jwolpert Wrote:
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> This might be the first post where someone said
> that Intellishop grades fairly. LOL.

shopgal Wrote:
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> There's definitely been some kind of change with
> this MSC in the last year. Feedback is more
> irrelevant and redundant. Communication is
> lacking. Shop postings have arbitrary unworkable
> dates for selection.

Does anyone have any insight to how they chose/assign the FF shops? I have 3 locations near my office, two near my house and two more on the routes I normally take for other things,( church, health club, mall, etc) When the FF first appeared about a year ago each of these locations were shopped at least one time. A couple I saw a time or two after that, but most of these 7 locations I never,ever see come up. Other locations, mainly on the other side of town, seem to bee shopped more than one time a month. I have noticed that different schedulers have different locations, but I don't remember back to who scheduled the locations near me. Do you think that some locations do not have many problems and are not shopped? or could it be that some of the Intellishop schedulers have go-to shoppers and the locations never make it to the boards. Any thoughts?

it seems that Ross141312 just likes to quote other shoppers posts. LOL.

I completed 10 shops for them in April and received a 10 on every one except one. I did a comparison of two travel center gas stations (which I will NEVER do again). They sent me an email requesting one very minor issue and I replied back five minutes later, which completed the shop. They gave me an 8 becuase they had to follow up with me. I was TICKED!! I have never had an 8 and I feel that is a sharp markdown for such a silly little question they wanted clarification on.

jwolpert Wrote:
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> This might be the first post where someone said
> that Intellishop grades fairly. LOL.


Well,

Maybe fairly by their standards.

The problem is their standards are different than other Sassie companies, but they use the same stated grading system.

I thought we were not suppose to mention company names in our posts??????????

The names of MSCs or clients can be mentioned, but not both. To err on the side of discretion, many posters refer to clients by commonly known "code names".

I usually always get 10's on my reports. I did a travel comparison and received a 9 so my next one I tried extra hard to get a 10. Well I got an email to make a change in an area but not to change anything else. Then I get a second email telling me to change something else but not to make any other changes. Well my final grade was a 6. The comment was that they had to ask me for updates twice. I was not happy about it but since I will get paid I will get over it. I chalk it up to the editor not knowing what they want.

The only issue I have with IntelliShop is their evaluation of car dealerships. This is for new shoppers, experienced shoppers already should know this.

IntelliShop wants a business card. If you do not get one your shop is invalid. The guidelines say you will NOT prompt the salesperson to elaborate on a feature mentioned about the vehicle or ask the salesperson about a feature not mentioned. A "reasonable shopper" would NOT be quiet and listen ONLY! Who does that when they are buying a vehicle for thousands of dollars?

After a few minutes of talking to customer that does not respond to anything I am pitching I would toss that customer out into the street, curse him or her for wasting my rotation and certainly NOT give that person my business card. Why should I? The customer showed no interest in my presentation at all.

The only reason I as a salesperson would continue "selling" that person a vehicle is the salesperson is aware the customer is the shopper! The salesperson can choose to continue "selling" you the vehicle aware you are the shopper.

My rule is, "If I can not perform the shop as a shopper would or if I must ask questions a shopper would never ask that screams, "I am the shopper", I will not perform the shop. I am sure the salesperson would give me a business card if I showed interest and appeared to be legitimately shopping for a vehicle but the guidelines prevent me from doing that.

If the salesperson knew I had to be the shopper as I sat unresponsive listening but not responding even when the salesperson asked, "Can I tell you anything further about the vehicle?" it would defeat the purpose of the shop.

If I responded, "No you can not tell me anything further, now can I have your business card before I leave?” the salesperson can choose to have the report submitted by giving me the card. The salesperson can also waste my time the way I wasted his or her time by not giving me the business card. That would result in my shop being rejected and I would not be paid. . I cannot ask the salesperson, What further could you tell me about the vehicle?" as that would be "prompting" the salesperson and my guidelines say I can not do that.

I do other intellishop shops but not new car dealer evaluations.

