So some good shops finally came through on my "radar" for Bestmark (everything since I started had been car shops, finally some restaurants popped up). The bad part is that the shop dates aren't until the last week of October and first week of November, which would normally be fine were it not for the super large font, boldfaced YOU MUST BE 100% SURE YOU CAN MAKE THIS SHOP - IF YOU CANCEL WE'LL DROP YOU FROM OUR DATABASE. That's pretty intimidating and what would otherwise be a shop I'd gladly do will now go into the trash bin because I can't say with 100% certainty that I can do that shop a month in advance. I haven't seen an over the top threat like that anywhere else so far, why the "This is Sparta!" approach?

You can get dropped easier than that! I tried to get info on a Casino shop, once by email and once by phone message, and the scheduler did not get back to me within 24 hours. That was a problem for me because I had signed up for the shop and, based on information I learned about only after signing up, wasn't sure I really wanted to do it. If I didn't get back to them within another 24 hours I would be in trouble for not notifying them soon enough that I didn't want to do it, and I had shops scheduled for all of the next day. Frustrated, I sent an email saying I just didn't have time to play games trying to get an answer so cancel the shop. I apologized later for being unnecessarily rude but that didn't stop the scheduler, LL, from dumping me off the list even though I had done a number of good shops for them before. When I talked to her asking if she was being vindictive for sending the email she claimed that no, it was because I made to many 'assumptions'. She interpreted that I was accusing her of playing games (her assumption?) even though I said I didn't have time to play games. Oh, well. As I told her, there are thousands of shoppers to take my place, and there are hundreds of MSCs to take their place. It's not like they have really good paying shops from what I have seen.
Don't piss off LL!

This is from a recent e-mail from them regarding an electronics store:

One Department Shop $10

In this shop you are given a specific product that should be available only online. You will call the department and then visit it in the store inquiring about the product. You are evaluating how the employee handles this situation.


2 Department Shop $10

For this shop, you will be pre-assigned 2 departments of the store to evaluate. You will have an interaction with an associate in each department about the products available there.


They reimburse you for a small purchase like a soda or gum.

So, whether you have to shop one or two departments, they only pay you $10. Their reports are not difficult, but it bothers me how they equate these shops when the time commitment is so different.

You have obviously never tried to call the store in question, LOL!

TechSavvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is from a recent e-mail from them regarding
> an electronics store:
>
> One Department Shop $10
>
> In this shop you are given a specific product that
> should be available only online. You will call the
> department and then visit it in the store
> inquiring about the product. You are evaluating
> how the employee handles this situation.
>
>
> 2 Department Shop $10
>
> For this shop, you will be pre-assigned 2
> departments of the store to evaluate. You will
> have an interaction with an associate in each
> department about the products available there.
>
>
> They reimburse you for a small purchase like a
> soda or gum.
>
> So, whether you have to shop one or two
> departments, they only pay you $10. Their reports
> are not difficult, but it bothers me how they
> equate these shops when the time commitment is so
> different.

As Lisa implies, you probably haven't done the first shop. The phone shop alone usually is equivalent to a full department shop. I've done it several times and the only reason I take it is because I can sit on my rear in PJs to listen to the inanity on the other end of the phone.

I've never tried it either and while they are a favorite store of mine, I have heard horror stories from people trying to call in.

Our town is fairly small and I've had to call on my own sometimes. I don't think that part would be too bad, based on my experience at our local store. However, I do resent being offered the same low pay for a 2-department shop as a single department.

I've done the latter for them, but only when bonused and only when I had reason to visit the area and store for something, anyway.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've never tried it either and while they are a
> favorite store of mine, I have heard horror
> stories from people trying to call in.

And my complaint about this particular MS company and this particular shop, is the fact that the two departments you are to visit are almost within hearing distance! And...definitely within seeing distance. I did this shop, did the first department and the next associate in the very nearby department mentioned seeing me a few minutes ago. He mentioned the fact he'd just seen me looking at an expensive camera. Guess he figured I'd won the lottery.

You have to get names, descriptions, proof, etc etc. I know it's money, but I didn't get offered a bonus. Just too much for what you have to do.

I do these jobs all the time. At least 5 locations in my area. Sometimes I do the same location for different MSC on the same day. I do them every month if possible. Not difficult. Camera and refrigerator. Gaming and TV. Not a problem.

I would not fret about what the employees think. I rarely go into this store as a shopper or as a regular customer. Once there, I ALWAYS look at cameras, laptops and appliances regardless of what I went there to buy. And most of the time they don't have what I came in looking for, so it is not unusual for me to 'play with the toys' before departing empty handed. I don't know that I am particularly unusual in this regard.

