Trendsource dinged my pay

I did a shop for Trendsource that required oodles of very specific photos (you know the pizza ones) and I just realized they docked me $1 because they said it was submitted late. I did the pizza delivery shop at around 7 in the evening, started on the form at 11 that night and it was submitted just past midnight of the same night I did it - a little more than 5 hours after it was completed! They took away $1 because they said it was submitted late since it was past midnight. Everything else about my report was perfect including my 90 degree angle photos. This shop really doesn't pay enough for them to do that. I'm really annoyed about it. I won't be doing any more shops for this company.

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I don't know what is up with them lately, they used to be great but now, I don't know. I got dinged too when their system was down and I couldn't get it in on time because of it. I was told that I should have tried another computer.

Huh? Their system was down and another computer would have helped? Besides, how many computers do they think THEIR shoppers can afford to have at their fingertips

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.

Trendsource is very strict on the midnight deadline. There are several others talking about deadlines in general under another link. I had that happen to me before. So the next time they called me to pick up a shop I added that money back in on what I needed to complete a shop.

I am unable to log into their computer late at night quite often. Really sucks if they are at fault in that aspect.

As far as the $1 goes, you need to think of this like school. If you are told you are going to get docked points for being late on a paper, then you just accept it as fact once you realize you are late and move on with your life. It shouldn't be something that you get upset about, especially if they spelled it out for you before you accepted the shop.

My anecdote: I just did one of those "yummy donut shops" over the weekend. My friend ate one of the cream filled donuts before I could cut it open and take a picture of it. I have already accepted the fact that my shop will probably get rejected. No big deal. Lesson learned: Never take your friends on a yummy donut shop, they will eat up your data before you have a chance to analyze it....lol.

That's funny Steve, but man oh man. I refuse to shop for companies that have no sympathy for logistics in life. A few minutes past a midnight deadline on a night after a pizza is ordered, giving the person possibly three, four or maybe five hours in input data? Then deducting pay from a shop that pays next to nothing? That's the kind of thing that boils my blood.

Telling a shopper, when their network has gone down, that they should try _another_ computer (?!!?!!) like that's possibly going to change the outcome? I think my head esplodie. =X

Totally understand and totally agree!!

There are plenty of MSP requirements that can get my blood boiling, which is why I won't request/accept those shops.

Don't take a shop if you know that getting docked $1 for being late is going to upset you because your'e only setting yourself up for distress.

jentodd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's funny Steve, but man oh man. I refuse to
> shop for companies that have no sympathy for
> logistics in life. A few minutes past a midnight
> deadline on a night after a pizza is ordered,
> giving the person possibly three, four or maybe
> five hours in input data? Then deducting pay from
> a shop that pays next to nothing? That's the kind
> of thing that boils my blood.
>
> Telling a shopper, when their network has gone
> down, that they should try _another_ computer
> (?!!?!!) like that's possibly going to change the
> outcome? I think my head esplodie. =X

I'm looking at it as a lesson learned I suppose....I was really annoyed about it at first because unfairness generally pisses me off lol. They're offering the infamous $2 "pad" on the same shop now, I'm sure it would make them happy if I would take it

. I don't think I'm going to though, it's just not worth it to me. The thing is, I live in small town usa and you have to be in the delivery zone of the of the shop....there's just not that many people who shop around here.

The pay with TS is not enough to get "dinged." Shopping less with TS and enjoying it more. My last two shops, I put in the comments that the food item was in the freezer and would stay in the freezer until I was paid for the shop in case there were any questions. It wasn't edible by the time I got paid, so I think I have done my last. I find it harder and harder to please their demands,and for what? $5.

I don't like their deduction of a dollar fee after midnight thing but at least I can say they are upfront and honest about it. That turnaround just doesn't allow for life to happen. Especially when you're doing a late-night shop. It would be one thing if they are paying an adequate fee for the shops. With their fees so low to start, its just insulting to have a dollar deducted.

IF you submit past midnight, and have a reason, try sending a message. It has worked once or twice for me. They DO understand life IF you communicate with them many times. If you don't communicate, it's like a robot.

