MSI Trend Source shops

I applied for several Medicare shops with MSI during the past week. One of the shops is for tomorrow morning and it is still being reviewed for approval... along with the rest of them. It is really tough to try to schedule shops with other companies when you don't know whether or not you are going to be approved.
Has anyone had much experience with this company and know how their scheduling works (or doesn't work)? Self scheduling is so much easier since you can plan out your month and/or week efficiently.

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I did two Medicare shops, and the one shop I applied for was assigned at least a few days in advance iirc.

The first shop was somewhat of an amazing coincidence. The scheduler called me out of the blue to do a Medicare shop at a farmers market in a few days. She was about to give me the address, but I said, "You don't have to give the address. I'm picking out apples at the market right now." It was my first trip to this market, and they had never called me before that. Go figure.

I don't think there are any Russians / And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals\ / Playin' with tanks

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2015 11:49PM by retrodaddy.

In general I love trendsource/msi. Scheduling is the one issue I have with them. I've noticed any shops that are not 'self assign' can sit around pending for quite awhile. If I don't get a response within a reasonable amount of time, I just email them (via the website) and ask them to cancel my request since I haven't received confirmation. They have always been very good about canceling requests.

I don't have an issue with self assign not being available provided I can get a prompt response (same day). I have a real issue with applying and it lays there dead for days. I just don't apply any more. It's a waste of my time, because by tomorrow I'm thinking about something else. The companies want prompt reports and I want prompt attention. I know they have plenty of shoppers and don't need me. Works both ways.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I've been waiting for these and still haven't seen them on the board.

I just call them. That works pretty well for me.

I e-mailed about the scheduling and was told that the project was on hold until next week at least. MSI pays almost twice the fee for attending a seminar as another company I do Medicare shops for. The other company does allow me to self assign, so now I have to decide if a sure thing is better than the endless waiting. It is a crap shoot.

Hang in there. Once you complete certain criteria, you will be prompted to take the PN quiz. If passed, you can self-assign most shops and get many other perks. Plus you get a little yellow star by your name!

Oh Joy! I always wanted a little yellow star. And here I didn't even know they had one.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I recently started doing some onsite inspections after being called by them. They were easy and communication was good. Am thinking about the 90 minute formal presentation but they say the input form should take an additional 45 minutes. Are you getting bonuses? The stated fee seems low.

Shopping Central Jersey Shoreline. WHAT? I'm an adult?! When did this happen?! How do I make it stop?!

@nslowry wrote:

I applied for several Medicare shops with MSI during the past week. One of the shops is for tomorrow morning and it is still being reviewed for approval... along with the rest of them. It is really tough to try to schedule shops with other companies when you don't know whether or not you are going to be approved.
Has anyone had much experience with this company and know how their scheduling works (or doesn't work)? Self scheduling is so much easier since you can plan out your month and/or week efficiently.

If you are new with TS, then your shops may take more time to be approved. I remember when I first started with them, I was passed over for assignments and this went on for a few weeks. Once I did successful shops for them, they were happy with my work and I started getting approvals much quicker.

Some within minutes.... How long have you worked with them?

I have only completed a couple of shops and now have two scheduled. I have been doing Medicare shops for other MSCs for about three years and have done over 200 of them.

@nslowry wrote:

I have only completed a couple of shops and now have two scheduled. I have been doing Medicare shops for other MSCs for about three years and have done over 200 of them.

I understand. Once you establish a history with TS... then you get more work.

I have never done their in person Medicare shops, how is the report?

I applied for the three that showed up on my home page. Two days later, they disappeared but were not assigned. Turns out, they were removed from MSI altogether.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I've done hundreds of shops for TS.. I have great relationships with many of their schedulers. I also have self-assign privs

Having said that, the one area I don't do for them is Medicare. I do a lot of Medicare for another company. but, as HonnyBrown mentioned, at TS sometimes the shops just disappear. This can happen even after they are assigned to you.

What they seem to do is to overbook each Medicare shop, figuring like the airlines, that there will be a number of no-shows. Then if they have more than one person still available to do the shop, they pick which one they are going with and they drop the shop from the other accounts.

They also seem to book the same agent multiple times over several different days. Then after they have an accepted shop for that agent, they cancel all the other shops.

