This is my 3rd casino shop with this company and I will NEVER shop for them again. After a very lengthy Casino shop (24 hours to complete), spending $851 on Food/Bev/Casino games, and 20 man-hours writing up narratives - they informed me that they would not accept my shop and not only was I not being paid for the shop but I would not be reimbursed.

First, they (HK) incorrectly told me to skip a shop at the location and did not make clear the requirements for beverage service at the slots. I submitted on time, then they followed up the next day with edits in a slew of emails and we ended on me going back to the location to complete their mistake a few days later, and also redo a slot beverage that was not completed after 45 min at the slot. All good.

Scheduler 2 (MH) steps in and starts asking me more questions (we are talking like 20 emails deep at this point) to a level of detail that is inhuman (and not included in shop guidelines). Thus, her email saying receipts need to be received by 8p got buried and was not read in time for me to act.

Shouldn't required materials be submitted together in the reporting portal? Bad business practices all around.

I wake up the next day and find MH accused me of submitting false information because I pasted the narrative for Slot Beverage 1, when it should have been Slot Beverage 3 and visa versa, therefore they would not accept my shop. Not only was I not being paid for the shop but I would not be reimbursed.

I tried to reconcile even offering to simply take reimbursement for the Food and Beverage alone at this point just to recoup some costs and they refused. At one point offering to redo the entire Slot section when I returned to do what they told me to skip.

I am turning this over to a lawyer - reach out if you have had similar experiences as I believe this could be a class action anti-trust lawsuit due to their unethical and predatory practices.

A few years back, I had a similar experience with this MSC, and it involved a casino, too. Suffice it to say I cut my losses and immediately de-activated. No regrets. My total losses were under 100.00, and so it was easier to swallow than the 800+ you invested. As I recall, I, too, was accused of dishonesty by the MSC rep. Nope. I do not do that, and more often than not, those doing the accusing are the ones being dishonest.
Stay far away from this MSC.

I just wish I had done more research here before getting roped in. Ten foot pole lists are a thing for a reason - head others warnings.

A few years ago (at least 4) I too did an overnight casino shop. Same thing happened to me. I was told the shop would not be accepted because I did not get the name of the dealer at the table. After reading and re-reading the guidelines many times I was unable to figure out where getting the name of the dealer was stated. Anyway, I was out about $300. Have not done a thing for them since and never will again. This MSC is very sketchy. I often wanted to call the casino to see if the report was actually submitted to them knowing I will never take another shop from this MSC.

Wow - very sketchy. Their shop guidelines, survey and edit questions don't match up at all. There is no complete breakdown of what details are needed. There are so many holes in the information. It is like they are setting folks up to fail. I will be calling this casino next week if the MSC has not responded to my polite demand for reimbursement.

I got every name, every time, and a detailed blow-by-blow of what occurred during each interaction ONLY because I had a second person that was actually playing + drinking whom I could simply observe.

DO NOT take a chance on CHC Solutions MSC if you are new to mystery shopping or doing research about them. MH and HK are the only two people at the company and they are clearly not afraid of getting a bad rap with seasoned mystery shoppers. They WILL take advantage of the smallest detail so that they can profit off surveys that folks don't get paid for. I consider this companies practices predatory.

Bottom line....... CHC Solutions provides incomplete guidelines, accuses seasoned shoppers of fraud, and jumps at the chance to not reimburse for the smallest detail.

Sadly, some of the best casino shoppers avoid them because of their ethical issues. I think that includes MickeyB, SteveSoCal and SoCalMama that I know of.

I've done a casino client for them a couple of times. I must have lucked out because I did not have any issues. But I will consider this information the next time that I get offered a job with them.

Thanks for sharing that! There is a good reason some of the most active, seasoned and professional shoppers refuse to perform shops for CHC Solutions. If you are doing research, head the warning.

Being out $851 for such silly details is worth pursuing. I already set my attorney in motion on the matter.

They can't even get their story straight on why they wont accept it. First, receipts not submitted in a timely manner. Now, inaccurate information. Neither of which are true.

They are looking for reasons not to pay the shoppers. Wouldn't surprise me if they were selling my report to competitors even if they didn't submit it to the original client.

@thunderdeacon I had 2 prior experiences that were successful, if a bit odd. The first report they didn't give me access to the CHC Portal through Prophet.

