EPMS....of all the companies I have worked for, this one gives me the most struggle. I love to work for them, yet rethink that love once I have completed the shop and sit down to do the report.
Here is why I am like a moth to a flame with them:
1. The folks I have dealt with there are first class. They offer great help, give quick responses, and really seem to be on the shopper's side.
2. From the onset, they offer pretty good payments for their shops.
3. They are willing to work with you on deadlines if an issue arises.
Here is why I feel like the moth who got fried by the flame and hesitates to go back:
1. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
2. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
3. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
I suppose all their shops are being filled each month and the army of disgruntled report-filler-outer's (yes, that is a word I just made up) is not much more than the aggravation of a hangnail. However, is there any way that the shopper community could possibly work together to tell them how often shops are not taken knowing the dreaded report to complete that is as awful as being covered in a wet wool blanket on an August afternoon? They pay a little more than most, but their reports are FAR worse than any company I can think of....eye color of the consultant, where the bathrooms are (ummm...even if a shopper were dumb enough to try to fake the shop, you could get that info off the property website), the décor of the clubhouse (ditto on the previous website comment), and the same questions about the consultant decorated about 5 different ways.
If you search for comments about them on this forum, you are guaranteed to hear comments about how dreadful their reports are. It seems like they are missing a lot of really great, experienced shoppers for what looks like a relatively easy issue to tweak. I have no problem with giving a detailed report that is heavy on narratives.
The reason for my question is that I recall a while back, someone from EPMS started a thread on how they could make things better. A big complaint was chasing the target as it seems like a never ending cat-and-mouse game. I took a shop with them this week. It was a video shop. I would be hard pressed to do the same amount of work for 1/2 the money as the traditional shops pay. I had issues, but Robert and my scheduler were so pleasant to deal with, it washed out my previous aggravations. For the first time, the shop instructions gave the days the target was working and the days she would be there by herself. What the what???!?!?!? Hallelujah! I wonder if the comments made from the other thread that was started had any impact on this new, well, never seen by me, addition.
That being said, is there any way that experienced, knowledgeable, level-headed, rational shoppers like hopefully all of you are, could possibly make an impact with EPMS in regards to their report expectations? I spent over 2 hours working on a report for a shop that lasted 36 minutes. That is ridiculous. When I was a relatively new shopper, I chalked it up to learning the business. Now that my bones are not as green, I can't justify taking those shops. Unfortunately, and here lies the problem, this is a company that I really, really, really, really, really, really would like to work with. Until they are willing to send someone to take care of my kids for me to devote my "free" time to complete a repetitive report, I am not sure if the payment is worth it.
They are a niche company. For that reason, I understand and expect outstanding shoppers and shopper reports. However......(shoppers with experience in completing those reports can complete the sentence)
Here is why I am like a moth to a flame with them:
1. The folks I have dealt with there are first class. They offer great help, give quick responses, and really seem to be on the shopper's side.
2. From the onset, they offer pretty good payments for their shops.
3. They are willing to work with you on deadlines if an issue arises.
Here is why I feel like the moth who got fried by the flame and hesitates to go back:
1. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
2. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
3. Their reports are unexplainably and unjustifiably long, redundant, ask the same question over and over and over and over with a minimum of 5 new sentences each time, redundant, repetitive, and redundant.
I suppose all their shops are being filled each month and the army of disgruntled report-filler-outer's (yes, that is a word I just made up) is not much more than the aggravation of a hangnail. However, is there any way that the shopper community could possibly work together to tell them how often shops are not taken knowing the dreaded report to complete that is as awful as being covered in a wet wool blanket on an August afternoon? They pay a little more than most, but their reports are FAR worse than any company I can think of....eye color of the consultant, where the bathrooms are (ummm...even if a shopper were dumb enough to try to fake the shop, you could get that info off the property website), the décor of the clubhouse (ditto on the previous website comment), and the same questions about the consultant decorated about 5 different ways.
If you search for comments about them on this forum, you are guaranteed to hear comments about how dreadful their reports are. It seems like they are missing a lot of really great, experienced shoppers for what looks like a relatively easy issue to tweak. I have no problem with giving a detailed report that is heavy on narratives.
The reason for my question is that I recall a while back, someone from EPMS started a thread on how they could make things better. A big complaint was chasing the target as it seems like a never ending cat-and-mouse game. I took a shop with them this week. It was a video shop. I would be hard pressed to do the same amount of work for 1/2 the money as the traditional shops pay. I had issues, but Robert and my scheduler were so pleasant to deal with, it washed out my previous aggravations. For the first time, the shop instructions gave the days the target was working and the days she would be there by herself. What the what???!?!?!? Hallelujah! I wonder if the comments made from the other thread that was started had any impact on this new, well, never seen by me, addition.
That being said, is there any way that experienced, knowledgeable, level-headed, rational shoppers like hopefully all of you are, could possibly make an impact with EPMS in regards to their report expectations? I spent over 2 hours working on a report for a shop that lasted 36 minutes. That is ridiculous. When I was a relatively new shopper, I chalked it up to learning the business. Now that my bones are not as green, I can't justify taking those shops. Unfortunately, and here lies the problem, this is a company that I really, really, really, really, really, really would like to work with. Until they are willing to send someone to take care of my kids for me to devote my "free" time to complete a repetitive report, I am not sure if the payment is worth it.
They are a niche company. For that reason, I understand and expect outstanding shoppers and shopper reports. However......(shoppers with experience in completing those reports can complete the sentence)