I rarely get questions from ACL editors. When I do, it is almost always because I left out something, like the server's age or hair color. I find their reports very easy.

When I first made this post I was fairly new with shops that required narrative. It took me a couple of tries to fully understand that even though a question was addressed in the top level narrative I needed to re-address it in each relevant spot. In my 9-5 job, repetitive narratives are a huge no-no so I had to adjust my mindset. Now that I 'get it' I'm all good.

Well done !

Before I state my opinion on ACL's reports, I was deactivated by this MSC due to my refusal to accept their no fee/no reimbursement shops; one was to receive a gift card for future visits.

My problem with their reports was that I detest repetition and the need to extend six characters into 200, when the six accurately and concisely answers the question.

Of course as soon as I bragged about getting all my reports approved right away one got returned with 14 questions. The email was sent at 11:53 pm on July 3 demanding an answer within 12 hours! It was not an editor I'd encountered before. Almost all of the questions were re-confirming yes answers. I replied (not within 12 hours) and she sent a very nice reply saying I was all set. Hopefully she was a new editor looking to make a godo impression and reconfirming every yes answer is not going to be the norm moving forward.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2019 09:06PM by NinS.

I like their shops for the fun things we might not otherwise do. But I have a question on "demoting" and "promoting" with them - Many other companies clearly tell you your rating on each shop you do. Where do you find out where you stand with ACL? I get offered pretty decent shops, so I figure I'm not on the low end, but curious as to how you tell if you've been promoted or demoted with them?

I think they want to know how the call made you feel, as well as, a test sort of to see how well you can describe something they have full visibility to as well.

Is that actually the case? I thought anyone could see all of the shops. You just might not be getting assigned all of them.

@awinsley wrote:

I like their shops for the fun things we might not otherwise do. But I have a question on "demoting" and "promoting" with them - Many other companies clearly tell you your rating on each shop you do. Where do you find out where you stand with ACL? I get offered pretty decent shops, so I figure I'm not on the low end, but curious as to how you tell if you've been promoted or demoted with them?

I know I've been demoted for sure.

I had back-to-back late reports. I did a good job on the reports themselves, but the lateness was probably egregious for them. It definitely was my fault for having them THAT late.

Having said that, I do think they should give more time, as their reports are up there as the most detailed in the entire industry.

I knew, because for the next round of shops, I could not see the usual nicer dining shops (and haven't since). And I miss that. ACL truly has some great dining shops that my mom loved. I'd treat her out as my guest to most of them.

I don't care to get my rating up anymore, however. I greatly disliked having a nice evening meal and having to rush home and do a painstakingly long report. If I get it up naturally, then great. But, I'm not going out of my way to look for "extra" shops to boost my rating anytime soon.

I will add that I actually like how ACL is structured - both their ethics and getting rewarded with better shops as you do good work. This is how capitalism works. Do a good job and get rewarded. I just wish they either upped the pay and/or reduced the work. They have a great philosophy built into their system, but many of their shops are rip offs to me (long reports and long preparation - billions of observations you have to internalize). I can get "better dining" category restaurants with actual fees elsewhere. The reports are even shorter probably.

The thing I respect most about ACL is their disclosure statement. They have that part where you can confess to anything you missed in the report. I wish all MSCs had that upfront and let clients know when we've had potential inaccuracies.

I've had two bad instances of editors asking me to take out statements of uncertainty about things in a report (while keeping the observations themselves). The client should know, b/c people's jobs could be on the line and it's just the truth.

Hard to find a company with both great pay and shops + great ethics. Maybe the closest for me is See Level HX.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2019 05:59AM by shoptastic.

I have met a lot of their schedulers at conferences. When asked, they have said that shoppers do have to attain a certain rating in order to move up to see certain levels of shops. They do not discuss how ratings are attained, or lost.

