I'd LOVE to get in on the timeshare shops! I enjoy traveling and doing all kinds of shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2021 05:45PM by msbarefoot.

After completing two shops with Coyle, y’all crazy. The back and forth wasn’t bad. One round. The grading was fair enough. If they pay within 45 days then I think they’re no worse than any other company and they have more unique stuff.

There's a restaurant shop that is $35 max reimbursement only -> Not including the tip.
To me, this is disrespectful to restaurant servers in general. Part of the experience of eating out is having the luxury of being waited on. It's a person on his/her feet for hours who's making that experience possible and they deserve to be tipped and that tip should be allowed within the shop scenario.
Oh, and there's no fee for observing, making notes, and completing the report within the assigned deadline.
This is rude overall and I have not and will not accept a shop approaches an assignment this way or their client that sets up the guidelines this way.

It is amazing how fast the 10 foot pole list grows as you get more and more jaded. I’ve only been at this 3 months and I’m almost ready to turn in my keys. I didn’t think this would get old so fast and after reading people’s stories here, I wish I found this forum before I started. Thanks to to everyone for sharing their stories.

I won’t do online shop/return except for eBay. I got burned and it took me 4.5 hours of dogging the merchant on an alternate platform to get my refund. BestMark has been really good about these shops, they told me I can throw a shop back if I get one on a platform I refuse to do business on, without impacting my standing with them.

I won’t do the Ipsos online shop/return, you’re at the mercy of the merchant, I spent hours dogging both merchants for a refund.

In both scenarios, I was left out to dry taking on the risk with ZERO leverage with merchant because if I disputed with the credit card, I lose the shop fee.

The other is cell phone purchase and return - I got burned by the authorized reseller who told me I could only buy the watch if he processed it on installments, I didn’t know better so I did and then paid it off. When I went to return it, I was told sorry nothing we can do, you own it. I spent close to 7 hours on the phone with customer service & finally landed in the retention/loyalty department. After being on the phone with them for almost 2 hours, I got my money back plus for my trouble she threw in a little lagniappe, which I didn’t realize until I did the math. The MSC supposedly tired to intervene with the client reps, but the client was slow and my credit card payment was due.

Anything that touches anything that will cause me hours if not weeks of heartburn when it gets screwed up: wireless account, utilities, banking.

I was slow on the uptake on the fee to work ratio; Nothing under $15 unless it is a simple checklist with a few short narratives.

Coyle shops - they want ridiculous granular detail for $15 and a meal reimbursement. They cancelled my shop because I couldn’t cut the mustard with the level of detail, which was ok but they were out and out RUDE about it. I asked for guidance upfront on how to do this and be successful, I got NOTHING from them.

Reimbursement only shops with stuff I won’t ever use or EAT. I might consider doing a fast food shop if there are homeless people around I can give the food to. I can’t bring myself to waste food.

Home Improvement shops after a natural disaster. Those poor people are busting their behinds to get merchandise out the door to help people get their homes livable again. I will not waste their time buying random items and then returning them plus asking ridiculous questions. My favorite home improvement shop was buying a wooden storm door in Southeast Louisiana. The guy thought I was a complete idiot (I’m a transplant from the Northeast), he told me go ahead and buy it, you’ll replace it in a year or two if you’re lucky. I gave that feedback to the MSC, they didn’t care that the scenario made no sense in this market.

Store audit where you scan every darn item. Not hard work but after 9 hours in a store, forget it. The smaller audits are frustrating enough, trying to find items that never ever existed in the store to begin with.

Store audits where the instructions evolved over time, written by multiple people in multiple styles that page 5 contradicts page 3. Clear as mud and when you call for help, oh that really means…. I’m slow but thorough, it took me 7 hours for something they say should take 2 to 4 hours; not with those instructions and to do it right.

Lastly is any company with editors that believe they are the ultimate in writing styles and say I don’t follow instructions. I retired from corporate America after 30+ years in management. You learn through hard knocks how to write succinctly without a lot of fluff that your boss says is wasting his/her time.

As for reading instructions, I’m very literal because I did 20 years in the nuclear power industry. You quickly learn to follow the instructions as written and stop when unsure. If the guideline says take a picture of the product opened, that’s what you get. You don’t get a picture of the inside of the open package because that’s how you the editor interpret the instructions. That was a power trip, mess with my rating even after I quote chapter & verse of the instructions and ask show me that explicit instruction.

Do I miss things when I proof read, sure do when I rush to get ‘r done because the fee is so low. Effort and Quality level are directly related to $$$. It’s amazing how the old adage you get what you pay for applies in this industry. Now with inflation nipping at our wallets, I’m getting fussier, even though my spouse says take it, you need to get out of the house (sound familiar anybody?).

I apologize for the soapbox, but this was therapeutic.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2021 09:42AM by buckhill2.

