What's going on with IPSOS's Appliance Shops?

I'm starting to get really annoyed with these IPSOS postings for appliance shops. Last week shops came up for "a refrigerator shop" for $20. They showed on the job board for several locations, and I applied for two. A day later my applications were gone, and the shops had totally disappeared. Then they reappeared, still at $20, but now for a refrigerator and a washing machine. So they were one appliance for $20, now two for $20. I applied for one close to me, as these still seem easier than when another MSC had them.

So, today I get an e-mail: $20 for a range shop. Sounds good, better than the one I'm scheduled to do. I log in to the portal, and voila! They are now still for a single appliance, but posted at $12 each, not $20.

This is frustrating. Are they sending out e-mails before the shop parameters and pay are finalized? Are they hooking shoppers by misleading them? This feels very much like we are being jerked around, even if not on purpose.

I'm seriously thinking about cancelling the shop I have this week. And not applying for another one until the client or the MSC, or both, get their acts together.

Rant over.

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

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Keep ranting.

I applied for a shop close to work. Gone. Reposted.

I am very frustrated with their bank shops. They were posted three times and disappeared twice.

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

Honny - I don't get it...on another topic re:Ipsos you said you like shopping for them. (????)
What is described above is just insane...well, enough to drive one to have a glass of red wine!

@winemaker wrote:

What is described above is just insane...well, enough to drive one to have a glass of red wine!

I'm out of wine, but I think I'll have another alcoholic libation before bedtime....

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

winemaker, will a full bodied white wine do? That's what is in my glass now!

I do like shopping for IPSOS when I get shops. I now see the frustrations that others feel.

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

I applied for one 12.00 washer one and got it although it included checking off every brand of other appliance that was in the store as well as what sorts of advertising there was, so it was a little more involved than I expected it to be. I also applied the next day then for a $20 shop, it was a different brand but it was still an appliance shop and I did not get that.

Liz

I looked at the Range shop, the other day. You had to shop for a gas and electric range. The fee was $12. While the MSC is trying to double up shops for less amount of money, it seems like they want more from us. I blame it on the MSC and not the Client. Client probably pays up the wazoo and the MSC is just trying to keeps most of it. If I'm not mistaken the side by side refrigerator had to be shop with washer. Go figure. I prefer the other appliance MSC. I would rather be on the mission shop.

@Traveliz wrote:

I applied for one 12.00 washer one and got it although it included checking off every brand of other appliance that was in the store as well as what sorts of advertising there was, so it was a little more involved than I expected it to be. I also applied the next day then for a $20 shop, it was a different brand but it was still an appliance shop and I did not get that.

Liz

I've done these where you have to check which brands they carry. If I have to wait for the sales rep I just wander around and enter the info on Mobi. I had one where I was helped right away and I ended the interaction by saying I'd have to talk with my husband. I thought it would be hard to inconspicuously spend more time in the dept so I checked the stores website. I was able to see exactly which brands they carried and which ones were in stock in the store I was shopping.

@Spanishtulip wrote:

@Traveliz wrote:

I applied for one 12.00 washer one and got it although it included checking off every brand of other appliance that was in the store as well as what sorts of advertising there was, so it was a little more involved than I expected it to be. I also applied the next day then for a $20 shop, it was a different brand but it was still an appliance shop and I did not get that.

Liz

I've done these where you have to check which brands they carry. If I have to wait for the sales rep I just wander around and enter the info on Mobi. I had one where I was helped right away and I ended the interaction by saying I'd have to talk with my husband. I thought it would be hard to inconspicuously spend more time in the dept so I checked the stores website. I was able to see exactly which brands they carried and which ones were in stock in the store I was shopping.

I agree that it was easy to wander around and click them off but it was still just a bit more than I expected for a shop that was called "washer."

Liz

Yeah, they're hardly worth it for $12, especially if you have to wait or get a chatty salesperson. I've only taken them as filler shops if I am right in the area and I always feel like they take longer than I'd like considering the pay.

I got two of them for $20 and they look so easy. I applied for like 8 of the though. IPSOS is so nutty how they assign list remove their shops. I could never plan a route with them because of it but a local shop or two hey okay. I wish they would subcontract the one large shipping shop back to the other msp the $2 less pay was worth it now that we have hindsight.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

@sojo917 wrote:

If I'm not mistaken the side by side refrigerator had to be shop with washer.

Yes, that's the way the refrigerator shop is structured now. But when it was first e-mailed to shoppers and first appeared on the job board, it was $20 for the fridge only. Then those were wiped out and replaced with the $20 fridge and washer shop.

I'm going to ask to cancel mine. The location is kind of far from me, and I'm not inclined at this point to do these shops, either the $12 range shop or the $20 fridge & washer shop. Unless they want to pay $24 for the combo shop. If one appliance is $12, shouldn't two be $24?

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 applied for 5 of the washer and refrigerator shops at $20. I got 1 shop and the other 4 apps were deleted. This is an easy shop. Five pictures, 16 questions, very little narrative, and you don't have to check off the other brands the store carries. Took 13 minutes for the shop and about the same for the report.

So far, the only shops they have of interest to me are shops that seem to require only a quota of them be completed. I've applied for some. And, hear nothing. Another negative is the almost-immediate window of due dates. I don't know if Shopmetrics has the feature that would generate automatic replies when the shop has been assigned to someone else, or when the quota has been met. Sure would be nice. As is, reading their email, and applying on their site has been a waste of my time.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

Took 13 minutes for the shop and about the same for the report.

