IPSOS 2022 Shops
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Based on what I'm seeing on the job boards, January of 2022 is simply going to be a time to finish up all the locations that were supposed to get done this year and did not.
I have not done any gas station shops for IPSOS since they bought Maritz, mostly due to what I've read on this forum. How different are their red-white-and-blue shops now?
There have not been any significant changes from Maritz outside of the reporting platforms. Brands on Shopmetrics are just as easy to report. The brands on Sassie take somewhat longer to report, especially if they are completed on-site as you go, which is the way I do them. I would add 5 to 20 minutes to average reporting time for Sassie brands depending on how many photos the location requires.
@thunderdeacon Thank you!
Okay, I'm gonna chime in here. As a tech dinosaur (I actually joke that I've an analog mind in a digital world! ), I have recently been attempting gas station audits on IPSOS, using the app to report on-site.
I have discovered to my delight that this is much, much easier than the same shops with Maritz. I make less per shop, but can do more shops in a day due to not facing hours and hours of downloading photos, sorting them, etc., etc., and completing reports on the computer.
This is true ONLY for the ones reportable on the app. The others, on the "other side" (I can't keep them straight, alas and alack! ) still require reporting after I get home.
One thing is just a tad more difficult -- the app requires that you go in and out, out and in, instead of the way I formerly completed them, which was more efficient (get all inside required photos, then outside, and leave). I walk more and it's a tiny bit more inconvenient. But hitting that "submit" button on-site? AWESOME.
I have discovered to my delight that this is much, much easier than the same shops with Maritz. I make less per shop, but can do more shops in a day due to not facing hours and hours of downloading photos, sorting them, etc., etc., and completing reports on the computer.
This is true ONLY for the ones reportable on the app. The others, on the "other side" (I can't keep them straight, alas and alack! ) still require reporting after I get home.
One thing is just a tad more difficult -- the app requires that you go in and out, out and in, instead of the way I formerly completed them, which was more efficient (get all inside required photos, then outside, and leave). I walk more and it's a tiny bit more inconvenient. But hitting that "submit" button on-site? AWESOME.
My turn to Cha-Ching. My all time high day was $917, but the reports were not due until the next day, so that averages out at $458.50. The MSC for whom I completed that work was Maritz. As I am SmartPhone illiterate, I do not have a point of comparison, but I do not recall the slightest problem with submission. Were I able to turn back the clock and return to Maritiz, I would not have a single iota of hesitancy. Whether I had a problem or a request, I very much appreciated the ability to dial-up the pleasant ladies; my call was always, to my recollect, handled in an expedient and courteous manner.
I have found that for ALL of the gas brands that Ipsos handles, the bonuses are much less than Maritz paid, are offered in a much smaller deadline window and are, in my experience, non negotiable. Every single time I have made offers on remote, hard to fill jobs, the answer has been no. Not even a counter offer.
I know that at least one of the gas station shops for the new year have been posted.. but until I sign up for one of the shops, because it's on Sassie, I can't get access to the guidelines for 2022. And I don't do gas station shops that need photos of EVERY single pump for only $12.50.
So with these new blue that just dropped, I am making the conclusions that with the verbiage, darkness is only being "pushed" as a preference, and not a requirement. Think that's a safe conclusion?
I translated "If possible" as meaning daylight only until more money is offered for being out past dark. That's my conclusion - safe or not, haha!
@sestrahelena wrote:
I translated "If possible" as meaning daylight only until more money is offered for being out past dark. That's my conclusion - safe or not, haha!
That sums it up perfectly!
I note that the amount for the latest shops in 2022 are still at the pay amount as 2021. As for Darkness shops, until they advise in writing that they pay an additional amount for doing a Darkness shop, I would never agree.
I figure there hasn't been that many people going to the Blue stations at night and they need the lights checked. There doesn't seem to be any major changes with these other then kind of pushing that they need them done at night. Haven't heard or seen anything from the Yellow stations yet.
So for 2022, I've gleaned from their "Blue" shops (in other situations, the gas station is their other brand that is Red, BTW) that a photo is required if there is a separate diesel canopy and whether it is branded or unbranded.
As a rule to myself, I have always taken a photo of those canopies and the pumps beneath them. There is also a question of the type of main canopy (2D or 3D), a question about the ID pole being white and now acceptable 1 particular lube rather than the 6 previously. Lastly, that sticker on the pumps of the president that was considered acceptable the past 6 weeks is now considered graffiti.
