Cutting Trend Source from my list of companies to work for.
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I like Trendsource. A couple friendly schedulers contact me often. I get a decent PAD for a distant coastal shop, but none for a semi-distant town from the small town in which i live. Their grocery shops used to pay almost double, but were exhausting. Now they pay much less, but the shop is easy now, in my opinion. A good way to pick up necessary groceries, especially if i have a doctor's appointment in that city. 
They have low paying shops yes but sometimes a few dollars quickly paid is okay. An example is their recent cell phone shop. I have been able to add it to another shop in the same cell phone store that I was already doing so instead of making the $20 I am making $26 with no extra work. I have also gotten decent pad on this shop and others once in a while. The ink shops if in the area can be worth it. To each his own and I do this as my full time income so low paying jobs don't go unless they can fit in a route where the extra time is worth it.
Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
@johnb974 wrote:
I'm finding Trend Source to be one of the lowest paying MSC. I'm cutting them off of my list of shops. They e-mailed me and asked if I would do a local shop they needed done today. I asked for a bonus and they said "No". I did a Medicare shop for them and they took $3 off my pay for filing late. I did another one where the agent told me to come back in an hour, he was busy playing bingo. Trend Source would not pay me for that shop. I'm done with them. Anyone else had this happened with them?
I worked for part of their none MS division last year.
Got so fed up of being asked for quotes, doing them being rejected, I left them.
Too much time and money down the privy, for too little cash.
I do like their new cell phone shops, a quick $6. if you're in the area. Plus no dealing with an editor or scheduler.
Seems odd as to the "low pay" posts when I view grocery stores paying 3.00 with a lesser reimbursement. I look at TS paying $14.00, 9.00 reimbursement for buying three items of which I always buy more with my mailed in coupons + 5.00 report fee. Since you are paid for groceries, why ignore that. They are good to their regular shoppers, self assign and no three month wait for same store., and pay twice a month. I again this weekend am doing my three stores all within a couple miles, free parking and love that the schedulers work for and with you. Questions are resolved immediately, sorry, I fail to see your problems, could they be yours alone.
Live consciously....
@Irene_L.A. wrote:
Seems odd as to the "low pay" posts when I view grocery stores paying 3.00 with a lesser reimbursement. I look at TS paying $14.00, 9.00 reimbursement for buying three items of which I always buy more with my mailed in coupons + 5.00 report fee. Since you are paid for groceries, why ignore that. They are good to their regular shoppers, self assign and no three month wait for same store., and pay twice a month. I again this weekend am doing my three stores all within a couple miles, free parking and love that the schedulers work for and with you. Questions are resolved immediately, sorry, I fail to see your problems, could they be yours alone.
On the Medicare shops they cut your pay if the agent doesn't show up. They also make you wait 3 weeks before you can finish your report. Grocery shops pay is very low for that amount of work they want you to do. Not worth my time. Some people don't mind, that's fine. I eat out so often I don't do much grocery shopping anyway.
That's true as do all other companies, as there is no work, and no report...I've had that happen to me before and another company wouldn't pay me for driving an hour to find that the Bank associate had strep throat and didn't show...wasn't allowed to call per instructions, at least TS gives you something for your time. No show usually gets a small fee for time spent. NEXT!!
Live consciously....
I can't get them to pay my mileage for shops 30 miles each way from my house. They are not worth my time for the effort required for payment.
They will find someone closer, so really, why should they pay mileage.@Antinater wrote:
I can't get them to pay my mileage for shops 30 miles each way from my house. They are not worth my time for the effort required for payment.
Live consciously....
@johnb974 wrote:
Grocery shops pay is very low for that amount of work they want you to do. Not worth my time. Some people don't mind, that's fine. I eat out so often I don't do much grocery shopping anyway.
Perhaps you have not seen the new reports? I'm not sure when they changed, but I find myself waiting for a full 20 minutes from start to finish in the store, since I am usually done in 10-15 minutes. I can report in less than 10 minutes. I don't use the app, although that might be even faster.
So for $14 plus my bonus, I am doing 30 minutes work, max, including the reporting. It ends up hitting my $1/min goal for shopping.
I don't need a lot of groceries, so I often get cleaning supplies, drinks, fresh fruits and vegetables. I use the grocery app and get really good deals. I just buy my groceries $10-$15 at a time.
John dont you use toilet paper ,paper towels,shampoo ,soap ,deorderant,laundry soap and cleaning supplys .Iam sure you have milk and bread .Why not get all that for free shopping for TrendScource.Thats what i do and i love it.
