A Closer Look - Reimbursement only?

@LisaSTL wrote:

Are all their upscale restaurant reports really due the same night? I find it odd they wouldn't prefer a shopper submit it the next day after they have come out of their food coma.

This has been my biggest gripe from them (well, as far as I know, it's 12 hours from the visit). I've learned to suck it up as I pushed on ACL in the past on this turnaround requirement before they notified me on this for pushing their limits.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2016 03:34PM by Tarantado.

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What do you mean by "I pushed ACL: and "they notified me?" Have you even contacted them prior to the shop to request a deadline of the following morning or afternoon?

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

I've asked for a 24 hour reporting window in advance on some projects, but it's my understanding that they want you to hit the 12-hour window to keep you status in the top tier....even when you ask for the extension in advance.

I have tended to make my reservations as late as allowed so I have time in the AM to submit the reports. It's 12-hours from the time you leave so if dinner is over at 10 PM, you have until 10 AM to have the report in.

@LisaSTL wrote:

What do you mean by "I pushed ACL: and "they notified me?" Have you even contacted them prior to the shop to request a deadline of the following morning or afternoon?

It's pretty much what Steve described. I respect their restrictions regardless.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

I was an editor for them for about a year. If it states 12 hours in the guidelines, then they definitely want you to turn in your report within 12 hours. If you don't, it affects your internal rating, which could eventually affect your ability to get offered their premium shops.

if it's who I think, i've done 2 in 2 months. We LOVE the one w/white base, truffle oil, and that funky French cheese.

Adding, I even bought a groupon coupon and took home soup and another pizza! It's not close to where I live, so do every so often.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2016 11:17PM by amberngriffinco.

They are growing on me. Their valet parking shops are reimbursement plus a fee. I double dip on the parking so it's a win win win.

ACL always has a table and 2-4 reps at the IMSC conferences. So, you can walk right up and ask about this, or anything else. Last November I asked a question about time extensions. They just looked up my history on a laptop and explained that I had no "dings" in my ratings for routinely asking for and using deadline extensions of a few hours. Sorry, I do not remember which reps were there. I only remember names when paid to do so, I'm afraid. ( That is the whole truth, although it may seem odd for an MSer)!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I have a shop with them today that pays $40 and no out of pocket expense. I did a shop last week that paid $25. There are paying shops as well as reimbursement shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2016 01:11PM by ltarplee.

I am in the middle of a pricing project that is ongoing with ACL. It is an ongoing project that I have until May 18 to finish and have been working on a little each day. It pays $350. ACL is one of the companies that has work available that is not on the job board and you need to do the lower level stuff to see the higher level work (or it is emailed to you). Keep eating pizza, then get some of those casual upscale restaurants. Keep showing you do quality work and you will see the ones that pay more and are not reimbursement only.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

I just did a fitness shop for $20. The questionnaire was long with lots of narrative. Reporting took too long. Compared to other fitness shops I've done, I would consider it low pay for the amount of work reporting.

@marg704 wrote:

I just did a fitness shop for $20. The questionnaire was long with lots of narrative. Reporting took too long. Compared to other fitness shops I've done, I would consider it low pay for the amount of work reporting.

I'm glad you mentioned this. There is one available in my area but it sounded like too much work for too little pay. I think there's even a recorded phone call. Nope.

I did a high end restaurant last night. Before I left my home, I asked the scheduler for an extension and she gave me 24hrs.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2016 06:53PM by PasswordNotFound.

I'm glad I read this thread! I never completed my registration with ACL because I thought they only had reimbursement-only shops. I initially was going to sign with them to do a casual-dining shop that I used to do with another company that lost the account. But then I found that those shops are also with a company that pays a fee, so I just went with that MSC. But I think, after reading this, that I'll go ahead and register with them.

At least they apparently give you the full 12 hours to report the shop. The MSCs I'm with that require 12-hour reporting make it 12 hours or midnight of the same day even if that's not 12 hours. Nice to know they give you the full time....

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2016 11:09PM by BirdyC.

Generally, guidelines mandate that reports are due in 12 hours. For late dinner, fine dining shops, I request and receive 24 hours.

Reimbursement only? Yes, that's ACL, for the most part. This totally irks me. Gas is not free. Nor is my time. Reimbursement on casual dines rarely covers 100%. Taking and uploading photos, for no fee?! Ridunculous.

Yet, to maintain self-assign privileges, just-in-case, I occasionally shop with them.

I did a fine dining shop for ACL. There was a 10.00 pay too. I went over the reimbursement amount by 18.00 so there went my fee. The report took 2hrs to write up, it was very involved. However, the meal was amazing as was the service. I'd never eat there on my own so I look at it like I was paid approx. 40.00 an hour to eat at a fancy restaurant.

Like with so many shops/MSPs, there is either a fit with ACL or there isn't. For me it is a lovely fit and I cherish it. I have found the editors to have a high level of integrity, the shops free of 'gottchas' and the relationship professional all the way around. I recently did a location where the food was poorly prepared in substandard portions and the service an 'order taker' who did the absolute minimum. A fair but very negative report yielded back a thank you from the editor for being objective. I think the client got their money's worth but I probably won't go to that location again because I certainly didn't! And yes, we are there to help the client improve and I hope they do or they will be closing their doors.

@Rousseau wrote:

About how many no-fee shops did you have to invest in before you started to get fees?

Maybe 4? And then a bunch of others showed up at 10. The delay might have been because I dropped some not-as-described phone shops and had to bump back up my rating.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

@Rousseau wrote:

About how many no-fee shops did you have to invest in before you started to get fees?
Maybe 4? And then a bunch of others showed up at 10. The delay might have been because I dropped some not-as-described phone shops and had to bump back up my rating.

