Ipsos - closed location fee
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You are lucky.! I did one for $1 but hung around for at least 45 minutes waiting for the computers to come back up so they could open the front doors and let people in. They kept saying they would re open any minute. I finally gave up and got paid $1 for all that time. The other one I did for IPSOS/Presto that was temporarily closed I got $0 for my effort.
That fee is ridiculous even if you can see through the window of your living room that the store is closed.
That fee is ridiculous even if you can see through the window of your living room that the store is closed.
I've done a couple electronics shops for them where the store was no longer at the location specified. Yep, I received $1 for my time spent reviewing guidelines, the drive there, the photo to document the missing store, and the time I spent reporting that I was unable to shop the location. And then I see the same locations listed again in the next round of shops....even after I notified them that the stores were no longer there. Total lack of respect for our time and effort, in my opinion.
I'm not happy with that $1 closed location fee. I have avoided doing "approved retailer" cell phone shops for years, since long before the $1 fee, I only do company owned cell phone stores, they don't change locations, or sell out, or vanish off the face of the planet.
I have mixed feelings here. Policies vary from one MSC to another. Bad locations get posted, for sure, but the guidelines for a lot of shops tell you to verify before you go. I never do that. On balance, it wouldn't be worth it. Once in a while I get caught on it. If they pay me a fee, great. If they don't, they don't. I'll take any closed location fee offered, but as an IC and not an employee I don't feel entitled to be indemnified when something goes wrong.
This was indeed an "authorized retailer" location. If it had been a company store and they'd been closed for something like a power outage, would the closed location fee have been more than $1?@Morledzep wrote:
I'm not happy with that $1 closed location fee. I have avoided doing "approved retailer" cell phone shops for years, since long before the $1 fee, I only do company owned cell phone stores, they don't change locations, or sell out, or vanish off the face of the planet.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Same thing happened to me with the flu shot inquiries they did in September. The client gave them a bunch of stores that have been gone for years. $1 a pop for two closed locations.
@panama18 I get what you're saying.
What is your opinion on them or any MSP re-listing the same location over and over after other shoppers report that the location is closed permanently? Why do they do that?
@KokoBWare I didn't do those flu shot shops, but it seems that if The Client submits a list of closed locations, they should pay 100% of the regular rate or something close for sending dead locations and the shopper should get 100% of their fee - not 10% or lower. It seems that or a similar policy would motivate The Client to review the list and send good active shops. Why isn't the MSP reviewing the list if they are in the data collection business? Besides isn't that closed location info worth more than $1. It must be if they put that location back on the list to shop.
Wouldn't The Client know from their records that So and So Pharmacy hasn't ordered anything in years? Which would prompt a reach out in the form of phone calls and emails to the contact to see what's going on.
I can't imagine driving 40 minutes away to find that the shop is closed and all I am gonna get is a $1. I would have other things on the route, but still. A lot of these places don't even answer the phone and the search engines don't always have the most up to date accurate information.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2024 04:11PM by Momomomo.
What is your opinion on them or any MSP re-listing the same location over and over after other shoppers report that the location is closed permanently? Why do they do that?
@KokoBWare I didn't do those flu shot shops, but it seems that if The Client submits a list of closed locations, they should pay 100% of the regular rate or something close for sending dead locations and the shopper should get 100% of their fee - not 10% or lower. It seems that or a similar policy would motivate The Client to review the list and send good active shops. Why isn't the MSP reviewing the list if they are in the data collection business? Besides isn't that closed location info worth more than $1. It must be if they put that location back on the list to shop.
Wouldn't The Client know from their records that So and So Pharmacy hasn't ordered anything in years? Which would prompt a reach out in the form of phone calls and emails to the contact to see what's going on.
I can't imagine driving 40 minutes away to find that the shop is closed and all I am gonna get is a $1. I would have other things on the route, but still. A lot of these places don't even answer the phone and the search engines don't always have the most up to date accurate information.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2024 04:11PM by Momomomo.
Ipsos is Ipsos. They have semi-cornered the shopping marketplace by purchasing their competitors. Their business plan, with which they are seemingly successful, is to quickly pay a meager sum; a strategy filling a need to their ICs. As for me, I am thankful not to be in the position where subscribing to their practices is necessary. Although this IS business, it bothers me that some folks, even if their situation is partially or in whole their fault, must just "grin and bear it." That being stated, I completely agree with the post of the Isthmusite.
I've got a reimbursement-only shop for the Global Home of Breakfast Foods scheduled for Saturday for a different MSC. I just discovered the location has closed; I'm not driving across town for just a 'thank you.'
