@johnb974 wrote:

I had an ice cream shop last week, should have looked closer at what they required in the report. The shop paid $10. The report had 73 questions. Of which 20 were essay type questions. Part way through the shop I stopped and wrote the company to explain why I would never do another ice cream shop like this. Way too many questions and not worth what they were paying. I told them, at $10 it's not even worth finishing the reports. I did enjoy the ice cream and the place. $9 for the ice cream.
I did a pizza shop, which I've done a few times before with no problems. This time they said there was a 29 minute error. They didn't say where. I went back and corrected any mistakes. They refuse to accept the corrections and wanted me to go back. I told them, No, I corrected the mistakes I thought I made. You didn't tell me where the mistakes were. They want the timing down to the second at each place alone the line. You would need a stop watch as you moved along the line. At that point it's no longer a mystery shop. Just won't do those shops either.
Some shops the reports can take so long, they're not worth it. On the ice cream shop, they also want you to call them when you get home and ask a few questions. Not worth the $10 they offer.

This must be ACL's ice cream shop. Isn't it?

Good for you. Very tight on reimbursements, no fee, and horrible editors. Emails, phone calls, and they want a response asap.

ACL does pizza shops in my area and only pizza shops for one company. The ice cream shop was for another company.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2018 07:55PM by johnb974.

@johnb974 wrote:

ACL does pizza shops in my area and only pizza shops for one company.

That's what you think, because you don't have access to everything on their job board.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

ACL does pizza shops in my area and only pizza shops for one company.

That's what you think, because you don't have access to everything on their job board.

Those are the ONLY jobs that have shown up, within 20 miles of where I live. One pizza place and one hot dog place. Anything beyond 20 miles I'm not interested in.

@johnb974 wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

ACL does pizza shops in my area and only pizza shops for one company.

That's what you think, because you don't have access to everything on their job board.

Those are the ONLY jobs that have shown up, within 20 miles of where I live. One pizza place and one hot dog place. Anything beyond 20 miles I'm not interested in.

As I mentioned, you can't see the entire job board. They limit what you can see, based on your rating.
You might be able to see only a couple of shops. Other shoppers can see those shops and more. This is common knowledge about ACL.

SoCalMoma, it appears you enjoy trying to put people down. LOL I know they have many other shops. I looked at their site. NONE of those other shops are offered in my area. By the way.....In the past I've gotten complements from them for my reports.

@spicy1 wrote:

It is ironic that a drug test pays $15 but a doughnut shop pays twice as much at $30 as reimbursement.

Hahaha this one floored me. Due to my job, I've had a great many of those drug tests over the years. They're a pain. That shop has to be a pain. I saw it and thought, oh that'll get bonused, who will want to go through all that? Lo and behold, it went poof off the board.

@johnb974 wrote:

SoCalMoma, it appears you enjoy trying to put people down. LOL I know they have many other shops. I looked at their site. NONE of those other shops are offered in my area. By the way.....In the past I've gotten complements from them for my reports.

I'm definitely not trying to put anyone down, but I agree with SoCalMama on this. The group of shops you are able to see and assign in your area (and in other areas, in case you are traveling) is determined by your rating. The higher a shopper's rating, the more clients the shopper can see. All shoppers can see all shops, according to their rating, in their area or in other areas. So while you may be able to see only this client in your area, and you can see other clients in other areas but they are not shopped in your area, there are likely additional clients in all areas, including your own, that you cannot see at all.

If you don't mind me asking, what types of shops do you do that have high pay for a reasonable shop?

That may be so. I'm sure I don't see some shops because of my income level or even age. Not all shops are in every area. I've seen sites where there are Denny's shops 20 miles from me, even though there are 2 Denny's close to me. Those are never posted. It depends many times on your profile, NOT your shop rating. SoCalMommas post was meant as a put down to those who don't get higher end shops or can't see every shop.

@roflwofl wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

SoCalMoma, it appears you enjoy trying to put people down. LOL I know they have many other shops. I looked at their site. NONE of those other shops are offered in my area. By the way.....In the past I've gotten complements from them for my reports.

I'm definitely not trying to put anyone down, but I agree with SoCalMama on this. The group of shops you are able to see and assign in your area (and in other areas, in case you are traveling) is determined by your rating. The higher a shopper's rating, the more clients the shopper can see. All shoppers can see all shops, according to their rating, in their area or in other areas. So while you may be able to see only this client in your area, and you can see other clients in other areas but they are not shopped in your area, there are likely additional clients in all areas, including your own, that you cannot see at all.

