How to submit report EPMS

I did my first apartment shop for EPMS, yesterday. It was very long and I finished it late last night. The last page said --You have completed the report. It doesn't have a submit button or anything else. It just has a way to get back to the home page. I sent an email to the scheduler today and have heard nothing back all day. Does anyone or can anyone tell me how to submit this report. Can anyone help me. Thank you in advance.

Always Shopping Western New Y0rk

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After your report is completed, there should be a message that says report has been submitted and is awaiting approval. After they accept the report, the message will say that it has been accepted. Then you have 5 days to report follow-up. Make sure you report the follow-up, and if there isn't any, make sure you report that. After the 5 days, the shop no longer shows up in your current shops and will appear in the list that is pending for payment.
Ooh thanks DanceMom. I've my first shop for them this afternoon. Didn't know about that follow-up report. I had a devil of a time just finding what I needed to print from their site.

D'Agosto


"What does it mean? You ask. I answer not/For meaning, but myself must echo, What?/And tell it as I saw it, on the spot."
I love EPMS. Eventually you get good at their long reports and they don't take five hours to complete. Also they pay by direct deposit every month. I haven't had many problems with questions about the reports either. Butlook for emails with questions about your reports.
I finally gave up wasting a lot of time on the "target" shops. Many times they won't get on the phone or answer when they are managers of the location. IT IS A HUGE WASTE OF TIME.
Butterball,
If you tell the scheduler, he/she will probably give you permission to ask for the target. Once you master the yechniques and the reports, these are really good "bread and buter" shops. If you do their video shops, the pay is better, and better still with the bonus for owning your own video equipment. Their video scheduler, Robert A., is among the very best in the business.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I've been working on two of their shops this week and I do mean all week long. I had the opportunity to speak with Robert last week and found him to be wonderful. I will also agree the pay is good. That said, there have been problems. The time spent trying to reach the targets has really interfered with an already hectic schedule and because one only works on Wednesdays and weekends I'm now stuck working Saturday. Combine that with my EPMS contact who is only available by e-mail, takes hours to answer any questions and thinks that if I finally reach the target at 3 in the afternoon I can just run right out in rush hour traffic to do the shop has me wondering about doing more jobs for them. I'm hoping they have some video shops that aren't targetedsad smiley

Right now I have to work on the report for the one I was able to shop and could use some advice. I know there are some sections with narrative required, but are they like many video companies where a sentence or two will suffice or do I have to write it as if there is no video?

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.
To: Pobo35
Once you finish the online report return to your home page or guidelines. There you can select "Mark this Section as Complete" for it. That's what submits the report.
Thanks. That's not much at allsmiling smiley

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 have done many shops for them. Most are targeted agents, and generally I don't have a problem getting the agent. If I do, I let the scheduler know and they tell me to ask for the agent. When I do ask for the agent, I usually use the line that the mom of a friend of my daugter told me to call that person, and I don't know the mom's name. They always seem to believe me.

Yeah--I forgot the part about "mark this section as complete" LOL.

You also have to wait until your scanned documents load up. Sometimes that takes several minutes. I always check to make sure they've uploaded.
I must be a total idiot. I cannot find anyplace to upload anything including my video. The only reference to the video in the instructions state to leave it on the camera and they will download it. The problem is it's my rig and I'm not sending it to them.

The report was somewhat of a PITA. The narrative requirements aren't onerous, but more than I like to do on a video shop. The extra "verification" questions at the end are what bugged me. You want proof I was there, lets go to the videotapesmiling smiley

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.
Thank you so much for yourhelp. I finally got it submitted. I tried to get hold of the person you can reach by email only, and it was a day and a half for her to get back to me. I was afraid i'd lose it or something drastic. I must admit it was a different report than any I have ever done. On top of it I never was notified that the shop was assigned to me. I only knew because I got a reminder the day before. I just hope the report is accepted all right. I am watching for follow up. How long before I'm supposed to give up on follow up. Is it 5 days from your visit. Thank you so much for your help.

Always Shopping Western New Y0rk
Pobo35, your shop instruction will tell you exactly how long you have to wait.

Lisa, call Robert for video uploading instrcutions. They are not in the shop instructions.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2012 04:22PM by walesmaven.
Thanks walesmaven. I wanted to get it done before Monday, but if it gets uploaded on Monday they will still have it sooner than if I was sending back rented equipmentsmiling smiley

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.
Once you click "submit" it will take you to your homepage, showing __% completion.
Wait 5 days for the followup then log back in to indicate if you had a follow up. At that time, the system will say 100% complete. The status will show "Waiting for approval" from your scheduler.

After you do a couple of these shops, they become less painful.
I have done several shops for EPMS but never had done a video shop. Are they worth the time and effort to do them? How do you keep the camera hidden so that you get a clear picture of what you are taping? How do you keep them from knowing you are videotaping them?

Also, reaching targeted agent: I usually try to reach the agent on two attempts, then ask for them on the 3rd attempt. I do not even ask EPMS anymore. I also will go the next day to do the visit if I reach the agent in the late afternoon. Just put in your report that your phone call and visit were on different days.

A warning: If you have a visit schedued with an agent, then another agent calls to tell you that your agent had to leave due to illness, do not go and do a different agent. I was on a tight schedule and went anyways. I also thought I would be giving myself away as a mystery shopper if I set up a new time when the other agent was offering to show me the apt. It turned out that because I knew ahead of time that the targeted agent would not be there, EPMS would not pay me. It is only when you do not know ahead of time and find out when you get there that they will pay for the report and visit. This is the only time that I did not get pay for the shop. So call EPMS if you are in doubt before you go to do the shop.
I'm confused about you asking for the target since the phone calls are recorded. They have not had a problem with you going against the guidelines?

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've worked for them for two or three years and they are a great company. Pay is good and timely. I've done 4 video shops for them. You don't have to upload the video final shop just send the equipment back. I can't recall if you still have to upload any brochures or business cards when doing video shops.

After entering the last section of the report go back and click complete in the enter report section. The green % complete meter should show about 96% or something along those lines.

After a few days you have to complete the follow up section. It asks if the agent followed up with you by phone, mail or email after your shop. You will get a reminder email to complete those sections if you forget. When you complete the follow up section then the green meter will show 100% complete.
You don't have to upload video if you use their equipment. I was using my ownsmiling smiley

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.
LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You don't have to upload video if you use their
> equipment. I was using my ownsmiling smiley


Oh, okay.
I've only used theirs so I didn't have to upload the final product.
It surprised me when the only instructions were for loaned equipment. It's great they are so willing to do that since shoppers can learn how to use the cameras and decide if the whole video shopping thing is for them. I'm really happy to have my own rig since it allows me so much flexibility with jobs. It's nice to know if someone e-mails me tonight I can go to a job tomorrowwinking smiley

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.
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