I emailed yesterday to move three shops in southern Indiana to Monday instead of tomorrow. I originally planned to do them today, but reporting got backed up and I needed some give in my schedule. When I scheduled them, I had plenty of time and I took an early date so I knew there were other later dates out there. I got no response to my email and I've written two additional emails since then. Still no response and now it is too late to do all three of them anyway today. I have no phone number for the scheduler or the company so email is the only way to communicate (or not communicate it seems). It will be me they label as a flake for not doing the shops, when I have made every effort to communicate with them.

I work best with companies I can contact by phone when I need to reschedule, cancel or just need a rapid response to a question while I'm on the right side of town for it to make a difference. So far Bestmark, EPMS and Trendsource have provided a number so I'm not left out in the field usually just waiting to hear from them. Leaving a voice mail is somehow more comforting than an email that is buried on someone's long list of them. Or better yet, maybe someone else will pick up that can help!

One company had a shop I applied for three days ago and they approved it for tomorrow when I'm out of town. Of course they didn't tell me they approved it until this morning. I've been waiting all day to hear from them about rescheduling it.

If the MSC's expect us to do the shops, they need to be available to answer questions if they aren't going to do rapid response to emails. Seems like it is in their best interest (and ours) for them to have phones available. To get a bunch of emails to say that you are late when you are waiting on answers is nerve wracking!

Is everyone else having such communications problems? Which companies communicate the best???

Companies that communicate best for me are:
1. Anonyomous Insights (thanks Melissa), she always thanks me for doing the job, and is there whenever needed.
2. NSS, they call before assigning and explain the job.
3. Mercantile, always answer by email immediately when something is needed

The companies that I prefer to work with have schedulers who treat me as a person, not a number, and certainly not an annoyance. They respond when I email, or in the extremely rare instance that I call (which I can count as less than twenty times hands for all the years I have been shopping.) They are nice to work with, pay fairly, and pay on time. Am I giving up the names? Nope. The money tree in my back yard needs to stay in my back yard. Every shopper needs to grown their own money trees.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2010 08:01PM by dee shops.

dee, I thought you lived in a condo. Perhaps the money tree is in a planter on the balcony?

My money tree has been wilting lately. It used to grow $10's and $20's, but these days I feel lucky to get a good batch of $5's out of it. I think they credit tree growing nearby has taken over the root system :^)

That said, the companies with better communication always seem to be the mid-sized ones. The big ones treat shoppers like a number and the small guys are often too busy or overworked to properly fertilize the money tree. Irene's list is a pretty good example of mid-sized companies.

Yes, it is on the lanai. I do live in a condo 16 floors up. :-) Its my figurative backyard. :-)

The development I live in hired a tree service, and ALL our "money trees" have been cut down...I'm with you Steve. I can't put out for hotel or many fancy resturants (since they don't pay for the report any longer). Prices are high, salaries are low, and my Bank closed......oy vey, for the Jewish sector out there



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2010 07:23PM by Irene_L.A..

I read in the paper that money trees are suffering crop failure this year, in general. Unfortunately.

my best communicating companies are

1. Bestmark
2. Creative
3. CORI ... yes i know... but my experience with them has been good and they email quickly
4. MF... always have some one available but the hold times are sometimes a bit much..

I am curious about the Creative Image company you work for, cooldude. I know you posted how to sign up with them. And I had looked them up after your first post about them. But I am curious if they only have jobs regionally, or they do work all over the country?

dee im not sure... i know i found them out on through kern and they do post on jobslinger... but other than that i dont know... i do shops for them in PA, and according to the site they have shops in florida and massachusets other than that i dont know they seem to do alot of community banks and credit unions...

Thanks, cooldude! Sounds like they probably don't have anything in HI. I have never seen their shops through Kern or on Jobslinger. :0(

Maritz is the one that comes to mind. I can always reach someone by phone, and they are nice and usually extremely helpful.

I had a problem with Maritz this past week. They were wanting me to revisit a audit I had done to take a new photo. I called them and was on hold for, seemed like a long time. I emailed them explaining that the location had trees completely around it. I had done this same location last fall and had taken photos from a 45 degree angle and they were rejected and I had to revisit to taken the photo from across the street. All that picture showed was the trees and it was accepted. Anyway, I received a call from them within 30 minutes telling me the audit was okay and they accepted my photo. Very nice!!

I've heard that a lot of shoppers have Maritz problems with the photos. I've never taken the shops that require photos. I love the gas shops but the ones I always take are the ones that require no photos, only a gas purchase and a small convenience store purchase. They have a neat candy shop, too, but someone keeps beating me to it (grrrrrr) ...............

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
They have a neat
> candy shop, too, but someone keeps beating me to
> it (grrrrrr) ...............


That's me, AM. J/K. But I do a couple every month. We have 4 of them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2010 07:23AM by dee shops.

lol I can't shake money trees in HI or in places that have lanai's on the 16th floor. I live in Louisville, KY. Now if I were competing in a horse race, we'd be on, but I just want to be able to talk to a human being when I'm under the gun on a project. I also, don't use the phone unless I need to. I just think that if a determination of whether to cancel or reschedule needs to be made in order to save the shop for myself or free the scheduler up to reassign the shop to someone else so they can reel it in, sometimes a phone call can do that quickly.

iblessyah@yahoo.com Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> lol I can't shake money trees in HI or in places
> that have lanai's on the 16th floor. I live in
> Louisville, KY. Now if I were competing in a
> horse race, we'd be on, but I just want to be able
> to talk to a human being when I'm under the gun on
> a project. I also, don't use the phone unless I
> need to. I just think that if a determination of
> whether to cancel or reschedule needs to be made
> in order to save the shop for myself or free the
> scheduler up to reassign the shop to someone else
> so they can reel it in, sometimes a phone call can
> do that quickly.


The phone does have it's place. I don't prefer it, which is what makes me crazy about Maritz, but I do use it from time to time. Sometimes it is better than email.

I will always give out a recommendation, especially when the asker doesn't live in l.a.