OMG I hated those shops with a passion. I sucked it up for a few months and then bowed out.

@SoCalMama wrote:

OMG I hated those shops with a passion. I sucked it up for a few months and then bowed out.

You're nicer than I am. I finished the one that I already had a lot of time invested into, and then I emailed the scheduler canceling all the others. They were definitely NOT as described. She was unhappy and unpleasant, and she tanked my internal rating (temporarily; it scrolled off). SO not worth it. Why couldn't she just be upfront? Tell me it's a dog of a shop that you're having trouble filling and offer me something in return. Don't pretend it's "easy" and then give me a gotcha email threatening me if I don't complete them. *sigh* It's unfortunate because I wanted one of her other shops, and don't have a chance with it now.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

Every market varies for them as in other msc's. I have never seen some of the shops described above in my market. The newest one I have been seeing lately is a Chiropractor visit where they reimburse you the coupon price for a first time visit with no fee. Since I have chiropractor availability through my health insurance this is a lose/lose proposition for me so I passed. But I do like to do the pizza shops (not the one amber mentioned as the place I do does not sell soup) and the higher end restaurants even with a small or no fee.

I just did a fine dining lunch at the steak chain, the reimbursement is $60 only. It barely covered the required dishes. The required order was appetizer / dessert to share and 2 entrees and 2 drinks. It did say Plates are ok ( soup/salad and entree combo) both my guest and I ordered that at $20 each and with 18% tips and tax and the two required drinks ( not water) lemonade and soda at $3.75, we went 61cents over the $60. I live in a very high tax area so maybe if the tax rate was lower you can go a couple dollars under $60. If I ordered what was required not from the Plates menu it would probably put me $10 over the reimbursement. I wish ACL would at least offer a fee or a little higher reimbursement on this restaurant.

Have you asked ACL about it? Maybe you could point out the problem and see if they have a solution.

ACL can do nothing about the reimbursement amount--that is contracted for, as is the amount of tip. And yes, it is annoying and seems grossly unfair. There are shops that I won't do because the reimbursement does not cover and I'm not interested in just a coupon.

There are also other ways to skin the cat. My dinner tonight was paid for with a gift card off Raise.com that was purchased with a 16% discount. Gee, I even made a profit on tonight's dinner! Soon I have a shop at a restaurant that is part of a more diverse chain and a gift card from any restaurant in the chain can be used at any other restaurant in the chain. So I watch for gift cards with the best discount within the chain. Typically ACL allows the use of gift cards but not 'coupons' like Restaurants.com, Groupon, out of the press or comp slips from previous disasters.

I think it depends on the MSC. I have not had this issue with ACL, but I have with some other MSCs. When made aware, they have made up the difference if I had to go over the reimbursement cost. The reimbursement is mandated by the client, but there are those extra funds, the amounts they can use for bonuses and such, and I have been told that is what they dip into when necessary. No clue what ACL would do if asked, but that's been my experience with other MSCs on the few occasions when the reimbursement did not match the actual cost for my location. It never hurts to ask.

@Orrymain I did ask the scheduler if they ever offer bonuses or a fee on these shops, she offered to send in some sample receipts on how other shoppers make it under $60. I think the tax rate must be pretty low in those other areas. Our sales tax is 9.6%!
I did another fine dining shop last night and for 2 ppl they automatically added 20% tip. I was alone at the bar and they also automatically added 20%. It does suck that I live in such a high cost area.

@Flash Yes, the guidelines did say no coupons but Gift Cards are ok. I will have to look for discount gift cards next time if I take this shop.

Those are good questions to ask and maybe the other receipts will help. I would still ask about the reimbursement portion. That's not the same as a bonus or fee. The answer may be the same, but if you can show them the issue, they might assist. You just never know. :}

@Flash wrote:

ACL can do nothing about the reimbursement amount--that is contracted for, as is the amount of tip.

I would counter that ACL certainly can do something about it's contracted reimbursement limits. Don't we always advise shoppers to renegotiate if they don't like the terms of an assignment? Why can't that hold true for MSC's?

Yes, it would involve standing up to their client of behalf of their shoppers and insisting that a bigger reimbursement be offered, which is why I have come to the conclusion that they care more about attracting clients than making reimbursement limits reasonable for shoppers. The fact that shoppers are probably out $$ to perform the shop is a benefit that they SELL to the clients!

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Flash wrote:

ACL can do nothing about the reimbursement amount--that is contracted for, as is the amount of tip.

I would counter that ACL certainly can do something about it's contracted reimbursement limits. Don't we always advise shoppers to renegotiate if they don't like the terms of an assignment? Why can't that hold true for MSC's?

Yes, it would involve standing up to their client of behalf of their shoppers and insisting that a bigger reimbursement be offered, which is why I have come to the conclusion that they care more about attracting clients than making reimbursement limits reasonable for shoppers. The fact that shoppers are probably out $$ to perform the shop is a benefit that they SELL to the clients!

I agee. In my location, ACL has a chain of TexMex restaurant/bars. They have had the client since at least 2008 (maybe longer, since I don't know how long they had the client before I started shopping). The reimbursement is the same today as 9 years ago, although the location's menu prices have increased more than 20%.

I'm assuming these contracts are renewed yearly? Every three years? At what point does an MSC consider price increases? Offer to make changes in the reporting format? It makes no sense at all to me that contracts are renewed year after year with exactly the same prices and exactly the same reporting requirements.

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