Edited to add: I didn't even get a thank you! I sent an email asking what the closed location fee would be and got back a terse: "It's closed, I'll let the client know, and your shop is canceled."
Jerk.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2024 04:59PM by drdoggie00.
Edited to add: I didn't even get a thank you! I sent an email asking what the closed location fee would be and got back a terse: "It's closed, I'll let the client know, and your shop is canceled."
Jerk.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2024 04:59PM by drdoggie00.
Just another reason to avoid that category of shops like the plague.
After reading this I now feel somewhat ashamed @#$%& about them only paying half bonuses on remote gas stations that are closed.
I get paying the half fee... you're hardly doing any work.
But the bonus was offered because they couldn't get the location off their books in a timely manner. Open or closed status shouldn't apply in my book...
After reading this I now feel somewhat ashamed @#$%& about them only paying half bonuses on remote gas stations that are closed.
I get paying the half fee... you're hardly doing any work.
But the bonus was offered because they couldn't get the location off their books in a timely manner. Open or closed status shouldn't apply in my book...
Have synthesizers, will travel...
I didn't even get $1. I got a rejection instead. It was the one where you had to go to a clothing retailer and inquire about a credit card. I went to the location and it was permanently closed. My report was not accepted and they never told me why. Not even after emailing the help desk. I didn't pursue it since I wasn't going to get much money out of a closed location anyway. Fortunately, this hasn't affected my ability to schedule other shops. The other annoying part is they have continued to post this same closed location for some other sucker to take it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 07:37AM by Mellifluy.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2024 07:37AM by Mellifluy.
@panama18 wrote:
I have mixed feelings here. Policies vary from one MSC to another. Bad locations get posted, for sure, but the guidelines for a lot of shops tell you to verify before you go. I never do that. On balance, it wouldn't be worth it. Once in a while I get caught on it. If they pay me a fee, great. If they don't, they don't. I'll take any closed location fee offered, but as an IC and not an employee I don't feel entitled to be indemnified when something goes wrong.
On the "official delivery" shops they tell you to verify before you go, BUT the input requires a picture of the closed location. However, they pay a half fee--not just $1. I've had two closed locations: One I didn't verify first. The other I did and knew it was not just closed, but demolished. I contacted the scheduler the day before and asked if they wanted to just cancel the shop, but they never responded so I just went so it wouldn't be late. Both times I was paid the half fee.
I think the closed location fee/policy should be stated in the guidelines for each shop. I know…wishful thinking.
If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
@drdoggie00 wrote:
I think the closed location fee/policy should be stated in the guidelines for each shop. I know…wishful thinking.
I agree, some kind of consistency would be good too. One shop it's half pay, another shop is $1, and yet another is nothing at all, with no rhyme or reason, sometimes all of those shops are the same client, or the same scenario. I don't know who decides who gets paid for what or how much. The other MSC's tell you upfront in the guidelines what you will get if the location is closed, there is no good reason why Ipsos can't.
"Reduced fee" is vague for a reason. It gives the MSC the option to change it however and whenever they want. It could be a penny and we would have zero legs to stand on if we complained. It's unethical in my shopper-opinion but that's how they do business.
CoolMusic - I agree with you....I have recently had an oil change station assigned to me with a bonus. I called the location and they answered "Lube station", so I thought it was the correct site:...however, when I got there, the site had changed hands and no longer sold the brand IPSOS was shopping. They accepted my report, but cut the bonus in half! The cost for me was the time to research the site and the travel to the remote site (which was WHY it was bonused!). I felt ripped off by IPSOS but.....no recourse really is available, aside from this forum!
^^^^^ One of many posts on this crappy board that need a dislike link.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
As mentioned elsewhere addressing this topic, I predicted I would receive full payment from the food recall company for a Target location that is now a sewing center.
While that company can have some timing issues, the fact I was still credited full pay for taking a picture of a building, two closeups of an empty parking space (to fill the slots for merchandising pics) and repeatedly clicking on "No" in their app is much appreciated.
While that company can have some timing issues, the fact I was still credited full pay for taking a picture of a building, two closeups of an empty parking space (to fill the slots for merchandising pics) and repeatedly clicking on "No" in their app is much appreciated.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
I'm waiting to see what happens with a shop I did recently. It was for a drive-thru only. Directions said that if for some reason I was unable to complete it as a drive-thru, I was NOT to complete the shop inside the restaurant, and was to state that the drive-thru was closed. It was a new location, so, I checked the hours, drove out to it, and....no drive-thru. Restaurant was open, but it literally has no drive-thru whatsoever. My shop was accepted but it doesn't say what my pay will be. They still have the location listed as having a drive-thru.
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