I just still find it so weird that they don't have shoppers upload photos of receipts in the report to be sure that everything is submitted together and on time. I truly believe they are setting folks up to fail.

And, their attitude and communication style sucks. Ten foot pole list for sure. It is not worth it.

@SoCalMama, @MickeyB, @SteveSoCal - what other companies do these? I really love doing them and want to continue.

They originally baited me in saying that if I do a few for them they also have travel shops in Canada, etc. so I had genuinely been working very hard on all my reports for them.

@SoCalMama wrote:

Sadly, some of the best casino shoppers avoid them because of their ethical issues. I think that includes MickeyB, SteveSoCal and SoCalMama that I know of.

Approx. five years ago, I received a phone call to complete a racino in my hometown. The pay sounded attractive, but I explained I would need to see if a guest were possible. Fortunately for me, I thought to check on this forum. When the scheduler called back, I mentioned that predicated upon what I had read I was no longer interested. Since that day, I have neither received calls nor E-letters.

@shopperbob sounds par for the course for CHS Solutions. You definitely dodged a bullet!

okay. Thank you very much for the heads up. It sounds like this has been going on for years. I will not schedule any more evaluations with them. I will be interested to see how your legal pursuit goes.

So sorry that happened to you but thanks for the heads up for other shoppers.

HS Brands does casino shops outside of Nevada. I believe they are mostly Indian casinos.

A couple of years ago, I did three shops, three shifts for one of their new locations in Buffalo NY. Unfortunately, it was the first shop at this location and the report was not finalized yet. They were making revisions to the report based on the feedback I provided on the fly.

Ultimately, I couldn't keep up with all the changes and ended up not getting paid by them for any of the three shops (all three shifts and overnight hotel stay). I'm not sure who was to blame, them or me, but I truly tried to keep up with the changes.

I would do another shop at the same casino or group of casinos, but I haven't seen them offered lately.

I have gotten e-mails from them about locations in states other than NY.

There are tons of warmings on this forum about her attitude and how they do business. They are on my 30 foot pole list.

I selected a casino shop for CHC some time ago, but I cancelled it after reading the comments on this forum. CHC was very upset and deactivated my account (incidently, this is the only MSC that has deactivated my account).

Here's the fun part.

For months afterward, CHC asked me to complete other casino shops. I reminded them each time that I could not do so as CHC had (supposedly) deactivated my account. I do not hear from them anymore, so it appears that they eventually got the message.

CHC should be on everyone's 30 foot pole list.

I am also on the list to say that I have worked with them for several years and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. MH is always very kind and way more responsive than most MS schedulers. I am always happy to do shops for them when asked. The reports are less overwhelming than some high end companies and simple to complete. One of the more enjoyable shops of all the companies I work with.

@RyanS107 wrote:

I am also on the list to say that I have worked with them for several years and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. MH is always very kind and way more responsive than most MS schedulers. I am always happy to do shops for them when asked. The reports are less overwhelming than some high end companies and simple to complete. One of the more enjoyable shops of all the companies I work with.

Great. You can look forward to lots of enjoyable work then. Most of us are going to pass on working for these women.

You can add me to the list of people that believe this company to be unethical and predatory. Different situation - same result - this was about five years ago. For those of you who do wish to continue working for them, my advice would be to keep detailed records of all communications. Also, if you take work that involves the Prophet site, take screen shots of fee information that is posted on that site before you submit.

I have worked with them for years and have traveled all over for them. I always got paid. They can be difficult and demanding. They do respond quickly and will talk to you on the phone if you have questions. They are not good to work for if are new to these types of shops. The pay is a little higher than some other companies that do this type of work.

I will say that they had particularly basic and general instructions, and they kind of expected you to know what you were doing. They are the only MSC I have worked for where you submit all the receipts in a separate email and do not submit them in the reporting platform. I agree that they would not be good for a beginner. The situation described above is unacceptable. I am interested to see how it ends up getting resolved.

@Rubi wrote:

I have worked with them for years and have traveled all over for them. I always got paid. They can be difficult and demanding. They do respond quickly and will talk to you on the phone if you have questions. They are not good to work for if are new to these types of shops. The pay is a little higher than some other companies that do this type of work.

If you consider shoppers who have had in excess of $100,000 in reimbursable expenses in one year and 10-20 years of shopping experience, worldwide, as being "new", I am speechless.

I just had a similar thing happen with HS Brands. Infuriating. I am also planning on filing in small claims court. Please pm me with what your lawyer advised you to do.