My hubby and I both similarly window shopped, and often just got something to drink after browsing. We cut back on the window shopping, watching spending, though. To tempting/depressing. LOL

Does anyone know how long we have to wait to do the same shop again?? I did one of their shops and they were very easy to work for and they have more assignments in the same location. I know there's a certain amount of time we have to wait to do the same location again but it doesn't say anywhere on their website!!

purple812004 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know how long we have to wait to do
> the same shop again?? I did one of their shops and
> they were very easy to work for and they have more
> assignments in the same location. I know there's a
> certain amount of time we have to wait to do the
> same location again but it doesn't say anywhere on
> their website!!


This may vary from client to client. I think their storage client's rotation is somewhere around 60-90 days.

I just did the 2 dept scenario for them. Some nasty phone calls from them afterward because the same sales clerk helped me in both depts. Hey people, I gave him the slip twice, camped out in the bathroom at the store until my husband down the street at the library thought I forgot him and the employee was still there hanging out. Very very few employees there that day and the 2 depts are next to each other. Of course I won't be getting paid for wasting my time. Now ask me when I'll shop for them again.....

I've been saying negative things about this MSC after trying to work for them twice. They insisted on sending the "hard to do locations", after emailing Cory again and again saying, "No, I don't do Palmdale or Lancaster". I could never see a decent job, the pay was low, and I finally, let it go. I am amazed at the few (on this forum) that rave about this MSC.....I know, to each his own, different strokes, and the last, what's one man's steak, is another's poisen. The above posts prove it once again, thanks for this thread.

Stopped shopping them when I got stiffed on my reimbursement. It was only a$1.50 but they neglected to pay me for it. Two departments are two reports in my opinion. They can keep them. I see those Electronic store guys often enough with other MSCs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2011 08:09PM by kalfini.

Oops. Kalfini, please edit your post and remove the name of the client.

I haven't yet had a bad experience with Bestmark. They're not my "steak" as Irene says, nor are they my bread and butter. But, I'm okay with them.

There is too much repetition on the forms. Why do I need to retype information that should auto populate. Also in these stores any body can spot you as you move about the shop. Who thinks up these ideas. A good marketing student would be more creative to get the info simply. Also who edits the information that the schedulars send us. Terrible grammer, wrong dates, same old stuff and penalize heavily for corrrectable info if, like some companies, a request is sent o us for corrections. Are they really that busy with other full time jobs as many of us are?

BestMark is the first MSC I shopped for, and my regional scheduler (J is GREAT, so I have a soft spot for them. However, I have learned through experience that BestMark is quite segmented in its operations: for example, auto shops seem to be handled by completely different people than most other shops. I would not rate some of these divisions/segments as highly ...

Back to the OP: I've done both types of shops (2 in-store departments and 1 in-store + phone call). Both shops are a lot of work for the pay (I haven't done either for a while), but I found the 1 in-store + 1 phone call the easier and faster option. Maybe I'm just too nice, but those in-stores can go on ... and on ... and on ...

The location apparently is key to an easy shop. I am never not assisted, and am usually able to find one or more employees in a department on my first pass. I didn't know that having the same employee assist in both departments was grounds for rejection. I know there's a question about that on the report, but I've always been able to report different employees assisted me.

I did an online inquiry shop for them, and the company website that I kept getting was not the same address as my shop. So I submitted the report stating that I could not access the website because there was no website. So Bestmark cancelled the shop and now I have a cancelled shop on my record. Doesn't seem right because it was not my fault. Now I am hesistant to accept anymore shops from them.

There are shops that fail due to shopper error. There are shops that fail due to instruction error. There are shops that fail because of a combination of the two and there are shops that fail by gremlin with really nobody being responsible for the failure. I will grit my teeth and eat it when a shop fails due to my error. I respect companies that accept the responsibility when the failure is theirs. On the combo responsibility and gremlin shops I'm willing to split the difference.

The companies I respect eat the shops that are their error with no argument. I respect even more those companies who will graciously eat the combo failures and the gremlin shops. I recently heard of a gremlin shop that the company graciously will pay/reimburse and quickly sent in another shopper to do again to present to the client. My estimation of that company went up by 3 notches.

Your reluctance to work further with Bestmark is similar to my own because I am 99.99% sure they unfairly rejected a shop claiming shopper error. We work based on mutual trust and they have lost my trust.