EPMS --- It's not worth it.
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WELL maybe you don't mind working for nothing. Making fifteen calls only to find out the TARGET is no longer there, OR how about the Target is the Assistant manager and does not show apartments, so you do not get compensated for your time when it is NOT the shoppers fault. I say management should make the client give a statement the information is up to date and the target works those dates. I have had so many shops with inaccurate information. And spent too much time tracking targets down who say their days are different than what Ellis says. Not to mention the phone calls (all recorded) where the target is not even there or is NOT a leasing agent. And no compensation for that waste of a shoppers time. Lastly Ellis asks for comments, but doesn't seem to do anything about the comments. The forms are repetitive when they do not have to be.
I agree the comments are repetitive... Sometimes when I am completing the report, I'm thinking gosh this will never end. I told myself I will only do those shops if there 50 or above. the apartment shopping is one of the few that I'm really comfortable with, in addition to automobile shopping. for some reason I just don't like going in the shops and dealing with sales people in those stores.
You nailed this one for me. I have never reported one in less than four hours. The repeated questions always had me doubting whether or not I answered the previous one correctly. I had not done one in over a year. I found others for around the same rate with a less intense report. Training XFactor, Measure CP, sometimes ProSource can be a close second to EPMS.
Tips to get the reports under an hour...please share the secret. I love the shop performance, just cannot stand the reports. I thank you and anyone else who can help.
Now that is so true. A couple of banks or quick purchase and return on the same day would cover the time and money involved.
I usually get the epms reports done in 45 minutes.. maybe an hour... I just make really detailed notes after the shop and then I basically just fill in the blanks. For me these are super easy and I love this company. I just did a route with them actually on wednesday, 5 apartments in one day. I received bonuses and the longest tour that I went on was 35 minutes shortest was 20 minutes.
www.Facebook.com/oatsandgrins
I'm NEVER doing targeted shops again. I tried many times to get my target, finally did and made an appointmernt to see the place. I show up and the person has called in sick. So what else was I supposed to do? Saw the place and called the scheduler as to what to do.
Oh, I should have made an excuse and left? Then come back once the person was working? Ridiculous.
Oh, I should have made an excuse and left? Then come back once the person was working? Ridiculous.
Kona Kathie
newmom, you have got to be a wizard. I will not tell you how long it takes me. Wish I could see some sample reports to compare to what I'm doing wrong.
Im not sure, I take a notebook with me on the shop each apartment has its own page, and I jot everything down. Times date location. Employee name and description. Route that we walked the apartment. Apartmall walls/ carpet color.facilities seen in order. Then like I said its just fill in the blank when it comes to reporting.. and I just make notes on the paper so it takes me two minutes to make my notes W/W = white walls B / C = brown carpet ect. My notes really only make sense to me lol but that's all that matters. I write my notes how I wrote down peoples order when I was a waitress long ago lol I Have also never had issues reaching my target.
www.Facebook.com/oatsandgrins
I no longer shop with these guys because they wasted a lot of my time. I couldn't schedule apartment jobs like I can for everyone else because they were very poor about how we went about finding our target. I would waste entire days because i had some stupid target shop and they had 18 billion different employees because it's a chicago skyrise. After I wasted almost 3 days in a row and told them it would be more productive for me to bicycle around and do gas station audits the person I was talking with got a little offended and said maybe I should do that then. And I did. Then I started video shopping and my world changed =)
CEO The Mystery Shoppers Depot
US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
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US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
Airbnb host based in Chicago and 10% discount if you mention this forum
klike5421 when you say these other companies come 2nd to Ellis, do you mean that their reports are easier to fill out?
I made an appointment to meet with my target after much trouble getting her on the phone. I showed up and was told she had called in sick that day. So I went ahead and did the shop and report, rather than out myself as a shopper.
You guessed it, NO pay whatsoever. So now I will not do a targeted shop for them, period.
You guessed it, NO pay whatsoever. So now I will not do a targeted shop for them, period.
Kona Kathie
I have never done an apartment shop, and Ellis emailed me about the first one I've seen in my area. It is a target shop, which I've also never done. The pay is $40, and it sounded enticing as it's no money out of pocket for an "easy" $40, but that's when I found this thread! Reports are my least favorite part about mystery shopping, and I sure as heck do not want to spend 4 hours typing a report for $40. I'm fairly good with detail, especially with anything design related so I think I could easily remember apartment details like color and layout, and could easily remember employee characteristics.
I guess since I haven't done an apartment shop, I don't know what the reports entail. I couldn't possibly think of what it would entail besides details, which seem easy to remember, and customer service... what they said, how they acted, ect, like every mystery shop.
Basically I'm asking, as someone who has not done apartments, is it worth it for me? Do they bonus them if I wait it out since it's the beginning of the month to make it more worth it? Help!
I guess since I haven't done an apartment shop, I don't know what the reports entail. I couldn't possibly think of what it would entail besides details, which seem easy to remember, and customer service... what they said, how they acted, ect, like every mystery shop.
Basically I'm asking, as someone who has not done apartments, is it worth it for me? Do they bonus them if I wait it out since it's the beginning of the month to make it more worth it? Help!
