain areas of town.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

I felt the same way. The one I am doing is in a commercial office building. I know right where it is. There are a boatload of them for NYC, but I would never go to some odd address in Manhattan!

Thanks guys.

Of the 15 I have done, I have only had a problem one time getting an appointment, and the business was VERY legit-just the owner was a woman and out of the office with sick children, it turned out after the fact. But I am very particular about these. If the business address when I google it does not look like a large commercial bldg, or if the name is a one person owner type thing, I just pass on it. I only do the ones I know I am totally safe at, area of town wise, or business wise, or both.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

How do you get these assignments assigned? It seems from many of your comments, you pick and choose make it appear it is easy to get the assignments assigned. Although I do frequently get emails with invitation to the BV assignments, I have not have any luck getting the assignments assigned.

That company is one that assigns most to their regulars. For a while I was a regular but I became disenchanted with them and now my status is about the same as a newbie because I request and perform so very very few shops for them. The last few BVs I did were special request, rush jobs accepted conditional on being assigned future ones--a promise they did not keep. I find the company is not worthwhile to rebuild up the relationship to try to get the BVs.

If you have completed a certain number of jobs, and fulfilled some other requirements, you can self-assign jobs for them. After that, and once you have completed one or two BV's for them to their satisfaction, you can self assign those. You can try calling the person who handles those, and see if you can make some headway. They do like their regulars and only let new people in to play with them as a whole when they are in need of people in an area.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

But they do take away your self-assign privileges when you haven't performed enough shops in a certain time frame. For quite a while here they only had $5 shops of no interest to me at all but that required 2 trips to the location on successive days. I wasn't about to do that. So I lost my self-assign. I assumed (falsely) that an agreement on the BVs in exchange for upending my schedule to accommodate them would have some effect, but it didn't.

Did you remind them of it? I find them nice. Not their nameless QA people, per se, since they are nameless emails, but their program managers.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

Yup, and got a slow response of "Oh, that has been assigned already." Do that a couple of times, sending the email reminder when you request the shop and you realize that an agreement is only one way.

Total bummer. I hate when that happens.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

It is just one of the handful of reasons that I really don't bother with these guys any more. I have no intention of being their 'pet' running to do $5 shops so I can qualify for the occasional better job.

I only signed up with them last November. Since that time, I have received exactly one email from them for an oil change shop in a town many miles away and I wasn't interested. It was $10 + reimbursement though. I take it there's no job board. Either they have nothing around here or plenty of shoppers.

There is a job board, Mert. You can request shops, and depending on when they need it done (many jobs have a two week window) they will assign or someone will pick it off the job board first. I forget the requirements exactly to self assign, but you do have to complete something like 5-10 shops (which I did the week they accepted me, since they needed pricing audits done asap and all the stores were walking distance to where I live, and I love groceries!)

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

I am not self-assign with them. I get so frustrated working on their website; I feel like I am jumping through hoops to get simple job information, and the pay is not that great, so...

I am completing a BV for them on Friday and I am DREADING it. Not sure why. Maybe it's the thought of putting on nice clothes and make-up, and having to interact with someone without my anonymity, all for $17.00. Ugh. I wish I could get out of it.

I don't have to dress up as much as you probably do, given the difference in attire between NYC and HNL. I can wear a summery dress and sandals, or chino's and a sleeveless shirt. I don't do the makeup thing unless I want to wear it. I actually don't mind these except for one thing-I hate having to make a specifically appointed time (same with the ASH Practitioner things.) I like the freedom of being more spontaneous with my day, since teaching is all about being there on time, every time, all the time. :-)

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

dee shops Wrote:
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> There is a job board, Mert.

Evidently as I haven't accepted the oil change shop from them, I have no log in and can't get to their board. Not sure it would be beneficial anyway as it appears they don't have much here.

They seem to go in spurts. I average about 10 jobs a month over the year, but I might do 30 one month and 1-2 others.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't have to dress up as much as you probably
> do, given the difference in attire between NYC and
> HNL. I can wear a summery dress and sandals, or
> chino's and a sleeveless shirt. I don't do the
> makeup thing unless I want to wear it. I actually
> don't mind these except for one thing-I hate
> having to make a specifically appointed time (same
> with the ASH Practitioner things.) I like the
> freedom of being more spontaneous with my day,
> since teaching is all about being there on time,
> every time, all the time. :-)

You are right! Being where we I am I could not get away with that. :( I need to look a certain part or it won't go over well. I am not looking forward to this at all. Being there at a certain time, and the long form I printed out last night. Ugh. I guess it will be a good experience to see if I like these, most likely it would be fine if the kids were in school.

Ok, so I did the BV with TS and it wasn't bad, and when I submitted my job, I found it was a $21 one, not a $17 one so even better. I found that I still like interacting on a professional level! It all came back... LOL I was worried and complaining for nothing!

I'll definitely be doing more of these, especailly once the summer is over and the kiddies are back in school