I am about to do an apartment shop with hidden video equipment and was curious if anyone had any opinions regarding these types of shops and this particular company. Please tell.

I have worked with them since 2005. They pay twice a month. The forms can be lengthy and detailed but they are reliable.

I did my very first apartment shop for EPMS. The form was lengthy and the detail great, but I felt that the company was supportive and they paid on time. Now that I know what one of their apartment shops entails, I would certainly work for this company again if they had something near me.

I've performed over 50 assignments for this company. Great company to work for...and they pay very well. Customer support good. Pay range good. Reliablity, good.

I have done lots of shops for them. The only problem I have with them is that some of their forms are not on line, so you have to write the reports - 11-13 pages! When was the last time we had to write anything? So antiquated, but they told me they are trying to automate all the forms. Hopefully, this will happen soon. Otherwise, I have no complaints with them, and wish I could do more EPMS shops since they pay $40-$50.

most of their forms are online..... there are a couple of their clients that have handwritten reports. I have done many video shops for them, its awesome to work for twenty minutes plus another 15 for the report and make 60.00. its normally 50, but i own my own equipment for video.

I have done a little work for EPMS and they have the best back up support that I have worked with and I have been shopping for three years.

I signed up for a shop with this company several months ago. I had a dificult time getting the associate. When I comtacted the company for advice they were rude. I have not offered to do any further shops with them. I was disgusted that a company that is researching customer service would talk so rudely to its independent contractors.

This company clearly has a solid base in real estate. They have good clients but as with most shopper companies they are slow pay. I have had good luck finding shops with them but had difficulty with a reviewer who I believed to be unfair.

I have steered away from them after a shopper friend enumerated the problems he had getting paid and the lack of cooperation from EPMS when his target was a "no show" for three appointments.

I just signed up for them and they are only offerinfg $25 to do an apartment shop.Where did you guys get the $50 and $60 payments form? I am in Oklahoma. Do they pay better in other parts of the country?

I have stopped doing shops for them since they seem to have a problem with lost paychecks. I have worked for them for the last year and they have lost 6 checks that were supposably sent to me. They wait 8 weeks before stopping payment on the lost check and sending out a replacement check which means you wait almost 3 months to get paid. When you call to inquire about the check, the employees are rude and defensive. The employees told that they have had many problems with lost checks and they always blame it on the post office. I work for about 50 other mystery shopping companies and this is the only company that has a problem with the post office losing its checks.

I signed up with EPMS about a month ago and I immediately performed 2 shops for them. The pay seemed great ($30) in comparison to other companies. It was my first assignment with them and I spent a great deal of time on the evaluations. I followed the assignments exactly because I wanted to give them a top-notch report.

But, let's back up and start at the beginning. First, I received an email within the first 12 hours of being assigned the shop. It was from EPMS demanding that I start making the necessary phone calls. (The assignment included a phone call which was electronically recorded.) I had 5 days to complete the shop and I did have other assignments scheduled for that morning. I politely explained the situation.

After completeing the first assignment, I continued to the second one. I had a quick question and decided to phone EPMS. I probably could have answered the question myself, but EPMS requests their shoppers to never "assume" anything and always call. So, I called.

I immediately regretted phoning them. I got a really nasty scheduler that spoke to me as if I was a child. Funny thing was, she answered my question by literally using the words, "I would assume" in a very sarcastic tone.

I finished up both assignments and was very pleased with my work. Then, I got an email from EPMS yesterday stating that they were deducting my pay by $10. You see, the representative that I was shopping did not ask me enough questions or try to "sell" me anything during the phone shop.

Are you kidding me??? I did my job - and a excellent job - and I am being punished because the employee did not do hers?! I cannot believe they would deduct that much for a single 1 minute phone call. I must tell you, I spent hours ands hours just on that one assignment.

I'm not so sure I want to continue doing business with a company like that. I wrote back and I hope EPMS rectifies the situation soon. So far, it's been over 24 hours and I haven't heard anything back.

P.S. The shop paid $30 and was 50 miles round trip. Beware.

I have not shopped them Incognito because I have heard very similar things from other very experienced shoppers. They also would appear to overshop these jobs and especially with target shops the targets will set appointments and then not be there when you show up. There is no pay when you don't talk with the target even when you have done everything you are supposed to do and even after multiple appointments/visits you still haven't gotten to speak with the target. I personally feel there are just too many "issues" with this company to waste my time and energy on them.