Sometimes they bonus them. If you have never done an apartment shop it is something you should try a few times in order to decide if it's worth it for you. Like any report, the first one or two will be much harder and take more time. Some people find Ellis reports always take them a couple of hours no matter what. While my least favorite reports, with focus I can knock them out in 45 to 60 minutes. That is for some of their worst, on occasion they have a client with a simpler report that takes about 30 minutes or less.
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.
"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.
I have never done the video shops but the regular shops. I do not do them anymore because of the reports. I never did one in less than 3-4 hours. And they refused to pay me for one shop because targeted agent left. They called me to tell me. I chose to do with another agent because only day I could do the shop. EMS claimed since I knew,I should have rescheduled the shop or call them to find out what to do. And then they would probably complained if I had cancelled the shop. So mad that I was out 40.00 for doing shop & report. I still get emails about shops but delete them.
I've done 1 with EPMS and the report is repetitive and tedious. I felt that many questions were similar just worded differently. There are so many shops available for my area, but I dread that report.
I just did another with EPMS. Non targeted bonused $10 to $40. On site half hour call 4 mins guidelines 16 mins. Report 3 hours so $40 for 4 hours. But it was initially a day I had nothing scheduled. Targeted shops no thank you with them. Non targeted only as a need to make money and have nothing available. Try a few see if you like MKKP. But report is repetitive.
Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
I try to schedule Ellis shops for the third week of the month since it tends to be slow anyway. For the reports I've found some copy and paste works well. My trick is to open each section in a separate tab then move the tabs so the pages with the same info are next to each other. Since these are also the sections primarily consisting of info like date and time or descriptions it's quick to knock them out.
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.
"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.
I have been doing traditional and audio shops for EPMS for a number of years. I also hate their reports. I don't know if they recently changed the report or if the client just required different things, but there latest report drove me crazy - there were these narratives on "Technical aspects of the agents ******" Technical aspects?? It was a huge increase in time and I had no idea of what they wanted. My other EPMS gripe is asking me the agent's weight! I don't know someone's weight, I usually answer that with "I have no idea." But EPMS always pays on the schedule they have set up. Report done by the 7th, payment on the 22nd. And I only do their bonused shops. When I can increase that pay by $15-25, I will push through that stupid report. I will do audio shops, but I skip the video. I did one years ago, the shop was rejected, because all you could see was the agent's chest. I couldn't tell what was taping, and in the case of the agent he was much taller than me, so hence his chest.
Anyway their reports are a pain in the ass, but they are a good company to work with.
Anyway their reports are a pain in the ass, but they are a good company to work with.
@LisaSTL wrote:
I try to schedule Ellis shops for the third week of the month since it tends to be slow anyway. For the reports I've found some copy and paste works well. My trick is to open each section in a separate tab then move the tabs so the pages with the same info are next to each other. Since these are also the sections primarily consisting of info like date and time or descriptions it's quick to knock them out.
Perhaps you don't care, but copy and paste is against all of their instructions. If they find out that you are doing that you will be off of their list of shoppers.
Ellis does bonus shops. The base rate depends on where you live. When I was in NC, the pay was $25., when I moved to MD, the pay was $35.00, now I am back in OR and the pay is $30-35. But I do wait for the bonuses which can be $5-25.00. I don't do apt shops for the flat rate because of the stupid report. It should not take you 4 hours to do your report, but it will take at least an hour.
Regarding Targeted vs Non-targeted shops: Personally I will not do targeted shops unless the bonus has taken it into the stratosphere - which happens when the target is difficult to reach. You can almost always tell when a target is difficult to reach by the pay. But I have better things to do than make call after call making up some reason for the call when the target does not answer.
Regarding Targeted vs Non-targeted shops: Personally I will not do targeted shops unless the bonus has taken it into the stratosphere - which happens when the target is difficult to reach. You can almost always tell when a target is difficult to reach by the pay. But I have better things to do than make call after call making up some reason for the call when the target does not answer.
After five years it apparently has not bothered them I copy and paste dates and times. If I was using copy/paste for anything against their policy you would think in six years and over 100 reports somebody would have caught on.
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.
"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.
Have never had my knuckles whacked for copying and pasting. Parts of their reports are redundant. No need to chew my tobacco twice.
Ok, they have redundant reports that take from one to three-four hours to write. Because I've got quite a few about an hour or so drive from me, I'm considering them. How much would you do them for?
$40?
$60?
$80?
more?
Thanks.
$40?
$60?
$80?
more?
Thanks.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut
That is up to you Vlade. I would personally due non target only ones. I would only do 2 in one day 3 max if your glutten for punishment. Figure 4 hours total time not counting drive time for each. So $60 or more if it were me.
Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
Where you may run into a problem with the distance is coordinating if the shops are targeted. Ellis might work with you if the shops have been hard to fill. The reason Ellis target shops are more difficult is they will not provide a schedule and will not allow the shopper to ask for the target for something like five days. If you can get the schedule early on, targets are much easier.
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.
"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.
Buffalo and Lisa,
Thank you both for your helpful responses.
Thank you both for your helpful responses.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut
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