How reliable is bestmark?

I am thinking of taking a shop from bestmark, it involves a relatively high reimbursement amount.

How good are they in paying? Do they try to nit-pick to find excuses not to pay?

Thanks

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I have done one shop recently...the pay was quick, however, I don't know about reimbursement...check it out on their site. This was for a high end restaurant, I gather.

Live consciously....

I deactivated myself from Bestmark, but it was not over payment. My experience over a few years shopping for them is that they pay exactly when they say they will, like clockwork. This included reimbursements.

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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

Bestmark occasionally has some good shops in the North Dallas area, and I have done numerous shops for them this year. I find them to be ethical, hassle free, and they pay by check like clockwork.

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin Disraeli

I have performed several shops for this MSC and their payments including the reimbursement was quick - No complaints!

Wait. They will eventually show their true colors, even if it takes a few years. This is the only MSC that has ever offered me money to take a shop from another MSC in order for me to get them the paperwork, because they used to have the shop and now the other company does. There is ethics for ya.

And wait till you are not contacted by an editor who says they did...and they deny your shop.

I do not know how these folks sleep at night.

Edited to add: NO, I did NOT take the money and give them the paperwork.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2010 06:10PM by dee shops.

Thank you for cautioning me. I will be more careful and watchful with this MSC. I will post my comments on this forum if anything negative happens.

Hi, my name is Bob and I have done many best mart shops during the past 6 months. Lately, I have been re-evaluating my future shops with them for several reasons. 1) the $10.oo fee 2) Milage expenses 3) the elaborate and number of questions in their Evaluation od each d=shop. 4) Increased cost for office supplies and computer ink chargesw. They list their tentative pay times based on the time of the last shop or shops..........usually within 30 to45 day. Believe the shop fee should be increased and allotments made for additional milage over your designated figure. Realized that overal, I was losing money due to the 30/45 day time for payment p,lus other incindentals.

I only schedule a Bestmark shops if it is on my route to other MSC assignments. I never schedule a Bestmark assignment by itself for a day. You are right it is not cost effective.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2010 10:52PM by balajikris.

I have done many shops for Bestmark over a period of about five years and have found them to be very reliable. Their reports take a bit of time to complete but they are easy to understand. Bestmark payments are very promptly made. I don't accept some of the electronics store shops because the report plus the shop equals too much time for the rate of pay.

do not enjoy 99% of their available shops. The occasional "grill and bar" shop is ok, but it is reimbursement only. They have always paid me within 30 days.

Thank you for all the input.

Anyone have any experience with their casino shops?

If you search here for "casino", I am sue you will find some conversation. I do recall someone posting about their experiences with this. I think I remember it being a lot of work for perhaps not enough compensation, but I could be incorrect on this, since we do not have casino's in HI, I rather only half read stuff pertaining to those for any firm.

My peeve with Bestmark is...they hold jobs hostage. They got the upscale restaurants from RetailEyes (that I did for years) and tease you, you have to do outlandish locations before even seeing them on the board. I did one and got to see the locations (no names) I knew through reimbursement those were the good jobs. I did not get one, they keep throwing a mid restaurant in Lancaster or Palmdale (couldn't pay enough to go there) at me with daily emails. They also promise if I take it, I will be up to work for 5.00 phone jobs...if I do that pathetic location, shouldn't I get a phone job, not a promise. I just can't go along with their way of dangling the carrot. I only re-signed recently for the high end restaurants that I used to do, but no, doesn't work that way there. I do like Cory, but he doesn't assign.

Live consciously....

Reliable is a questionable word for them. They pay. But the reports go thru editing that makes one wonder who was eating that dinner!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2010 01:05AM by CANADAMOMMY.

I wrote this in another thread on them...I did a yogart shop, my scanner was down, and they will NOT accept a fax, so, they deducted 2.00 from my fabulous 5.00 shop...this is a company that treats shoppers like dirt. I told them to keep there f______ remaining 3.00 and put it where the sun don't shine.

Intellishop worked with me, I could fax and Heather (scheduler) uploaded receipt for me, couldn't have been nicer.

