Trendsource

Has this happened to anyone. I been working with Trendsource for almost 2 years on their grocery store. They informed me that I was revealed as a mystery shopper at one of the locations. Due to this, they had to remove all mystery shops from me and I was unable to complete them anymore. I was so angry, why not just inform me I can not go to that location, why all the stores throughout the radius. Did not even give me the balls to tell me, how I was revealed. The worst is it was a Dear Sally like letter.

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More Discussions About TrendSource / MSI Mystery Shopping (All Companies)

It does seem kind of silly in actuality, that you can't complete mystery shops anymore for that particular client at other locations. After all, who cares if they know your name and description? It's not like of the thousands of customers in a store every day, that you can be picked out at other locations. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

I would agree with just barring you from shopping that location. Unless, there is a way the store can place a universal message on your rewards card that you are a Mystery Shoppper, which pops up when they scan it. Even if that is the case, you can simply be re-issued a new card and a new number.

But this is what they are doing just to prove something to the client, by taking EVERY precaution possible. Trendsource thinks of its shoppers as a dime a dozen and if you don't do the shops, someone else will. Which sadly, is the truth. They won't have any difficulty covering the shops you did ... which again sadly, shows that we really are at the end of the day, a dime a dozen.

Mystikwizard, that is a real reason to eventually move away from the cheap and easy shops that can and are done by anybody/everybody. It is hard to build an outstanding reputation with a cheap and easy shop company that carries any weight at all. When the jobs are more challenging and you do well with them with a company that doesn't post thousands of jobs per month, you will be more recognized as a competent individual.

I agree with Flash. Honestly I've been banned by MarketForce and Dropped by Certified (yes I know they are the same company but this happened a different times for different reasons) and check out the DSS thread to see that saga... Did I care when this happened? Sure. Did it hurt me in long run? Not really. It showed me I am worth more than shops that are a dime a dozen, and now I only take shops that pay $12-$15 and up (depending on location and ease, I might do a $12 here and there) only.

I don't need to work for a company that sends out emails to the shoppers reminding them shower (gross), doesn't care about my personal safety (thanks MF), or doesn't pay me and lies about it (DSS).

Although I do miss my free lunches on the road courtesy of Market Force. Oh well! LOL

Thanks guys for making me feel better. I was just made because I would do about 10-15 a month for them. They use to call my phone all the time for last mintue help. I agree with Flash and Mystikwizard, that I should just accept that they are not paying pennies for my work, and require you to buy a deli item along with a under the cart item, sorry a person can only eat some much processed meat and cheese anyway.

I will just have to fish for other companies who value me.

Recently, I found that Trend Source was more of a waste of time than other companies and I requested my account be deleted. It was the fastest response (minutes) I've ever received from them. They do a better job of losing shoppers than they do gaining and cultivating them!
Cheap shops and far too much printing and testing.

Maybe it is because Trendsource was the first company I shopped for, I have sort of a soft spot for them.

I don't mind Trendsource, but some days their SW annoys me. Most of their shops are super simple, they pay fairly for the little work expensive natural foods MS, and they have subs and ice cream that are super simple and only require very short reports. However, I don't build my month around their shops, since they do not pay well. I also like that I can bundle a bunch of competitive grocery pricings within a mile (or less!) of home and come home with a weeks worth of groceries and be repaid for that quickly.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

I just started working for Trendsource. I think they are fun shops and they pay right on time. I like their website and if I email with questions they are answered quickly.

Anyone know how many shops you need to do before you can self-assign? I thought it was three, but I'm obviously wrong!

I thought it was 3 as well but note in their "Resource Guide" it is 5 with timely reports etc.

Thanks, Flash. I think they may have changed it.

I have applied for 6 jobs with this company, completed two - have one coming up- and am a back up shopper for another. So far everthing has happened in the last week. The two reports I did were simple and the pay was decent. Hopefully I can add this company to my list.

