@sstazz wrote:

I still have not been able to contact 6 locations.
I completed a location today with 9 racks, 6 boxes of expired brochures piled in a back office (I had to remove) and books from 2015 hidden behind the current issue. Had to park in the rear of the building, the entrance was in the front, and 2 flights of stairs. My car was riding so low that I made a detour to a nearby school that recycled paper.

how long did it take you? i’m doing a location tomorrow with 7 racks, and the contact i talked to told me the boxes have been piling up over the months, so i’m sure i’ll have to remove plenty of them as well.

I did a location that had 14 racks and it took me about 3 hours. Of course some of that time I was waiting for rooms to be empty. I spent a lot of time going back and forth with boxes.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I did a location that had 14 racks and it took me about 3 hours. Of course some of that time I was waiting for rooms to be empty. I spent a lot of time going back and forth with boxes.

Yeah, the waiting is a big issue since we have to go into the room. If you get a slow patient or just miss a room between patients it can be a drag.

I came here to ask about this assignment, and wow! What a great thread! I wasn't interested in these when I first saw them, as they seemed like too much work for the pay. But there are now six locations in my area available, and all of them bonused. Some up to what seem like crazy amounts. I don't know if these are all the locations that were originally available, or if some were taken, and the shopper(s) don't want any part of them. LOL. I don't think there's an abundance of shoppers in my area, so maybe that's the problem.

As I understand it, these can be done during the location's open hours. I can do daytime hours without a problem, but, for example, at least one of our urgent-care facilities is open very late and not very busy toward the end of their day. So I could do one then, is that correct? One is at a school, so that has to be done during the day.

I'd like to give these a shot, but wonder if I should try the two lower-fee ones first to see what they're like. Problem is, the other ones are the ones that will net me a nice profit! Or should I just jump in and request all of them, assuming that they'll be easier after the first one or two?

These sound easier than the opthamologists'/opticians' office ones that came around a year of so ago....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 01:01PM by BirdyC.

BirdyC,

I would say that the job itself presents no issues. The MSC clearly explains the basics of the job. You might experience some events such as heavy boxes, many heavy boxes, busy locations, or other factors that are unique to each location.

These factors might be of interest to individuals. I would suggest these considerations: how much weight can you lift and carry? Can you stand for several minutes at at time? (You will need a few minutes to remove old materials, place them separately from new materials, and unwrap and place new materials in a given rack.) On the other hand, if you have time to wait between servicing rooms, you can use that time to unwrap new materials, transport filled boxes of old materials to you vehicle, or otherwise make your work day a little more efficient. This time might provide a welcome break for people who need one during a long work day involving many rooms or many locations.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

BirdyC,

I would say that the job itself presents no issues. The MSC clearly explains the basics of the job. You might experience some events such as heavy boxes, many heavy boxes, busy locations, or other factors that are unique to each location.

These factors might be of interest to individuals. I would suggest these considerations: how much weight can you lift and carry? Can you stand for several minutes at at time? (You will need a few minutes to remove old materials, place them separately from new materials, and unwrap and place new materials in a given rack.) On the other hand, if you have time to wait between servicing rooms, you can use that time to unwrap new materials, transport filled boxes of old materials to you vehicle, or otherwise make your work day a little more efficient. This time might provide a welcome break for people who need one during a long work day involving many rooms or many locations.

Thank you for these details. I can probably lift and carry up to 50 pounds, but not without difficulty! LOL. (In my younger days, I had to throw 75-lb. bales of hay and straw around, but couldn't do that now!)

Like Coffee Queen, I'm short and it's good to hear about having to reach to fill racks. But I have a small step stool I can carry with me to alleviate that issue.

I'm fairly fit for someone my age, so other than the lifting, not too worried about that. 25 or 30 pounds would be more my speed, but can do more if needed. I wonder if bringing in an empty box to split up heavier boxes might work? Or a small hand truck?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 01:28PM by BirdyC.

