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I did one shop for epmsonline several months ago. The report was detailed and fairly long. It had to be faxed in rather than filled out online. However, they offered great support and paid exactly when they said they would. I wish that they had more shops available in my area as I would certainly work for them again.

I have not heard of this company. Can anyone give me their URL?

its www.epmsonline.com

I have done over 100 apartment shops for EPMS. They pay well and on the 7th and 22nd of the month. Their checks have never been late and their support staff is great. They are starting to put a lot of their reports online now, too! Their website is www.epmsonline.com

I do apartment shops for them as well. They pay better than many other companies but the reports require a great deal of narrative writing, so don't sign up if you don't like to write or you don't write well. I also agree about the faxing of reports -- too much work! Gratefully waiting for ALL their clients to put their reporting online.

They also let you scan the report to email to them. Like previously stated, the reports are very detailed and require narratives. They do pay on time though.

I have now completed 2 shops for them. Great support staff. One shop I was able to submit on line, the other one I'm going to fax, as it is about 10 pages, plus I have several add ons (contract, cards, brochures). They seem to have a ot in my area, but it takes longer on the report than the actual shop.

I liked them too, but the report had to be hand written and faxed. I made 35.00, and paid 13.00 to have it faxed, besides the lengthy report and all the follow ups. They were very nice and helpful. I had to reschedule because of rain the day I was to go and that went well, but the time involved and overhead didn't really match the pay.

I like Circle of Service and Second to None as well as Shop "n Chek, too.

I have not heard of Circle of Service. Could you please provide the address. Thank you.

I also have done a shop for them but the report took so long and the assignment was so difficult to understand exactly what they wanted I wont do them anymore. I have a few other companies that are much easier.

Some one asked for the address for Circle of Service.

Try [shopper.circle.-of-service.com]. That should get you to the web site.

EPMS is a very good company...I have done at least 15 shops for them. The coolest are a video type in which they send you the equipment and it pays double the regular ones ($50 each).

They have started to place their report formats on line.

Good support from their staff

I have performed over 50 assignments for this company. This is a very good company to work for. They pay good, the support team is very good, and assignment availability is usually good in the area near me. The reports are very lenghty and detailed so if you're not good on writing you may want to improve your writing ability before signing with them.

This company is great. I bought my own video equipment and they pay me sixty dollars for shops. They gave me ten video shops in houston one weekend... that was six hundred dollars... I have also done regular audio and audio recorded shops for them. they pay good and on time. reports are lengthy and sometimes not online, but it balances out. anyone know of any other companies that do video shoppin? would love to utilize my equipment more.

thanks.

randall.whited@gmail.com

I'm just getting started with EPMS, and the only reason I haven't signed up for a shop already is because I'm unsure about having to handwrite the report. Is there any way to fill the report out on the computer and then print and fax if that's how they want it submitted? I usually don't even hand write notes on my reports because I use a digital voice recorder for my notes. I usually write very very detailed reports (maybe too much, but no complaints so far!) and I just dread the idea of writing all that out longhand. Ugh.

They do have quite a few that are online , some however are handwritten. I try and stay away from those unless I just want the work or they have a bonus on them. The video shops are awesome. Have you done any video shops with them? I have done about 25 so far and probably 75 regular shops. They are great to work with.

I have had problems with payment from them. I have had 6 checks that were supposibly lost and I had to wait 2 months before they would stop payment and reissue me another check. All 6 times they blamed it on the post office and said that it happens frequently with them. Hmmmmmm I have had no problems with the other 50 mystery shopping companies I work for, why only them?????

I like working for EPMS the forms are long.time consuming.But real good people to work with.The pay is dependable and reliable.I have done about 20 shops now. I got ten bucks knocked off one of my first reports.Because I couldn't get there form to print out. They called me and took my report over the phone. I thought that was awfull considerate it being one of my first shops and all.

Still waiting for my first payment from them before I agree to do any more shops from them due to payment issues I have heard from other shoppers in other forums.

