A Closer Look saying they may not pay
Boo hoo. The scheduler who had the DMV region moved to the west coast and will be doing S. California. Stacie will be sorely missed but the shoppers in S. Cal are in for a treat. Sure hope our new scheduler is ready for this DMV region!
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
@ako wrote:
I have worked with ACL for 4 years and it depends on who the client is. I have had to go back to reshop and not been compensated for the first shop. Which is fine, since I made the mistake or missed something. I will say that their shops pay well, but they do have a lot of details to remember when filling out their reports.
@ako You said ACL pays well? First of all, ACL only pays reimbursement,no fee. Second, their reimbursement hardly covers the items you are required to order at restaurants. One shop I did required a Signature cocktail at the bar, at least 1 alcoholic drink at the table, no cheap beer or margaritas allowed, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and a dessert whether you want it or not. On top of all that, they limit parking to $5 for 2 hours. With slow service, and having to do bar and table dinner service, 2 hours is not enough. It cost me another $15 to cover the whole check. I did not want to leave without a decent tip. ACL is always very tight with reimbursements. I am in an expensive area with 10% tax.
There are a lot of ACL shops that pay a fee plus reimbursement. You may just not have qualified to see them on the boards, or someone took them before you ever saw them. If you do not like the reimbursement do not worry; someone will find it worth their while. People do MS for very different reasons.
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I did a cosmetics shop for them last week that paid a $20 fee plus reimbursement. I have done their senior living facilities shops that paid $75 each (plus bonus). And more.
@ShopperFun99 wrote:
@ako You said ACL pays well? First of all, ACL only pays reimbursement,no fee.
There are senior living facility shops on the board in my area at a $75.00 fee. I qualify for them, but I just have no interest in doing them. But they are there, and I have only done about 4 shops for ACL since 2005, and I see them.
I always laugh when I see a blanket statement that ACL only has reimbursement shops. I've been shopping for them for over 5 years, and they have always had a certain amount of fee + reimbursement shops. Last fall I did a senior living shop that paid $75, grocery shops that paid a flat fee of $20 no matter how little or how much was purchased, plus an eyeglass shop that paid $25 plus up to $125 in reimbursement. Not too bad in my book.
Hi Wales, Yes Stacie is now my scheduler. She seems really nice but I did have to ask her not to send out emails with jobs all over the place but rather a tailored list for the LA region. The first long list she sent out had one shop in Los Angeles buried somewhere in the middle of a long list of places over a hundred miles away thru terrible traffic. In any case she quickly adjusted so I am pleased. She had told me Jennifer was moving to Northern Cal but Jennifer, who is great, sent an email saying she was moving to the East Coast. So if you now have Jennifer you are still blessed.
@walesmaven wrote:
Boo hoo. The scheduler who had the DMV region moved to the west coast and will be doing S. California. Stacie will be sorely missed but the shoppers in S. Cal are in for a treat. Sure hope our new scheduler is ready for this DMV region!
@sandyf wrote:
Hi Wales, Yes Stacie is now my scheduler. She seems really nice but I did have to ask her not to send out emails with jobs all over the place but rather a tailored list for the LA region. The first long list she sent out had one shop in Los Angeles buried somewhere in the middle of a long list of places over a hundred miles away thru terrible traffic. In any case she quickly adjusted so I am pleased. She had told me Jennifer was moving to Northern Cal but Jennifer, who is great, sent an email saying she was moving to the East Coast. So if you now have Jennifer you are still blessed.
@walesmaven wrote:
Boo hoo. The scheduler who had the DMV region moved to the west coast and will be doing S. California. Stacie will be sorely missed but the shoppers in S. Cal are in for a treat. Sure hope our new scheduler is ready for this DMV region!
Jennifer will have you do crappy jobs to get what she calls, "Premium" jobs. LOL Hardly "premium". I won't miss her. A $150 hotel room is not a "premium" job. ($150 in So Cal is 2-3 stars at best).
Jeninifer will have to ask nicely in the DMV region. Bribes won't cut it with her best shoppers out here.
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
@walesmaven wrote:
Jeninifer will have to ask nicely in the DMV region. Bribes won't cut it with her best shoppers out here.
So, if you were I, you would not have driven a 100 mile RT in LA traffic (maybe 6 hours?) to do a smoothie shop in order for the privileged of a reimbursement-only hotel that was not linked to any major brand? Color me surprised. hahaha kidding. But I was not amused and just ghosted her after that.
The one I did was about 15 miles from my house and was pretty easy, really. It was much easier than a $40-$50- EPMS targeted apartment shop.
@guysmom wrote:
There are senior living facility shops on the board in my area at a $75.00 fee. I qualify for them, but I just have no interest in doing them. But they are there, and I have only done about 4 shops for ACL since 2005, and I see them.
I did two easy travel plaza shops for ACL this month that paid $40 plus reimbursement. I'll take as many of those I can get.
My experience is otherwise with ACL. I even explained the reason for not completing the requirements was because of such poor service that I gave up waiting for ANY staff to respond in the dining room. I missed the soft drink refill at the BBQ place. It had been my knowledge and experience this would exclude the shop. I was cajoled for over 15 mins on phone by scheduler to complete the report anyway. I resisted because I saw it as wasting time on Dec 23/24 but I was enticed to be compensated for my 90 bucks. I submitted the report. The response from another ACL rep was a CLEAR NO. Was told firmly the omission would absolutely exclude the report. Made me feel the report was used/submitted but I was still denied reimbursement.
I had the exact same thing happen at ACL. I told them that I would call my CC company and refute the charge if they wouldn't pay. So they paid me, but I didn't do any more shops for them, and cancelled the ones scheduled. So they then said I could no longer be a shopper for them. I was like, "Okay, clearly, I am done with you, that's why I am cancelling all the shops. It's not a good fit for my values and how I expect to be treated. Find people with lower standards for the employer, but high work ethic for themselves. Good luck."
ACL was a pain in the ass and I've never been impressed or even satisfied with the way they conduct business. That's perhaps why they go through staff so fast. At least you aren't employed by them! THat would be total hell.
ACL was a pain in the ass and I've never been impressed or even satisfied with the way they conduct business. That's perhaps why they go through staff so fast. At least you aren't employed by them! THat would be total hell.
Sorry, what does EPMS stand for?????
Experienced evaluator and auditor available for consulting in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and eastern North Carolina. Active member of North Carolina bar.
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