@BirdyC wrote:

I came here to ask about this assignment, and wow! What a great thread! I wasn't interested in these when I first saw them, as they seemed like too much work for the pay. But there are now six locations in my area available, and all of them bonused. Some up to what seem like crazy amounts. I don't know if these are all the locations that were originally available, or if some were taken, and the shopper(s) don't want any part of them. LOL. I don't think there's an abundance of shoppers in my area, so maybe that's the problem.

As I understand it, these can be done during the location's open hours. I can do daytime hours without a problem, but, for example, at least one of our urgent-care facilities is open very late and not very busy toward the end of their day. So I could do one then, is that correct? One is at a school, so that has to be done during the day.

I'd like to give these a shot, but wonder if I should try the two lower-fee ones first to see what they're like. Problem is, the other ones are the ones that will net me a nice profit! Or should I just jump in and request all of them, assuming that they'll be easier after the first one or two?

These sound easier than the opthamologists'/opticians' office ones that came around a year of so ago....

weren't those the ones that basically just required a photo of the tv, and seeing if there's a wallboard? no way these will be easier than those. Coffee Queen said it took her 3 hours... waiting or not, that's a lot of time!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2018 01:32PM by jay225.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Shop-et-al wrote:

BirdyC,

I would say that the job itself presents no issues. The MSC clearly explains the basics of the job. You might experience some events such as heavy boxes, many heavy boxes, busy locations, or other factors that are unique to each location.

These factors might be of interest to individuals. I would suggest these considerations: how much weight can you lift and carry? Can you stand for several minutes at at time? (You will need a few minutes to remove old materials, place them separately from new materials, and unwrap and place new materials in a given rack.) On the other hand, if you have time to wait between servicing rooms, you can use that time to unwrap new materials, transport filled boxes of old materials to you vehicle, or otherwise make your work day a little more efficient. This time might provide a welcome break for people who need one during a long work day involving many rooms or many locations.

Thank you for these details. I can probably lift and carry up to 50 pounds, but not without difficulty! LOL. (In my younger days, I had to throw 75-lb. bales of hay and straw around, but couldn't do that now!)

Like Coffee Queen, I'm short and it's good to hear about having to reach to fill racks. But I have a small step stool I can carry with me to alleviate that issue.

I'm fairly fit for someone my age, so other than the lifting, not too worried about that. 25 or 30 pounds would be more my speed, but can do more if needed. I wonder if bringing in an empty box to split up heavier boxes might work? Or a small hand truck?

I did an odd variation of a Tower of Hanoi puzzle with the provided boxes in order to separate wrappers and old materials from new materials. I had only a few boxes. It might be faster, especially with a larger number of boxes, to bring another container. It could be even faster than that if we could prep the box contents at home before arriving at the locations. But at the end of the project, you still have to remove all the boxes and anything else you brought with you.

@jay225 wrote:

@BirdyC wrote:

These sound easier than the opthamologists'/opticians' office ones that came around a year of so ago....

weren't those the ones that basically just required a photo of the tv, and seeing if there's a wallboard? no way these will be easier than those. Coffee Queen said it took her 3 hours... waiting or not, that's a lot of time!

No, not those. I don't even remember those. So maybe the ones I had in mind were two years ago. You had to check all of the materials and some equipment relating to a certain company or service, refill if necessary, etc. People reported that they encountered resistance from staff, couldn't get appointments, the locations didn't offer the service or product, etc.

When I do this assignment again, I will take with me several cloth shopping bags. That way I can empty the old contents of the display into them and carry them easily over my arm. They can stay folded and out of the way until needed. I will also bring a small pair of scissors to open the packets more easily. I think an location that is open late and not very busy sounds ideal. As far as I can remember the only requirement is that you contact them first and go during business hours.

so did my first one. on site over 90 minutes for 7 racks, and none of the exam rooms were in use today. the location had a million dusty old boxes that whoever was doing these before never put up. i had to put them all in my car. i also filled 3 trash bags with old brochures/signage, so my car is full to the brim with this stuff and it's on me to dispose of it. the project itself is cool, i like and value my relationship with this msc a lot, but i'm not a fan of the pay for this one. i should have waited until it was bonused, honestly. of course, the follow up visits will be better because we won't have to deal with the aftermath of the previous merchandisers.

