ACL is pulling more tricks from its sleeves

I predict that ACL will lose clients who do not appreciate having their needs used as a bartering tool

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@ChrisCooper wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

A fee for these shops would be very nice indeed. But I would also like to have the cost covered for 2 pizzas at the very least and if they could get rid of the rule that you cannot step back in line yourself for the 2nd pizza if you shop alone that would be great. This shop is a lot of work for only one pizza.

Sandy, recently I got an email saying it's okay to order two pizzas-you just need to have two receipts. So you can treat a friend, just order separately. Not sure if that policy is temporary in an effort to get the end of month shops finished or if it's a permanent change.

Hi Chris, I have always been able to order two pizzas but only if I have a friend with me. Just once they said I could get back in line at the end and get a second pizza if I was there alone. A few weeks later they clearly stated you could not do that when dining alone. I re read the rules for a shop today and it said you need to have a second person to order a second pizza... in addition less than half the cost of the 2nd pizza is covered now.

One slice will do.

Actually the reimbursement covers the cost of the shopper and another s guest pizza. You are allowed to submit 2 receipts (1 pizza per receipt) for up to the max reimb. So you can treat a guest on this shop also. At least this is how it has worked for me in the past. With the pizzas being at 7.75 you can easily treat a guest with the $18 reimb.

I'm always amazed how Marketforce can offer a fee (sometimes in excess of $40) for a simple burger shop, and ACL can't/or won't for some of their more difficult casual dining clients.

They need to re-negotiate their contracts so that they can provide some fees to their shoppers. I agree with other posters here... sooner or later, the higher end clients will find out. At that point, they will lose clients. I imagine this practice will cost them so much more in the long run.

@32sarah wrote:

Actually the reimbursement covers the cost of the shopper and another s guest pizza. You are allowed to submit 2 receipts (1 pizza per receipt) for up to the max reimb. So you can treat a guest on this shop also. At least this is how it has worked for me in the past. With the pizzas being at 7.75 you can easily treat a guest with the $18 reimb.

Aren't you required to order a drink too?

Today I got inundated with 7, yes 7, emails from one particular ACL scheduler, BEGGING (she put it in all caps) me to perform a restaurant shop. No fee, just a gift card...and a $10 bonus. I used to be the type that would feel sorry for the scheduler and would help out. No more with ACL. I refuse to help them out when they hold the decent shops hostage in exchange for crappy ones. I've never understood how ACL feels they can be so cheap with bonuses, especially since they are mostly reimbursement-only. Even Intelli-shop and MF are known to give decent bonuses.

I think ACL's "hostage" decision will come back to bite them in the butt.

Of course, the best of times was when schedulers could pre-assign the best shops to their regulars. However, in the new system, where this is no longer allowed, I actually found that this "hostage" situation worked to my benefit. A high-reimbursement dinner shop that would have been snapped up quickly was held back. By doing the pizza shop, which was really not too onerous, it allowed me to get the shop I wanted.

The biggest issue I have with this new policy is ACL has not explained it to their shoppers. They can run their company as they so choose, but at least give us the courtesy of rules. I have worked for them for almost 14 years and I'm really bummed that 14 years of dedication just went out the window.

It goes to show that most companies don't give a hoot about us. I can think of only a handful that I really like that would act professionally all around.

I like the pizza shops. The timing can be nerve racking. My last one went over so they wanted what amounted to an affidavit like statement about my comments. I left some wiggle room because the baker messed up putting the wrong pizzas in orders and had to take time to sort it out. But exact to the second timing was impossible so I did an estimate within 10 seconds. ACL informed me that the pizza place would review video. I thought I might lose their business, but I was paid and am still active.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

The pizza shops cover the price of two meals in my area, to me it's worth it for a cheap date night

You may not actually be out of rotation, as the month goes on the dates get shortened if a shopper is still needed

My father LOVES that pizza client so I got all of the time. I probably do 2-3 a month so when I ask for a "plum assignment" I get it because I do so many Pizza shops. I won't do it for free, though. If I take Dad the bill comes to about $20. I won't do it for anything less than $5 payment so I am not "out of pocket" but there are a few locations that are tough for them to schedule so I wait until the bonus is $10+ and then I do it.

In my neck of the woods, its not a pizza shop, but a bar and grill that no one ever wants to take because they only give you gift cards as a reimbursement to go back to the restaurant and the restaurant is not really one worth going back to. So, in order to take those good shops, you have to take the bad shops. I just pass if that is the case.

I was asked to do red-headed step-child shop in the middle of nowhere for a meager bonus. I asked for a higher bonus, and it was denied with a message that if I did it, I would be eligible for "premium" shops the next month. I then asked which "premium" shops were available the next month, and I was told there were not any left, but the scheduler would "keep me in mind." HAHA. Needless to say, I didn't take the shop.

Would love to try one of these pizza shops. None of them are located near me. I guess I will have to wait until a new pizza shop opens up near me.

"Evolve thyself and lose all hate...." Orphaned Land

Now the ACL scheduler in my area is bombarding me with emails offered a "chance" to win a $50 gift card, however you must complete two jobs to get ONE chance at the gift card. Um...no.

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