Best to read those guidelines!
As a rule to myself, I have always taken a photo of those canopies and the pumps beneath them. There is also a question of the type of main canopy (2D or 3D), a question about the ID pole being white and now acceptable 1 particular lube rather than the 6 previously. Lastly, that sticker on the pumps of the president that was considered acceptable the past 6 weeks is now considered graffiti.
Best to read those guidelines!
Regarding darkness preferred.... Midway the instructions state, "These shops can be completed anytime the location is open."
I'm going to be spending the next two weeks doing gas station shops that were supposed to be done by the end of the year. They tried to play hardball with fees, and it backfired. I bet it was fun calling the client and telling them that they had four months to get them done but still couldn't do it.
The schedulers were exasperated and unhappy with the whole process as well. The client loses, The shopper loses, and the scheduler loses. The locations lose because their locations are not going to be done when they were supposed to and now they are wondering what's going on. They're going to blame it on covid and not being able to find enough contractors, but the fact was that they had so many offers that were refused until the very last minute. They will get away with it, probably. The good thing is that I am being rewarded, finally, for not accepting lower amounts earlier this month.
The schedulers were exasperated and unhappy with the whole process as well. The client loses, The shopper loses, and the scheduler loses. The locations lose because their locations are not going to be done when they were supposed to and now they are wondering what's going on. They're going to blame it on covid and not being able to find enough contractors, but the fact was that they had so many offers that were refused until the very last minute. They will get away with it, probably. The good thing is that I am being rewarded, finally, for not accepting lower amounts earlier this month.
@1forum1 wrote:
Regarding darkness preferred.... Midway the instructions state, "These shops can be completed anytime the location is open."
But, when you do the shop during daylight, an editor will question why you didn't do the shop during darkness "as required" When this happens, I go to the guidelines and copy/paste the line that says they can be done anytime, but they prefer them to be done during darkness.
Attempting to have their cake and eat it too. They know that some shoppers will do the night visits, and then they use the editors to try to make a shopper feel guilty if they do not do the "preferred" time.
I generally do their bonused shops at the end of the period. Had a 1 1/2 window to to them this time. The greeny whitey ones have a killer certification test so I didn't mess with them. At the end, they were $30 a pop.
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
@thunderdeacon wrote:
I'm going to be spending the next two weeks doing gas station shops that were supposed to be done by the end of the year. They tried to play hardball with fees, and it backfired. I bet it was fun calling the client and telling them that they had four months to get them done but still couldn't do it.
The schedulers were exasperated and unhappy with the whole process as well. The client loses, The shopper loses, and the scheduler loses. The locations lose because their locations are not going to be done when they were supposed to and now they are wondering what's going on. They're going to blame it on covid and not being able to find enough contractors, but the fact was that they had so many offers that were refused until the very last minute. They will get away with it, probably. The good thing is that I am being rewarded, finally, for not accepting lower amounts earlier this month.
While I, personally, do not do gas stations, kudos to you to holding firm on your fees!
My temps are below zero (daytime) with the snow, wind, etc.
And while I do some of these, I remember when the old company took over - gas purchases were raised to $5 maximum and the shop pay became $12.50.
Years have past and still there is no increase in pay amount. To top it off, in the past, added pay of $1 was included for the additional diesel photos and other special photos.
Now, they are now part and parcel of the shop requirement, minus the additional pay.
As I understand it, even Social Security has a cost of living increase every year.
And while I do some of these, I remember when the old company took over - gas purchases were raised to $5 maximum and the shop pay became $12.50.
Years have past and still there is no increase in pay amount. To top it off, in the past, added pay of $1 was included for the additional diesel photos and other special photos.
Now, they are now part and parcel of the shop requirement, minus the additional pay.
As I understand it, even Social Security has a cost of living increase every year.
French Farmer states-- As I understand it, even Social Security has a cost of living increase every year.
Bob comments--Usually, but not always. There were two consecutive years since 2000 when there was not any increase. The reason being that it is tied to the cost-of-living.
As to low fees, I. and several other posters. have shared they are dictated by shoppers accepting what is tendered by MSCs. The solution to that situation is as plain as"the nose on any person's face." STOP working for a pittance, especially for gas stations. The oil companies are multi-billion dollar concerns, but It would be fiscally irresponsible for any company to pay more than necessary. It is the shopper who has and is the enabler for them to pay so little money for so much work.
