I signed up at at some point but hadn't heard anything from them. The other day I received an e-mail saying they had a sandwich shop in my area and went on to explain the details. The hours in which the shop must be done, what must be ordered and what the pay would be(13.50 which includes reimbursement) Knowing I could buy a small sandwich there for about $3 and pocket the remaining $10 I emailed them back and offered to take the shop.
The next day I received an e-mail verifying my acceptance and advising me of the many steps I needed to complete on their website including testing before I could complete the assignment. After jumping through those hoops I was shown the available dates which were all in the past and the hours and days the shop was available which was completely different from what was contained in the e-mail.
I stopped right and e-mailed the scheduler about the discrepancies. Yesterday I received a reply (3 days after I emailed them) saying I could have any day or time I wanted, just email and they would set it up.
Thinking all was OK I went back to the website for the shop paperwork (which you are not allowed to view until you pass the test) Then I noticed another problem. The pay stated on the paperwork said $5 shopper pay + reimbursement of up to $8.50 which of course is completely different from they stated in their initial e-mail to me.
I don't know if the initial e-mail was intentionally deceptive or not but it certainly contained a lot of misinformation. I would have never accepted this shop for $5. I think trendsource and I are going to have a very short relationship.

Frankly I have never had either of your issues. Sorry you are off on the wrong foot with them. There have been other 'head scratchers' with them but I have found them responsive (except on weekends) and eventually everything has been sorted out.

I could be wrong, but I think their emails are stated as "payment up to $13.50 with reimbursement". Then the shop details break down what is fee and what is reimbursement.

The exact wording in the e-mail is as follows
Compensation: $13.50 includes reimbursement pay
Since I knew how much the small sandwiches cost and I knew I could get one for about $3 I figured I'll do OK on this one.
It seems to me a much more honest way to phrase it in the e-mail is like they did in the shop details on their website.
Contractor pay $5.00
Reimbursement up to $8.50
It certainly would have kept me from responding in the 1st place.

I wouldn't fault them on that one. When a shop is a "Flat fee" shop paying a fixed amount and requiring a purchase, it usually STATES that it is Flat Fee. When they mention here "includes reimbursement pay" you should be aware that it is fee plus reimbursement without needing to have that separately enumerated. Quite often I don't spend my entire reimbursement but there has been only one company in my memory that ever paid the full possible reimbursement even when you did not spend it all--and I don't think even they do that any more. The term "compensation" does imply the total value of the shop assuming you use the entire reimbursement.

What used to really bug me was that Gapbuster used to advertise a "$22 shop!!!". My complaint was somewhat the same as yours because the fee was $10 and the reimbursement up to $12. In the email promo there was no indication that there was even an out of pocket required (which yours at least indicates with the 'includes reimbursement pay').

Well I'm still pretty new at this so I guess I misinterpreted the "offer" but by the same token I can't get over that I feel their initial e-mail was deceitful.

When we stop learning we start dying. I hear your frustration but would seriously encourage you to try them again because they didn't do you wrong but rather stated their offer in a way that was not clear to you. Overall I have found them a straightforward, ethical company to deal with. They have worked with me through some bloopers and impossible-to-complete-as-instructed jobs in a manner I have found to be fair and professional. (And yes, there have been confusions and some teeth grinding moments, but isn't there with everything?)

I did e-mail the scheduler and told them I would not be interested for a $5 fee. We'll see what happens in the future.

I sure understand about the $5 fee, and for that I wouldn't make a special trip to do one of these shops. But I take them pretty regularly, whenever I get a lunchtime opportunity, because it is a good fast lunch break away from the office, the sandwich is really good, and the report form is easy. The shop is fast and not too demanding. But I wouldn't take one and drive across town......

AustinMom Wrote:
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> I sure understand about the $5 fee, and for that I
> wouldn't make a special trip to do one of these
> shops. But I take them pretty regularly, whenever
> I get a lunchtime opportunity, because it is a
> good fast lunch break away from the office, the
> sandwich is really good, and the report form is
> easy. The shop is fast and not too demanding.
> But I wouldn't take one and drive across
> town......


Most but not all of their shops are easy and quick. I love the healthy grocery stores. Easist ones I do.

