Has anyone done a Bestmark car dealership shop before? If so, what was your experience? I'm considering doing a web + dealership shop in my area but I don't want to do it if it requires too much time or effort for the pay.

I have done about 20 of them. I can get the visit completed in 35-45 minutes, and the report takes me another 20*-30 minutes. So altogether it takes me 60-75 minutes.

There are other companies that pay more ($30) for the same work, but they aren't always self-schedule and aren't as plentiful. The auto dealers are usually very close to many other dealerships AND retail chains, so I can 'bundle' a lot together and make about $150 for 8 hours of work.

*faster report times if I use my voice recognition software (Siri or Dragon)

These don't have a test drive right? Without a test drive I normally average 20 to 30 minutes on-site, with a test drive that jumps to 45 minutes to an hour. That is also an average of at least a couple hundred new and pre-owned car shops. I've had each take much less or much more time. The best advice is to choose the car you "love" as quickly as possible and be flexible as flexible regarding desired options and price range as the scenario will allow. There is no reason to meander around a lot looking at the same car in 7 different colors. Personally, I hate blue, but if that is what they have suddenly it becomes my favorite color

I've done about 60 car shops. I like them, and find them useful because I'm actually in the market for a new car. They can take about an hour, because most require a test drive. It helps a lot if you actually have interest in cars. Otherwise, I think they might be a PITA.

The forms usually aren't too bad, and BestMark's are better (less detailed) than some.

The web site/visit ones are kind of a ripoff, however. Basically they're asking you to do two shops for one fee.

And I agree with Lisa. Come in and fall in love with a car quickly. If you don't you're just wasting time, yours and theirs.

My shortest new car shop was 15 minutes. It wasn't a Bestmark shop. I had to shop for an electric car--not a hybrid. I get to the dealership and tell the salesman what model I want. He takes me into the office and says we don't have any in stock, let me get the service manager for you [not the sales manager]. Service manager comes out, I tell him what I'm wanting to buy and he replied, "If I have my way about it, we'll never sell another one of those." I asked why and he wouldn't reply. My guess is being 100% electric there's probably very little maintenance involved.

Thanks for your responses! You've all been a big help!

I have done a Bestmark car dealer shop. It was my very first shop for them and my second car dealer shop ever. I had absolutely no problems with it and found it rather enjoyable.

Just be sure to follow all assignment guidelines. Bestmark may ding pay if an assignment is not completed to their satisfaction and/or if an editor has to contact you.

The pay is a killer, even for their premium cars. Eliminating the drive helps some with the time, but they want a lot of reporting, and you're not allowed to tell the salesman to make it quick.

My biggest annoyance with a car shop wasn't a Bestmark, but it asked me how many times I was left alone for more than a minute, and if there were three or more such times, I had to add up how many minutes in total I was left alone. I had two of those shops; the other two were Bestmark. It was a major nuisance going back and forth through my recording to find all the times I was left alone and add them all up -- my last shop I was alone at least six times for a total of 20 minutes.

Here's a summary of my car shops:

First shop I had to do the whole scenario and then disqualify myself from the shop because I knew the salesperson from a club I'm in.

Second shop was the ---- shop where they didn't HAVE any -----. I let him show me the lone used ---- they had just to give him a chance to show some selling skills I could talk about. Was out of there in about 20 minutes. They never did send me the brochure for the new ----- when they finally came in.

Third shop was the shop from hell, long test drive, a salesman who did his job and talked about EVERY feature the car had, then I was verbally abused by the sales manager when I wouldn't make an offer, I was there about an hour and a half. Then they harassed me by phone for several days, begging me to come back and buy.

Fourth shop was the opposite of the third -- the salesman didn't tell me about ANYTHING voluntarily except the trunk size. That one I really liked the sales manager; if I ever wanted to buy a ------ I seriously would go back and buy from him. But that was the one where it took me forever to add up the number of minutes I was left alone. They followed up once.

So I'm a bit soured on car shops. I'll do them if the money is high but I really don't like them at all.

If you do a web/dealer visit MAKE SURE you tripple verify the dealer web address. You have to use the exact web address in the shop instructions (even if you think you have found the dealership from a web search). They will ding your pay by several dollars for any mistake (however small it may be).

I have done car shops for BM. They have alot right now they can't fill. I don't have the right car or I would have jumped. The ones I have performed are relatively easy.

