Ardent Services....so far so good!
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Glad to hear! I am scheduled for that training next week. I have never eaten at the client's restaurant so it will be my first time.
I had heard of the place but did not realize they were shopped....they only have a few restaurants in the area but they are expanding.....
Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.
There are none of these new places in my area. But I'm hoping that some will pop up soon! I'd like to shop another client for Ardent. Getting tired of the old one....
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
They're opening one of the new restaurants in my area, and I'm hoping current Ardent shoppers will have an 'in'.
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
Kathy, your scheduler will probably e-mail you when they plan a training for your area. I got an e-mail asking if I wanted in. When I said yes, my scheduler, Michelle, e-mailed two dates that the trainer was available so she could coordinate picking the best day for me and however many others had been invited. We all "voted" and she set the day. I'm guessing they are giving current shoppers first dibs in most, if not all, areas.
Michelle says the shop and report are set up a bit differently and the pay is different. I go next Saturday. It will be my first taste at the client's location, although I've passed by numerous times and thought about trying it out. But so many companies want to pay me to eat that I find it difficult to find a day when I'm not getting paid ..... and it kind of hurts to pay for it! I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Michelle says the shop and report are set up a bit differently and the pay is different. I go next Saturday. It will be my first taste at the client's location, although I've passed by numerous times and thought about trying it out. But so many companies want to pay me to eat that I find it difficult to find a day when I'm not getting paid ..... and it kind of hurts to pay for it! I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Sounds good AustinMom....I really did enjoy the restaurant and the food is really good.....I think you will like it.
Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.
Big announcement coming from Ardent.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
Fee has been reduced from $27 to $25, but report has been streamlined.
Although I'm not a fan of any MSC reducing a shopper's pay it sounds like they're getting rid of the two paragraph evaluation at the end. That might just make the lower fee worth it.
@DareWright wrote:
Fee has been reduced from $27 to $25, but report has been streamlined.
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
I was looking at my payroll information from Ardent for this month. Can anyone tell me what the fee is for the newer client? I know reimbursement is separate but what is the shopper fee? I have their main client, training fee and a shop for the new client so can't figure out how the pay divides up.
You will not get paid for that training until you complete the shop. If there were a lot of folks at training the list is longer as to when you will actually get a paid shop.
No, I got paid for two shops with primary client, one shop with new client and then (I assume) for the training also - but the numbers don't quite add up like I expected. And they especially don't line up with the Payroll section of their website. I was just wondering if anyone knew what the shopper fee is for the new client.
I was told the fee for a shop with the new client is $21. Reimbursement is separate. Training for the new client is $12/hour.
@AustinMom wrote:
I was told the fee for a shop with the new client is $21. Reimbursement is separate. Training for the new client is $12/hour.
That sounds about right from the email I got from them.
Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.
@KathyG wrote:
Although I'm not a fan of any MSC reducing a shopper's pay it sounds like they're getting rid of the two paragraph evaluation at the end. That might just make the lower fee worth it.
Correct and also additional changes that we'll soon find out including changes to the rating system.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I for one am ok with the pay decrease, since we won't have that exhausting narrative to write.
Hmm.. you guys are making me jealous... I am currently signed up with them and have been performing shops with the old client, but haven't received an email about the streamlined report, or any information about a new client. I wonder if they've decided I'm not coming with them in the expansion. 
Shopper in California's Bay Area
@CaliGirl925 wrote:
Hmm.. you guys are making me jealous... I am currently signed up with them and have been performing shops with the old client, but haven't received an email about the streamlined report, or any information about a new client. I wonder if they've decided I'm not coming with them in the expansion.
You need to go to their FB page to get updates. They just updated in the last 24 hours about the lowered fee.
@CaliGirl925 wrote:
Hmm.. you guys are making me jealous... I am currently signed up with them and have been performing shops with the old client, but haven't received an email about the streamlined report, or any information about a new client. I wonder if they've decided I'm not coming with them in the expansion.
