frodosdojo Wrote:
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> I cannot recommend them.

Why would you post a negative comment without an explanation? It's like someone hiding behind the cloak of anonymity aka cowardly.

Personally I would NOT recomment Bestmark. Simply because, for some odd reason, the scheduler in my area seems to dislike me. That is the only thing I can come up with. I have applied for shops only to have my application "disappear" with no reason. After the 5th time this happened I wrote to the scheduler and flat out asked her what the problem was. She told me, rather curtly, that my account shows inactive and she cannot give me any shops since I am inactive. I wrote back to her and told her that on my end it shows active and able to apply for shops. If this is the case then something is wrong and who do I need to speak with to get this corrected, she would not answer. I tried asking this question twice, and she would not answer.

On the other hand, however, my husband (who is also a mystery shopper) has had nothing but great luck with them. He has gotten replies to his applications almost immediately and they have been extremely nice and polite with any questions he has had.

I have finally stopped trying and just let him have that one, LOL. I don't know anything else to do.

Toni

sun&fun Wrote:
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> GREAT company, Janelmb. I've been them for about 8
> years. One piece of advise I didn't see
> specifically addressed. When Bestmark says "report
> is due by" i.e. 11:00 am CST you need to have it
> completed BY THAT TIME or they deduct pay ($2.00
> from my experience) OR it may auto cancel. There
> is no leeway in that regard with Bestmark.




I'm sorry Sun&Fun but it has been my experience that if you have confirmed your shop after having completed it and you are late they will not automatically cancel your shop. I could be mistaken but that has been my experience with them. I have had to be late a couple of times and my shops were not canceled. My problem was that I had to train myself to confirm my shops as soon as I have finished and BEFORE I start typing up the report just in case something happens.

Had it not happened to me, I would NOT have taken the time to write that shops MAY auto cancel if not completed by the deadline. I called them shortly after an hour after it was due and they put it back into my shops and I completed it. This forum is to help one another not to tell other shoppers a company will not do something when they obviously HAVE done it to another shopper (i.e. calling me a liar).

Bestmark is one of my favorite companies and I was simply detailing their rules to help out newbies.

sun&fun Wrote:
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> Had it not happened to me, I would NOT have taken
> the time to write that shops MAY auto cancel if
> not completed by the deadline. I called them
> shortly after an hour after it was due and they
> put it back into my shops and I completed it. This
> forum is to help one another not to tell other
> shoppers a company will not do something when they
> obviously HAVE done it to another shopper (i.e.
> calling me a liar).
>
> Bestmark is one of my favorite companies and I was
> simply detailing their rules to help out newbies.


I was not calling you a liar, I was telling you about my experience with them. I think that I may have misread your post, I wasn't aware that you hadn't completed the shop by the deadline, I read it as you hadn't turned in the report my apologies for misreading your post, but if you notice, I was speaking of my experience not saying that you were wrong about your experience.

I like Bestmark, they were one of the first companies I worked for. At the beginning I did a lot of new car shops until I figured out what my time was worth and other companies where I could get more. With that being said..................

I use them exclusively for both of my vehicles oil changes at the dealerships. For me, $45 reimbursement plus a $20 report fee is well worth my time. I do not find these particular reports to be excessive on narratives. These are the only shops I do for them anymore. They pay quicker than most other companies as well and I have never had to hunt down a payment.

tonitunes Wrote:
she cannot give me any shops
> since I am inactive. I wrote back to her and told
> her that on my end it shows active and able to
> apply for shops. If this is the case then
> something is wrong and who do I need to speak with
> to get this corrected, she would not answer. I
> tried asking this question twice, and she would
> not answer.
>
> On the other hand, however, my husband (who is
> also a mystery shopper) has had nothing but great
> luck with them. He has gotten replies to his
> applications almost immediately and they have been
> extremely nice and polite with any questions he
> has had.
>
> I have finally stopped trying and just let him
> have that one, LOL. I don't know anything else to
> do.
>
> Toni


Hi Toni,

Assuming you and your husband have the same address, you could be having the same problem my mother and I had. We share a house and I recommended Bestmark to her. When she applied, she had trouble with logging in. She called Bestmark and the person there said that because there were two mystery shoppers at the same address, we would have to share a log in and account. So now when I log in, both our names appear at the top of the page. When a check arrives for a successfully completed shop, it is made out to both of us. We each keep excellent records of who has done what shop for which company so there has been no problems with this situation.

