I recently was assigned an apartment shop 40 miles from home for a company called Ellis this was my first experience with them,the shop instructions indicated that sine ther was a target that i must keep calling until i reached the target.After three days of not reaching the target and the day of the shop ,i headed for the destination I e-mailed Ellis and informed that i had been unable to contact the target i needed some direction almost immediately i recieced an e-mail from Ellis advising that i now could ask for the target specifically and advise In so doing i was informed that he was no longer employed and had not been for past three weeks.I e-mailed Ellis and informed them asking for direction,after waiting for two hours i was faced with two options either go back home empty handed or shop tge complex with who was available ,i chose the latter ,upon completion i returned home six hrs 80 miles and $10 gas,about an hour later i recieved an e-mail from Ellis informing that i was NOT to do the shop,I advised that i had gone ahead a completed the shop as opposed to sitting in the parking lot all afternoon,was informed that since the target was no longer there the shop was invalid LOL was not as much as offered a reimbursement for my gas Bottom line first and last shop for Ellis Apparently shoppers are a dime a dozen .I will survive Unless i get blackballed for trying to make my cohorts aware of the uncaring of one company I think we all should make everyone of these shenanigans if you have any intestional fortitude whatsoever George

George,

I work for a ton of companies that do apartment and new home shops. When there is a target, never, ever,ever, depart for the shop without having reached the target. The MSC will either adjust the shop date or/and permit you to make contact in some other way when you have exhausted the required number of tries. Ellis schedulers do answer their phones. They are notoriously bad about emails, though.

No other apartment shopping MSC that I know of would have treated your trip to the site differently than Ellis.

Ellis does not pay travel costs for any shops. Forty miles is much too far to travel for a $40 shop, btw.

Have had a similar experience with Ellis. After three weeks of trying to reach the target, I finally found out that the target had left on vacation BEFORE I started calling and would be out indefinitely, as he was "out of country".

I didn't, however, travel to the location.

It's been my experience with Ellis that they are not given up to date information on the targets, making the whole experience challenging.

My suggestion is to ask for guidance after 3+ days of not being able to reach the target. (With my shop, Ellis kept telling me to keep trying and they readjusted dates.)

George Coker, I have been there, done that. Another MSP rejected my shop because the target and I had not had a telephone conversation. He wouldn't answer the phone. It was a weekend shop, and the MSP was not reachable. I made an executive decision, and shopped the location and target. Big mistake that I won't repeat.

Sometimes, I think they (the target) know they are up for a shop and deliberately make things difficult.

I had one years ago that lied about how she was. The scheduler told me to just go and see who was working. The target was the only one working (as confirmed by the corporate office).

When I got there, she told me she was someone else. When I asked for a card, she gave me someone else's.

I told the scheduler, did the report. She was fired.

Three ways to look at it.

- Either she's submitting inaccurate time cards and being paid for time she NOT working

OR

- She's lying to all of the potential renters.

OR

- There had been a lot of complaints made about her.

I dunno - but any way you look at it, there was a problem with this person that corp needed to deal with.

I did get paid for the shop, although they tried not pay for it. They (corp) said I shopped the wrong person, and since my physical description didn't match the name on the card, I must have faked it.

My scheduler pointed out to them that -

- We had made an honest effort to get a hold of the target. (The scheduler even tried calling to reach the target.)

- The corp office confirmed that the target was the only employee scheduled to work that day.

- The description I provided matched the description of the target.

- Corp blocked their number and tried to reach the target. She lied to them as well.

ijdk Wrote:
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> Sometimes, I think they (the target) know they are
> up for a shop and deliberately make things
> difficult.

I think you have it in a nutshell right there. Too many shoppers have complained about smart ass run arounds. My gut feeling is that these are punitive shops rather than rewards for doing well or neutral situations where more training is offered. If you knew you were 'set up' once a month (or quarter) by someone coming in to waste your time with no intention of renting and you were likely to get flogged for anything wrong, I think you would try to figure out how to dodge the shopper as well.

I don't look at it that way. If I knew I were being shopped, I would do what I had been trained to do. Treat everyone like they're the shopper, and avoid the flogging.

While most apartment shops have a target, in my experience, it's not necessarily just one employee being singled out. Many times, apartments and new homes will have several targets to be shopped.