@NinS wrote:

Of course as soon as I bragged about getting all my reports approved right away one got returned with 14 questions. The email was sent at 11:53 pm on July 3 demanding an answer within 12 hours! It was not an editor I'd encountered before. Almost all of the questions were re-confirming yes answers. I replied (not within 12 hours) and she sent a very nice reply saying I was all set. Hopefully she was a new editor looking to make a godo impression and reconfirming every yes answer is not going to be the norm moving forward.

I received an email after 9:00 PM asking for clarification for a very involved shop I regret having taken. I was asked to reply in 12 hours. That would be 9:00 AM. How can they assume we are checking after nine at night and answering before nine in the morning?

Just a reminder to all who like working for ACL, do a good job and take jobs, as I was de-activated due to THEM
having no work in my area, so , guess it was a win win for them to just de-activate...it's all good, do like a little fee for reports......what works for one is another's poison.

@shoptastic wrote:

I will add that I actually like how ACL is structured - both their ethics and getting rewarded with better shops as you do good work. This is how capitalism works. Do a good job and get rewarded. I just wish they either upped the pay and/or reduced the work. They have a great philosophy built into their system, but many of their shops are rip offs to me (long reports and long preparation - billions of observations you have to internalize). .

Well...that represents a specific lack of ethics to me. Expecting people to put in hard work for very little reward.

An ethical company would set a fair wage for an assignment up front, so it's a win-win situation for both parties. Capitalism and ethics are not really related.....

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@shoptastic wrote:

I will add that I actually like how ACL is structured - both their ethics and getting rewarded with better shops as you do good work. This is how capitalism works. Do a good job and get rewarded. I just wish they either upped the pay and/or reduced the work. They have a great philosophy built into their system, but many of their shops are rip offs to me (long reports and long preparation - billions of observations you have to internalize). .

Well...that represents a specific lack of ethics to me. Expecting people to put in hard work for very little reward.

An ethical company would set a fair wage for an assignment up front, so it's a win-win situation for both parties. Capitalism and ethics are not really related.....

fair point

I've noticed a lot of scheduler turnover recently. It started a year or so ago when they switched to having different schedulers for the different clients. Now I think they're back to location based scheduling again, but I get emails from about 3 different schedulers, so I'm not sure if they've made additional changes to the structure.

Of all the words in the English language I dislike, and as it relates to life in general, none is more so than "fair." At any time one feels as though the peaches are not to their liking, they have merely to not shake the tree. I learned that adage as a young sailor and it has definitely been a positive in both my personal and business experiences.

Here they have schedulers for different areas, not by client. So, in the DMV region, I deal with 5 schedulers. Fortunately, they are all real pros.

I just checked my email archive and I have ACL emails from 11 different schedulers over the last 30 days (not editors or mailbox queues saying I've been assigned something: 11 different schedulers offering jobs). I do not generally shop more than 25 miles away from my home. About a year ago, I used to get emails from one scheduler with an occasional request from another scheduler for something farther flung, or someone who said they were helping my main scheduler out temporarily.

Every MSC works differently, but this is a big change for ACL and makes it feel like there's less stability over there (from my perspective... I could be totally wrong. But that's how it feels to me)

@shopperbob wrote:

Of all the words in the English language I dislike, and as it relates to life in general, none is more so than "fair." At any time one feels as though the peaches are not to their liking, they have merely to not shake the tree. I learned that adage as a young sailor and it has definitely been a positive in both my personal and business experiences.

That's a good reminder too, shopperbob.

I agree in a sort of broad and idealized sort of way.

I just think that when it comes to wages, things are more complicated in practice, due to what I think of as "inequality of power."

The Dave Ramsey part of my thinking (I can hear him loudly admonishing people on his show) always has the voice in the back of my head saying: "If you don't like it, then quit. Nobody is forcing you to work somewhere you don't like or for wages you dislike. This is America and we're free to do as we please in a capitalist society!"

