GCS Field Research?

Has anybody heard of them? I got an email today stating they are a sister company of In Touch Insight and they needed auditors. You have to complete a background check, which I don't have a problem doing. However, I cannot find anything on them on this forum and I'm not going to give up my social security number and a copy of my driver's license without knowing they are reputable.

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[contractors.gcsresearch.com]

They are legit. Here's the current locations where they are hiring independent contractors.

In Touch bought them this year.

I've been shopping for them the past couple months. The ones I've been doing are bvs but they also have pharmaceutical audits. Training was done via teleconference. I like them and wish they had more shops in my area.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input!!

Bearclaw14 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anybody heard of them? I got an email today
> stating they are a sister company of In Touch
> Insight and they needed auditors. You have to
> complete a background check, which I don't have a
> problem doing. However, I cannot find anything on
> them on this forum

Probably because no one who works for them wants any more competition. It was the first company I worked for, but they've been bought, sold and renamed several times since 1999. They used to have a LOT more work but since there aren't as many pharmaceutical reps, it's tapered off by a ton. They pay every 2 weeks, the onsites (business verifications) pay more than another msc, but they no longer do any traditional mystery shopping. Service Intelligence, which was owned by GCS a couple of years ago, took over the few mystery shops GCS had. Service Intelligence is now In Touch Insights.

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

I am experienced doing BVs with the other msc and they are usually easy. The pharmaceutical audit sounds daunting! I'm picturing sitting in a hot/cold storage unit counting 50,000 pills. I hope I will never get asked to do a closeout, if it involves renting a van.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

LOL! It's not like that, unless you live in my area and that thought discourages you from taking the audits close to me!

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

I have not done any of the pharma audits and just stuck to the bvs. I am afraid I wouldn't be able to read the print needed to do the audit.

Ok....feel silly asking, but shat is BV?

Tomorrow is not promised ..live today like it was your last!

I don't have any knowledge of this company but I am guessing that BVs is Business Verifications.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

And what is a pharmaceutical audit? Sounds groovy!

lbw1000 Wrote:
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> I don't have any knowledge of this company but I
> am guessing that BVs is Business Verifications.

Yes, they are but this company refers to them as "onsite inspections".

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

I don't think you guys are supposed to be sampling the merchandise on these audits!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

LOL! Even though they are called "sample audits"!

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

SandiAigo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> LOL! It's not like that, unless you live in my
> area and that thought discourages you from taking
> the audits close to me!

No worries...you live in the "middle" and I live way down the "bottom." :-)

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SandiAigo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > LOL! It's not like that, unless you live in my
> > area and that thought discourages you from
> taking
> > the audits close to me!
>
> No worries...you live in the "middle" and I live
> way down the "bottom." :-)

Then, by all means, PM me if you have any questions!

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

Hey so I am all signed up with them and ready to work but cant afford the background check which is around $750.00. I've moved a lot in the last 4 years so the cost for a Background check is high. Does anyone know where I can get a BG check done at a much much cheaper price?

$750?! So far I've seen MSCs either pick up the tab or go through companies charging anywhere from $7.50 to $15. Imagine how long it would take to make back that kind of money. Heck, new video cameras are going for less than $700 and that can be made back in 9 to 14 shops.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

GCS paid for my background check. When I got my own background check through Trendsource a few years ago, it was $15.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

The company they use charges like $70 per state you' ve lived in. So i was told this was the reason. I too think $750 is beyond too much. I will try trendsource; do you guys know other companies I can use? I was told if I find cheaper companies to do my check that they will accept my background check and then was given a list of what the check should entail.

TrendSource charged me $7 and, believe me, after working for a national laboratory where I held a Q clearance, the background check done by whatever company TS uses was not worth the paper I printed it on.

As for GCS, they paid for my background check and if they need shoppers in your area I would bet they would pay for yours, too.

I worked with them long before they required background checks. I've been using my Trendsource background checks for the past few years.

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

First post ever!!!

In my case, GCS did not charge me anything. That was a month ago.

But the problem is I am from CA. GCS treats all CA contractors as employees through agency. This make everything complicated.

I know! They started that a few years ago. Something about the CA labor laws and taxes.

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

Hi Cindy, part of the email I received says they will cover the background check fee ONLY for their hard to cover areas. Do you know how much it will cost me/us for this?

BV is a Business Verification.

I had to cover my own background check and it was $69.95.
I'm writing it off as a business expense.

There is one of the bogus "mystery Shopper" outfits using GCS letterhead and sending out bogus checks for shopping. They follow the regular scams as the other mystery shopper outfits follow; They send you a bogus check and want you to cash it and distribute funds all over. They are using what looks like the same logo as GCS if there is a legit GCS.

I just got a check from them written onLehigh Valley Credit Union Check in the amount of $2,490.00. Of course I am to deduct my $150.00 from this and transfer money orders to 3 - 4 places besides doing the shop. Same old scam that's been going around for years. I guess there is a GCS which is legit because people here are shopping for them. These guys do unsolicited recruiting and require nothing but your name, address, etc. to become a shopper; No applications or anything else... Beware of anyone that sends you funds up front and requiresyou to send money other places after cashing their check. You will get in trouble because you will be responsible when your bank throws your bogus check back at you and looks to you to send the funds back to them !!!

Grrrr! Just attempting to do the certification tests for 2015 and I keep getting 1 wrong on the two tests I am required to get 100%. It sucks when you cannot see which questions you got wrong!!!

plmccut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Grrrr! Just attempting to do the certification
> tests for 2015 and I keep getting 1 wrong on the
> two tests I am required to get 100%. It sucks
> when you cannot see which questions you got
> wrong!!!

It took me a couple of tries but I finally got a 100. One of the questions is a little tricky. The correct answer was true and according to the guidelines it should have been false.

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