You must have gotten either a very sharp salesperson who knew exactly what to show you, or a non-talkative one who didn't care what you looked at! I can't imagine having an interaction with a sales associate for two appliances, plus take the photos, in less than half an hour.... One, definitely, but I don't think I could manage two in that amount of time! I have to learn how to speed up.

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

@BirdyC, the salesperson approached me as I was walking through the door, so there wasn't any wait time. He answered every question using 3 or 4 word sentences. Thirteen minutes was as long as I could stretch it out.

Why can't I ever get THAT guy?

@ChrisCooper wrote:

He answered every question using 3 or 4 word sentences.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

@BirdyC, the salesperson approached me as I was walking through the door, so there wasn't any wait time. He answered every question using 3 or 4 word sentences. Thirteen minutes was as long as I could stretch it out.

That's gotta be a record! Lucky you.... Every time I shop a big-box store, whether it's for appliances, a technology product, or hardware, I usually have to walk around, then stand around, then just about get in some salesperson's face to get waited on. Then I have to pull teeth to get information out of them. Maybe I'm just not going at the right time of day.... Sigh.

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

The fact that the salesperson didn't say much meant that I didn't have to write much for the narrative. I lucked out on this shop. As for the recliner shops...it always seems to take 40 minutes in the showroom. Those salesmen like to talk about their recliners. Yakkety yak! The guidelines estimate it should be 15 minutes in the showroom. Hasn't happened once.

Hello Fellow Shoppers, in reference to posting the $12 vs. $20 shops, these are two different shops for different clients. We filled the ones for $20 and then posted the $12 ones. Apologies for any confusion.

@Dhavalhs wrote:

Hello Fellow Shoppers, in reference to posting the $12 vs. $20 shops, these are two different shops for different clients. We filled the ones for $20 and then posted the $12 ones. Apologies for any confusion.

Thanks for posting, but the heart of the issue, in my opinion, has nothing to do with which client these are for. The initial problem I had with these is that, as far as I can tell, the fees were posted incorrectly. The $20 shops were initially posted for shopping one appliance, then when they re-appeared, they were for two. The $12 shops were initially posted as $20 shops, then were changed to $12. When I clicked through to the portal from the e-mail about the "$20 range shops," the only range shops that were on the board were $12. There is or was no range shop for $20. Just the refrigerator and range shops for $20.

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 did a $12 one earlier this week because I was headed to the area for something else and needed to be able to write off my mileage. I got help immediately from a knowledgeable and skilled saleswoman. The whole shop took 30 minutes. It was interesting and the $5000 refrigerator was amazing -- I'd never spend that much and she ended up steering me toward the $3k one. Yes, there was a TON of information you're supposed to remember. There was NO narrative, though, except for short explanations of "other" boxes.

Easy report, but the shop is far too involved for $12. Doubtful I will be doing another.

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

i apllied for 9 & got 7 both $12 & $20. the easier ones were the ones where i didnt get help & got to leave after 15 mins. i used them as fillers during lunch break or at end of day.

I stick with their postage shops and nothing else.

The postage shops don't interest me anymore, and it always seems to be a scramble to get the assignments near me. I did the washer/fridge shop last week, and it went well. Took longer than I expected in-store because the associate was one of those that didn't offer much info. But easy peasy, imho.

I ended up doing mine, because I really didn't want to flake on the MSC. It was easier than I expected, but this was one shop where I felt really awful for the salesperson. She was great, and, being strictly on commission, she was counting on me coming back in.

I'm glad I didn't apply for any of the $12 ones; they sound like they're so NOT worth it.

LGRM, I'm getting sick of the shipping shops, too....

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 07/19/2016 12:22AM by BirdyC.

Sadly I too am getting tired of the post office game. Previously I pretty much new if I applied I would have that shop in the next few days. Now it's so hit and miss. I did a bunch last quarter but this time I have applied and applied and been assigned none. Last quarter the scheduler sent out email updates so I sort of new where she was in the process but this time nothing. I do like them but I think they are going to end up on the back burner. I get some of this is the new time requirements but it's still hard to work around.

Liz

I did a $12 shop for TVs and the salesperson was on commission, so he poured his heart out. He didn't get a sale, but at least he got a great review.

The report for the $20 shop (2 appliances) was much easier than the $12 shops, imo. Not as many observations and the only time needed was your time in--they didn't ask for your time out. I'd do these all day long.

Here we go again. This morning Wednesday 7/20 at 12:18 AM, I received an email from IPSOS with about 35 listing for Refridgerator shops at $15 each. I immediately logged on and looked at the listings. There were around 60 listings in a 30 mile radius. I applied for 4 of these. I was done at at around 12:35 AM. At 7:30 in the morning of 7/20, I logged back on to IPSOS and my applications were gone and all of the $15 Refridgerator listings were gone. This is getting old.

@GJT wrote:

Here we go again. This morning Wednesday 7/20 at 12:18 AM, I received an email from IPSOS with about 35 listing for Refridgerator shops at $15 each. I immediately logged on and looked at the listings. There were around 60 listings in a 30 mile radius. I applied for 4 of these. I was done at at around 12:35 AM. At 7:30 in the morning of 7/20, I logged back on to IPSOS and my applications were gone and all of the $15 Refridgerator listings were gone. This is getting old.

Maybe they need shoppers who know how to spell refrigerator?

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