Now they are claiming in an e-mail that I agreed to do the shop today. I won't be doing it, I never scheduled nor agreed to a date and have sent several e-mails to the scheduler informing him. So I guess I'll have a very short lived experience with trendsource.

ces1948 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now they are claiming in an e-mail that I agreed
> to do the shop today. I won't be doing it, I never
> scheduled nor agreed to a date and have sent
> several e-mails to the scheduler informing him. So
> I guess I'll have a very short lived experience
> with trendsource.

I've definitely worked with some sly companies, but from my experience, this is not one of them. Sounds like something went awry with communication and/or the system.

I agree that the fees are relatively low, but the shops I select make up for it with the reimbursement. (Yes, I love that grocery shop, too!) The forms are reasonable, unlike some other companies with low fees. There are also a few other shops I'll do if I'm in the neighborhood, but for which I'd go out of my way.

Well once again I had a problem. Unfortunately if I disclose enough details for the post to make sense I will violate my agreement. Let's just say this. I received an e-mail from them offering a shop and this time the payment details were (almost) completely spelled out. I was very familiar with this shop as I had done same for another MSP probably 5 times. I accepted the shop which you have to do in order to actually see the details and that's where the devil was lying. A ridiculously complicated report which could entail the scanning and uploading of 10-12 document plus a mutli week wait for a follow up phone call before a payment could be be made.
One other small discrepancy between the e-mail which said 20 minutes study, 15 minutes on site and 20-25 minutes data entry as opposed to the details which said 30 minute study, 20-30 minute on site and 45 minute data entry. I know a lot of you love this company but I can't seem to get off on the right foot with them

ces1948 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I signed up at at some point but hadn't heard
> anything from them. The other day I received an
> e-mail saying they had a sandwich shop in my area
> and went on to explain the details. The hours in
> which the shop must be done, what must be ordered
> and what the pay would be(13.50 which includes
> reimbursement) Knowing I could buy a small
> sandwich there for about $3 and pocket the
> remaining $10 I emailed them back and offered to
> take the shop.
> The next day I received an e-mail verifying my
> acceptance and advising me of the many steps I
> needed to complete on their website including
> testing before I could complete the assignment.
> After jumping through those hoops I was shown the
> available dates which were all in the past and the
> hours and days the shop was available which was
> completely different from what was contained in
> the e-mail.
> I stopped right and e-mailed the scheduler about
> the discrepancies. Yesterday I received a reply (3
> days after I emailed them) saying I could have any
> day or time I wanted, just email and they would
> set it up.
> Thinking all was OK I went back to the website for
> the shop paperwork (which you are not allowed to
> view until you pass the test) Then I noticed
> another problem. The pay stated on the paperwork
> said $5 shopper pay + reimbursement of up to $8.50
> which of course is completely different from they
> stated in their initial e-mail to me.
> I don't know if the initial e-mail was
> intentionally deceptive or not but it certainly
> contained a lot of misinformation. I would have
> never accepted this shop for $5. I think
> trendsource and I are going to have a very short
> relationship.


You are misreading the $13.50 verbiage. The reimbursement amount is included in that $13.50. You don't get $13.50 plus the reimbursement on top of it.

Trendsource is not a very good paying company at all. They pay on time, are responsive to emails, and the shops are generally easy to do and easy to input. However, the pay is pretty terrible for an overwhelming majority of their shops.

I am also not impressed with Trendsource, I got devalued before I event started so I cancelled whatever jobs I had booked with them. The site they have is not the easiest to go through, they claimed they gave me a job that I did not complete, but I had no confirmation from them about the job.

I took another job from them that came in last night at 6PM for an inspection, it had a 30 page read, a test, you could not call the customer to set up until you had read all that information and taken the test. Too much for what they are paying.

This is a great company to deal with, and they pay like clockwork. The grocery shops and business verifications are straight forward without a lot of unneccessary verbage. In my two year experience, I have them in the top three (out of the 82 MSP's I've worked for) for integrity, timeliness of compensation, ease of scheduling, reporting, and website.

One of the problems I have encountered is that the website is saying one thing and it does not seem as if the schedulers know. I sent a complaint and they sent me back to the site, there was a big warning on the site that said you cannot call until further notice. The schedulers should know this, then there is the issue of demoting you for issues they should have ironed out or close the jobs until further notice.

I haven't earned anything from them, but it was a stressful experience.