But that is you, Mert, and frankly I would do the same. But evidently there is something in the corporate culture there that says to employees 'avoid being shopped' rather than 'wow the shopper'.

I think that it depends on the style of the management company. I do apartment shops for many companies and there are a few where the targets all seem well trained, highly motivated and have longevity with the company. Other companies have very, very high turnover rates, train poorly or not at all, and count on the shops to weed out the worst of the lot. As for the leasing agent who tried to pass herself off as someone else, that;s why I prefer video shops. With video, there's not only no dobt who said what, but also no doubt about who's who.

Mert, I agree with you...I had a target I couldn't reach for 3 days, finally got her and went in, she was knowledgeable, professional and told me she got my message, but was out of town for a family crisis. She did a great job. I'd rather give them the benefit of a doubt, and I feel they don't know "when" their being shopped, just that they are. Locations and professional agents are taken into consideration...I purposely do not do shops in negative locations, they hire negative people, and get a little scary.

NEATO! I mentioned above that an apartment shop was rejected because I shopped it without reaching the target on the phone.

Today, same target working at a different property, was successfully shopped from phone to handshake. I love end of the month shops. The $$$.$$ helped soothe my carryover feelings of arg, grr, #*@!.

Excellent!

I never have any luck with Ellis. The first shop I accepted the telephone number was wrong. I asked if it was okay to look up the correct telephone number and make the call. The scheduler advised me that she would get back to me. By the time she got back to me, almost two week's later, I had accepted other shops and did not have time for this shop.

The second shop I accepted, I could never reach the target. I finally gave up and canceled.

Ellis is notoriously picky about targets. They are listed for a reason, though. I have found their instructions to be very clear and straightforward. I always just email if I am having trouble reaching someone and let the scheduler deal with how they want me to proceed. Even though I know their process now, I don't presume it because sometimes instructions from the clients change.

George Coker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently was assigned an apartment shop 40 miles
> from home for a company called Ellis this was my
> first experience with them,the shop instructions
> indicated that sine ther was a target that i must
> keep calling until i reached the target.After
> three days of not reaching the target and the day
> of the shop ,i headed for the destination I
> e-mailed Ellis and informed that i had been unable
> to contact the target i needed some direction
> almost immediately i recieced an e-mail from Ellis
> advising that i now could ask for the target
> specifically and advise In so doing i was informed
> that he was no longer employed and had not been
> for past three weeks.I e-mailed Ellis and informed
> them asking for direction,after waiting for two
> hours i was faced with two options either go back
> home empty handed or shop tge complex with who was
> available ,i chose the latter ,upon completion i
> returned home six hrs 80 miles and $10 gas,about
> an hour later i recieved an e-mail from Ellis
> informing that i was NOT to do the shop,I advised
> that i had gone ahead a completed the shop as
> opposed to sitting in the parking lot all
> afternoon,was informed that since the target was
> no longer there the shop was invalid LOL was not
> as much as offered a reimbursement for my gas
> Bottom line first and last shop for Ellis
> Apparently shoppers are a dime a dozen .I will
> survive Unless i get blackballed for trying to
> make my cohorts aware of the uncaring of one
> company I think we all should make everyone of
> these shenanigans if you have any intestional
> fortitude whatsoever George


So in fact you did not complete this shop. You made the decision without guidance. Regardless of any shoppers executive decision, there is both rime and reason to doing things according to your instructions. If you are shopping a specific agent and cannot reach them, never ever shop the property anyways, that will never get you anywhere. If it is a shop anyone shop then that is a different story. You should not be mad about not being reimbursed because you did not follow direction. If you cant follow direction and do your job then it is nobody's fault but your own. If EPMS is not updated, that is the Property Management Companies fault, not Ellis. I have been working for Ellis for only six months now and I know what I can and can't do without getting prior permission, it's not that hard to understand. I think Ellis above all the companies that I have found that shop for apartments are far and beyond more accurate and organized. I have never had any issues and I would recommend this company to anybody, even new shoppers. Instructions are there for a reason, common since should be able to get you the rest of the way. Nobody to blame but yourself when your job is done wrong. Truly sorry you have had a bad experience, but try taking a little more initiative in your work, only make executive decisions when you know what you are doing.