That's what I have been trying to explain ..... And anyone who knows me, knows that I don't enjoy putting people down. He doesn't seem to get it?

His bashing of ACL makes no sense at all.

It's just part of the pattern. Bashing, unable to understand explanations, and unwilling to accept what he doesn't want to hear. ACL is not the first and won't be the last. It's ACL's turn.

@roflwofl wrote:

It's just part of the pattern. Bashing, unable to understand explanations, and unwilling to accept what he doesn't want to hear. ACL is not the first and won't be the last. It's ACL's turn.

I knew there was a reason I blocked your posts in the past. LOL You side with SoCal every single time. You're a tag team. LOL LOL

@johnb974 wrote:

That may be so. I'm sure I don't see some shops because of my income level or even age. Not all shops are in every area. I've seen sites where there are Denny's shops 20 miles from me, even though there are 2 Denny's close to me. Those are never posted. It depends many times on your profile, NOT your shop rating. SoCalMommas post was meant as a put down to those who don't get higher end shops or can't see every shop.

I didn't take her post that way. It's just fact. I don't know the algorithmes being used by various MSC's to decide who gets to see what, who can apply for what. I personally want all the highest paying jobs closest to me for the least work, lol, but at the same time, I know that isn't realistic. So, as a newer shopper, I keep plodding along, signing up with everyone and learning the ropes. I strive for perfect reports - I see that as the key to those plumb jobs. I don't expect to come into this industry and get the great stuff off the bat.

ACL the good you are able to talk to. a live person. They are generally very good to work to work with.
The bad thier forms are always very long and often have redundant questions that are long easy questions. It is up to the shopper to decide if ACL is thier style.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 03:40AM by Hydra777.

For everyone. Your rating isn't just about how you do a shop. It really depends on your profile They show shops that are more toward your profile. It can depend on income, age, where you live, what language you speak. Many times shops are tailored toward your profile and how far you're willing to travel. What are your likes and dislikes. I don't travel, so I don't see high end hotels. Why show shops to people who don't meet a certain criteria? My main beef with ACL was I corrected a shop, with the right times and they still rejected it. I do very few of their shops, so it's not worth keeping them on my list. Like some have said on here, you find the companies you enjoy working with and stick with them.

@Hydra777 wrote:

ACL the good you are able to talk to. a live person. They are generally very good to work to work with.
The bad thier forms are always very long and often have redonit questions that are long easy questions. It is up to the shopper to decide if ACL is thier style.

That I agree with you, on the forms. Never did like them. I have other pizza shops with simpler reports and pay more. Those shops are also closer to me anyway.

@Hydra777 wrote:

ACL the good you are able to talk to. a live person. They are generally very good to work to work with.
The bad thier forms are always very long and often have redonit questions that are long easy questions. It is up to the shopper to decide if ACL is thier style.

Out of curiousity, for the ones where "thier" forms were "redonit" with long "easy" questions -- were your shops usually approved?

@johnb974 wrote:

For everyone. Your rating isn't just about how you do a shop. It really depends on your profile They show shops that are more toward your profile. It can depend on income, age, where you live, what language you speak. Many times shops are tailored toward your profile and how far you're willing to travel. What are your likes and dislikes. I don't travel, so I don't see high end hotels. Why show shops to people who don't meet a certain criteria? My main beef with ACL was I corrected a shop, with the right times and they still rejected it. I do very few of their shops, so it's not worth keeping them on my list. Like some have said on here, you find the companies you enjoy working with and stick with them.

Bottom line, who cares how they set it up. It's their company, they can show you what they want to show you. Sorry you feel like they burned you. I got burned by another MSC awhile back when I uploaded the wrong pic and they wouldn't let me provide the correct one. Definitely had me angry for awhile, but I just vowed to never make that error again.

@johnb974 wrote:

@roflwofl wrote:

It's just part of the pattern. Bashing, unable to understand explanations, and unwilling to accept what he doesn't want to hear. ACL is not the first and won't be the last. It's ACL's turn.

I knew there was a reason I blocked your posts in the past. LOL You side with SoCal every single time. You're a tag team. LOL LOL

Interesting observation. I am not familiar with roflwofl other than I know that he/she used to get tacos at Chipotle. He/she must be very frickin smart though if he/she always agrees with me!

ACL, sounds just like ACL

SoCal, your arrogance is just amazing. But I tired of this. Time to end this and block you.

