These audits take a good seven hours. I asked a manager if I was slow they said no that all the auditors that was there had taken the same amount of time to complete audits. Every month there are new sections added increasing the responsibility. The guidelines are over sixty pagesand there is a test you have to take every month. Some states have to offer bonus money to get the audits done. However there are some states that you can't get work because there are so any auditors and the jobs get snatched up quickly. They are still hiring more people when they don't have enough work to go around. However when this started they promised that there would only be a few auditors hired. When you factor in the time to prepare by reading guidelines, the testing, the driving and the report the pay is not that much.

There are a few states that are closed to recruiting for these shops (FL for one, as I am scheduling FL for June). As for them taking at least 7 hours, you are sadly misinformed, as most of the auditors that have been doing these take a little over 5 hours to complete them.

It comes down to different people, having different experiences. Most of the auditors I speak with enjoy completing these assignments. If they don't enjoy it, they quit doing them. Again, you are not forced to take the assignments; as an IC, you are free to refuse any assignment you want to refuse.

@mshop123 wrote:

These audits take a good seven hours. I asked a manager if I was slow they said no that all the auditors that was there had taken the same amount of time to complete audits. Every month there are new sections added increasing the responsibility. The guidelines are over sixty pagesand there is a test you have to take every month. Some states have to offer bonus money to get the audits done. However there are some states that you can't get work because there are so any auditors and the jobs get snatched up quickly. They are still hiring more people when they don't have enough work to go around. However when this started they promised that there would only be a few auditors hired. When you factor in the time to prepare by reading guidelines, the testing, the driving and the report the pay is not that much.

I have a question:

I did two of this audit (and reading this I am quite regretful about it) and both were rate fine and fee was marked as to pay. Now after a week (I did this audit June 3dr) they are writing me about some change... so the question is: how long I should consider myself committed with this?

I loved these audits until I had two issues. In one case, my report never downloaded from the Rover app to Sassie. I had to email the PDF to the scheduler. It took almost two months to get paid on this one. It was eventually determined that I was sent 2 surveys and it confused the system. In the second situation, somehow when they looked at my report in Sassie (which we can't see unless they release it to us), they had toggled one of the numbers and most of my input disappeared. Instead of it showing I audited 25 ad items, it had changed to like 10. I actually had to figure this out on my own because I couldn't understand why it was right on my Kindle but not in Sassie. Also, I did typo one piece of information which I owned. Because of this I received some ridiculously low score like a 4 or a 5. The editor ignored all my emails and questions regarding it. I cc'd the scheduler and project manager on all the communications and neither of them responded either. It was just plan rude and I stopped working for them. Then even though I deactivated my account with them, I continued to receive emails for several weeks.

@Cricket2009 wrote:

all of you are right. It is too much and too hard work for too little and too late money. I did one audit. The project was badly organized and under funded. They make their communications sound as though shoppers are beating down their doors but I see they still have January jobs to do. They have some discretionary money so, if you are going to try it, ask for more money. They have it.

That's the truth, they told me outright in emails that people who have already done them are scrambling to get them, that they love them, and that it's very simple work. I did the background check, and I signed up to do two of the audits but ended up giving them away after being in on a few of the training calls, they are asking too much for what they are paying.

@momomama wrote:

Sometimes I'll grab something to eat when I get halfway through so I don't get to the end and waste time.

It doesn't say anything in the instructions about being allowed to leave the store for breaks. And they said not to bring any personal items into the store. Which has been one of the big sticking points for me. If I can't bring food and something to drink for myself, and I can't leave the store, I can't do these audits. I tried to ask one of the schedulers about it but she never answered my question. And on one of the training calls I tried to ask, several times, but they ignored me. Every time I asked a question they picked someone else's question to answer.

You can leave the stores for breaks.

@Morledzep wrote:

@momomama wrote:

Sometimes I'll grab something to eat when I get halfway through so I don't get to the end and waste time.

It doesn't say anything in the instructions about being allowed to leave the store for breaks. And they said not to bring any personal items into the store. Which has been one of the big sticking points for me. If I can't bring food and something to drink for myself, and I can't leave the store, I can't do these audits. I tried to ask one of the schedulers about it but she never answered my question. And on one of the training calls I tried to ask, several times, but they ignored me. Every time I asked a question they picked someone else's question to answer.

But it is not written anywhere...and I also asked and no one answer to this question....

@heartlandcanuck wrote:

If someone is taking an out-of-town route, it's likely that, not series of overnight trips up and down the interstate just for this one shop. Maybe they are working in hotel shops or staying with friends. When I do far routes I like to work in a few gas stations and have a plan for lunch and supper. These are likely savvy shoppers, not paying for hotels just to make $95/day.

Or they have a Motor-home so they aren't paying for anything except gas and getting some good meal shops along the way. Rest areas are free, so are Walmart parking lots, and there are a lot of other places you can stop to sleep. And most of these places have big enough parking lots to accommodate larger vehicles. I've thought seriously about taking the motorhome out at the end of the month and doing some of the better bonused audits in remote areas. Go out for two, three or five days, pick up some restaurant shops and some grocery shops. $170 x 4 or 5, plus the free food. $170 is a tank of gas in my motorhome. it could work. But I haven't tried it..

The audits are easy and do not take 7 hours. But the audit is not for everyone. Yes, the guidelines have many pages. But each time the guidelines are revised, there is a page at the beginning that explains what has changed. It is just when you do it for the first time and have to figure out what the instructions are referring to, etc. There are not a bunch of new thngs added to make the audit take even longer. There are just changes in procedures and/or changes with areas audited.

If you have never read blue prints, plan-o-grams, used a telxon, are not organized and do not know how to use a tablet thoroughly, you will not like the audit or get it. And it will take you 7 hours or more. I am not knocking anyone, I am just saying that some people are not good with devices and are not interested in becoming good with them. So it can seem like there are a lot of issues. There are just two issues, really. There were some problems with the Rover app syncing with Sassie, because some questions were not exactly the same. Someone did not check to make sure each field was identical, so the Sassie version would be populated with the same answer from the Rover app. This caused the Sassie version to have a blank in the answer field and it looked like the auditor did not answer the question.

The editors are from an outside source and use the Sassie version. No matter how many times you explain this to the editor, they still mark off. They cannot help it. They are just following the guidelines they were given. So this is really the main problem. The project manager at the MSC needs to have the score changed and have the technical department fix the software issue(s). This is the biggest problem with the audit. It is not fair to give someone a 9 if they deserve a 10, when the issue was technical and unavoidable. However annoying all those emails are to the project manager, they need to just fix the scores, and have the software issue dealt with. Then they will not lose good auditors. And if you cannot sign in on the telxon, do not waste time, just have an associate sign on for you.

As far as taking a break, of course you can take one. No one has to even discuss this or wonder how long of a break, etc. Just take one if you need to. I come in with a bottle of water and a Venti coffee. Maybe I should not bring the coffee, but I do and no one has had a problem. (I will do a better job with my Starbucks).

Just to let you know that after 2 months probably tomorrow they are going to reimbur me for the background check and drug test.... but it required a great number of emails and at the end, today, they wrote me that there is a form to fill out in the system.... really? after 2 months? after I wrote you all this time?
It is not the right way to manage business. They pretend accuracy but they do not care about they be acurate with us!