@Carolforreal wrote:
John dont you use toilet paper ,paper towels,shampoo ,soap ,deorderant,laundry soap and cleaning supplys .Iam sure you have milk and bread .Why not get all that for free shopping for TrendScource.Thats what i do and i love it.
Their payments don't cover that cost and it's not worth my time working for such low pay.
I love T.S. i can do 5 grocery stores in one afternoon. 20 minutes in store 10 minutes inputting on app. If I do 20 stores in 1 month that is $180 in groceries and $100 in fees. And they give you 2 to 3 days to do the shops.
Trendsource grocery shops are great. When I did my family's grocery shopping, I'd do them in a heartbeat. Since I'd already be in the store, the actual shop would only add five minutes (tops) to my visit and ten minutes to write up the report. If I was compensated $15 (pay plus reimbursement), it worked out to be $60/hr. That's not bad at all.
Now, my wife does nearly all the grocery shopping and she strongly prefers a store that is not a Trendsource client, so I rarely do the shops. (If I don't coordinate groceries with my wife, I duplicate what she purchases or get something we don't need, which wastes the reimbursement and/or takes up too much space in the refrigerator and cupboards... This does make the shops less beneficial.)
It's also worth pointing out that, if you have several of their client's grocery stores nearby, you can potentially get all of your home's grocery (plus cleaning supplies, TP, etc.) needs reimbursed within two weeks. This is why I highly recommend the company to anybody who has a tight budget. You get something your household needs and it is reimbursed quickly. (Even if you eat out all the time, I would hope that you regularly use TP, deodorant, toothbrushes, and any number of of other items their client's stores sell.)
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 05:40PM by MFJohnston.
Now, my wife does nearly all the grocery shopping and she strongly prefers a store that is not a Trendsource client, so I rarely do the shops. (If I don't coordinate groceries with my wife, I duplicate what she purchases or get something we don't need, which wastes the reimbursement and/or takes up too much space in the refrigerator and cupboards... This does make the shops less beneficial.)
It's also worth pointing out that, if you have several of their client's grocery stores nearby, you can potentially get all of your home's grocery (plus cleaning supplies, TP, etc.) needs reimbursed within two weeks. This is why I highly recommend the company to anybody who has a tight budget. You get something your household needs and it is reimbursed quickly. (Even if you eat out all the time, I would hope that you regularly use TP, deodorant, toothbrushes, and any number of of other items their client's stores sell.)
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 05:40PM by MFJohnston.
The reports have been cut down, shouldn't take 15 minutes for report and I take my time and always buy more than needed. I do it for groceries, over the counter vitamins, paper goods, saves me a bundle. There's no debate here, it takes a "smart shopper" to appreciate these. Touching on MJF's statement about utilizing all their stores, we have everyone in my town, which helps, many a block away from each other.
I love variety and shop my other two on my town if I had to, so, having said that, I pick up my Blinze's here, and my Wild Salmon there.....am reimbursed/paid quickly and am able to self-assign or call my scheduler to get what I want......anyone see a problem?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 05:08PM by Irene_L.A..
I love variety and shop my other two on my town if I had to, so, having said that, I pick up my Blinze's here, and my Wild Salmon there.....am reimbursed/paid quickly and am able to self-assign or call my scheduler to get what I want......anyone see a problem?
Live consciously....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2019 05:08PM by Irene_L.A..
I tried this msc years and years ago but for some reason the way my computer scans the receipts just did not work for their rules. I did a few shops and spent 45 minutes each time fiddling around trying to make changes to the size of the receipt each time to fit their requirements and finally gave up. I emailed them for advice but they had none. If anyone ever had this receipt size issue and it has cleared up let me know how to fix it and I will work for them again. I am not an expert in computers and do not remember the exact issue but I think it was the size of the file. I work for many other companies and my receipts have never been an issue with them as is. I use an HP scanner and scan the receipts into a scans file on my desktop.
Sandy, I'm not an expert scanner, but never have a problem, I use my SD card taken with my small Canon camera, works perfectly and worth it for you.
Live consciously....
You can also take a photo of the receipt on your smart phone and e-mail to yourself. From the e-mail, put it in a file. Be sure to e-mail it "actual size", or it'll come out thumbnail, which isn't usable.
I have had problems with scanned items, too -- now I just photograph every thing.
I have had problems with scanned items, too -- now I just photograph every thing.
My first reaction to the title of this thread is, great, more potential TrendSource shops for me! TS is one of the MSC’s I check daily to find shops. I recently started re-doing the grocery shops that I discontinued for a while due to the length of the report. The new report is easy to do with my normal grocery shopping so I take all that I can. They are also great filler shops when I’m on a route. I still dislike some of the department questions but usually can find one that’s not too strange.
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