If someone asked me if they could tell me anything further, I think I would respond, "My current car is a basic model with no bells or whistles at all. I wouldn't know what to ask about. Are there any features you haven't mentioned?" which is not the same thing as asking, "What does this gizmo do?" or "How does the GPS work?" We're not supposed to prompt them, but to not respond to anything said is a different matter. I respond as I would if I were really shopping, "Oh, that's a cool feature" or "I didn't know cars could do that" or "I've been wishing for something like that for years" which shows enthusiasm and interest in the car but does not prompt the salesman or do his job for him.

My worst shop was one where the salesman mentioned the size of the trunk and the fact that it had power seats and THAT WAS ALL. And this was a car loaded with new technology and features. Even when I curiously touched a control, or commented, "wow, there's a lot of stuff on this steering wheel" he didn't take the hint and talk about it. I had the same problem with a motorcycle shop the other day where all the guy said about the bike was, "How does that feel? Can you reach the ground better with that seat?" and "How do you like that color?"

I think both of those salesmen were new. The first one no longer works there. Hopefully the MC salesman will receive some better training and orientation to the model after my report goes through.

As an experienced shopper, I would like to address the business card issue for new shoppers. By experienced I mean at least a couple hundred new and pre-owned shops for everything from $15,000 economy cars to $100,000 luxury cars. The only time I was not given a business card was when the sales associate was so new he did not have any yet. In that case he wrote his name and number on a piece of paper along with the information about the model I shopped.

There are normally two types of car shops. For one you provide no prompting and for others you may have a limited number of things you are required to discuss. Otherwise, you let the sales associate sell the vehicle. There is no reason to assume the appropriate response to everything presented is to react like a bump on a log. itsasecret gets it because it is quite easy to show interest and enthusiasm without asking questions. Anyone who doubts what this advice should know that the lion's share of my vehicle shops have been on video and most have included follow up from the associate. Obviously if I was asking questions I should not ask, the shops would not have been paid and I would not have been given more work by the MSCs.

Piled Hip Deep, PHD Wrote:
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> This is for new shoppers, experienced shoppers already should know
> this.

ishopshopshop Wrote:
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> Good luck, these guys are flakes, They still owe
> me $225 from a shop I completed for them in
> January!!!
>
I don't think the folks at Intellishop are flakes. I find they are a bit slow to pay, but they generally do pay for acceptable shop reports. Ishopshopshop, if they haven't outright rejected your shop I would send them an email with a shop invoice attached. You can print out free invoices by googling "free printable invoices." Find one that you like. Print it out. Fill in the invoice with the shop date, the amount you think they owe you, the method by which you want to be paid and any other information. Attach it to an email and send it to them.

Yes, folks! This even worked for me with Freeman! I had only completed two jobs for them. Initially they did not pay me. They gave no reasons for not paying. Using this method, I got paid for both jobs. Eventually. After a really long time. Almost a year for one of the jobs.

A lot of people here don't seem to understand that most independent contractors in all industries routinely issue invoices to their clients or customers. When the plumber comes to your house and fixes your toilet, he doesn't just stick out his hand, or go away and hope you remember to pay him, he hands you a bill. Your doctor hands you a bill. Your mechanic hands you a bill. Your veterinarian hands you a bill. Even most gardeners will leave a bill or mail one at the end of the month. If you hire a contractor to do remodeling work on your kitchen, you can bet he's going to hand you a bill.

Why do mystery shoppers think they should just rely on their clients (which is what the MSC is to the shopper) to send money and in many cases, the mystery shopper doesn't even keep a good record of what they are owed or by whom? You are not an employee, you're in business for yourself. You need to look out for your own pay day.

If you are IC Pro registered, IC Pro sends the invoice for you to the Sassie companies. Market Force has their ICA. Maritz requires you to click that invoice link and submit an invoice. Castforce requires you to send an invoice. The thing is, most companies who have an accounting department rely on a written invoice to pay from. Some may generate it internally or consider the shop report to be the invoice, but it's up to you to make sure you ask for your money.

If the company doesn't pay you, sending them an invoice will help compensate for whatever internal glitch kept them from paying you automatically.

Nobody's perfect, but Intellishop is one of the better ones, and Heather is one of the best. I haven't had any problems with them so far. Do I like all of their scores? NO! Did I submit a perfect report? Apparently not, but I have been paid for all the shops I've done. I still get offered all the shops in my area for the FF whose spokesman's head is a giant ping-pong ball.

No problems here.