I didnt think base pay was worth it either. My location was already bonused or I would have been a bit peeved. I also have 8 boxes full of stuff to dispose of when I do errands tomorrow.

I will say though the learning curve is short on this one mostly due to the app. I think I can do it faster and better next time.

I did something that sounds very much like this project, except they were called Healthy Advice brochures. I did this for a different company, basically a merchandising company. I had 9 different sites that I did every single quarter, and did this for YEARS, perhaps 6 or 7 years. But the boxes were mailed to my home, which had its advantages. I was able to get all the packs unwrapped and ready to go, which saved time. I had one dr's office that had 9 racks (so 9 individual boxes), and closed for lunch from 12-1. That was nice. I was in and out of there in 45 minutes!! Another one that closed for lunch only had 6 racks, but again, I was in and out in about 30 minutes. I always tried to set my appt times for when the rooms weren't being used, which meant either during lunch hours or first thing in the morning. I'm not a morning person AT ALL, so the few offices I had where I had to be there between 7:30-7:45 am were tough on me. It was a lot of weight, carrying all the new boxes in, and then carrying out and disposing of the old brochures in the boxes that the new ones had come in. Some dr's offices had dumpsters on site that I had permission to use and dump the old brochures, which was nice. I couldn't do these now, since 2 years ago I was diagnosed with a severe lumbar disc herniation. But for a moment, I did consider some of these, but now I'm glad I didn't pursue it. Man oh man, I would HATE to find boxes upon boxes of old brochures & materials to dispose of!! My hat is off to all of you who have to do that!!

Thanks for posting about this. I was interested in this project because I really like the the majority of the people who work for the MSC. Most of the assignments I have taken have been enjoyable and paid adequately (not super, but adequate) for the time/effort required. (Well, except the super low pay merch assignment they regularly have that requires more time/hassle than $9 covers).

Too bad I don't live in a major city. They sent me a list of 11 offices to choose from. It was 50 miles to the closest location and 140 miles to the farthest on that list. For the assignments to work for me given the distance and the spread, I needed to be able to do a route and handle most or all in one day. I was told we had to make appointments to do the work.

The list I received also had office notes with scheduling restrictions like "Thursday only from 9-11 am," "only between 12-1," "as late as possible, 6:30 pm is ideal." The combination of the restrictions and distance between locations meant the best I could have done was eight of the available locations. Based on the MSC's time estimate for completion at each spot, the route would have been 8 offices,16.5 hours, 193 miles for $196.

Before signing up, I asked for permission to work with the offices to schedule all visits on the same day. By the time I got a response, all of those locations were taken. So it seems to work better for someone who lives nearby and can go any day/time that works for the office.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2018 04:08PM by Pro Evals-Audits.

And.... dammit! By the time I got back to the job board to request these, every last one was gone. Somebody in my area is going to make a nice bit of $$ on these... Oh, well, should've requested them as soon as I saw them, then asked about the degree of difficulty! I imagine they'll come around again at some point....

something cool to report. one of the higher ups from the msc read my last post, and sent me a nice message, explaining their philosophy for the company, and letting me know they wanted to bonus me for the extra work I had to do due to the last merchandiser leaving me a million boxes to dispose of. i'm very grateful for this gesture, as it's obviously not something they needed to do. i'd say my opinion of this company has gone up, but it was already high to begin with. thanks!

That is very cool, jay225! I love the company, and I don't think I could have a higher regard for it/them. They did not contact me regarding my upcoming recycling of the old materials and boxes. But that is fine. The project detritus became my personal motivation to round up all my recyclables and drop them off on the way to the museum, which is the nerdy girl fun thing on the way to another merch thing.

One question: Are the boxes that the new materials came in of the right size and type for turning inside out and using for mailing or shipping shops? Just curious.