I have worked with EPMS for a couple of years...$40 per apartment shop. Yes, the reports are very detailed and exasperating at times! Some are online, but some are not...when you are writing out a report longhand, you can fill in the comment section with longhand and when you run out of room, you can use your computer to finish it and then attach that. You'll get it.

I am going to be signing up with them to do the video shops. Can't wait!

I have received calls from EPMS to do some apartment shops in my area but I have not committed to any of them because they appear to be incredibly restrictive; they state that if you do not do EXACTLY what is outlined then they'll dock your pay and they expect you to call at least three times to get your target person from three different phone numbers. All this hoop jumping is OK with those of you who have actually worked for them?

I did a couple of apartment shops with another west coast company, Cirrus Marketing, and they were not so pushy about their shops and they paid just as much - but they are wierd about their pay procedures. Not only do you need to submit your report, which can be very lengthy, but you have to physically submit an invoice at the end of the month for your work as well - and the invoice has the EXACT same information as the reports...

This hoop-jumping behaviour absolutely turns me off, from both the EPMS side and the Cirrus Marketing side. Am I just being hyper-sensitive?

No, your right. The pay is good - if you get the full amount. I'm an experienced MS but this company really turns me off.

First of all, I needed some info clarified and was spoken to like a child by one of their schedulers. Then, after working my butt off (following all the directions exactly) they deducted $10 b/c the leasing consultant did not "sell" to me over the phone. So, b/c she didn't do her job, they deducted my pay.

Lastly, beware of the shops you do sign up for. My first shop w/ them required me to phone the target (to be electronically recorded) and then wait at least 4 hours before conducting the shop - but not to go after 4 PM. I had 5 days to complete the shop.

On the first day, I had other obligations that morning (Oh, the horror!) and was not finished up until 12:30 PM. At 1:00 PM I got an email that had asked me why I had not started phoning and demanded that I start the shop right away. (I had to email them back explaining why I couldn't phone the target that day. I could - but 4 hours later would have placed me at 4:30 PM.)

Anyway, I had two shops w/ EPMS and two very rude encounters with different schedulers. My experience was not pleasant with EPMS. I take all contracts very seriously and conduct each shop professionally.

Businesses hire mystery shopping companies to improve their service. I think EPMS should consider hiring a mystery shopping company to shop them. Seriously.

Incognito, THANK YOU FOR THE VALIDATION. Hopefully the other mystery shoppers on this forum will read this and take some comfort in knowing that I have made myself out to the bad guy with these mystery shopping companies (gladly in most cases) on behalf of the whole industry.

My expereince with the mystery shopping world is limited but mostly unfavorable. For everyone one of my complaints listed on this forum, I have sent emails (and have had phone calls in some cases) with the mystery shopping company to ensure that they know what I (the shopper) am thinking/and or experiencing.

I think that I can bring a unique perspective to these companies because I own my own business outside of the whole mystery shopping world. I signed up for the opportunities because I was always facinated with the concept of mystery shopper. So when Shadow Shopper sent me an email, I couldn't resist the free bronze level.

I wish now that I had.

Either the majority of these mystery shopping companies are just stupid and don't know how to adjust their data to ensure all proper documentation and information is properly submitted (which I highly doubt), or they are looking for ways to get out of paying their shoppers.

I have had to let these shopping companies in on the fact that I owned my own business and signed up to be a mystery shopper out of curiosity on the whole process - and could one day be in the market for a mystery shopping company myself - in order for them to change their tunes about how they were approaching me as a "contracted employee". I explained to them that I am not their employee - I am seeking out a company that is honest, treats its shoppers as well as the clients, and pays well and in a timely manner. I have yet to find that company. A couple have come close, but not yet to my standard.

I actually told one company that if I expected my customers to jump through as many hoops as you expect your shoppers to jump through, I wouldn't have any customers.

Shaking my head...

Some MS companies are great to work for. I have found that once you have been able to establish yourself as a good MS, the companies will start to give you better assignments w/ more pay b/c they know they can rely on you. Also, they start lightening up on the deadlines. (Unfortunately, EPMS just never gave me that opportunity.)