The above does not apply to those in financial difficulty. I well understand that when in need, anything trumps nothing.
Bob comments--Usually, but not always. There were two consecutive years since 2000 when there was not any increase. The reason being that it is tied to the cost-of-living.
As to low fees, I. and several other posters. have shared they are dictated by shoppers accepting what is tendered by MSCs. The solution to that situation is as plain as"the nose on any person's face." STOP working for a pittance, especially for gas stations. The oil companies are multi-billion dollar concerns, but It would be fiscally irresponsible for any company to pay more than necessary. It is the shopper who has and is the enabler for them to pay so little money for so much work.
The above does not apply to those in financial difficulty. I well understand that when in need, anything trumps nothing.
@shopperbob wrote:
French Farmer states-- As I understand it, even Social Security has a cost of living increase every year.
Bob comments--Usually, but not always. There were two consecutive years since 2000 when there was not any increase. The reason being that it is tied to the cost-of-living.
As for my complaint of no increase in many years of gas station site inspections, it is an observation, albeit a wry one at that.
As for advising a solution, I believe that horse has left the barn. And, I note on the Job Board, that is what is happening - work stays afloat until each shopper sees their personal tipping point.
I find it somewhat foolish on the particular MSC that at first it only allowed rotational shops to be taken the first 2 weeks of the month versus the old MSC's 3 weeks. After a learning period, the new MSC now finds so many of the rotational shops sitting there that they add incentives at an earlier pace than the old MSC.
Yes, it can be argued that it allows for faster editing (2 weeks assignable versus 3 weeks). Yet, the old stodgy and antiquated MSC seemed to do all of that rather effortlessly.
Nonetheless, it is my feeling that payment inequities should be addressed and criticized.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2022 08:20PM by French Farmer.
Same here! every single pump at the Red and Yellow gas station is too much for the low pay. And having to upload every single picture and comment on every single pump, which usually has an issue, whether it's graffiti, non operational, filthy, missing credit card applications, broken buttons, missing squeegee, etc. Oh, and the vagrants loitering around the restroom that needs to be inspected. Ummmm, no thank you!
Just had 3 cure re-shops in my area pop up for 40. I looked them up on the map and said no way, 50 or up all three are massive fails with tons of photos headaches all of them. Got one for 75 I still have to do.
I finally got around to doing the Yellow shops but only because I was also doing a debranding shop on it. Double dipped but not doing one again. As normal it is too little money for too much work. But I can say I have done one.
In corresponding with one of my shopping friends, I learned that the "once a day" rewards card usage at the pumps requirement for the "Blue" gas stations is no longer in effect.
I've gone over the new 2022 guidelines and cannot find the requirement. So, I suppose I'll use my rewards card at each station.
My friend also tells me that at some of the stations they do, the employees describe a husband and wife team doing the inspection. They say the man comes in and makes the inside purchase while the woman is outside taking the photos. She comes in afterwards and thanks them while giving them the recognition sheet.
I thought that was strange since I thought the practice of bringing someone along was frowned upon.
My friend says they listen and say nothing one way or the other. Still, I wonder how often this practice of a team is commonplace.
I've gone over the new 2022 guidelines and cannot find the requirement. So, I suppose I'll use my rewards card at each station.
My friend also tells me that at some of the stations they do, the employees describe a husband and wife team doing the inspection. They say the man comes in and makes the inside purchase while the woman is outside taking the photos. She comes in afterwards and thanks them while giving them the recognition sheet.
I thought that was strange since I thought the practice of bringing someone along was frowned upon.
My friend says they listen and say nothing one way or the other. Still, I wonder how often this practice of a team is commonplace.
I had my rewards card flagged as fraud and it was removed when I had over $9 in rewards on it. They said there was nothing I could do to ever get it back and had to start over with a new card and new email...nah,...I'll pass completely. It annoyed me, but was probably my fault for using it too often. So, be careful when using the card too frequently.
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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
I had 3 reward cards revoked before the one-a-day rule came into effect. Other times, pumps would automatically apply the points to a gas purchase even after I chose NO. Stores will not apply the reward points to in -store purchases claiming that they don't know how or the points have been applied to the cost when they haven't. Now many stations have "New" systems that do not recognize the card at the pumps at all. The whole program is and was a sham. I gave up.
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