What's with Ipsos?

What's with Ipsos?

I frequently request multiple shops from Ipsos and I rarely get a response. I never get this problem with any other company. I really don't visit less than three or four locations for shops that pay less than $20 each, so I really don't work for less than $60 a day. Every other company instantly assigns multiple shops when requested.

If I'm lucky, I might get assigned one shop every other month after requesting a route of 4-8 locations with Ipsos. Then I typically have to wait until just a day beforehand to find out if the shops are assigned to me (which usually they aren't), while turning down work with triple to quadruple the pay with other companies.

If I actually get assigned a shop from Ipsos, it will be only one location, not a route as requested. Afterward, I get multiple emails advertising the same shops that I had previously requested but was never selected for, because they are still available.

Has anyone else encountered this? I once assumed that they were a great company with a high volume of work. But they don't actually assign more than one shop every other month, despite having hundreds of shops in my immediate area each month.

What's with Ipsos?

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Yeah I am done wasting time on IPSOS. I used to get accepted to a few but the past few rounds I have applied to every location in my area but nothing was accepted. They even reposted all of the locations in my area with a $25 fee and I still got nothing. Now with the picture and size limit for reg box shops, there is no value to me since I can't ship out the boxes I want to.

@canadianghetto wrote:

Yeah I am done wasting time on IPSOS. I used to get accepted to a few but the past few rounds I have applied to every location in my area but nothing was accepted. They even reposted all of the locations in my area with a $25 fee and I still got nothing.

this is exactly what I experienced. i even passed at least four certifications per month, and i still don't get selected. again, just one shop every other month maybe.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2016 03:39PM by bank shopper.

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." If you have a better opportunity come along, grab it and cancel your IPSOS request. When you are tired of waiting, cancel your IPSOS request. Just put it on your spreadsheet as a request when you ask for it and cancel the request so that you don't inadvertently get it stacked up on you at the last minute because you forgot you had asked for the shop.

@Flash wrote:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." If you have a better opportunity come along, grab it and cancel your IPSOS request. When you are tired of waiting, cancel your IPSOS request.

thanks. this is exactly what i had been doing. except i was mostly cancelling.

@ wrote:

Just put it on your spreadsheet as a request when you ask for it and cancel the request so that you don't inadvertently get it stacked up on you at the last minute because you forgot you had asked for the shop.

this led to more watching than working. i decided that it was more productive to look for new jobs with other companies than to watch if ipsos was scheduling. and the watching was causing anxiety too. did i get the job(s) or didn't i?

i'm fine if i get turned down for an assignment. but don't make me wait and stress for a week, while sending me multiple emails offering me the exact same assignment that i had already requested. and then turn me down a week later. don't keep me in limbo while taunting me for the duration. most companies say yes or no within 24 hours.

Ok. I am almost at the point where a lot of the shops I request I really care less whether I am assigned them or not. If I see something I want and it only fits in a time slot where I have requests, the requests just get cancelled. Otherwise when I close out tonight I will go in and cancel any requests that are still pending for tomorrow. It frankly doesn't matter if the 'care' package for my son gets sent next month or this month or two months from now, so there is little reason for me to rush around tomorrow to get it packaged, ready and out the door because somebody else flaked and now the job is mine.

I don't work for IPSOS (not for any particular reason... just that I haven't been tempted by their jobs yet), but I understand from this forum that they post shops for lots of locations when they really only need a certain percentage filled. So, for example, they will post 100 shops but they only want 33 filled this week. Then they'll repost the remaining 67 shops but only need 33 filled the next week, etc. They just delete the pending applications after they get the first 33 filled and then repost the remaining locations and consider a new batch of applications. It seems a weird way to do it, but I guess they have so many locations to fill that it works for them.

Shopper in California's Bay Area

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

So, for example, they will post 100 shops but they only want 33 filled this week. Then they'll repost the remaining 67 shops but only need 33 filled the next week, etc. They just delete the pending applications after they get the first 33 filled and then repost the remaining locations and consider a new batch of applications. .

that's probably why they send me emails asking me to do jobs that i've already applied for but never get assigned anyway.

@Flash wrote:

Ok. I am almost at the point where a lot of the shops I request I really care less whether I am assigned them or not. If I see something I want and it only fits in a time slot where I have requests, the requests just get cancelled. Otherwise when I close out tonight I will go in and cancel any requests that are still pending for tomorrow.

it seems that you have less anxiety than i do. i'm just trying to pay the bills.

I've also had issues with the IPSOS assigns shops. I have had applications in with no response, and after I emailed the scheduler about them, they can't see them on their side, even though I can still see the application on my side. Then, when I cancel the application, I get another email with the shop available...I've decided something is wonky with their software. I now apply, and if I don't get the assignments assigned the next day, I go back and cancel the application. I don't have time for back and forth emailing with the scheduler to track down the job in shopmetrics...

I think that they are still working out the kinks a little bit.

I usually get 100% of what I request, but I just got one job for which I applied as a route in the notes. The rest of the jobs in that city just disappeared. It's not for another two weeks so I'll see if I can piggyback some other shops in the area otherwise I'm going to need to cancel.

@bank shopper wrote:

@Flash wrote:

Ok. I am almost at the point where a lot of the shops I request I really care less whether I am assigned them or not. If I see something I want and it only fits in a time slot where I have requests, the requests just get cancelled. Otherwise when I close out tonight I will go in and cancel any requests that are still pending for tomorrow.
it seems that you have less anxiety than i do. i'm just trying to pay the bills.