I love the work that EPMS offers. But, I'm not going to contract a job thinking that the company might not reimburse the full amount for some ridiculous reason.

The funny thing is, I would have taken the job even if it only paid half the amount indicated. Whether the job pays $4 or $50, I take every assignment seriously and conduct it to the best of my abilities. So, I expect the MS companies to follow through on their end of the contract, as well.

I am an optomist and give people an opportunity to fix mistakes. I really hope that it was an isolated incident. Other MS's have had great experiences with EPMS. I guess when you're contracting out to 20 different companies, it is to be expected that you may have an issue at some point.

The problems you are indicating are 100% in line with what I hear on the private shopper forums where membership is tightly controlled to known experienced shoppers only. I find it fascinating that on public forums where anyone can sign up you have the praises of Shadow Shopper and of companies where experienced shoppers have had major problems being sung by posters who only post about that topic and then disappear. It truly makes one wonder how many "plants" are among us touting companies and products that really aren't beneficial for shoppers.

I dunno, Flash, your "plant" comment is profound. I was uncertain about even signing up with this forum until I spent a few hours reading through it and everything appeared to be just a bunch of normal people needing a place to collectively vent for the most part.

My first thought was that this may be a place where the companies can go to "spy" on the posters to see who says what about whom. But that was a chance I had to take; because I had "chewed-out" so many of the mystery shopping companies, I thought I was being hyper-sensitive or ridiculous.

Now that I have signed up and posted, I am glad that I have. Like most of those who have posted on this forum, I am consciencious about my shops and spend a lot of time going over the specifics prior to the shop to ensure the standards were met (for as much as they can be as issues may arise).

For whoever started this forum: THANKS. I appreciate it.


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I am one of the shoppers on this forum that have mentioned ShadowShopper, EPMS, etc, and I am not a plant. Maybe there are some plants...it would definitely be an easy place to learn a lot. Which would be good!

I did use ShadowShopper when I was new and I did pay for it. I think it was the '3 month' deal. I would recommend it to others new to this industry. I learned a lot through the ShadowShopper University, got certified, etc. This is not necessary, but I did learn, as I've said before, a lot!

Also, I was hooked up with many, many Mystery Shopping Companies. Not that I couldn't have done this myself...but this was the easy way. As I worked for a company, I kept their information and from then on I just went directly to their website.

Anyway, just wanted to say that I'm not a plant!! Or maybe I am?? just kidding!

Sincerely,

Suz

Suz, it was not my intent to point fingers but to point to possibilities. As I'm sure you are aware, all that is needed to sign up for a forum is an email address and all that is necessary to get an email address is a couple of minutes to fill in a form somewhere. And with this forum it is not even a requirement to be registered to post or read the posts of others. This kind of freedom also opens the door to abuse.

For most shoppers with minimal internet skills there never needs to be any expenditure to mystery shop. More information than shoppers will ever need is available for free from forums and from the various Mystery Shopping companies themselves. Job boards on forums, at the MSPA site, at Jobslinger.com, with the various Mystery Shopping companies themselves, with scheduling companies and with signing up to be emailed by the Mystery Shopping companies you sign up with, provide even new shoppers with the resources they need to do shops if there are shops in their area.

One of my concerns for new shoppers is that there are companies that are abusive of their shoppers. I got a very frustrated email from a shopper yesterday because a shop she was led to by Shadow Shopper, and that she had checked on the company here, had gone very badly wrong beyond her control. She was out around $50 and when she contacted the company they were far from helpful. She was dealing with a company that I do not deal with because of their reputation for shopper abuse. There was nothing I could suggest except to assure her that not all companies are abusive. But I do understand why that company is constantly looking for new shoppers and it would not be surprising that to that end they would post glowing reviews of themselves "by shoppers" on forums. While ethics would (or should) prohibit such behavior, we know that expediency often takes the upper hand to ethical behavior.

What is the name of the company that is abusing shoppers???? That is why we have this forum to inform eachother of bad behavior by Mystery Shopping companies and to give the warning to stay away. Otherwise they will continue to take advantage of our hard work and not pay us.......