Just out of curiousity, what does "I don't have the right car" mean? They're new car shops, and unless they specify you drive up in a car worth $7,500 or more (as some high end car shop do) whayt does it matter what you're driving?

Bestmark also has service shops at dealerships.

- not my car. They have alot of jobs in my area - in and around Houston also which noone seems to apply for.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2013 10:47PM by cheryljane.

Since we are talking about the MSC in this thread, you need to edit your post and remove the names of the clients.

They asked why my car wasn't used - just trying to explain.

As I dont tend to go to Houston - there are many shops with many companies there. I typically dont take them.

You also have to watch the times you can shop as well. Some of mine were 9a-6p, others were 10a-4p. Look carefully at your shop times, they vary by dealer.

A scheduler from Bestmark called me today to ask me to do a couple of "test drive" shops. I questioned him about the time involved and he said that what they suggest is to let the salesman know you're a busy person and only have 25 minutes to spare. He said that should be lots of time to do everything. I agreed to do two of them, so we'll see! He estimated the report should take about 20 minutes.

Test driving should not take 25 min. but who knows? The test drives I have taken don't take 10 min.

Most test drive shops take me about 45 minutes to an hour, with the test drive itself averaging about 10-12 minutes.

But, as they say, your mileage may vary. One of my favorite shopping memories was from a car shop.

I went in, and the salesperson and I picked the vehicle I wanted to drive. It was stored at the dealer's lot across the freeway so the salesperson went to fetch it and NEVER came back. True story.

It seems he got stuck in traffic on the Interstate. I waited an hour for him, all the while he was calling my cell phone every 10 minutes to give me an update of where he was. I was annoyed at the time, but when I think about it now, I think it's hilarious. I put it all on my report and naturally the MSC wouldn't accept it (no test drive you see). But they did bonus me heavily to go back and do the shop again.

Ive done a few bestmark shops pretty straightforward as compared to intellishop Wfere they want a novel written

My shop from hell had a lengthy test drive, probably 15 minutes or more; the last shop, where the salesman didn't bother telling me about ANY of the features but the trunk, even when I mentioned things I might have been curious about, we drove around the block. Weren't gone 5 minutes.

I preferred the latter shop, actually. Was a much shorter report just listing what he didn't talk about than listing what he DID, and then telling what he SAID about everything.

That estimate for a test drive shop is off the mark. The only time I had one that short was when the target model happened to be parked by the front door and the associate sent me off by myself. I also would not feel comfortable with telling the associate I was in a hurry based on a phone conversation with the scheduler. That gives the associate an opening to challenge the report by claiming he could not cover everything with you because of time constraints.

blackpearl08 Wrote:
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> Has anyone done a Bestmark car dealership shop
> before? If so, what was your experience? I'm
> considering doing a web + dealership shop in my
> area but I don't want to do it if it requires too
> much time or effort for the pay.
I have done an auto dealership for Bestmark before and they are not too bad, I did do a Casino shop in Shreveport and that was tough. The great thing about Bestmark is that they pay quickly and correctly. Service Sleuth or as they should be called "Service Sloth" are the slowest payers by far and Sentry Marketing is not far behind. Bestmarks big deal is open answered questions as long as you do that you will be fine.

I take at least 30 minutes.

If I was a serious client, I wouldn't test drive a new car for ten minutes. I would take at least ten minutes on the interstate alone.



cheryljane Wrote:
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> Test driving should not take 25 min. but who
> knows? The test drives I have taken don't take 10
> min.

I was considering picking up one of these shops to see how it went. Out of curiosity, if you do not actually own the required year/make, can you take in someone else's car for service that does match the requirement? (i.e. my friend's or my parents)? Apologies in advance if this has already been answered.....I just didn't see it.

That is probably fine, but it never hurts to verify with the MSC in question.

According to the instructions, as long as you have access to a vehicle, you can use it to do the shop. It doesn't have to be yours.

Whitx5 Wrote:
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> I was considering picking up one of these shops to
> see how it went. Out of curiosity, if you do not
> actually own the required year/make, can you take
> in someone else's car for service that does match
> the requirement? (i.e. my friend's or my
> parents)? Apologies in advance if this has
> already been answered.....I just didn't see it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2013 05:14PM by spaztck.