How long do the Intellishop tool audits really take?

I am not finding any other shopper info on these audits at car dealerships. I have some tool knowledge as there's a mechanic in my house, but Intellishop offers $75 for a 5 hour audit?

Onsite, and then reporting time?

Does anyone have foreknowledge?

Thanks...

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I have received these shops and deleted them because when you calculate the payment it comes out to $15.00 per hour. If you are satisfied with that amount, then go ahead and do them. This is not really for me. Mystery shopping is a side business for me. I will not have companies sending me shops for $75.00 to end up getting $15.00 per hour shops.
@gbarnes wrote:

I have received these shops and deleted them because when you calculate the payment it comes out to $15.00 per hour. If you are satisfied with that amount, then go ahead and do them. This is not really for me. Mystery shopping is a side business for me. I will not have companies sending me shops for $75.00 to end up getting $15.00 per hour shops.

I have done 5 hour audits that can get done in way less. I see these and ask the same question about the "actual" length. Especially if they are recurring. I have a recurring grocery audit I do quarterly that I have down to just under a half hour.
What's wrong with one shop at $75 and maximum 5 hours vs. 5 $15 shops with different commutes and reports?

I signed up for it. I took the training today.

@gbarnes wrote:

I have received these shops and deleted them because when you calculate the payment it comes out to $15.00 per hour. If you are satisfied with that amount, then go ahead and do them. This is not really for me. Mystery shopping is a side business for me. I will not have companies sending me shops for $75.00 to end up getting $15.00 per hour shops.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
Intellishop baffles me! This job was just posted on JobSlinger in my area this morning.....the fee is indeed listed at $75.00. There is a reimbursement listed as $35.00. When you read the note from Intellishop, it states the shopper will be reimbursed TEN DOLLARS (Not $35 as listed) for printing out color packs of sheets to use when doing the audit. ALSO.....the DUE DATE is listed as 1/1/2017 (as in, NEW YEAR'S DAY). The "DO NOT SHOP BEFORE DATE" is listed as.........you guessed it..........1/1/2017....NEW YEAR'S DAY! Even if I were interested in this shop, I would NEVER sign up for it with the dates/reimbursements listed as is. This Company seems to have a DIFFICULT time getting info straight (as in their paint shops, when they list OUTDATED sticky notes for dates due that have ALREADY past! Oh well.....that's why I rarely shop for them....only once so far this entire year.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2016 12:16AM by guysmom.
I like to keep my on-site rate at $1/min.
Post Office shops fit this rate. <5 minutes and $12 or more.
So do most retail shops. 20 minutes on site for $20. Fair for me.
So, if I have to be anywhere for 5 hours, I am not doing it for $15 an hour. No way. That's like a job with no benefits.
The date and reimbursement for the printouts are addressed in the training. Hannah explained everything to my satisfaction.

@guysmom wrote:

Intellishop baffles me! This job was just posted on JobSlinger in my area this morning.....the fee is indeed listed at $75.00. There is a reimbursement listed as $35.00. When you read the note from Intellishop, it states the shopper will be reimbursed TEN DOLLARS (Not $35 as listed) for printing out color packs of sheets to use when doing the audit. ALSO.....the DUE DATE is listed as 1/1/2017 (as in, NEW YEAR'S DAY). The "DO NOT SHOP BEFORE DATE" is listed as.........you guessed it..........1/1/2017....NEW YEAR'S DAY! Even if I were interested in this shop, I would NEVER sign up for it with the dates/reimbursements listed as it. This Company seems to have a DIFFICULT time getting info straight (as in their paint shops, when they list OUTDATED sticky notes for dates due that have ALREADY past! Oh well.....that's why I rarely shop for them....only once so far this entire year.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
The actual shop date on many of these has not yet been finalized. I was awarded one well over a week ago, and have done training, but still don't have a shop date.

You may get more responses once the shops actually start.
@stormraven73 wrote:

The actual shop date on many of these has not yet been finalized. I was awarded one well over a week ago, and have done training, but still don't have a shop date.

You may get more responses once the shops actually start.
I have one scheduled for Thursday. The other one I signed up for still has a date for 1/1/17.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
It took me 7 hours the day of the audit, and I did not get all of the pictures I needed the first day and had to go back the second day. That one took about 40 minutes, because it was just picture taking. Input time went pretty quickly once I had all of the pictures, I think less than 2 hours.

All in all, including driving into town twice, I think the audit should probably pay a little more. But it's not a bad paycheck if you can get everything you need in one day and get the input done the same night.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2016 09:43PM by Morledzep.
@Morledzep wrote:

It took me 7 hours the day of the audit, and I did not get all of the pictures I needed the first day and had to go back the second day. That one took about 40 minutes, because it was just picture taking. Input time went pretty quickly once I had all of the pictures, I think less than 2 hours.

All in all, including driving into town twice, I think the audit should probably pay a little more. But it's not a bad paycheck if you can get everything you need in one day and get the input done the same night.
Thank you for sharing! Did you have previous auto/tool experience? And if you did, that help any?
Personally, 9 hours is too long a day.
Yep Mom, I am a mechanic, I got injured on the job in 2011 after nearly 30 years and was forced to retire. I thought this would go quickly for me because of my experience, but that wasn't the case.
I finally had to cancel the shop after waiting since 11/03 for a shop date. I am headed out of town, and will be on the road the rest of the year, so no tool audit for me. Sorry I couldn't answer your question.
This question is to get a general idea of the scope of the automotive audit, and the answers are not binding!!!!! grinning smiley

Can you compare the Int. automotive audit of this thread with other audits, such as department store audits, the veeeeeerrrrrrry brief auto store audit with another MSC, electronics store audits, and gas station audits? Are there other audits that could be used in comparison here? (Maybe if we can pinpoint features of the various audits, we can get a better idea of how much time we each might need for the automotive audit, based upon how much time we need for other audits when those go quickly or slowly.)