Yes, the boxes are reusable.

just upping this thread to say that i’ve done 5 locations since my first one, and no others have had previous boxes I had to dispose of. this really is a great project, if you have one nearby you, I recommend trying it out.

I liked it and signed up for another one but the office manager is not returning my calls. So that's an issue since we are not supposed to go without talking to them first. I only have the next two days to complete it.

I did two of these locations while on vacation last week I just saw another one posted in my area and bonused today (someone must have flaked). It has 32 racks. Can you imagine? I wonder how long that would take to accomplish. They are asked $100.00 and I am not sure I would do it for that price. Part of me was thinking why didn't they give me that location when I signed up and said I wanted to do these? I probably would have done it while on vacation. Oh well. With that many racks, it might take two days to finish it.

I did 14 racks in 3 hours, so unless the waiting around for the rooms to be empty was off the charts you should be able to do it in 6-7 hours. At $100 that comes to somewhere around $14 per hour. I would do it.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I liked it and signed up for another one but the office manager is not returning my calls. So that's an issue since we are not supposed to go without talking to them first. I only have the next two days to complete it.

I received a PM, after 3 unsuccessful call attempts you may visit at the listed preferred time.

When performing these jobs, timing is everything. I completed 17 racks in 80 minutes while the staff was at lunch. Another location with 10 racks lasted 3 hours, 30 minutes to retrieve the brochures, 90 minutes waiting for an available room, and 45-minutes the next morning to walk the entire building and not find a single rack. They were removed while painting and never replaced.

Yes my scheduler said to go ahead and go anyway.

@sstazz wrote:

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I liked it and signed up for another one but the office manager is not returning my calls. So that's an issue since we are not supposed to go without talking to them first. I only have the next two days to complete it.

I received a PM, after 3 unsuccessful call attempts you may visit at the listed preferred time.

That is the truth. On my first job the west wing was empty and I did all of it in about an hour. The east wing was in use and it used up the other 2 hours. Same amount of rooms on each side. This time I plan to arrive about 11:30 and work through lunch while it should be quiet.

@sstazz wrote:

When performing these jobs, timing is everything. I completed 17 racks in 80 minutes while the staff was at lunch. Another location with 10 racks lasted 3 hours, 30 minutes to retrieve the brochures, 90 minutes waiting for an available room, and 45-minutes the next morning to walk the entire building and not find a single rack. They were removed while painting and never replaced.

@BirdyC wrote:

And.... dammit! By the time I got back to the job board to request these, every last one was gone. Somebody in my area is going to make a nice bit of $$ on these... Oh, well, should've requested them as soon as I saw them, then asked about the degree of difficulty! I imagine they'll come around again at some point....

They might come around again at some point. I replaced a brochure dated April, 2018 with one dated August, 2018. I did not open the brochures to find out what may have changed in four months. I merely mention this as a possible reason for a return visit.

I would like to do some of the bonused locations in my general region. However, I might not have time to get there, do the work, and make it back home for the next day's very early morning job. Depending upon the number of racks and the traffic, I might have time for one location per day. That is not efficient. But I like the project, and I will work on it again (if asked to do so).

The scheduler on my project mentioned December to me today. For whatever that is worth. I took my largest cloth shopping bag and emptied the old brochures into it. It held a ton of them, 4 racks full. It made the job a LOT easier.

I got some information about the future of this project...


"the run we're currently wrapping is done 3 times a year, and it's the largest one. I think it goes in April, August & December each year.

Then there are smaller runs of varying amounts of sites and locations that go in most other months. We'll have a few small runs we're doing in September we'll be contacting folks about, another one in October/end of October that may go into November, then the big one again in December. This client sets a schedule at the beginning of each year that they try to stay right on for all their runs, so as we learn more over the next few months we'll be able to provide any of you who want to stay on the program with a pretty solid calendar to think about over an entire year. "

so i guess we can change this to beacon discussion? anyone received theirs yet? mine come tomorrow... seems like a quick job.