How long does it take to be "chosen" to shop by Ardent? I submitted my application several weeks ago and have heard nothing back from them. TIA

It may take a year or more, depending on their training schedule. You won't be eligible for any shops with them until you complete the 2 hour training that is performed at one of the restaurants. They won't contact you until they have a training class planned somewhere close to you. When they schedule a training, they will notify you when and where the scheduled training is taking place and give you an opportunity to attend. Until then you probably will not hear anything from them.

Thanks, AutinMom.

Also, they JUST finished up with a round of training in the past few weeks so it may be months before they do it again.

With the holiday season effectively upon us, I am personally not expecting to hear back from them until at least 2014 February. I'd love to be wrong, though.

DrSquash Wrote:
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> With the holiday season effectively upon us, I am personally not expecting to hear back from them
> until at least 2014 February. I'd love to be wrong, though.

My training was in the month of January.

I was lucky to get into the training session they had here a few months ago. I got a call one evening from Ardent; they were having a training the next day in my area and a shopper had dropped out. They found my profile on ShadowShopper, and asked me if I'd fill that slot. So I did, and have been with them ever since. I think they only have a handful or so of shoppers at each session. It's a pretty in-depth training, and I guess they feel a "crowd" session wouldn't be productive.

So, if anyone wants to get in with them and you don't get scheduled for the next training session, don't give up! Even if you have to drive a ways to get to the training, it may be worth it for you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2013 12:31PM by BirdyC.

Is there any way to contact them to find out when will the training be in my area?

Is it worth the training and all? I remembering hearing they were fast foods only or mostly - is that true?

LA

No, they are not ff. They are fast-casual, and very good food indeed. The training is compensate and some of the best! The company and its employees really work as partners with their shoppers, which makes the company one of the best to work for.

Yes, you can contact them through the website. Their main client is and has been expanding even through the Great Recession, so there should be more opportunities down the road.

And their new client is also expanding.

Ardent's main client is their only client. I went to the training last month, and was one of 5. Got lunch too.

They apparently have a new, very small client also.

I've been shopping for Ardent for 4.5 years now! No complaints here... Actually, the one complaint is sometimes I get too many assignments ... Their report is very in-depth, so I generally only want to do 2 shops/month, but sometimes get assigned 4. Ah - what a problem to have.

I lucked out in getting into training. They were doing the training 55 miles away from home for that location, and for another location 40 miles from home. I emailed, and asked if they needed anyone for the locations closer to me, and they signed me up. In all the time I've been shopping for them, I can't think of a single month where I haven't received at least 1 assignment.

roderigo Wrote:
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> I've been shopping for Ardent for 4.5 years now!
> No complaints here... Actually, the one complaint
> is sometimes I get too many assignments ...
> Their report is very in-depth, so I generally only
> want to do 2 shops/month, but sometimes get
> assigned 4. Ah - what a problem to have.
>

I was doing three shops/month for them at one point, but had to delete the long-distance one from my locations because I realized that even with a generous travel allowance, I wasn't making enough money to make the time involved worth it.... But if I can pick up one or two other jobs in that same area, with added travel bonus, I'd love to continue to do it, as it's the best of the locations I shop!

I'm thinking two shops/month on a regular basis is a nice number, since they're SO time consuming (not complaining, mind you, because the pay is great if you don't have to travel a long way, and the folks there are wonderful to work with)....

I wouldn't mind picking up a third one every now and again, maybe every couple months or so, or when I travel. I've gotten into the habit of looking for "orphan" locations when I'm going out of town so if there's one where I'm going to be, I can request it. But so far, the timing hasn't been right....

Birdy, if you write to your scheduler before you travel and towards the end of the month when they are scheduling, they might be able to assign you a third shop. I find this MSC to be the best of all of them and the most accommodating. I have worked with two wonderful schedulers and as long as I communicate with them ahead of time, I find them extremely helpful and easy to work with.

Actually, at any time of the month, Ardent shopps can check the "Orphan Shops" list and sign up for anything they can handle. It's a great way to pick up shops when traveling and makes for very grateful schedulers.

I declined the training once, because of the distance and scheduling conflicts. Does this mean they will no longer contact me for future training sessions? Their website is not user-friendly and won't let me log-in.

I don't have a login there either. Some companies only assign a login after being accepted. So, one might only get a login after completing training, but don't hold me to that.

No, I think you will still get future invites, Phoebe. I declined the training a few years ago but did continue to be invited - and I finally did complete the training in March. Ardent assigns a login to shoppers who have completed the training and completed a W-4 for them.

I did my first shop for them this month. They are incredibly nice!

I'm not asking for dollars and cents, but is the fee for the shop 'interesting', or is this a do-it-for-the-food shop.

It is interesting.

I just heard that they are short of shoppers in the Washington, DC market and will be scheduling training here soon. I think they mean for their new client. The shops that they need to fill tend to be for lunch in the city, not in the MD suburbs. They will reimburse city parking, with a receipt.

I got lucky when they had the training. It is a great company to work with.

Be patient, your time will come.

When I signed up, I was given an email referral. I have no clue how they found me..

Apparently my area needed more shoppers.

I was then invited to take the training course, and enjoyed what the client truly wants. I wish more companies would do this.

Good luck, it's a great company to work with. :-)

I registered with them a long time ago, but there was never a training session anywhere near me (but there are the fast casual restaurants.)

I tried to login, but it didn't work. The site says to contact my scheduler, but I have no idea how to get that info. Anybody have a scheduler email I can use?

Thanks so much if you can help!

If you have signed up but have not had the training, you will not be able to log in. Until you have completed the training, they don't complete the sign-up process. If you signed up, they will notify you when they have training. After you have taken the training, they collect a W-4 and other information and assign you a login and then you will be able to log into the site.l

I did the training and never got any assignments because I don't have a check to sign up for direct deposit. Not a fan. They need to come into the 21st century.