I hope this is helpful. All the best to you.

Same as ^ dcm; my husband, who no longer shops, and I share an account and a check.

Just as an aside, Toni, you may want to reconsider your approach with schedulers, since they are a shopper's best friend. There are so many better/nicer/more professional ways to request a scheduler's assistance than, "I wrote to the scheduler and flat out asked her what the problem was."

Just suggesting...

(heart)

I honestly would not recommend anyone I live with to join bestmark with knowing this information. I think this would cause legal issues (taxes) for my business as the other people in this house are not a part of my company and when I have needed to hire them for certain jobs I've hired them on as an independent contractor to my business not as an "employee" or as a "partner".

I like Bestmark.

I am not sure how anyone could have an issue with a scheduler "in their area". I had the impression the schedulers handled all parts of the country.

Here's my experience.

First, I am able to schedule projects myself. The only time I speak with a scheduler is if I (rarely) need a shop moved for some reason and can't do what I want through the user interface.

Second, when I call, there are any of about 20 schedulers I could get. I call in and press 0. Then I get whoever is free. 99.99999999% of the time the team members are friendly and helpful. I've encountered only one who I felt wasn't helpful and she even called me back to make nice later on.

Third and last, their editors are fair. I was initially put off by their list of possible deductions, but the only time I got dinged was when I was late once. In that case, they had pulled the shop while I was in the middle of finishing it, and they had to put it back. In that case, I did get dinged $2 for being late.

I did have an issue with them a few years. I had a shop due Thursday morning at 10 am. I stayed up until the wee hours and submitted it before going to bed. Somehow there was a glitch and on Friday I get a notice it was canceled because it was not completed. I did have a PDF saved of each page and contacted someone via email. Was told it would be no problem, but I would have to cut and paste my info back in. At least a dozen back and forth emails over the weekend with assurances that tech support and supervisors had been contacted, but they were having some difficulty reopening the shop. Finally on Monday, I get the shop open and re-enter all the information. Tuesday morning, I get an email stating that they could not accept the shop because it was now five days past the day it was done.

Escalate to a supervisor and am told the five days is a rule that cannot be bent and they can do nothing. I mention all the back and forth all weekend and the effort spent trying to get it done which includes submitting the form twice and all the back and forth emails. She holds fast to the five day rule, but claims she is willing to do me a favor so it won't affect my rating with them. I am given the opportunity to reshop, however, it would have to be at the base rate without the $35 bonus I had agreed to do the shop for.

Have not shopped for them again.

I would not bother myself. I would just leave it alone and move on. Sorry this happened to you.

I also started with Bestmark.
They pay great and are wonderful to deal with.
I especially appreciate that during the holiday's
they pay weekly instead of every other week,
which is not too bad either. I do a lot of shops
for Bestmark and Sun & Fun's comment was correct
If you have to have your report in at 11:00 am
make sure it is in.
But you are told this upfront when your report is due.

Great company to mystery shop for!

I'll never pay for an oil change again. The non-dealer ones are snatched up extremely fast and are easy reports if you can catch one and well worth it IMHO.

I just grabbed one of their oil changes and there are new guidelines (for this particular one) for 2015. You have to get an oil change AND a tire rotation. I wonder if the dealership will get suspicious if I get my tires rotated so much.

I have not worked much with Bestmark, but the few shops I completed for them years back were very narrative-heavy and did not pay well. Their schedulers were professional and helpful, and I don't recall any issues with payment, but the length of the reports and the narratives were enough for me to put them on my "Not Unless I'm Desperate" list. I haven't worked with them for a few years now, but I wouldn't NOT recommend them, they're just not a good fit for me.

The tires on my Chevy have gone round and round and round and round! The dealership doesn't seem to mind...

I have done multiple shops with Bestmark without any problems. Bestmark pays on time although the reports do require quite a bit of narrative. They are a good company, so I would recommend them. Best of luck

@parkcitybrian wrote:

frodosdojo Wrote:
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> I cannot recommend them.

Why would you post a negative comment without an explanation? It's like someone hiding behind the cloak of anonymity aka cowardly.

frodosdojo has been deactivated or has self-deactivated from MANY companies, not just Bestmark. LOL Do a search.