Anyone sign up for them? They have a test you take with 10 questions and my husband is a phd and he and I both looked at this and they say 6 out of 10 correct. Full of ............They obviously have something wrong with their grading. I decided I did not want to take the test over which was a different set of questions. I think the company would be difficult to work for and demanding. Any opinions?

I've been shopping for them for about 15 years. I don't remember any tests. They.are a good company though, in my opinion.

They are a fantastic company to work with. Contact them and ask for help with the test. Generally when doing that it makes sense to identify the question and what your answer was. Sometimes we read too much into a question and sometimes the software is wrong and misgrades a test. They are worth the effort and also writing an amazing writing sample for.

I just read reviews from a very is disgruntled shopper that said she was thinking of bringing a small claims action against them. This was a recent review in 2016. I think I will not bother with them as I saw too many issues. I believe the person who wants to bring a small claims action said the editor is difficult?

In regards to identifying the question and what my answer was - there is no question as pointed out as wrong.

I took the test and passed it. I didn't have any problems with it. I don't find the company difficult or demanding.

Your choice. People sometimes don't follow instructions and then get all bent out of shape when their shop is rejected. Certainly my experience with ACL is that they will do everything in their power to salvage a shop. But there are limits as to what they can do without destroying the integrity of the shop. They also have time constraints about how long between shop performance and getting it to the client. If folks don't stay available and responsive to respond back to editors the shop gets too stale to be used.

Moral of the story: Do a shop on day 1. Generally on day 2 you will hear back that the shop is sent on to the client. If you haven't heard by day 3 you need to return to the website because if a request from the editor went astray you will still be able to read it on the website. But in the decade or so I have worked with them, an editor is just as likely to pick up the phone and talk with me.

By the way, my husband decided to take his own test. He got an entirely different set of questions and passed!. So I guess a PhD can read and write and do r I t m e t I c! Excuse my sarcasm.

Typically an editor sends an email out to the shopper if there is follow up or changes to be made to the shop. If a shopper does a myriad of shops it is difficult to log in to each one to see the status.

The problem with ACL is that the vast majority of shops are reimbursement only. Its ok to do a few of those as loss leaders to get in the door, but unless one either finds the right scheduler to milk bonus $$ from or one works in a territory where ACL has fee shops (some parts of the country, but my no means most) then there really is no point in working for them.

Typically an editor does and often ACL does as well, but they are not like a typical MSC. The vast majority of their shops are restaurant shops that pay no fee but do reimburse nicely for meals for two. Generally we do 4-5 shops per month for them. They still pay by check and the check is generally in my mailbox during the last few days of the month for work done in the previous month. They are one of the companies on my list of companies that respect shoppers and build working relationships.

I have done a few shops with A Closer Look. In my area most of their shows are restaurants with very low pay (but then again it is a free meal...). Personally I don't care for the restaurant shops that much. However they do have some home security shops that pay much better...

A Closer Look is not demanding or difficult to work for. They have a lot of shops in my area that I do. Some are reimbursement only and some pay fees. Every editor that I have dealt with has been professional and helpful. I have never had a problem with anyone at this company. In response to your comment about seeing too many problems with them on the forum, just about any company will have lots of positive and negative comments about them here.

It is a pleasure shopping for them. 99% of the time I get a nice email thanking me for the shop the next day after a shop. They are very reasonable and the schedulers are as accommodating as possible.

My only gripe is that I mentioned my source for discounted gift cards here and now the demand has gone up and the discount has gone down.

I used to get a certain brand of gift card at 23% off regularly. I just bought $150 worth of gift cards for a shop and Cardpool only had this franchise for 17.5% off.

This means I can only go over the $150 shop allowance by $25 and still break even.

@casper7776 wrote:

In response to your comment about seeing too many problems with them on the forum, just about any company will have lots of positive and negative comments about them here.

So true, so true! And many of those complaints are rants about how horrible the company and how the complainant did everything right and still their shop is rejected. In the thousands of shops I have performed I have had only a small handful rejected and every single one of them was because of something I screwed up. A much larger handful of shops I screwed up but the MSC found some way to accept them. It is never in the best interests of any MSC to reject shops they can salvage because it means they need to find another shopper to repeat the shop and because of the rancor of the shopper whose shop was rejected.

I have had some disputes with companies where their guidelines said one thing and their editor said another. All but one of these have eventually been settled in my favor because I was able to submit a pdf of the guidelines provided to me that I saved to my computer right before performing the shop. It is annoying and a time waster, which is why I no longer bother working with some companies.

I have had the issues with terrible communication with some schedulers and some companies, which is why I no longer bother working with some companies and schedulers.

I have had the issues of not being paid in a timely manner and needing to chase payments, which is annoying and a time waster, which is why I no longer bother working with some companies.

My rule of thumb is definitely the first MSC issue, shame on them. Continued issues with the same MSC, I need to rethink who my colleagues are.