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
I did one on Monday. It took 4 hours and 45 minutes. The dealership had been preparing for two weeks rounding up tools and putting them where they belonged. They were very organized. I spent a few minutes from time to time waiting on the Service Manager to deal with a customer, but I honestly don't know how it could have been done any faster.

Interestingly, the online report asks much how time I spent in preparing and inputting for the audit. I reported three hours. That was about two spent attending the conference call training, reading and getting the drawer sheets printed and one hour inputting the results.

I could have done multiple and much faster audits and earned more money in exchange for less time, but at the time when I scheduled it there was nothing else happening. I had fun, it kept me out of trouble, it was only a few miles from my house. Would I do one again? I guess it depends on the timing and the circumstances.

I just went and looked at the the status of the report and I got 10/10 and a nice note from the editor.

In the end ... no regrets.

Mystery Shopping | Auditing | Site and Auto Inspections Central and Southern Indiana
@bjmartin wrote:

I did one on Monday. It took 4 hours and 45 minutes. The dealership had been preparing for two weeks rounding up tools and putting them where they belonged. They were very organized. I spent a few minutes from time to time waiting on the Service Manager to deal with a customer, but I honestly don't know how it could have been done any faster.

Interestingly, the online report asks much how time I spent in preparing and inputting for the audit. I reported three hours. That was about two spent attending the conference call training, reading and getting the drawer sheets printed and one hour inputting the results.

I could have done multiple and much faster audits and earned more money in exchange for less time, but at the time when I scheduled it there was nothing else happening. I had fun, it kept me out of trouble, it was only a few miles from my house. Would I do one again? I guess it depends on the timing and the circumstances.

I just went and looked at the the status of the report and I got 10/10 and a nice note from the editor.

In the end ... no regrets.


Glad you had a fun and scored high!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2016 07:19PM by Mom knows.
8 hours is $9.38 / hour.
Congrats. You've just worked for minimum wage (or under) with no benefits.

For the person who did it in 10 hours with two trips, that's $7.50 / hour.
Thank you for your input Mama. I used to own my own corporation and netted myself a low six figure salary for thirteen years. I am doing what I enjoy and aim for some kind of fulfillment every day in my un-retirement. I took absolutely no math in college because I tested out for it in high school. I don't need to be schooled in the arithmetic of what I now do. $75/day is not my best day financially by any means even these days, but I got to hang out with some really nice guys back in the service department for a day and got paid for it. I derive enjoyment and stay alive learning new things and staying outside my comfort zone.

I had to turn down a MF scheduler for a better paying travel gig for that same day later but I keep my commitments.

Again, no regrets and thanks for your contribution to the forum.

Mystery Shopping | Auditing | Site and Auto Inspections Central and Southern Indiana
@bjmartin wrote:

Thank you for your input Mama. I used to own my own corporation and netted myself a low six figure salary for thirteen years. I am doing what I enjoy and aim for some kind of fulfillment every day in my un-retirement. I took absolutely no math in college because I tested out for it in high school. I don't need to be schooled in the arithmetic of what I now do. $75/day is not my best day financially by any means even these days, but I got to hang out with some really nice guys back in the service department for a day and got paid for it. I derive enjoyment and stay alive learning new things and staying outside my comfort zone.

I had to turn down a MF scheduler for a better paying travel gig for that same day later but I keep my commitments.

Again, no regrets and thanks for your contribution to the forum.

No problem. You are doing what the IRS would consider a hobby, not an income at that rate. Glad you had a good time.
Just pointing it out for others who might think that it is a good rate ($75) when in fact is is less than minimum wage. I'm sure that Intelli-shop made a good chunk of change on every audit that was performed.
I'll bet you're right.

Mystery Shopping | Auditing | Site and Auto Inspections Central and Southern Indiana
There's is a rural dealership in my area and the fee has gone up to $85/$35 but still says the same about reimbursement on color prints. I have a place I can print X pages per day in color so I suppose I could hit them up for a week or two straight (it's 0.1mi from home!) and print a few pages at a time for free. I dunno about this $85 business... I can do two different car service shops and equal the same so I'm iffy. Perhaps if I start seeing gaps in my schedule or the power bill increases drastically.

MegglesKat
@bjmartin: Good for you! It sounds like your hobby enriches your life in non-monetary ways even as it provides some money. The non-monetary aspects are incalculable, yes?

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
I did this audit this morning. It took about 3 hours. I had the lead mechanic at my disposal, and he showed me where the special tools and equipment were located. That saved a lot of time.

They had a copy of the audit report, so everything was in its place.

Printing the pages 8.5x11 cost less than $20. The place where I did the printing did not have the larger sheets. I emailed Hannah for guidance, and never heard back from her.

I'm about to do the report now.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
Shop-et-al said: Good for you! It sounds like your hobby enriches your life in non-monetary ways even as it provides some money. The non-monetary aspects are incalculable, yes?

Correct, but I still do it for the money too. If the money wasn't there I would find something else I enjoy that also pays. Hobby ... yeah, right. I pretty sure the IRS won't look at the sum total of all the assignments and all that I have netted this year and consider it my hobby based this one tool audit.

Mystery Shopping | Auditing | Site and Auto Inspections Central and Southern Indiana


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2016 09:56PM by bjmartin.
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