So i know it is the second to last week of the month. And I know you have dozens of shops in my area left for this month you want shopped. So I thought I would post a little memo for A closer look management to let you know the consequences of your new scheduling process. You know the one where I can no longer self assign most of them. And schedulers cherry pick not the best shoppers- or even the middle ... but assign to the person who is willing to take a lesser shop to get that premium shop.
So historically you dump the next months shops around the 20th of the month. You allow a maximum of 5 shops per shopper at any one time. So if I pick up one or two at the end of the month- and the new shops come out for the next month. Now I am only able to get maybe 3. So under the buy a good one be forced in to a crap shop program- why would I at the later end of the month ever take a shop to help you out - for that month. I am screwing myself for the next months good shops.
I used to do it because I did not usually have 5 shops I wanted the next month. But, now - with the forced assigning process- I have to leave all 5 open because I never know what the scheduler is going to ask of me to be able to get that luxury that I was once afforded merely because I was an reliable shopper who was consistent. timely and wrote good reports. Now my status means nothing. Now it is all about whether I am willing to do a shop that I have zero interest in. I wonder if that client knows their shops are being used as a reward for a punishment of a completely unrelated different client worse shop?
So here is where you policy falters and no longer looks good on paper.
So each month you are finding that you are left with lots of shops at the end of the month. You are begging. bonusing and yet they go unfilled. Why? Because no seasoned shopper is going to miss out on a good shop for the next month and reduce the 5 they can pick up - really at best only 3 good ones with the 2 crap ones .. to help you out at the end of the current month.
So while you may think your new forced policy is working- here is an example of why it really is not. There is no scratch my back - I scratch yours agenda anymore like there was in the past. Building relationships with schedulers. When I take a last minute - please help me out for a scheduler. The next month I am still being forced to pick up another crap shop. The scheduler does not remember that I just helped them out. Why? Because it is not about the client. The scheduler gets paid per shop. So they want to book buy one get one. Regardless of your commitment to the process. IDK is it really worth it?

You're really kind of bitter about this, huh? All 7 of your posts have been about this issue with ACL that makes you unhappy. Do you work with any other companies?

I haven't really seen much difference in my area and I'm still performing all the same shops I have performed for ACL since 2010. Your area may have less competition and more shops remaining on their job board, but in my area, whatever scheduling process they are using seems to be working for them. As of this morning, there is only one July shop still on the board in my area, the same wet t-shirt place that lingers on the board every month.

If the policy isn't working for you, stop scratching their back. If you don't like the the way your customer works, stop providing services to them. Find other customers.

I don't know if they read this forum. Many MSC schedulers and account managers don't, and I only know of a few who do. I can't recall ever seeing ACL in here. Your best bet would be to send them an email.

I think the OP makes a very valid point. I too have been affected in some way by ACL's new policy. Is it really fair to the client who has the 'good shop' that it can't be scheduled right away ? Instead it'll need to be coupled with a 'undesirable' shop. I think it's fair for people on this forum to made aware of what ACL is doing. I personally refuse to play their game.

And 7star has picked the right way to handle it. If you don't want to provide the services a customer wants in the way the customer wants the services, then don't work with the customer. I don't like how WalMart does things sometimes. So I choose to shop other places, although I could stand outside WalMart with a sign and make people aware of my perceptions, or I could post my grievances online, couldn't I? But why?

My point is that folks on the forum have already been made aware of the new scheduling process ACL is using, which is similar to a scheduling process used by Bestmark and several other mystery shopping companies. Some shoppers may not like it, but it is the company's right to schedule however they wish. The OP seems bitter because she's told us repeatedly on multiple threads and has now started another thread to tell us again and to address the company. I agree with JASFLALMT. An email sent directly to ACL is the way to go. Of course, the OP could not be anonymous if she sent an email directly to the company.

In almost 20 years of shopping, I've never had 5 open shops for them. Do they have a worthwhile client that I am unfamiliar with?

ACL upper management may be the ones who influenced the schedulers to do things this way in order to get shops scheduled because schedulers were not meeting their quotas. I seriously doubt any ACL reps are going to read this thread, and if the OP had intended the post as informational to forum members, it should have addressed us and not ACL. At any rate, I don't think they are going to deactivate the shopper for sending them a polite email that makes it clear this is an unfavorable way of doing things (unlike an overbearing MSC owner who posts in the forum from time-to-time). I haven't done anything for ACL in a long time, but when I do, I never let anyone "muscle" me into doing something I don't want to do. If enough shoppers who have a strong opinion about this wrote the MSC, perhaps they would change their ways. Or not. Additionally, if enough shoppers refuse to take the unwanted shops, ACL would be forced to change this policy since they would have more unscheduled shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2017 04:31PM by JASFLALMT.

@bobbedit222 wrote:

So I thought I would post a little memo for A closer look management to let you know the consequences of your new scheduling process.

Whoa, passive-aggressive much? Anonymously posting "a little memo" is pretty cowardly. If you feel so strongly about this, follow JAS's advice. Put your money where your mouth is. Send an email to the company and tell them what you think.

This is a first for me, a shopper complaining the end of the month shops with bonuses are impacting their ability to take the next month's shops at the base rate.

Lisa,
I think he may be talking about something that i have run into. I have 4 July shops scheduled and just snagged one for early August. Because it shows up as assigned in July, pending August due date, I cannot grab three other August shops until we actually enter August, I think. And I really want those other 3 hotel shops!!! I need rewards points for that hotel group.

