Holy curd Intelli-shop

So... SERIOUSLY... I completed a shop for them over a week ago and a few days ago they asked me for follow-up information. Now, today is the fourth day in a row they are requesting additional information that they did NOT request any time before today. I submit and then, all of a sudden, there IS MORE! oi;jiafwoih;adrnhujafewjoiafewoij;ew
lol, I think I will just stick with phone shops for now on...

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@MegMeg wrote:

So... SERIOUSLY... I completed a shop for them over a week ago and a few days ago they asked me for follow-up information. Now, today is the fourth day in a row they are requesting additional information that they did NOT request any time before today. I submit and then, all of a sudden, there IS MORE! oi;jiafwoih;adrnhujafewjoiafewoij;ew
lol, I think I will just stick with phone shops for now on...

I feel your pain...we must have had the same Editor...chin up!!!

Live consciously....

I had that experience when nothing I did was enough. I was contacted by more than three people asking for clarification. I had the same explanation which I got from the client in refusing my donation. Too early for the project. And I had to tell them the same thing, again and again.
They wanted me to explain why it was too early. I discovered that the shop was ill designed and prematurely started. And the shopper was expected to straighten it out. When I asked them to remove my name, out of my frustration with the scheduler, she was very upset. I was paid for that shop but I have no regrets. It was not Intellishop.

EDIT

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2016 01:14PM by FlawnMawn.

More and more evidence why I am glad I was rejected by them....

I don't get the assertion they are trying to keep from paying. Out of 70 shops the only time I wasn't paid was when I made a mistake, not when they have asked for more information.

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.

Intellishop is fairly notorious for being unfair.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2016 01:14PM by FlawnMawn.

Again, I don't buy your assertion. I've worked with them for almost nine years now, including three assignments in the last five weeks. While I am more than willing to acknowledge issues such as persnickety editors and occasional communications problems, implying they are underhanded is simply over the top.

I agree with Lisa. I've also worked with them 9 years. I find them to be cheap and I get annoyed with their inexperiened college student editors, but I've never believed they were unfair or insincere. I've never failed to get paid for a shop.

Just my opinion. I don't know of a worse MSC.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2016 01:14PM by FlawnMawn.

just out of curiosity - how are their shops anyways? Anything worth worthwhile?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2016 01:10AM by MysteriousLurker.

"so instead disqualify a shop for a ridiculous reason"

Do you have examples of what you consider a ridiculous reason? Or how about why they disqualified your shops? When an opinion crosses the line into accusations of fraud it is no longer just an opinion.

@FlawnMawn:

I've been with Intellishop since 2003 and have done about 200 shops (mostly prior to 2012). I'm with Lisa and AM in saying that they aren't underhanded or insincere. They generally don't pay well for the amount of work that they expect most of the time (except for bonused shops), some of their editors are difficult and picky (and sometimes wrong), there are some communication problems with some of their staff, and sometimes their guidelines can be contradictory. For these reasons I don't shop for them often. However, I have never been denied payment in 13 years of shopping with them, and the idea that they would deliberately not pay a shopper for no good reason is not credible.

I've had success with them, other than one editor. It was for a "bank" shop, and he didn't open my pictures to look at them. When I insisted that he open them, he gave me a lower rating because he had to contact more than once.

Needless to say, his emails go to TRASH.

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

@FlawnMawn wrote:

Just my opinion. I don't know of a worse MSC.
They're horrible. Stay away from them.

I know of several MSCs much worse, so bad I don't work for them. I will work for Intellishop, but only rarely because most of their shops don;'t pay well enough to be worth it.

@MysteriousLurker wrote:

just out of curiosity - how are their shops anything? Anything worth worthwhile?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Most of their shops do not pay enough and I find the shops not worth it, although I am told they bonus shops very well in some areas. Not in my area. It is worth registering with them, so it is too bad you were rejected. But I find few shops that pay enough, so, given that you were rejected up front, your time is better spent elsewhere.

You are right shops do bonus in some areas. For me the key to working with them is knowing how long a shop will take, report included, then determining what I feel is reasonable for the time which would include potential follow up. If I know a car shop will take an hour on site and an hour for the report I am not going to take it at $17 or even $27. Last week I picked up a shop normally paying $8 or so for $20. Total time was 40 minutes, score was 10.