Live consciously....

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wrote this in another thread on them...I did a
> yogart shop, my scanner was down, and they will
> NOT accept a fax, so, they deducted 2.00 from my
> fabulous 5.00 shop...this is a company that treats
> shoppers like dirt. I told them to keep there
> f______ remaining 3.00 and put it where the sun
> don't shine.
>
> Intellishop worked with me, I could fax and
> Heather (scheduler) uploaded receipt for me,
> couldn't have been nicer.

You should have just taken a digital photo and uploaded that. There are other ways besides faxing...

karen

I was NOT driving another 25 miles for a now 3.00 fee to take a photo...... I have a life. They could have made an exception, but, as Dee said, their true colors came out...they couldn't wait to deduct, and didn't give me a chance before the deduction, go out of my way for them, no thanks!!

Live consciously....

Irene, I think Karen meat to photograph the *receipt*. :-)

They had already deducted the 2.00, and I don't care....why bother for3.00..guess I needed the last word with this Co.

Live consciously....

I think she meant to do it instead of relying on a fax or getting a late. Not now.

Thank you for translating for me, Dee. I THOUGHT I was speaking English, but must have been mistaken.

I once again de-activated and am relieved...the other thing they do, I read on another thread is deduct if you don't write enough in your narrative, nice!!

Live consciously....

I just completed two retail shops for them today. You must evaluate two completely different departments in the store, so two employee evaluations in great detail, plus the greeter, plus the cashier. They require so much narrative. This pays $10, but you must purchase something to verify with a receipt that you were there at the time. The cheapest item is a bottle of water with which tax comes to $1.86, or close to $2 of the reimbursement. One of these shops is in the neighborhood, but the other is at least a 15 minute drive. Fortunately I scheduled two other ones in that town to make up for going the distance. I actually finished each report just now and in the section for writing comments just to BestMark, I said I am considering not doing these anymore as I believe the pay should be $15. 30 minutes of being in the store, and 20 or so filling out the form. I want to get at least $10 to $12 an hour to make this worth my while. I know I am not going to get rich, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either. On the plus side, they pay promptly, mailing out checks every two weeks. Some jobs I have done two months ago I have not yet been paid for.

You were lucky to be in the store only 30 minutes. The last one I did I browsed the department, was not assisted, could not find anyone on the floor to ask for assistance, went to the front desk and they would 'page someone'. After the 3rd page and close to 45 minutes, somebody came by--probably curious about what idiot would wait so long--who knew nothing of the stuff in the department so just read the signs to me. The second department I actually found somebody in under 15 minutes. Never never never ever again.

yukky day, Flash.

57Carol...I couldn't agree more. I remember the first time I worked for them (in the day), the greeter said, "Hay, how ya doin", (that's all he said). My narritive wasn't long enough, deduction. They do pay quickly, they have to give you something, after the length we go to.

Karen, I understood you, had my reasons for not uploading copy of receipt, and know you speak English (I was an English major) many years ago. We all seem to get a little tense here in cyberland!!

Flash, I too, was in the store (mobil) for much longer than 10 minutes, and the "fun" jobs, that's another book.

Live consciously....

I just plain haven't done one since the "fun" jobs disappeared. I always resented that the company used another client's jobs as bribes to get you to do the electronics garbage shops and wondered if the other client knew how they were being used. My reaction was that in essence the other client was subsidizing the electronics client and my gut told me that was just very very wrong and unethical. So the other client is gone and the electronics remains and still pays miserably. At least from time to time I see a bonus on the electronics (which they never used to do) and it still leaves the fee way too low for the job.

I only did those when I needed to go there for something for myself personally. Sometimes I got in and out with 10 minutes or so invested in their portion of my trip, and a couple of other times, argh...way too long. I remember one excruciating one a week before Christmas in 2008. Probably was there an hour and a half for their portion.

Now look. I'm frugal, most of the time. But, for $5 & $15 "You MUST order at least one full pizza and another entree. You MUST also order at least one salad or appetizer."

I MUST? No way, no how.

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