I agree in principle (and think this was more the case in previous decades of history). I think where I feel it's an oversimplication is in how power dynamics make it tough for:

a.) people to collectively bargain for wages
b.) get ahead economically without equal ladders of support

The capture of our government by big money interests after the 1978 Bellotti case on U.S. campaign finance reform (that allowed big corporations to donate to political campaigns, because it defined money as "free speech" ) saw a DIRECT inversion of worker power and wages in their relationship to management. And it's also seen a destruction of social and economic ladders of support and opportunity once available to past generations.

Bought off politicians worked for the wealthy and big corporations and have crushed unions and crushed many of the ladders of opportunity once available in America. I've posted this before, but just take a look at these two charts:

[www.theguardian.com]

It says it all. CEO's salaries were once 30-to-1 50 years ago. They are today 300-to-1 with no correlation to how well those companies perform (studies have proven this). In fact, some of the worst CEOs even got hundreds of millions in bonuses from tax-payer bailout money after tanking the world economy and bankrupting their own banks back in 2008.

[They stack their corporate boards (which vote on CEO pay) with people they themselves elected - a practice which should be illegal.]

Worker wages have been stagnant for 50 years, as the median household income is still around $49,000/year - even after adjusted for inflation - which was the exact same back in the 1970's. On the other hand, the major costs of living have skyrocketed: healthcare; housing, transportation; and child care.

Almost all of the income and wealth gains have gone to the top 1%.

Once good paying manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas (some automated) without a structural replacement in the U.S. It's one thing to pass something like NAFTA and another to do it without a replacement plan.

But, that's been the goal of big corporations (again, who've been able to buy out Congress since 1978). The ladders of social mobility once available to previous generations and to those of big corporate heads have been burned down in many cases.

Without opportunity and without political power, many people are "forced" into working low-paying jobs and the gig economy. All across America, the gig economy is booming:

[www.theguardian.com]

-low wages, no benefits, temporary/contract work

It's the fastest growing category of work in America right now.

I think I usually hear a kind of false dichotomy of views when it comes to wages on the forum:

"We're free to work for whatever wages we want." vs. "The big bad MSC is oppressing us with offensive work fees."

In principle, I agree that in a free market, people are free to work for whatever wages they want. But, you have to have fair laws that regulate the free market. But since the late-1970's, America has increasing become more and more of an oligarchy through corruption of our political system and the once free market has become more and more unfree (is that a word?).

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2019 11:46PM by shoptastic.

shoptastic shares: The Dave Ramsey part of my thinking (I can hear him loudly admonishing people on his show) always has the voice in the back of my head saying: "If you don't like it, then quit. Nobody is forcing you to work somewhere you don't like or for wages you dislike. This is America and we're free to do as we please in a capitalist society!" grinning smiley

Bob's comment: Thank you for sharing Dave's philosophy. Before this evening, I had never heard of him, but will access his website tomorrow, as he certainly sounds like my kind of person.

I have continued as a shopper, because of the freedom to accept or reject any work I deem to have a poor work:pay ratio. I do, though, empathize with those who must, due to current circumstances, accept jobs netting a pittance.

@shopperbob wrote:

Bob's comment: Thank you for sharing Dave's philosophy. Before this evening, I had never heard of him, but will access his website tomorrow, as he certainly sounds like my kind of person.

I have continued as a shopper, because of the freedom to accept or reject any work I deem to have a poor work:pay ratio. I do, though, empathize with those who must, due to current circumstances, accept jobs netting a pittance.

I'm surprised you've never heard of Dave Ramsey, sbob. He's the most viewed and watched financial talk show host in America today. This is his YouTube site:

[www.youtube.com]

I don't always agree with him on things (e.g., politics and some investing philosophies), but I think he's great on personal finance discipline and motivation. He's very tough - but in a loving way. And he's sincere - not a charlatan like so many in this space - even if I don't always agree with him.

I think most people agree and can quickly see that he's got great ideas on the personal finance/discipline front. Even his detractors in other areas praise him in that area. He's very motivational in a tough love kind of way.

This is a thread I started with his famous rant on everyone being able to be a millionaire in America by saving $100/month:
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Feel free to drop in.