I loved working for them until today. I am assuming that my wonderful scheduler is no longer there, and I am not offered anymore grocery shops. Besides that, I was offered an out-of-town shop with a generous PAD; but my availability doesn't jive with their date. Instead of a personal message politely stating that they couldn't accommodate me, I received a curt auto-reply stating, "This thread is closed." I've been reading more and more complaints about this company. Does anyone know what is going on?

Ha ha I’ve been getting the same crap lately

There must be a good reason why (or if) my scheduler left. He told me on the phone that he was leaving and then backtracked as if it were temporary. Nevertheless, I can only speculate that some major changes have been made at TS - and not for the better.

Well, I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but the grocery Client here in the South stopped their mystery shopping program at the end of last year. I'm not sure how much that may have impacted their budget, since they seem like a pretty big MSC, but you never can tell. I did a LOT of grocery shops for that Client with TS, and now they have very little I am interested in here in my area. So maybe they did have to cut back on staffing a little bit because of that one Client stopping their MS program. Who knows???

Your guess is as good as any. Despite their low pay, they were great filler shops while running a circuit. My main problem with them is their change in attitude. Maybe I'm being premature with my judgment; but curt closures to negotiations for any aspects of the shops were not their former style.

I don't think that anyone there is over 30.
Not everyone under 30 is clueless about etiquette, but it's a trend, since so many of these people grew on on their phones.
On occasion, they will send out text blasts. Sometimes, I will tell them why I am unavailable: Having surgery, working 18 days straight, etc. I give them 5 hours to reply with at least, "OK," or ""Get better soon," If not, I'll send them a MOM text right back. Passive-aggressive.

What's a "MOM" text?

@ceasesmith wrote:

What's a "MOM" text?

Either I will send "You're welcome" because they did not reply with thanks, or I'll reply "thanks for asking," when they didn't reply. On occasion, I will get an apology.
I chalk it up to poor parenting and too much screen time.

I've been shopping about two years and work with about 40 companies. TS introduced me to Mystery shopping. My first two schedulers were amazing. They were extremely respectful and said I was their best shopper. I regularly received PAD of 10 or $15 in my immediate area and up to $60 for farther away.

Both of my first two schedulers that were so great left the company.

The schedulers that replaced them were much less attentive, appreciative, and courteous.

It became much more difficult to secure PAD. A certain young female scheduler was very rude and unappreciative. She accused me of going back-and-forth between different schedulers to get more PAD even though multiple schedulers would constantly send me text messages or phone calls asking me to do Shoppes. One Scheduler would offer me eight dollars the next would offer me 20 totally random and indescriminant.

Because of the schedulers false accusations I was removed from eligibility for grocery shops but I was still eligible to complete other shops for Trend Source. However I hardly did any of the other shops so this effectively canceled my incentive to work for them.

I very diligently and politely persisted in trying to talk to a higher up associate. I finally succeeded and was told that I had never written a bad report and I was an asset to the company and I would be reactivated but I had to watch myself in my communications with schedulers.

Trend Source used to account for about 40% of my shops I did about 150 for them in one year originally.

I still shop for them but they are very small portion of my mystery shopping income now they probably only account for about 5% of my shops. It is very rare that I can secure PAD on my local shops. I have very little interaction with the schedulers whatsoever. I will use their self assign feature basically when I'm walking right by a business that has a shop available.

The first two schedulers for Trend Source I had were fantastic and really spoiled me and created some false expectations in me that are now more realistic.

My is opinion Trend Source is a good company to have a relationship with. They have the fastest pay in the industry and some good shops available. The upper management is good and will give you a fair shake.

The main issue with Trend Source is that they have what seems to be 100 schedulers competing with each other in a boiler room type format and they are very indiscriminate and sloppy and don't follow any pattern so you really have to figure out how to work with them or keep it to a minimum as I am now.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 04:07PM by Gitarshop.

Fortunately, I usually worked with one scheduler, who was fantastic. He's gone, and so are the grocery shops. I've heard that one grocer, who provided multiple shops, discontinued their mystery shopping program. There is one grocer who still posts; but I'm not doing an audit for $5 located 45 miles away. Overall, TS is still a good company, but they don't have enough work for me to make them worth my while. I'll remain registered with them in the event that opportunities improve.

I have done enough work for them this year that they are going to cut me off if I do not get and ESN. How can they require that?

I obtained an EIN for them and it hasn't affected anything that I know of. It only takes seconds to obtain online from the IRS site. My understanding of it is since we are independent contractors, we own our own business; therefore, the number is simply an additional identifier, along with our Social Security number. Here is a short rendition from a search regarding EIN's: "An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity. You may apply for an EIN in various ways, and now you may apply online. This is a free service offered by the Internal Revenue Service and you can get your EIN immediately."

I only know of a few people who got detected by their city/county about having an EIN and had to start paying yearly business license fees. Most people slide through under the radar, but there is a chance if you get an EIN, as a small business owner you will be required to do so as well.