The third thing I noticed is that in our area they book all the shops as informal, but it is obvious from the location that it will be formal. The pay for informal is a lot less than for formal events.

For all those reasons, I rarely do medicare shops for them..

Presumption..... they could be removed from your home page but others can still see them. Many reasons for that.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I applied for the three that showed up on my home page. Two days later, they disappeared but were not assigned. Turns out, they were removed from MSI altogether.

I am gad someone asked this question. There is definitely a PROBLEM with the scheduling for these shops. I have shopped with them for many years and always done these shops with no scheduling problems. Shops have been posted and then disappeared at the beginning of October. Literally many many shops in my area. I applied for every single one and I have PN status. I was not assigned to a single one. Then mid month, I received an email begging me to complete one shop. Yesterday I noticed a boatload of shops posted - 3 for today alone !! I called the scheduler, no answer. He had 2 other extensions on his voicemail to call if no one answers. Neither one of them answered.

Something is not right. Either the schedulers have dropped the ball or they are posting jobs that don't exist.

@arkndove wrote:

Hang in there. Once you complete certain criteria, you will be prompted to take the PN quiz. If passed, you can self-assign most shops and get many other perks. Plus you get a little yellow star by your name!

I never knew I had a yellow star next to my name...I will go check that out!

I have done two so far. Both were in-home visits. Both times, the agents didn't show up. I made $30.00 and never put my shoes on.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2015 06:24PM by HonnyBrown.

@HonnyBrown: Were you paid full price for the "no-shows" or a percentage of the fee (if so, what percentage), if you don't mind saying? Thanks!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 04:29PM by veebeeshops.

SunnyDays...thanks for the head's up on the PN quiz. Just got notice for mine last week, took it and now am seeing stars. Yay! Unfortunately, the Medicare shops are not included in the self assign even with the PN.

vee, I was paid 50% of the $30 fee.

@veebeeshops wrote:

@HonnyBrown: Were you paid full price for the "no-shows" or a percentage of the fee (if so, what percentage), if you don't mind saying? Thanks!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I need to get a wig, or a scarf, and some thrift store clothes and try to do one of these. I see many of them in my area, and I am older than 40, but I do not look 65. I saw the memorial film on Facebook for the woman who was killed last year, and her disguises were genius ideas. One MSC had that you could ask for a parent, but I have not seen that one on the job boards lately.

I have canceled a couple shops with MSI if they were not approved after a week. Plus, some of the shops do get put on hold, or changed. I was frustrated at first, but the schedulers have worked with me occasionally. They have a lot of shops in my area.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2015 04:37PM by breestjon.

I wish that the MSC's would allow for those of us who are younger than 65 and have Medicare to do the shops. It would be nice to get paid to collect information that I already need.

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When you choose the Medicare shop, you are asked which scenario you want to use: someone who is over 65, someone under 65 seeking information for an older relative or someone under 65 and on Medicare.

I selected the relative scenario and I got chosen for that twice.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Hope this is OK to ask. I have bee doing grocer store shops for MSI from some time and have never had any problems. I have been thinking of signing up for a couple of the Medicare shops but a not real sure what they entail. Can someone enlighten me?

I am also curious about the on-site inspections. Not sure exactly what these are either..

Thanks!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2015 07:38PM by kacolarusso.

kacola, I do both with Trend Source and I love them!

With Medicare (you must be TS certified), choose your scenario. Make the phone call and make sure you follow the guidelines. Set up your appointment date. You choose the location, but not a restaurant. That's as far as I have gotten since the reps never showed up. You report your call and details.

For the inspection, choose one. Once you accept it, make your call within 4 hours. Report each call you make. When you finally reach someone, read your script and set up the appointment. Go to their location and ask the questions and take the pictures. When you get back home, report everything.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

vee, I was paid 50% of the $30 fee.

@veebeeshops wrote:

@HonnyBrown: Were you paid full price for the "no-shows" or a percentage of the fee (if so, what percentage), if you don't mind saying? Thanks!

You know, I could have sworn I saw paid 50% on no show shops (targeted) on the TS site..... It used to be 4-5 years ago, you got paid 100% of the fee but perhaps something changed while I was sleeping.

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