An important thing to keep in mind when reporting is to be sure to spit back every question asked. As long as they don't come back with something not originally part of the guidelines, I don't care if the score is 8 instead of 10. If the request from the editor is out of line or flat out wrong I will let them know. Once it resulted in my score being adjusted to 10, another time a rejection was reversed. As to them being insincere, each time I received an apology and a thank you for pointing out the problem. Does that really sound like an unethical company?

I only do bonused shops for them; I do them as part of a route. They are pretty fair filler, and the reports tend to be easy and fast. I haven't had any complaints about Intelli-shop in years and years. I had one long ago, where I received a totally blank e-mail from an editor. When I wrote back and asked why I got a blank e-mail, I received the only "8" I've ever gotten from them -- because they had to contact me TWICE. They counted the blank e-mail!

I did one last week where I was sweating bullets. Guidelines stated "you must get a business card. If you are not offered one, ask. If you don't get a business card, your shop will be invalidated and you won't be paid". So
at the end, I asked her for her business card, and she said, sorry, I don't have any. Well, you can't get
something that isn't there. I explained what happened, got a 10 on the report -- and I'll be hoping it's not
rejected later because of no business card.

Underhanded? Nope. Cheap? Yes. But then, we don't have to accept those shops, do we?

So- for the record, I have had nothing but great experiences with intellishop. This shop has just been a doozy and puts EPMS and the Coyle (it's a housing type shop) reports to shame in terms of details. All in all- they have been a great company to work for but this shop is just a giant handful. The pay isn't bad though and I love doing their phone shops. I will suck it up. Lol- I just wish they would proof the whole thing before asking for more info. So irritating to open my email and find another question every day!

Other than one editor or two because of ratings in prior shops, I have had no problem with them. Not at all about payment. As a matter of fact, knock on wood, they have not contacted me about my report so '10' has been coming.

And I have not been doing many shops for them.

Soooo, I got another email this morning and I was so scared to open it.

But alas, it was to tell me my shop was complete and accepted. They gave me an 8, because they had to contact me. I feel so relieved. Everything else is a 10 for past shops, so I am not too worried about it. Whew.

I wait until their $17 car dealership shops are at $30. I guess I got spoiled by $75 for a 2 part dealership shop from another MSC.

Intellishop routinely finds ways to refrain from paying shoppers reimbursement and fees. that is just the way they do business

Actually they do not and it isn't.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2016 12:04AM by LisaSTL.

In my early days, I shopped for Intellishop quite a bit....these days I rarely shop for them unless it's highly bonused, but I have to say that not one single time ever, did I not get paid.

@FlawnMawn, I guarantee, there are much worse MSPs. If you do mystery shopping for very long, you will run across somebody that either self-destructs or makes doing work for them difficult, shady or impossible. You have to decide what you are willing to do, what you are willing to put up with and your risk level. Not all MSPs or shop types are for everyone. I prefer video. Pays more and I also teach others how to do it properly and the most accepted ways for the majority of MSPs. Intellishop does use some editors that apparently have issues and I have gotten requests for additional information before & AFTER I got paid but I have always gotten paid.

Video Route Shopper - MSPA Gold Certified _ Shopping since 1990s

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2016 11:44AM by kpmccord.

Typical for Intelli, they must have the same editor I had years ago. Rarely would I shop for them.

I got one for $100. That was the only time I saw one that high.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

I wait until their $17 car dealership shops are at $30. I guess I got spoiled by $75 for a 2 part dealership shop from another MSC.

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

I have never done a shop for them due to what I have read on here, so far nothing that interests me. Purchase and return for $14 serioulsy?! Once in awhile, I'm tempted to take my god children to the shop that requires younger children but never that tempted from what I read on here. However, today I saw a $35 reimbursement only shop at a shoe discount store and since I need some shoes, I was tempted to take it. Is it worth it?

@aayaeyHowever, today I saw a $35 reimbursement only shop at a shoe discount store and since I need some shoes, I was tempted to take it. Is it worth it?[/quote wrote:

I took one - the report was pretty short and the prices there were reasonabke enough that I could get a new pair of shoes. To me it was worth the shop.

I did one recently. I went over reimbursement by $30 but that was because that store was low on stocks. The report was easy and I would do another one without hesitation.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

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