If I can't reach the target, I call using *67 to block my numer, ask for the target and say I'm new in the area and got their name from a friend. I insdist on working with them. I've alwaysssssssssss gotten the time when target will be in, updated EPMS or whoever, and called back and gotten the target when they are on duty. Then I make the recorded call. I don't call and call and call.

kveltri Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So in fact you did not complete this shop. You
> made the decision without guidance. Regardless of
> any shoppers executive decision, there is both
> rime and reason to doing things according to your
> instructions. If you are shopping a specific agent
> and cannot reach them, never ever shop the
> property anyways, that will never get you
> anywhere. If it is a shop anyone shop then that is
> a different story. You should not be mad about not
> being reimbursed because you did not follow
> direction. If you cant follow direction and do
> your job then it is nobody's fault but your own.
> If EPMS is not updated, that is the Property
> Management Companies fault, not Ellis. I have been
> working for Ellis for only six months now and I
> know what I can and can't do without getting prior
> permission, it's not that hard to understand. I
> think Ellis above all the companies that I have
> found that shop for apartments are far and beyond
> more accurate and organized. I have never had any
> issues and I would recommend this company to
> anybody, even new shoppers. Instructions are there
> for a reason, common since should be able to get
> you the rest of the way. Nobody to blame but
> yourself when your job is done wrong. Truly sorry
> you have had a bad experience, but try taking a
> little more initiative in your work, only make
> executive decisions when you know what you are
> doing.


Do you work for EPMS? And I don't mean as a shopper.

I don't know if your a new shopper, but, when any MSC says shop a target, that is what you do...do not go out without an appt. with the target, it won't work. I am sorry you drove so far, but take it as a lesson learned.

I have done a lot of shops for Ellis and like working with them. If I have a problem I call the office because they are too slow on answering emails. I hate there long reports. No matter what type of shop I do it is always done by the guidelines. Never ever ever shop and change 1 minute thing in the shop or you may get burned. Shopping a target can be tough. If I can not reach the target with in a couple of days I call Ellis and have them put it back on the job board. I do shops for Ellis every month. Usually 9-10 apartment shops.

Anyone ever had the *67 feature not work? I have an apartment shop I am in the process of completing, and I called twice from the same phone trying to reach my target. I used *67 both times, but after the second phone call (where no one answered, so I hung up) I get a call back from the apartment complex! I didn't answer the phone, but the girl ended up leaving a message, and said that she saw I had called them twice, and if I was interested in getting information about renting an apartment, to give her a call back. I'm wondering if the fact that the apartment's number is a 1-888 # has something to do with it...and there is no other number I can call (even checked their website!)

I've neither worked for Ellis nor any company in my 47 1/2 yrs. as an IC. With that being stated, this month I enter my 6th yr. completing shops for EPMS and have tallied approx. 180 assignments. Once, I didn't see a specific instruction that contradicted those in the general category and wasn't paid; that was completely my error. In CAPs,it was typed that specific instructions took precedence of all of a general nature. My money ALWAYS arrives as scheduled and I've found all the ladies to be both supportive and accessible, especially Vanessa Dickerson and Sheila Weaver; as for the man, Robt. Asher couldn't be more accommodating. I rate this company a solid "10." If though you've an aversion to apt. shops, stay away; you'll be miserable. In addition, if you're not business oriented, you'll probably be disappointed and/or frustrated.

I do a lot of work with Ellis. The best advice I can give when trying to reach a target is to start calling on the first day. I made the mistake of only calling on the days I could visit the complex for my first time, and never reached the target. I then switched techniques. Once i get the target on the phone, I schedule a time that works best for me, and arrive 20 minutes early or 20 minutes late. After three days of calling with no success, I"m updating Ellis and asking for guidance
The reports are long, but I have a blast looking at all the apartments.. lol.. I've shopped the ghetto to WAYYYY expensive water front views. FUN!

What monarch said! Also, EPMS staff will tell you to call if you need help. as they are not good at email. Robert, in the video area, is one of the very top schedulers that I have had the pleasure of working with.

Beware of scheduler incompetence onthe evenibg of 5-10 i scheduled three three TD bank shops for 5-14 theses were self assign shops on 5-11 i recieved cancellation notification from scheduler jennifer as well as a citation as per her comment for not completing shops on 5-10 I did in fact e-mail her regarding my being penalized for her incompetence no comment would not imagine i will be doing any more shops for ath power o well they are so slow pay anyhow George