In the past 12 years of doing shops I have lost more ($170) because a company went out of business than in all rejected shops combined, and this is on a cumulative total of fees and reimbursements which totals over $100,000 in the time period. If you read and follow instructions you will do fine.

I've had great luck. The scheduler usually emails me back the same day, even on off hours, they aren't too demanding, and I don't recall any issues with my test either. Couldn't recall the questions but I watched their video, read their info, and took my test. No issues. I've had good luck getting a few paid shops-- and a few unpaid... Granted the paid shops are usually $5-$15 but it works for me. I love doing their shops for food & entertainment because it provides us with a good date weekend "on me". heehee and my honey doesn't always have to pay for stuff unless he just wants to.

Excepting their phone shops (run away, quickly), ACL is one of the better companies to work for. I've yet to have anything rejected and their editors will work with you if there is an issue.

I think ACL is a great company to work for. They are quick to respond and offer helpful comments on my reports. The only bummer is that most of the shops are reimbursement-only. I don't recall having to take a test for them. I do, however, remember the hellish Sinclair test involving Xs and Os.

PS They usually open their next month jobs on the 22nd, but it appears that they've been listed already in my area.

I have been shopping with ACL for years and love them. They have their own tab on my browser so I check them every day. There is a yearly test you have to take as well as tests for certain companies or industries, like hospitality. They are one of the best paying out there, with schedulers who take personal responsibility for their jobs and follow up with you, a admin dept that responds to emails quickly regarding any issues and some great companies to shop with. I have done fine dining, free massages, wine tastings, hotel stays, quick service restaurant, C-shops, storage rental shops, froyo, too many to list. Some pay nothing, which is true but the value you receive for the experience is usually there, like an hour massage including tip! Also, plenty of their jobs do pay either small or LARGE fees, like I got paid $25 each on the storage shops and the scheduler helped me put together a route. If you see a job not being filled and the pay is low or nothing, reach out to the scheduler about a small bonus or upping the bonus and they will respond. I also love that, on their website you can see the jobs even after they are taken so you can look for those next time they come open. I wish their website was a little better with uploading pics, awkward the order in which you enter a report. And they really have to join the rest of us in the 21st century and offer some type of electronic payment. But they always tell you exactly when your check will be mailed. I also get great feedback from their editors after every job, telling me that it got accepted and how I could improve. I also get to keep a copy of the finished report, photos and all for my records. It is the first company I recommend to new shoppers.

I do about three ACL shops a month. My quibble is that I get paid (by check only) about two months after the shop. If it is a restaurant shop that requires a lot of food to be ordered, I can be out $70 or more until I get paid. (I checked my records - the earliest unpaid one goes back to Aug. 4.) A smaller quibble is that the shop rotations can be 60-days plus. That doesn't block the texts and emails pleading me to take an orphan shop for the same location that I completed 10 days earlier.

Some shop forms and instructions are updated frequently but the changes are not highlighted or flagged. They do "date" the shop notes so that is a clue that there is something different in the multi-pages of instruction.

I don't recall having to take a test.

Some schedulers send out month-end "thank yous" to shoppers. It is a nice touch.

I just completed two shops a little bit ago and already received follow up from an editor, to which I responded.

Pua,
Some of their clients require a test related to the guidelines for their brand.

PuaM, if you email them back when they are pleading for you to take a shop that you can't self assign due to rotation, they often will override it on their end because they need someone to take the shop! They have done so on more than one occasion for me.

Indeed some clients they can do an override but many they can not. In my market there is one that I do that they can override but the rest of the clients I like to do they can't.

My beef with this company is that they only reimburse meal. No fee. They are also sticklers about the requirements. I had a job rejected because the drink that the waiter described was blended not poured. After explaining We had the waiter describe the drink and blending was not in the description my under 25 guest ordered it. (Goal of shop was to be carded) What was I supposed to do. Have my guest send it back because it wasn't poured? Gave me the offer to reshop. Yea right. Never again.

Used to like this company for the feedback given. But I don't work for free.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2016 02:20AM by kalfini.

I'm doing a dinner shop tomorrow night with a $10 bonus. That's not the norm, but occasionally it's not just reimbursement only.

My dinner shop tomorrow night has no bonus or fee. It will nevertheless be profitable because I will be paying with a gift card obtained when the client offered a $5 gift card for every $25 in gift cards purchased. Like most MSCs, ACL does not allow the use of coupons, groupons and such, but they do allow gift cards.

I've done several 'in home' shops for ACL that have paid very well. I tend to stay away from their restaurant shops for the reasons others have mentioned.

If you can work it, good. If you can't, not so much. I have shopped with ACL for many years. With a few exceptions, I have no complaints. They are communicative, and have straight-forward guidelines and reports. Pay is timely. Generally, their restaurant shops pay no fee, and are reimbursement only. For that to be appealing to me, the restaurant(s) must be appealing to me - meaning, I would go there on my own dime and consider the reimbursement as a coupon.

Clients/ ACL, have added the requirement of photos. This makes a reimbursement-only assignment less attractive.