I had the same experience with the extensive Ink products inventory shop. I think I recall the job was projected at something like 45 mins. The store was closing as I was nearing 95% completion. I had a lot of work to organize products so I could inventory. Went to site 2 down the mall. Easier. Way fewer selections but still exceeding the total 45 estimate. I bailed. Was not making a second trip. I did ot complete. I wrote to advise the pay was insufficent for the excessive underestimate on the guidelines. The response was funny to me. I like the team a lot but saying the client determinses the rate..??
I just rec'd a personal text request. I was advised the audit has been reassessed and fewer requirements do seem to be making it worth another look.
I'll let you know soon. One scheduled for tomorrow.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2021 03:13PM by emm2131.

There are shops I would not consider for the fee I was paid, but only one, an AT&T assignment, that I doubt any MSC would pay me enough to convince me to re-apply. The return portion was so time consuming, it was either five or six attempts, I was almost to the point of abandoning the work.

Morle, you are in dreamland...to say that noting missing or inaccurately posted marketing materials is NOT a "gotcha" is the height of folly. Of course, the parent company wants to know about these things, and they ABSOLUTELY reward or negatively criticize those stations, based on the info you provide. I know this because my neighbor owns gas stations!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2021 08:16PM by salisburync.

Cool--Funny post!..and I couldn't agree more with:

I've suffered through enough sales presentations for several lifetimes.

deleted

I do the reveals following the gas shops, but I live in a small centre and I feel like they see me rolling down the highway on my way to do the shop. It's pretty funny, actually They all know what's coming when I start my schtick.

I only do shops at places I would go to anyway, or for services I need. I love oil change shops, car wash shops, and restaurant shops Anything else I don't do. I'm very shy so I could never do a reveal shop.

Neighter me or my husband have paid for an oil change for years. We do pay for dinner out a lot cuz there are so many places we want to go, but a lot of times I do it for a shop. Food is expensive to buy, and time consuming to prepare, so I like the restaurant shops as having a meal prepared and leftoevers gives me a lot of additional time, which I think of in terms of money.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2021 12:53AM by rothers27.

@reallycoolshopper wrote:

I do the reveals following the gas shops, but I live in a small centre and I feel like they see me rolling down the highway on my way to do the shop. It's pretty funny, actually They all know what's coming when I start my schtick.

If they know who you are, then they should get near-perfect scores and make your job easier and more efficient

Nothing where I have to lay out my own money, except for oil change shops, gas station shops and post office shops - my post office has lines out the door every time I go there!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2021 04:39AM by Reeree1967.

What do the mattress shops entail? They always sit on the roster for the longest time because no one signs up for them in my area.

Are the car wash shops difficult? I've been wanting to try it, but I'm nervous about the recording aspect.

The mattress shops used to be $25-$35 shops before bonuses. Now they are $8-$12 shops. That accounts for part of their 10 foot pole nature. They take a long time to allow the salesperson to go through their presentation.

Also, in the current environment of infection, some also fear infestations--bedbugs, fleas--from lying on the same mattress that others have "tested."

snow inquires--What do the mattress shops entail?

Bob replies--Most of the ones I have completed had a total shop and report time of approximately one hour. My last one, though, ran about two hours and I was docked $10 for skimping on the narrative. After receiving my reduced pay, I requested deactivation, but it was not forthcoming. Their mail is now funneled into my SPAM folder.

Added a new one today. The doctor's office visits for Customer Impact. I swore off them last time after wasting over an hour trying to get access to the office, eventually being refused due to Covid and then being told I'd only get $3 for not being allowed to do the shop. Took it again because it was up to $62 (was $30 last time, which was much higher than the regular price). Once again I was refused because the office manager had no idea what I was talking about and after submitting it as unable to complete on their Sassie site, the scheduler asked me to submit it in the tool they use, so they could update the info. So after spending only a half hour making calls this time, I wasted another 10 minutes and was also told I'd only get $3, even though I did the work that their client should have done themselves (they still had the name of someone who had retired as the contact).

Was so fed up that I've turned off email notifications for all of their shops.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2022 05:01AM by MisterBill.

@MisterBill wrote:

Added a new one today. The doctor's office visits for Customer Impact. I swore off them last time after wasting over an hour trying to get access to the office, eventually being refused due to Covid and then being told I'd only get $3 for not being allowed to do the shop. Took it again because it was up to $62 (was $30 last time, which was much higher than the regular price). Once again I was refused because the office manager had no idea what I was talking about and after submitting it as unable to complete on their Sassie site, the scheduler asked me to submit it in the tool they use, so they could update the info. So after spending only a half hour making calls this time, I wasted another 10 minutes and was also told I'd only get $3, even though I did the work that their client should have done themselves (they still had the name of someone who had retired as the contact).

Was so fed up that I've turned off email notifications for all of their shops.

Yeah, those used to be easier pre-Covid. A lot of offices either don't let you in anymore, or make the process much more of a hassle than it used to be. Shame because the actual work is fairly easy unless you have like, 15 displays.