@mselle wrote:

@Hydra777 wrote:

ACL the good you are able to talk to. a live person. They are generally very good to work to work with.
The bad thier forms are always very long and often have redonit questions that are long easy questions. It is up to the shopper to decide if ACL is thier style.

Out of curiousity, for the ones where "thier" forms were "redonit" with long "easy" questions -- were your shops usually approved?

@johnb974 wrote:

For everyone. Your rating isn't just about how you do a shop. It really depends on your profile They show shops that are more toward your profile. It can depend on income, age, where you live, what language you speak. Many times shops are tailored toward your profile and how far you're willing to travel. What are your likes and dislikes. I don't travel, so I don't see high end hotels. Why show shops to people who don't meet a certain criteria? My main beef with ACL was I corrected a shop, with the right times and they still rejected it. I do very few of their shops, so it's not worth keeping them on my list. Like some have said on here, you find the companies you enjoy working with and stick with them.

Bottom line, who cares how they set it up. It's their company, they can show you what they want to show you. Sorry you feel like they burned you. I got burned by another MSC awhile back when I uploaded the wrong pic and they wouldn't let me provide the correct one. Definitely had me angry for awhile, but I just vowed to never make that error again.

I had a shop turned down because I uploaded the wrong receipt. I asked if I could correct it, they said "No". I didn't drop them because I do many, many shops for them and it was an easy shop. I dropped ACL because they had very, very few shops in my area, the report was too long. Just not worth my time.

Johnb As a statistician in my other life I find numbers to be very important and for the pizza shop they rejected it is evident that the timing numbers are a priority for them. You mistakenly input 29 minutes which is an easily caught number as it is so far off from the norm. The editor would have questioned anyone. They often question me if my timing number is even a minute more than their target time. I have to explain why an extra minute was spent and I am pretty sure it is just to make sure that the team that day actually was off by a minute but had a good explanation for the longer time. Making a timing error as large as 29 minutes and not catching it yourself when you reviewed your report before hitting send would send up a red flag. What if you were off by only 30 seconds. That one would not be so easy to notice and might get through and then the team might be in hot water for being over the timing by 30 seconds when they were not. I can see where under the circumstances they would reject your report because they cannot be sure that the other numbers in it have been carefully reviewed by you before sending it in. It may have been a small error in your mind but in the mind of the team it is huge.
Attention to detail is a big part of this job. But you certainly can make the choice not to work for a company whose standards and way of doing business is not to your liking. Each of us find companies that fit well with our style and stay away from those that do not. We all make those choices.

johnb974 you seem to think you know it all about ACL. Work for them?

Sandy I'm sure in your job as a "statistician" ever second is important. In the every day world it isn't. I look at other pizza shops and they are not nearly as concerned about timing down to the second. Do you really think the people working the pizza line care about getting things done down to a second? I made one mistake on one number in the report and suddenly the report was rejected. I explained to them the mistake and it didn't matter. I think for the editor looking at the report mistakes are not forgivable. There are people like that in this world.

CANADAMOMMY, I know how they treated my report and how their reports compare to other pizza shop reports. You've seen others talk the ACL reports. Their very time consuming. There are other pizza shops that don't take up so much time for the mystery shopper and pay more. So why do shops for company that has a longer report and pays the least for your time?

Sandy, as a "statistician", ACL should also be looking at the amount of time it takes to do a report, to the length of the report. Why is ACL requiring a much longer report with the lowest pay of any other pizza shop? Don't they think of the time for the mystery shopper? Why are other pizza shops asking for fewer timings and shorter reports? They sell the same products.

@johnb974 wrote:

Sandy I'm sure in your job as a "statistician" ever second is important. In the every day world it isn't. I look at other pizza shops and they are not nearly as concerned about timing down to the second. Do you really think the people working the pizza line care about getting things done down to a second? I made one mistake on one number in the report and suddenly the report was rejected. I explained to them the mistake and it didn't matter. I think for the editor looking at the report mistakes are not forgivable. There are people like that in this world.

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but the seconds matter because these people’s jobs depend on it. It may seem stupid and unimportant to you or I if the pizza takes 4 minutes 40 to prepare or 5 minutes 30. This particular company apparently bases their business model on the timing. It is important to the company— the one paying for these shops to be performed. They want to know how their stores are doing with the timing.

I don’t work for the company so I don’t know, but I would venture to guess that a store underperforming (taking too long to make the pizza) might see employees/managers fired.