Can't the schedulers waive requirements and get them assigned to you?

They scheduler who had that area in July no longer has it and I cannot find out who does. But, yes, they can waive it.

I have had 5 hotel shops scheduled at one time before and 2 more on hold by the scheduler until 2 of them got reported.

OP, have tou tried asking them to hold shops for you? Honestly I did not read the whole post so it's possible this has been addressed.

please delete....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2017 10:42PM by lucky7s.

I am a scheduler for ACL and we do hold shops for shoppers. It is not unheard of to say, hey, do this for me this month and I'll hide and hold this shop for you next month. As soon as you turn in the report on A, I will get B assigned. Ask and 9 times out of 10, you will receive. Trust me, we want our shops scheduled quickly!

Not usually, but we can hide and hold them.

Well low and behold. I was dead wrong about no one from the MSC reading this forum.

They do indeed, and have for a long time.

I stepped down from their phone call team due to this. I was underwhelmed with $10 phone calls because I would miss out on the $150+ meals. I appreciate making money like the next person but to miss out on a meal that could take the place of a celebratory meal that I'd need to make many, many calls in order to make enough money to pay for on my own, it was no longer worth it to me. Plus, I don't enjoy phone shops as it is. I do them, but would rather eat yummy food and write about that!

Phone call shops do not count toward your shop count.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read the comments first and see a scheduler had already responded

Hi guys! My name is Tristan and i'm a scheduler for ACL. If you send the scheduler an email and say it's the end of the month, I have 3 shops scheduled but see 5 for next month I would like and my max shop allowance is 5, that scheduler can schedule you 2 shops and hold 3 shops for you and schedule you for next month shops as you complete this months shops. We will work with you, you just have to let us know the deal.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2017 01:34AM by Tbinns.

Is the limit 5 shops assigned at a time or 5 total for a month? I was not aware of any limitation until just recently as a number of new shops appear that I am wanting to do. I have never had more than 1 to 2 ACL shops a month anyway. Thanks for any clarification.

Liz

I am not sure if there is any connection here but it seems like I see a lot less posts on the forum too. So perhaps it is summer time and people are on vacation, not taking as many jobs and not posting as much either. It is now 8 PM on the west coast and there are only 2 new posts so far today...on the company part of the forum there are only 5 or so new posts with today;s date on it. In the past by the time it is evening there are at least a whole page and more of posts on the forum from you east coasters/mid country shoppers who are home and done with your reports already. The true test of whether acl is losing shoppers through their new procedure might have to wait til fall.

Different shoppers have different max shops. These are open shops at a time. The most any shopper can have is 5. After you submit the report for a shop, that shop is taken off your open shop count.

So if you schedule 5 shops and on Monday you do 2 and submit the reports, you can then schedule two more shops.

First, not everyone has the samd rosy experience with all msp's so i dont get why people get twisted in a bunch when they hear someone say something about a bad experience they have had.
That being said ACL does in my opinion need to make some changes to how they deal with shoppers. Ive done several shops for them with no issues AND i have done several shops that were nothing but headaches. My most recent was one where i was approached by a scheduler to pick up a shop on short notice. Which i did. Shop was completed and i was in touch with the original scheduler about a date extension and another scheduler cancelled the assignment and it had to be reassigned and in that time frame the informTion was deleted and some parts had to be reahopped. Then came the request for clarifications...holy $#!&!!!
Top it off it was a reimbursement shop.
Im not saying ACL is bad or good. Just beware of what you are getting into. If they have a shop that interests me i will take it, but they are definitely on the list of shops i can take or leave.

I totally agree we all have different experiences although not so much with the idea everyone disagreeing gets twisted in a bunch. A lot of shoppers use threads about MSCs to help determine if they want to give the MSC a shot and find out what to expect. We get a lot of one hit wonders who complain, offer no insight to what went wrong, then leave without another peep. We also get some who stick around and we eventually find out they made a critical error. For either of those, if veteran shoppers didn't offer some other feedback it would be a disservice to shoppers considering a company. Even complaints are valuable to our research on companies as long as they provide some details. One shopper's gripe may be having to submit an invoice and wait 90 days, another shopper might not consider either to be a deal breaker. A lot of shoppers enjoy reimbursement only dinners. If I read those are mostly what a MSC offers, I don't bother registering.

I have had ACL text me and ask if I could do a shop for them. They have even changed the dates for me and told me that they would hold a shop/hotel for me--take it off the site and then assign it to me in a week or two when I was able to do it. If you have an assigner you have worked with then email them and see what they say. They want the shops assigned or otherwise their customers are going to go to other mystery shop comapnies to get their work done for them. Don't give up--just email the assigner and see if they will work with you.

I did my first shop for them a few weeks ago. Does anyone know how long they limit shoppers to only be allowed to have two being scheduled at a time?

It varies from shopper to shopper and schedulers have no control over long it takes for you to be able to do more than two at a time.

I remember years ago when I had been working for A-C-L for a year or so I got an email from a scheduler telling me she had noticed that I had really good scores and had been working for them for quite a bit of time so she was moving me up to a higher level to get better/more shops. At the time I felt like this move had been overdue in her mind based on how she worded the email. I would suggest being proactive if you have done a number of shops and gotten great feedback on them. If I had known to do that I think I would have seen the better shops much sooner. This was before I knew about this forum with all the great advice in it.