Trendsource Inspections

My husband thinks this work deals with "shady people." Those are his words, not mine. Is this work dangerous? Would you recommend it or not, and why?

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I don't shop for Trendsource Inspections. If I thought my work was dangerous I wouldn't do it. Remember that you are an independent contractor and can pick and choose what you want. There are shops that I won't do.
I do many and have run into one shady business run out of his dirty home. More recently I have done business inspections for a loan company through the MSC, checking on wheather files are locked, they have current license,etc.,and it is on the up and up, but you never know, adds an element of mystery to the job. Personally they don't pay enough for the required photos and report, but as long as there in my town I find them interesting.

Live consciously....


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2017 08:28PM by Irene_L.A..
I have done many inspections for them and have never run into "shady" people. However, for a lot of the inspections, that is what they are for - to make sure the clients are not shady. So I am sure that sometimes the "companies" you are inspecting may indeed be shady, or at the very least, not as legit as they have implied.
Most are not but you should bring pepper spray and check the location ahead of time. I would do them if the $17 ones paid $30, but they do not.
One of the possible jobs listed is repo. What exactly do you do in that department? I'm sure you would get paid a ton more for actually repoing someone's car!
I've done 2 repo inspections. You check out the place of business. You're not actually repossessing anything. I love doing onsite inspections because you get to meet the most interesting people. Everyone from bankers to bounty hunters.
I just did two groceries and noticed the prices on food has risen. I imagine due to the storms and problems with trucking. I wonder if we will get a hike from 5.00. My price was much more than I normally pay....another problem for shoppers......

Live consciously....
I do these all the time when they are available. Only one was seriously shady in a guy's cat-stinky upstairs home office. He was legit, just not super classy. You take a few photos, get a signature, go home. No big deal. Usually I know the neighborhood or have google-mapped it but that one was in a really nice neighborhood- he was just "that guy." Go ahead and do them I say, but map it ahead of time with street view and if you are concerned, don't take it.
@2stepps wrote:

Maybe I'll try one or two as long as it not like the guys and a truck.
What was wrong with that one?
Just got an email to do a BV and Source said it's 1 mile, so I took it. Turns out to be 8 miles in an area up in the hills that i'm not familiar with..nice private home, should I ask for pad? I already took job....sad smiley

Live consciously....
@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Just got an email to do a BV and Source said it's 1 mile, so I took it. Turns out to be 8 miles in an area up in the hills that i'm not familiar with..nice private home, should I ask for pad? I already took job....sad smiley

I've noticed their mileage estimates are horrible. Way lower. I'm guessing they are based on "as the crow flies" and not real roads. They have one grocery store 36 miles from me. It's at least 45 miles.
I think most of the mileage estimates are based on zip code to zip code. Zip codes adjacent to mine could mean a one mile drive or ten plus miles.

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
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I've done about 4 or 500 of these for TS and love doing them. I rarely have any problems with them as for the most part they are businesses or on occasion a small, home-based business. I've met some nice people and after doing this for several years there are a few that have to be re-inspected every year and those folks are kind of like friends now. And as someone above said, if you don't feel comfortable, don't do it!
BTW, I have been self assigning from TS for several years and suddenly this past week I started having trouble and self assign didn't work. I thought it was because I had a project where I could not get the contact to call me so we could finalize their onsite inspection report. Turned out there is a new quiz for self assign and I never received notice of it or I would have done. I then realized my little gold star (in the upper right corner) was gone which means I can't self assign. Support is looking into the problem but haven't heard back from them yet. Has anyone else had this problem?
I haven't heard, but i tried to self assign a BV, but see it's still on the board..I usually get them....I'll look into it.

Live consciously....
Irene - That's what happened to me. When you log into the Source look up in the right hand corner and if there is a gold star there you can self assign, if the star is gone, you cannot self assign. Then check your agent requirements and on mine it shows items with a red x that I need to do and among them is a couple items for self-assign privileges. I only found out because like you I requested the onsite inspection and it went into "pending". I thought I was not able to get it immediately because I had one inspection (out of the over 500 I've done) which was giving me a problem in that I couldn't get the contact to call me back so I couldn't complete the report. I sent an email to support and complained and that's how I found out about it.
The majority of the ones I did were businesses that dealt with social security numbers and needed a bank loan or something of that nature. I've done collection agencies, doctor's offices, mortgage companies...places like that.

One location I did was...odd. It was (or used to be) a hotel. It was dilapidated to say the least.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
@pimccut...excatley my problem. I had a Verification and they would not make an appointment (new girl). The job sat and they told me they were calling i didn't hear anything.. I went into agents requirermen'ts and saw a red x, however, I've been self assigning for over 3 years. I think I'll write and ask what has changed.

Live consciously....
My response from the Source:

"You should have been sent an email telling you about the new self-assign requirements. There is a new process that we will be following, and it appears you still need to watch the video that explains this. The video should be on your homepage, but I am not seeing it there. I am currently reaching out to my team to try and find what happened to this."

I am bringing this to the attention of the Forum members because I'm thinking that I am not the only one who has this problem. I never got the email regarding the new requirements. I do a lot of work for the Source and always, always stay up on the requirements when they notify me. If it is happening to a lot of the shoppers and we all bring it to their attention, maybe they will do something a little quicker. Personally, I think they should give me back my self-assign privilege until they figure out what is wrong!
I watched the video, still no go. The Source is my # 1 company has a lot of jobs in my town, and I like them all
That's why I forgive small fee's, no driving or as in $$ in my pocket. I never got an email and yes, (with you), I want my self-assign back, did nothing wrong.

Live consciously....
I didn't even see a link to the video. There is supposed to be a short quiz associated with it.
The video is just there, big as life, no link...same video that has always been there, you probably watched it before.

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Mmmm. I just logged in and it appears they have given me approval of the self assign requirement and I have my "gold star" back! Yea!
I just checked and my gold star is still there guess I'm o.k. Seems problem arise from the BV that is on hold.

Live consciously....
I'm doing more TrendSource BVs and on-site inspections than shopping lately. They're a nice change from having to feign interest in some product or service about which I couldn't care less. All my assignments have gone smoothly (except having to reschedule after Hurricane Irma). The contacts have all been easy to work with and forthcoming with all the information I need.
I just signed up on the internet with Trend Source for a Field Agent. I tried getting into the site. It says "Access Restricted". How does this work? Will I be interviewed to be a Field Agent? What should I do next?
I have done several inspections over the past 3 years for the source, however, they used to pay more than the $15-17 they now offer in pay and most are far away from,I cannot accept without reasonable pad to drive these distances for the low pay, you need to meet with the required contact person, ask them a slew of questions and take lots of professional quality photos. No longer worth doing them for me for $15-$17 when I used to get $30-$50 for them without pad. Takes a considerable amount of time more than an hour usually onsite and at least half an hour on computer to do report and upload all photos! It makes me wonder who is pocketing that extra money now since shoppers aren't receiving it.
I also do them, some here pay from 17 to 21.00 (not enough), but I don't have to drive more than a couple miles which helps...I do feel they are worth at least 30.00, many photo uploads, some are easier than others, so getting paid same amount doesn't seems fair. I just had to renew, watch new video and re-take test. Company pays quickly,and no driving, that's my hook. I never get pad so refuse to drive anywhere for this job.

Live consciously....
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