I want to add that I tried to do a video shop for them and that was disasterous!!! First of all when you recieve the box with the equipment it has notes pasted all over it telling you the deductions that will be taken off if you do not put the equipment back correctly, cables in the right slot, shirt folded properly, everthing returned within a certain time and so on and so forth. You feel like you have lost money before you begin. When you practice with the equipment you then have to send that sample to them via computer for an ok before letting you do the shops. My practice tape came out fine but when I did the actual shops, the equipment did not work. Of course you can't play back the job you just did to check it, so you don't know that the shops did not come out until you send back the equipment and they tell you that it did not record the jobs and you will not get paid. I completed 2 shops for them, traveling 60 miles for nothing. I still do not know what the problem was with the equipment, if any, but a friend of mine had the same experience I did with the same outcome....no pay. Between not getting paid for jobs because of lost checks and doing video shops that mysteriously did not come out and you can not play back to see, there seems to be a problem with their integrity.....Watch out for this company, they are on the shady side and have no compassion for the shoppers that work so hard to make them money.

Hi,
I have done about 10 shops for this company. They have always paid with no problems. The reports are ridiculous. I am doing one this week but making sure I haver all evening to do the report. I was having trouble with my computer one time an and was having to go use another one somewhere else. This was cutting the deadline close, I had 2 that were needed right away. The scheduler was kind enough to let me dictate over the phone and she actually filled out the report for me. I do not suggest you ask for this
but it helped her on her deadlines and also I appreciated the help. I was shipped the video equipment also but had to send it back I never did get a good camera angle. I am very large chested and the button camera is attached to the shirt already it kept shooting to high. I now have my own shirts that I use for these types of shops. I just ask the company I have worked for several in video shops to please send the button camera with out a shirt.

Hello there,

when I was reading your comments, I thought ok not too bad.
I did my first 2 jobs beginning April at the same day.
I submitted the follow up for one job and also e-mailed the info.
The second job, I couldn't report the follow up, because the system was not ready, so I e-mailed. When it was ready I submitted it.
After closing the jobs I got another follow up. I e-mailed, that I couldn't submitt the follow up, because I closed the jobs, this was 9 days after I visited the locations (7 days waiting).
Yesterday I got an e-mail for each assignment with questions between 12 and 17 to answer. I was not home, so I answered one today and I am working on the second one.
Their reports don't let me make a copy for my files and they ask me questions, which were not in the report. Can you remember after 2 weeks and another 70 assignments what you said word by word.
Well this answer takes another hour or 2 of my time, I think the $25 for these jobs is not enough for all the trouble.

You won't believe it : They cut me off from entering their website.

Do I only work and live for them???!!!

I have done some work for them and find them to be fairly prompt in payment compared to many mystery shopping companies. The only problem is that many of the apartment shops require you to speak with a specific sales associate at the apartment complex. Often you have to make numerous calls to set up your appointment and never reach the right person. Many times I was unable to complete the shop because I kept reaching the wrong person and they were becoming suspicious when I kept making excuses to terminate the conversation. By the way, those are the better paying shops. The $25 dollar ones are those where you can interview anyone.

Well I just got an urgent one for $35. Will see how it will end up. This time I am taking my recording device with, and because of the hints I received, I will make paste/copies.

Good luck! And may your target be on site waiting for you

Note all the above. If your target is easy to reach, yeah right then it is worth it if you have allot a patience for filling out a long report repetitious report. I only shop them when I am desperate for cash. They do pay $40 in Calif. And they do pay on time. Problem as last shop attempt. Every day for 3 days straight I attempted to reach my target by phone first as required. problem she never answered the phone. You are not allowed to ask for your target. I had a hard time coming up with excuses why I had the wrong number, etc. They d o not want you to hang up if you reach someone else. Make a excuse and try again. The next week after she returned from her days off I still could not reach her. This tied up my schedule and I never did reach her. The shop was canceled. Yo are not paid for attempts even though it is recorded each time you tried. Good luck

After days of trying to contact my target, I had to resort to creative thinking. You're not allowed to call and ask for your target, but you can always have a trusted friend or family member call and ask for your target!

You'll be able to find out very quickly if your target is working that day!

I've done couple dozen shops for them. There is one management company that is not online and I make sure and never request those shops. I also try and select the ones for "shop anyone" as I too have had to re-structure my day because I was unable to reach a contact. As an example, I broke down and did a Target shop today. It must have been my lucky day as my "Target" I learned was the manager of the leasing office. She only answered the phone (after the 4th ring) because the other 4 leasing agents were with customers. Had they not all been busy my Target would have never answered the phone! As for pay, I'm in Arizona and never see anything over $25 per shop regardless if Targeted or not. Sometimes they add $5 if nobody has accepted the shop and they need to get it done. Pay has been regular until this past month. I did a shop May 12th, should have been paid for it on the 22nd and nothing yet. Otherwise no major complaints and I will continue to do non-targeted shops for them and targeted ones when I have all day to reach my contact!