I just did my first shop with them. I was excited to get a shop offer for a different restaurant, a different type of food than I am use to. So excited that I didn't even notice the low pay. It felt like I spent nearly an hour taking all the different photos and the meal wasn't all that great. It didn't take long to get my report done (20 minutes) but the next day I got an email telling me to fix my photos, another 20+ minutes. All for $5, maybe....

Shopping off and on for 20+ years in NE Arkansas.

I rarely take on assignments for TrendSource anymore. The pay is dismally low, their website feels sketchy and cumbersome to work with, and then they started dinging unnecessarily.

_____________________________________________________________________________
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
~Viktor Frankl

Good evening,

From reading all the messages on this forum I have learned a lot of good information. So after reading many messages about the docking of pay; I decided not to include this in one of my MSCs. Thanks for the experienced insight.

The midnight deadline I have always found this to be perplexing. I had messaged them and asked for the reason and the answer i got back is that they have to process the report to their client within a certain time frame. I don't buy that answer because if I do a shop at 12:01 PM, i have a full 12 hr to submit it by midnight. Yet if I do a shop at 10pm, I have 2 hours to submit a report????

So basically I have to do the shop early in the day or I can't take the shop. On the other way, whether you are 1 min late or 10 hours late, the deduction is the same. So take your time once you realize you are late

I know... it does seem entirely unreasonable and arbitrary. And ridiculous.

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

I'm sure plenty of people want Trendsource's client. I mean, think about it. Just a couple of pictures and timing and you are done reviewing the work. May be a result of the person they are shopping applying pressure to get better performance. May have nothing to do with Trendsource.

I signed up for Trend Source and now I've decided to give it up before I even start. Once I realized all of the paperwork required for these $5 jobs, I realized I would be better off panhandling. As of the middle of October 2012, Trend Source increased their requirements for completing the assignment to the point that the assignment is going to take at least triple the 15-20 minutes that Trend Source estimates it should take. And that's after you spend 2-3 hours jumping thru all of the hoops, passing numerous quizes, getting an EIN. And after all that, you are left to the tender mercies of the judgement of [client]. If in their opinion the photos weren't quite clear enough, didn't have enough light on them, or whatever, you can be told that your submission was rejected, even though they get to keep all of the info on the lengthy questionaire that you turned in. You are then told to dig into your pocket and do a 'reshop'.

Fox, please edit your post to remove the client name[x2] as it is in violation of your ICA.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

I'm about to do one of their insurance shops but it's well-bonused -- $50 total -- so I'm going to give it a try. But it's amazing the hoops you have to jump through to get certified to do the shop. Ran my printer out of paper printing one of the documents, that turned out to be a duplication of the video I had to watch.

I'm having to do some major role-playing that I'm a little uneasy about. I'm going to have to have an evening appointment. I just hope I can get the report done in time. I think after the appointment is set I will ask if I can have till 10 a.m. the next morning. I'll probably still do the report that night, but it may spill over past midnight. I think "12 hours or midnight, whichever comes FIRST" is unreasonable -- it should be the other way around. But the appointment will be at my house so at least I don't have to drive home before I can start the report.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

Trendsource pays quickly and will communicte with you. Just pick and choose what you want. I am sure that the midnight thing is automatic. Meaning it is not a shceduler making a case by case decisison. Right, ask ahead if you can get a time extnsion on the report be fore you confirm the assignment. Given all the probs we have w/ other companies, I am not going to cut out TS.

Trendsource pays QUICKLY. Sometimes as quick as a couple of days from shop to direct deposit date. While the shop pay is only $5, the reimbursement gives us a free meal, so I think that is great. The forms are easy to fill out and after doing a few of these shops, the photos are a piece of cake. I am not in the delivery area, so I can only do carryout shops. My kids now know that as soon as I get home from these shops, if they help me set up the pictures they can eat within minutes...

I do the same pizza chain with two different companies and and I remember at first the pictures were a real pain; however, the pictures are a piece of cake now and the reports are a lot easier than some of the other shops that I do.

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