I like BestMark

Does anyone else? I seem to get the feeling most folks here would give it a thumbs down. What have been your experiences with them?

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Actually - I like them too... I mean long since gone are the days of the "super fun easy shop" that they held out as a carrot to get people to take the "super crappy 2 interaction shop" but I still like them. They do awesome dealer shops for the type of car we have (pays a very nice fee and the heafty cost of an oil change at the dealer - ours is around $110 for an oil change) - totally worth it for me. But that is the only shop I will take for them these days.

My experience was good for a few years, and then came to a crashing halt by me asking to be deactivated. Keep shopping for them, but watch out. You can read other threads here by searching for more details about the two incidents that made me break with them.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

They have yet to post a desirable shop in my area since I started shopping seriously. Their retail shops are grossly underpaid, and I don't care for the one major (generic) restaurant chain they shop.

I like them a lot actually. There are a lot of good shops in my area including high-end dining shops, casino shops, and the great paying auto service shops that MickeyB mentioned (maybe I am in a fortunate location). I like that they are very consistent; I receive a regular check in the mail every two weeks. My scheduler is nice and the reimbursements/cash payments are pretty good. At first I didn't really like the two-department shops because of the survey, but after you do the shop a couple of times it is so easy-- it becomes second nature and I just whiz through the surveys for them now. I make it worth my time by doing 2-3 of those shops in a day to optimize my driving time. It's really not that bad of pay for a shop they have everywhere and a scenario that you can re-use week after week. One gripe though is the automated phone system when you initially call their number. It would be nice to be transferred straight to my scheduler... BUT I guess it's better than not being able to talk to someone at all though!!

Exactly right, they want a whole lot for $2.00.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My experience was good for a few years, and then
> came to a crashing halt by me asking to be
> deactivated. Keep shopping for them, but watch
> out. You can read other threads here by searching
> for more details about the two incidents that made
> me break with them.

I did a dealership shop for them today, for me it was pure fun since I got to drive a couple of my dream vehicles. They added a "bonus" of assigning me 17 phone/internet shops. Not sure yet if I'll like them or not.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Oh the phone shops are great, take about no more than 10 minutes including reporting, and you are paid $4 or $5. That would be about $30 an hour. Nice!

I wish they would give me more of the phone/internet shops. I get one or two but never know when they are going to be there so I can jump on them. 17, WOW!

Cettie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did a dealership shop for them today, for me it
> was pure fun since I got to drive a couple of my
> dream vehicles. They added a "bonus" of assigning
> me 17 phone/internet shops. Not sure yet if I'll
> like them or not.

I haven't done phone shops for them, but I do like the internet shops.

I did phone and internet dealerships, electronic stores and women's clothing stores. I like the reimbursment on these. However I do not like that they don't reimburse on the electronic store and expect you make a purchase. They also deduct for late reporting or receipt uploading, sometimes arbitrarily.

And just like that - I no longer like them...

If you assign a "walk-in" scenario and require that I WALK-IN for a service - and tell me that I cannot make an appointment or call ahead, and I get there and after 20 minutes I am told - sorry, I cannot have the service done, I need to make an appointment - well, I should be paid for my time spent on the stupid shop.

The solution is not to tell me - okay, go ahead and make an appointment for some time later and go back. Hello? That is two visits now - on two seperate days - not what I signed up for and so not worth it. Gah. I now have a wasted hour for which I got nothing - no fee, no service. I cannot afford a wasted hour - not this month. I am done with Bestmark.

Was this for auto? Last year I did an oil change for another company that required I walk in. It paid around $5 with an easy report but covered the oil change. If I was told I had over an hour wait, I was to leave. The job is really about that segment and not the service received with the oil change. So they tell me 2 hours and I have to leave. I do my what is now a $5 job, but I have driven out of my way and wasted time and gas. They pay me no issues, but want me to do it again the next week. In my mind, I am thinking, "Are you NUTS?" :-)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2010 06:37AM by dee shops.

