TrendSource

Has anyone worked for this company??? They want $7.50 for a background check, and insist that you have a EIN. Has anyone worked for them and are they on the up & up???? I haven't run into this before.

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I have done work for them and I did get an EIN. I have never done a job for them that required a background check. I have always been paid on time.

The business verifications require a background check and it is not just a one time deal. It has to be renewed every year. You also have to complete a certain number of shops before you can self-assign. I was with them for over a year prior to the background check requirement. In all that time I was able to request and receive one BV. Near the end of the year I also got to the self-assign status and still could not self-assign BVs. For me it was not worth it to pay for the background check with no guarantees I could ever get any assignments.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
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I have done several jobs for them. They are for real and pay on time.

I've cleaned up on the business verification jobs. I enjoy working for them. I am able to self-assigned.

same here... the 7.50 is chump change compared to the BVs you can get in your area... if you're quick enough. I'm sure, Lisa, that in your neck of the woods there are thousands scouring that board every second. I've found that BVs come in waves.

I normally get the e-mail and I can quickly jump online through the android app and score them. There has been times where I've missed it though.

I know the yearly requirement sucks, but look at it as a cost of doing business. I'd rather pay the 7.50 a year and thin out the eligible shopper pool than not be required to pay it and have to compete against every Tom, Dick, and Mary when it comes to BVs. In my experience, it has been very positive -- because the herd is so thin up here -- the EIN requirement and background check thinned it so much where I can bid on distance jobs and normally get them.

I would consider it the cost of doing business, but self assigning was never an option for the BVs. After completing what I thought were the required number of shops to qualify, the only things available for me to self-assign were pizza and office supply shops. Since I wouldn't take any of those, eventually my "status" went back to by request only. IMHO, successfully completing not only the one BV that was assigned to me, but also a number of more complex Medicare shops should have qualified me. I was not going to continue to jump through hoops, or take on the dreg shops, for their vague promises. Considering the way they tried to recruit me for this year's Medicare shops, the EIN requirement may have "thinned the herd" here as well. The only thing is, I don't have one myself

It's moot anyway since I can make much more money with another company who has reasonable reports and no financial penalties.

Although I am fairly new, Trendsource is one of my favorite companies. I have "jumped through the hoops" (such as paying for the background check) in order to do the business verifications. I love getting those. Once you do a couple, they are a piece of cake. I have also noticed that they come in waves and that you have to check the site often in order to get them. It seems like by the time I read their email about a BV being available, it's already taken by the time I apply. I have been trying to check their site a little more on my own to try to apply for the BV before the emails go out to everyone. It is definitely worth the small price of the background check (at least in my area). I average about 1 per month, but sometimes I will get 2 in one week. It varies.
Debbie

A good company, mostly communicative when needed, with no payment issues. I don't need or want an EIN, and certainly won't pay annually for one in order to do business with TS. They're having a few sticking points with the requirement. I did lose my ability to self-assign which hasn't entirely worked against me. I request, they sit on it for a few days, the shop still pends, I withdraw my request. They email, offering PAD. I have to say I miss BVs. They were fun, but I could never self-assign them anyway. One or two a month here. Requesting, then waiting to see if I was the chosen one was not enjoyable, and paying for that experience isn't going to happen.

They are good, I've been working with them since 2007. They were one of the first companies I shopped for regularly. But of course this was back when they had "K....." grocery stores as a client and did shops on a monthly basis. I always get in on their chili dog shops, which occur once a year for a few weeks.

I did a medicare shop for them and applied for a couple of BV's but needed gas money and someone else was closer. I'll keep trying for the BV's when I can.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

I do pizza shops for them, and have never had an issue with them. I never did any BV so I woudln't know about the background check.

I work for them on a regular basis and am doing to site inspections tomorrow. I love that they pay every two weeks without fail and I qualified to be a Premier Agent and get an 11% discount on my AT&T cell phone bill! That really helps! Trendsource is great at answering questions, too.

I have enjoyed Trend Source. Lisa the scheduler is easy to deal with.

New shopper February 2013
Central and Southern Tier of New York
Yes, there is more to NY than NY City.
Any help is appreciated.

I thought about doing work for them. Signed up and even got a gig scheduled. But the thing that was a deal breaker for me is the requirement to have an EIN. I'm already a serial entrepreneur, with a couple of active companies, but I didn't want to cross-polinate the mystery shopping with other business I do. And, to get another EIN, with all the tax/reporting work that entails, just wasn't worth it to me.

No other MSC I work for has this as a REQUIREMENT, so I decided to pass.

I have a question. When milage pay is offered on the business verificaitons what does that amount to?

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In !

Namaste Wrote:
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> I have a question. When milage pay is offered on
> the business verificaitons what does that amount
> to?

When they offer milage you put the amount you are requesting in the Pad area when you apply for the shop. They review the amount if they think its okay then they accept it. I don't remember off hand, but if you click on the question mark beside the pad request it shows you what "they" think is acceptable.

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