TS has had my EIN for a couple years, and so far, nothing negative has occurred. I don't dispute your assertion, and I could be revealed this year due to reporting my TS income. If I am contacted about a business license I will appeal it. If I lose, I will drop TS. No other MSC has demanded an EIN from me. If you want to be on the safe side, you might consider dropping TS and signing up with other MSC's. In my case, dropping TS would not be a major hit because now they are offering so few shops in my area. Also, they are not as agreeable as in years past. I wouldn't miss them.

Yes, it's only a few people who posted on the forum who said that they had to get business licenses. There might be shoppers who are not a part of the forum who had to get licenses as well, but no way of knowing that.

I did some research. Another alternative is to close the EIN account. That involves sending a snail mail letter to the IRS detailing why. The number is never cancelled, but the account can be closed - virtually saying that I am no longer operating as a business. If that becomes necessary, buh-bye TS. I would continue shopping for other companies without the EIN hassle.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

The shopper who posted in the thread (link above) stated that her business license costs less than $60 a year but she wrote that it's worth it. Me, personally, I don't want to give my city the $60 a year. I do more merchandising than I do shopping anyway, and I do much less than $600 a year for The Source...it's after $600 a year that they demand shoppers get one. But like I said, there are lots of other shoppers who have EINs who didn't have to get business licenses.

I really appreciate your valuable posts. When I obtained an EIN I wondered what the consequences might be. Thanks to you, I have the ammunition to fight against them. Like you, I have no desire to pay my city for a license. It's like paying for nothing. I'm not surprised that various forms of government want to stick their fingers in the pie, and demand their share of the action.

There may not be any consequences whatsoever. I am rooting for you not having to pay your city anything

Different jurisdictions have different ordinances regarding business licenses. Since I don't have a storefront, and do most of my shops out of town, I doubt I would have to obtain one; however there are some jurisdictions that consider work prep in the home as a business. I don't claim that I have a home office on my taxes, which flags an audit. I only claim mileage and vehicular use. Regardless, the gov is very good at tracking down such information and I may receive a nastygram about licensing someday. If so, I'll determine my next plan of action at that time. It's great to know that such an action could occur. Thanks.

Me too, I don't claim my home office, either, though I do claim ink, paper, etc.

When my husband owned a home security alarm company, he operated in several other cities and neighboring counties. He ended up having to get licenses for every city and county he operated in. He was pissed!

I don't expect etiquette in MS. There are so many shops and shoppers, that it's, "Git 'er done!"

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind. In his case, it may have been worth it. In my case, it wouldn't. I'd just stick with selling at the flea market every weekend, like I've been doing for years. There is no paper trail in that kind of business.

To: whosear: As far as etiquette is concerned, that's just good business. I sell merchandise weekly at the flea market and wouldn't dream of treating my customers with contempt. It's so easy to hide behind one's computer and spout off. It's unfortunate that today's businesses aren't businesslike and professional. Many of their employees are probably Millennials who, like one poster said, grew up communicating with their smartphone rather than personally interacting with people.

The flea market is one thing, I don't waste my time or that of a scheduler with pleasantries. This is an impersonal business. Communication through the web is like being an American in Costa Rica: you can be anything you want to be. It's not F2F interaction and to go that way reminds me of a Tica friend who lives in a rural area. Upon returning there, she could not stand to talk to neighbors on the phone because they did so in the same manner than they did in person. New technologies require new ways of communicating. In gaming, you use a variety of acronyms.

That's too bad you haven't spent time developing relationships with some of your schedulers on a more personal level. I have actually met some of my schedulers in person at conferences, and I stay in touch with them beyond MSing. I have a couple of them who have shared pics of their kids and had conversations about events and other personal circumstances. It doesn't have to be an impersonal business, that's BS.

@whosear wrote:

The flea market is one thing, I don't waste my time or that of a scheduler with pleasantries. This is an impersonal business. Communication through the web is like being an American in Costa Rica: you can be anything you want to be. It's not F2F interaction and to go that way reminds me of a Tica friend who lives in a rural area. Upon returning there, she could not stand to talk to neighbors on the phone because they did so in the same manner than they did in person. New technologies require new ways of communicating. In gaming, you use a variety of acronyms.

@whosear...Unprovoked rudeness is uncalled for anywhere, anytime and via any type of technology used. It works both ways. Try being rude to your schedulers and see how long you last.

One who believes that cordiality is a waste of time and detrimental to business might consider this. Civility costs nothing. Being a boor is expensive, but you mostly won't ever know what it costs.

Thanks for your wise post. Every forum has its trolls, and we must overlook those.

satin7 do you know what a troll is? Obviously it's anyone who challenges your opinion. That's a very weak way to be. First, you should take the time to read, then think about what you have read. Consider all possibles. I never said to be rude, unless you think it's rude not to exchange pictures, talk about your day, etc.

Let your work do your talking for you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2020 04:09AM by whosear.