Yes it was auto - but with a much higher fee than $5. If they had been willing to pay me the fee and have me report my non-service, I would have been totally fine with that - but no... they want me to call and make an appointment and then go back. yea, right.

I like them ok but I wish their website gave more information about the location and identity of a shop before you request it. I'm sure I'm missing out on some good shops because I'm not going to self-assign something without knowing who/where it is.

tgb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like them ok but I wish their website gave more
> information about the location and identity of a
> shop before you request it. I'm sure I'm missing
> out on some good shops because I'm not going to
> self-assign something without knowing who/where it
> is.

Why don't you call your state scheduler? It's as easy as that! I asked my state scheduler why they don't provide more info online and she said they cannot put client names / locations online just in case a mystery shopper in their system works at a one of the mystery shopped establishments.

MickeyB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes it was auto - but with a much higher fee than
> $5. If they had been willing to pay me the fee and
> have me report my non-service, I would have been
> totally fine with that - but no... they want me to
> call and make an appointment and then go back.
> yea, right.

I've done several of these shops and when I had a walk-in and the service advisor at the dealership said they couldn't fit me in, BestMark still paid me for the survey because I completed the other components of the shop (got a business card for proof, went to the bathroom and lounge, looked for signage, etc.). Even though I didn't get a service done, they paid for my survey because I had completed everything else.

But was the fee worth it? I did an auto job where my car could not be seen that day for another MSC and regretted it in time and pay.

I also did yet another job for a take away junk dealer that quoted one price on the phone, $50 more for a minimum size than they would pay; got authorization to do it anyway and they would pay, but then when they came they quoted a minimum of $100 over the promised reimbursement. I refused their offer, contacted the company, the scheduler contacted the PM, who said to fill out the report, had it rejected by QA, had to spend more time it accepted, and now find out I won't be paid until 30 days (and counting) after the agreed upon date.

My new motto? If it's a maybe, I'm a no. :-(

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2010 05:48PM by dee shops.

I had a minor problem with them tonight, I'm waiting to see how it gets resolved.

I've done tons of their online auto inquiries, but ran into a problem with the last one. The company site did not show the dealer I was supposed to contact as being a dealer of their cars. When I googled them the addresses did not match so I called Bestmark to see how to proceed.

The rep I talked to said he would contact the client to see what I should do. I asked what I should do with the shop for now because I did not want it to seem like I didn't do an assignment. I was told not to worry about it that he would make sure I was not penalized. That was last week. I've called four times since then just to see if they had any news and each time was told that I would be contacted when they knew something.

Tonight I received the cancellation notice email saying they had removed the shop because I failed to complete it. When I check the page to assign shops, it now shows I have a cancellation rating and that I've cancelled a shop in the last 30 days.

I'm not happy about it because I do A LOT of shops (site, email, and phone) and I work hard to make sure I keep my details organized so it is annoying when an MSP drops the ball. But I am waiting to see how it is handled on Monday.

Lisa, annoying for sure. Sorry that happened to you.

Carol

Grrr. Hopefully, BestMark clears your 'record' as they stated, but if not, persevere. Keep us posted.

I called them yesterday and I guess I will have to again today. The rep I talked to was nice, but had no sort of reply as to why I was not contacted again as they told me I would be. He said he would reassign me the shop if I wanted to do it. It was not a question of "want to". It was a question of "can I" since the address and phone number of the company do not match what Bestmark has. He also said they would remove my cancellation rating.

So I later received an email from him saying he could not reassign the shop because it was too late. I check the site later and the shop is assigned to me for 9-30 and the cancellation rating is still there.

That sounds like Bestmark. Somewhere on Violation a ways back in the thread about them is a complaint someone made about something like this, and a person got it corrected. You might try reading through that and seeing if contacting that employee would help.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That sounds like Bestmark. Somewhere on Violation
> a ways back in the thread about them is a
> complaint someone made about something like this,
> and a person got it corrected. You might try
> reading through that and seeing if contacting that
> employee would help.

Thanks, I'll check out the thread.

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