That is very likely the case. I'm registered with enough companies and with enough opportunities that whether I get the routine IPSOS shop or not becomes almost irrelevant. When they screw up badly enough and the shops go into bonus pay the schedulers do become more responsive to getting the shops awarded and they can become quite worthwhile.

Have not worked for them since they got the big client. Still waiting patiently for the big client to change to a different MSC.

I was having a lot of the shipping shops assigned, but I've been waiting now for two days on two nice-paying appliance shops. I just went in to delete them since I hadn't heard anything, and they're gone. Not pending in my applications and not assigned. And I also don't see them as assigned and available to apply for as a back-up. There is one shop left in my general area, but it's 30 miles away, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be in that area on other business by deadline. And I'm not driving that far to do one shop--LOL. So, I'm not applying for it.

I guess this must be one of those shops where they really only "need" a certain percentage done. I think I may be done with them, since even the shipping shops are getting to be a pain in the neck with the new requirements. I only really need to do them when I actually have something to ship out for my other business. But since they're not self assign, the logistics don't always work. I don't want to spend time looking for a box, looking for something to ship that I really don't need to ship, packing it, etc. It just doesn't seem time effective any more.

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 07/06/2016 11:11PM by BirdyC.

I've liked doing their big client jobs but at the start of the quarter I struggle to figure out what time frame they really want for the jobs. One quarter they listed staggered sets of job dates and I applied as normal - all was good. Another quarter they listed all the jobs for the quarter as due the first week or two. I only applied for what I could handle completing in that timeframe. Then they changed the dates and scheduled everything out throughout two months and I didn't have half the jobs I could have. This quarter it looked like they again listed all the first round jobs for the first 10 days of the quarter so I signed up for a large group thinking they would be spread out later ... No, this time, the shop dates listed are actually the real dates and I'm completely booked. If they would just keep with one strategy I can adjust but I feel like I'm trying to read their minds and failing at it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2016 04:04AM by wwin.

i had my account deactivated. i never got more than 2 assignments from them in six months.

I keep a log of the shop dates, cities and MSC when I apply for shops. When I get a response, then I add that shop to my specific city for that date. I don't wait on pins and needles for shops. If it comes along, great, If not, okay no biggie. Yeah, sometimes the MSC will move the dates of the shops but usually it works out.

I've had a positive relationship with them so far... I do find that my applications don't always get answered and the jobs remain unfilled. However, the scheduler for my area is very responsive to email. When I see a job that I really do want, I find that following up my application with a nice email works quite well. I've even gotten very courteous responses from the scheduler when I don't get awarded the shop. The company also tends to put up some very nice bonuses when shops don't get filled.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

I see I am not the only one frustrated by them. We have a remote location here that they have not been able to get anyone to do the shipping shop, so the pay has steadily increased. I cleared a day and applied, but never heard a thing back (also added some other shops in this remote area from other companies). When I email to ask about it sitting in my applications, I hear nothing back. Today (the day I asked for), I checked their website again and now it's not even in my applications....but reposted as a new shop for only $12 (same dates, same scenario). Honestly, IPSOS, it borders fraud when you change from $100 to $12 for the exact same thing. So now it will sit for another month and not get done.

Oh, wow. I e-mail my scheduler and she assigns the shops. Truly, I gave up on applying. I have to know about a week ahead of time if I'm driving over 300 miles round trip. If I see another IPSOS shop where I'm going, I e-mail the scheduler and ask her if she can pass the word to the OTHER scheduler to get me the shop.

It's not breaking ICA to say my scheduler is Amy S., at Summit, and she's extremely responsive to e-mails. And she always thanks me for picking up those hard-to-fill shops!

I have no problems whatsoever with IPSOS. My scheduler is great, and when I briefly experienced what wwin posted, I just dropped her line that I mentioned on my application that I was going to go on XX day and the date was moved out of the range. She promptly put that shop back in the date range I needed. The picture requirement shouldn't change anything if one was doing the shop correctly all along. I'm more then happy to swallow these shops up.

@teriraia wrote:

Have not worked for them since they got the big client. Still waiting patiently for the big client to change to a different MSC.

I guess that you didn't know that IPSOS has always had this client? They subcontracted the account to other MSC's (very large ones) in the past.

Yes I have been schooled. I was confused and did not know that MSC's subcontracted out their clients. That being said I still liked it when Bare had the client.

Yes, I also work with Amy at Summit, and when I don't hear back on the shipping shops I've applied for and am trying to make a route, I e-mail her. She always e-mails me back, and even if she can't give me the specific requested shops, she'll ask me if she can schedule me for the next part of the period. But for me, these are just getting to be more hassle than they're worth. Or maybe I just need a break from those shops. I was doing an awful lot of them for awhile....

I have no issues doing IPSOS shops or with their schedulers or editors. But I also don't want to have to e-mail somebody every time I see a shop that I'd like to do, because often the other types of shops don't pop up until close to due date, and I don't have the flexibility in my schedule right now that I usually do.

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

one scheduler finally got back to me from ipsos who was mostly nice. she explained to me that i had an average shopper rating identical with most other shoppers with ipsos. i explained to her that i had only been assigned two shops in my six month history with the company, despite requesting many dozens during that time period. i asked her to deactivate my account, since one shop every other month would not be adequate. most msc's assign me shops easily within a day after i request them, if i do not already have self-assign privileges.

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