When I got on with them, it was 5. That was in May of 2008, after a year or more of signing up but not hearing from them. At that time, they had a huge project in my area, and desperately needed shoppers to complete them, so I got all 5 done in a couple of days, and was changed to premiere status and was able to self-assign directly after that. I did not see a BV for another 6 months, and I don't know if that was because I needed to prove myself further before they allowed me to see them, or if they didn't have any here during that time, as those seem to be highly unpredictable in amount they have. Some months they will have 4 or 5 here, and sometimes they have none for months at a time.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I got on with them, it was 5. That was in
> May of 2008, after a year or more of signing up
> but not hearing from them. At that time, they had
> a huge project in my area, and desperately needed
> shoppers to complete them, so I got all 5 done in
> a couple of days, and was changed to premiere
> status and was able to self-assign directly after
> that. I did not see a BV for another 6 months, and
> I don't know if that was because I needed to prove
> myself further before they allowed me to see them,
> or if they didn't have any here during that time,
> as those seem to be highly unpredictable in amount
> they have. Some months they will have 4 or 5
> here, and sometimes they have none for months at a
> time.

It has been my experience that outside of California, Business Verifications are not done to any regular degree. I lived in California for a period of time and they would pop up at sometimes 6 or 7 a day ... if not more. That was because they had a large client that utilized them out there on a regular basis. It seems that outside of that state, they are very sporadic. So I don't think it had anything to do with "proving yourself" on why you didn't see them.

I've never done one, but I consistently see a lot of BV shops listed in the NYC area.

Is that where you are? What is it like MS'ing there? Jobs aplenty? A lot of FD assignments?

We have had a reasonable number of them here as realtors switch from simply selling properties to doing property management. That is a function of the economy here as many folks from out of area are gobbling up cheap properties they either do not plan to move into soon or do not plan to move in at all. So the property managers want to pull credit reports on potential tenants.

mystikwizard Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> So I don't think it had anything to do with "proving
> yourself" on why you didn't see them.

I think it might be both having to have more of a presence with the company and them not having any at the time.

I was signed up, and doing smaller shops, with them for quite some time before I was able to see BVs. I was told once years ago by a scheduler there that occasionally some shops will not show to shoppers that do not fit the demographic for a shop.

lisams901 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mystikwizard Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > So I don't think it had anything to do with
> "proving
> > yourself" on why you didn't see them.
>
>
> I think it might be both having to have more of a
> presence with the company and them not having any
> at the time.

I completed 45 shops, mostly all on the same project, within the first 2 months. Also, just went back into my history with them, and I did my first BV at the end of 2.5 months of working with them, so perhaps they just did not have any...or they they did not want to show them to me before that. :-)
>
> I was signed up, and doing smaller shops, with
> them for quite some time before I was able to see
> BVs. I was told once years ago by a scheduler
> there that occasionally some shops will not show
> to shoppers that do not fit the demographic for a
> shop.

Yes, I know that from them as well. I also think this is true for the majority of MSC's, but I could be wrong.

My second job with them was this morning a BV. Maybe I just got lucky.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is that where you are? What is it like MS'ing
> there? Jobs aplenty? A lot of FD assignments?

I'm not sure how to answer the jobs aplenty question, since I don't have anything to compare it to! Some companies don't cover the area at all, which I only found out after registering, but I know that's the same case everywhere. I've never come across one, but I would love to find a list of companies citing regions. As far as fine dining, I've only just started to do these. I'd say that there's a fair amount, yes.

Besides submitting late reports and cancelling shops what are the reasons a shopper gets banned from MS companies, such as MarketForce?

SusanMB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with Flash. Honestly I've been banned by
> MarketForce and Dropped by Certified (yes I know
> they are the same company but this happened a
> different times for different reasons) and check
> out the DSS thread to see that saga... Did I care
> when this happened? Sure. Did it hurt me in long
> run? Not really. It showed me I am worth more
> than shops that are a dime a dozen, and now I only
> take shops that pay $12-$15 and up (depending on
> location and ease, I might do a $12 here and
> there) only.
>
> I don't need to work for a company that sends out
> emails to the shoppers reminding them shower
> (gross), doesn't care about my personal safety
> (thanks MF), or doesn't pay me and lies about it
> (DSS).
>
> Although I do miss my free lunches on the road
> courtesy of Market Force. Oh well! LOL

MarketForce has some kind of algorithm (supposedly proprietary trade secret) that they feel separates good shoppers from poor ones. Several folks have had every shop accepted, no questions about shops, felt they were in good shape with the company and suddenly gotten the email from outer space that the algorithm has spoken and they are being terminated from MarketForce. Once you get the email they will not discuss it with you further.

That's pretty sad. But from the looks of posts on this site, there are tons of shopping companies. Looks like we have to stick together and comment on those companies that treat us fairly and pay on time.

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