The CHC ‘ladies’ are a handful, to say the least. I avoid working for them. I was once accused of fabricating a slot interaction but luckily I recorded the interaction and she backed off. Really quick to accuse without getting feedback. I’m sorry you are going through this - I feel your pain.

Wow! After many, many interactions with this woman I would never describe her as pleasant. Rude, short, perhaps a bit tipsy at times...But never pleasant. You are lucky!

They are an awful company to work for. I used to do a casino through Strategic Reflections. The reports were super-easy, reimbursements were decent and the casino was 5 minutes from my office. Now CHC does them. I stupidly signed up and did this casino for them. The reports (which used to take max of 1 hour total) now took 4!!! Your winnings get deducted from the pay. I also had to put together an excel spreadsheet detailing expenses. It was a complete joke. And, i had to keep hounding them for payment. Avoid this company like the plague!!

ETA: I checked my records and the reports for CHC took more like 6 hours. I don’t know how they stay in business. Their reporting system is odd, to say the least. I’ve been shopping for over 10 years and have never seen anything like it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2021 10:57PM by Phoebe70.

I worked for them for several years. It's like Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde. You never know which one will show up. I have had detailed conversations with both women and some have been exceptionally pleasant and informative. Others, not so much. I've always tried to submit quality work, and I always received the agreed upon payment, usually in an extremely prompt manner. That said, they can be unreasonably demanding. I had completed a hotel assignment and the report was due at 4:00 PM. I was taking care of my F-I-L, who was on hospice and died about a month later. I asked Hallie when she would begin the editing process because I needed a few more hours due to having a difficult day with dad. Hallie said the report was due when it was due and it didn't matter when she was going to edit it. I explained again that I'd really had a tough day with dad and just needed a little extra time. Hallie said she and Mandy had both had more difficulties in their lives than I could even begin to imagine and that it was too bad, but I needed to do the job they paid me to do. I finished the report and NEVER, EVER, NEVER plan to work for them again.

@lauraric wrote:

I worked for them for several years. It's like Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde. You never know which one will show up. I have had detailed conversations with both women and some have been exceptionally pleasant and informative. Others, not so much. I've always tried to submit quality work, and I always received the agreed upon payment, usually in an extremely prompt manner. That said, they can be unreasonably demanding. I had completed a hotel assignment and the report was due at 4:00 PM. I was taking care of my F-I-L, who was on hospice and died about a month later. I asked Hallie when she would begin the editing process because I needed a few more hours due to having a difficult day with dad. Hallie said the report was due when it was due and it didn't matter when she was going to edit it. I explained again that I'd really had a tough day with dad and just needed a little extra time. Hallie said she and Mandy had both had more difficulties in their lives than I could even begin to imagine and that it was too bad, but I needed to do the job they paid me to do. I finished the report and NEVER, EVER, NEVER plan to work for them again.

I'm sorry about your dad. Nice of her to try to one-up you on that. Nothing I can add won't get deleted as profane, so I'll leave it at that. You're better off without toxic people like that in your life.

If she wants to go head to head like that, you should give her my number. She'd lose.

@lauraric wrote:

I worked for them for several years. It's like Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde. You never know which one will show up. I have had detailed conversations with both women and some have been exceptionally pleasant and informative. Others, not so much. I've always tried to submit quality work, and I always received the agreed upon payment, usually in an extremely prompt manner. That said, they can be unreasonably demanding. I had completed a hotel assignment and the report was due at 4:00 PM. I was taking care of my F-I-L, who was on hospice and died about a month later. I asked Hallie when she would begin the editing process because I needed a few more hours due to having a difficult day with dad. Hallie said the report was due when it was due and it didn't matter when she was going to edit it. I explained again that I'd really had a tough day with dad and just needed a little extra time. Hallie said she and Mandy had both had more difficulties in their lives than I could even begin to imagine and that it was too bad, but I needed to do the job they paid me to do. I finished the report and NEVER, EVER, NEVER plan to work for them again.

I'm so sorry about your dad. I also so wish I could say I was surprised by this - but I am not. This is exactly how these two operate. I don't know a single person who has worked with them for any significant amount of time and hasn't had an unpleasant (or worse) interaction with them.

I’m so sorry that happened to you I have only done one casino but it was quite some time ago with another MSC. I took my casino expert friend with me. I hope that you at least won some money!