The changes will be universal and to (name of client removed) mystery shopping program altogether. As for their other clients, not sure. We only know ahead of time because it was informally announced on their private Facebook page. The official announcement will come soon.
Mod note: linking a client with its MSC is a violation of Forum rules and probably a breach of your ICA also
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
The announcement of the change is on their webpage.
Can't say I'm happy about it, but I understand. Since they only have one big client who's taken such a big financial hit, should've seen the writing on the wall. I like working with them and hope they can diversify. As it stands now I usually only make about a $5 profit on their shops when factoring in the costs of travel and how food is marked up within New York city.
@Misanthrope wrote:
Can't say I'm happy about it, but I understand. Since they only have one big client who's taken such a big financial hit, should've seen the writing on the wall. I like working with them and hope they can diversify. As it stands now I usually only make about a $5 profit on their shops when factoring in the costs of travel and how food is marked up within New York city.
One of the great things about these shops is that we are given such a wide date range to complete them. So I am always able to complete them while doing other mystery shops in the same area or I'm going to be in that part of town anyway. In my experience there are very few mystery shops that are worth it if they are completed alone. The key to successful mystery shopping is make routes, even if it's just two shops.
That's usually what I do these days. I always do the one in my neighborhood that's within walking distance, so there's no distance pay there, and the rest I shop are in Manhattan so I try to combine them with other shops. It's fine when they have only a handful assigned this month but before they cut down on shops I was at a point where I was assigned to do seven different (restaurants) in one month.@kenasch wrote:
@Misanthrope wrote:
Can't say I'm happy about it, but I understand. Since they only have one big client who's taken such a big financial hit, should've seen the writing on the wall. I like working with them and hope they can diversify. As it stands now I usually only make about a $5 profit on their shops when factoring in the costs of travel and how food is marked up within New York city.
One of the great things about these shops is that we are given such a wide date range to complete them. So I am always able to complete them while doing other mystery shops in the same area or I'm going to be in that part of town anyway. In my experience there are very few mystery shops that are worth it if they are completed alone. The key to successful mystery shopping is make routes, even if it's just two shops.
(Mod note: Linking an MSC with its clientele is a violation of Forum rules and probably also a breach of your ICA)
Ah, I almost went on this shop training, but it was my BFF's birthday so I couldn't. I love this burger chain, and have frequent them since their early days in NYC. Hopefully there will be more training in the future.
SEVEN shops! There must be a lot of shoppers in my area. I'd be assigned two each month, which got cut down to one this month.
@Misanthrope wrote:
It's fine when they have only a handful assigned this month but before they cut down on shops I was at a point where I was assigned to do seven different (restaurants) in one month.
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
To be fair, these seven shops were between their bigger, national client, and the local burger chain others have referred to (and unlike the national client, which was shopped twice a month, the burger joint needed to be shopped once a week). Still, up until they slowed down, I would do about four or five mexican food places and two to four burger joints in a given month.@KathyG wrote:
SEVEN shops! There must be a lot of shoppers in my area. I'd be assigned two each month, which got cut down to one this month.
@Misanthrope wrote:
It's fine when they have only a handful assigned this month but before they cut down on shops I was at a point where I was assigned to do seven different (restaurants) in one month.
Unfortunately the burger place has suspended its mystery shopping program in New York until June, which means I'm doing like a quarter of my work for Ardent as I normally do.
All I have in my area are the burrito shops. No burger shops or asian ones in my town. I live near a pretty large city, so I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before these restaurants start to pop up.
@DareWright wrote:
All I have in my area are the burrito shops. No burger shops or asian ones in my town. I live near a pretty large city, so I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before these restaurants start to pop up.
Unless you've seen this particular client or know they are in town, chances are they might not have opened as of yet. They seem not to be big on advertising (all word of mouth as it were) and they are slow to expand. Here in my area, there are only a few open and only one is outside of the city in the burbs.
Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.
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