Has any one else had trouble getting paid on hotel shops? I have done many for them before, without issue, payments received right on time.

But now they have changed it so that the charges for the hotel are to be reversed on your credit card. So far, no reversal of charges and no response to my inquiries.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2013 04:18PM by CAscotch.

20 days ago, charges were supposed to be reversed after 10 days.

Only some of my charges have been reversed. Others have not. I have not yet contacted ACL because (1) this is the first month they are doing this and I expect some growing pains, (2) it's the end of the month, and (3) I have weeks before my credit card payment is due (and I planned it that way).

I will contact ACL soon if the other charges are not reversed soon.

OOO crap and I was thinking of taking another one.....plz keep us posted on this issue.

I will keep everyone posted. I have emailed the person at the top, Melissa Grey, Director of Quality Assurance. I figure might as well cut out the middle man.

What company was this with? The one I did hotel shops for twice, I got the charges reimbursed on the spot, before I left the hotel. The downside is, I have to do an exit interview with the manager and reveal myself as a shopper. The interview was quite comprehensive, an hour long, with food service manager attending.

This was 5-6 months ago. Since then, I have not seen their hotel postings.

@ShopperFun, it was with A Closer Look. Curious, who was yours with?

@ShopperFun....And for that level of an interview/shop did you receive compensation other than reimbursement?

Received an email, not from Melissa Grey, stating that the charges should be reversed tomorrow. Will keep you all posted.

Since it is the hotel, and not ACL that actually has to act to reverse the charges, apparently they are doing what they can. The instructions that I saw said to contact ACL if the charges were not reversed after 10 days. I would have let them know on the 11th day.

@walesmaven.....I started contacting them on day 12.

Just to clarify; This is a complaint about reversal and not about payment.

ACL is very good at paying in a timely manner, but they do not directly control the reversal process. They have to request it from their client.

I would estimate that 25% of my hotel reversals from ALL companies do not happen within 10 days and often require a follow-up.

@SteveSoCal....actually it's not even a complaint...I just wanted to know if any other shoppers are having similar issues since ACL changed their payment/reimbursement structure.

And per some of the other shoppers, there does appear to be some issues associated with the new setup. Only time will tell if that is due to growing pains and subsequently self corrects, or if it is a deeper issue within the company.

Most of their hotel shops are still reimbursed from ACL. I won't do the ones with the hotel chain reversing the charges because ACL has informed me that this also cvancels the rewards points. Sorry, I do their hotel shops exclusivly for the rewards points, unless I am on a route and need a free overnight.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2013 04:19PM by CAscotch.

walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Most of their hotel shops are still reimbursed
> from ACL. I won't do the ones with the hotel
> chain reversing the charges because ACL has
> informed me that this also cvancels the rewards
> points. Sorry, I do their hotel shops exclusivly
> for the rewards points, unless I am on a route and
> need a free overnight.


This was my main concern when I got the email about the changed reimbursement scheme. Given the miscommunication, disorganization and other issues ACL has been having, I don't know how much I can trust ACL to be correct about this. It makes senses that the reward points will be canceled if the charges are reversed, but I won't know for sure until it happens (or doesn't). My credit card charges that were reversed happened too recently for any loss of rewards points to show up yet.

If I trusted ACL now like I used to, I would use up my rewards points ASAP.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2013 12:33AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2013 04:16PM by CAscotch.

Giving out information that may be false for cya reasons does shoppers a great disservice. If an MSC doesn't know for sure, it's better to say "may" instead of "will" or "shall."

I sent an email to their scheduling dept. They checked and then told me that the reversal of charges will delete the rewards points.

Thank you. I'll go use my points now.

OK. Just used up all but 1,256 points in one hotel rewards program. I'm betting that the program won't go after me when there aren't enough points left to take back. I'm also betting that the worst would be they wouldn't honor what I just tried to purchase with my points.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the program won't take away the non-reward points rewards I earned.

I haven't decided whether to do anything with another hotel rewards program I used for some of these ACL shops yet.

It would be interesting (not in a good way) if what Scheduling told walesmaven turned out to be wrong, because the amount of points I just spent would have been much more valuable if I saved and then used them for hotel stays.

Update: My charges were reversed today for one of the shops. It was late and took some emailing, but it did happen. So far there has been no activity on my rewards points, I will keep you posted on that as well.

Do you still have credit card charges for hotel shops for that one ACL client that are due/overdue to be reversed?

I'm wary of what has been going on. First, July shops were assigned. Then, on July 9, ACL sent out an email that unilaterally changed the reimbursement scheme from its standard practice of reimbursement by check around the 25th of the month after the month of a shop to reversal of credit charges "within 10 days" of approval of a mystery shopping report. Then, the shop event notes changed the terms to 10 business days. The reversal of charges, according to ACL, would also mean a loss of reward points.

Ugh.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2013 10:10PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Yes, I still have one that is overdue. They are telling me that I will have that one reversed on August 5, 2013, which is 5 days late. We will see. I will keep you posted on the rewards points as well.

Regarding points when charges are reversed: I shopped a property earlier this month and did not receive points for my stay. On other shops with payment reversal I have always received loyalty points. This property has a single letter for its name and it is not X, Y or Z.

btw, only certain clients of ACL reverse the charges. Shops for other clients remain on a reimbursement basis. All of my reimbursements have been accutate and on time, for several years now. I average at least 2, often 3 or more hotel shops a month for ACL, with no problems whatsoever with schedulers.

Email from ACL:

Dear [Client] Shoppers,

I hope this email finds you well.

A small handful of you have indicated to us that even after 10 business days of notice of approval and acceptance of your shop report you have not seen the charges reversed for your Overnight Stay shops. I want to assure you that we are working on this with the client. As we have heard from you we have forwarded the details pertinent to your visit to the responsible persons at [Client] and they have advised us that they will make the correction.

Please rest assured that we value you and the work you have done for us and you will be reimbursed for your work, whether by charge reversal or by means of a regular reimbursement. As you know with any new process or procedure there are bound to be hiccups. We at A Closer Look have always done our best to take care of our shoppers – and that will not change. We will take care of you. We simply ask for your patience and clear and concise communication.

Please see the excerpt from the Location Guidelines:
Please note that your hotel and breakfast reimbursements will be in the form of reversed charges on your credit card. These charges will be reversed within 10 BUSINESS days of approval and acceptance of your mystery shopping report.

If you have not received your charge reversal and it has been 10 BUSINESS DAYS since you received your confirmation email that your shop was approved and send to the client, please email info@a-closer-look.com. Be sure to provide your name, shopper ID, and the date on which you received your confirmation email that your shop was sent to the client.

We appreciate your patience and understanding,

Margeurite Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, I still have one that is overdue. They are
> telling me that I will have that one reversed on
> August 5, 2013, which is 5 days late. We will
> see. I will keep you posted on the rewards points
> as well.

Any news?

Some of my charges have been reversed. Some haven't. None of my hotel reward points have been reversed. That's both good and bad in my case, since it looks like I wasted many points when I used them to get retail gift cards that were much less valuable than if I had saved the points to use for reward hotel stays. Essentially, I gambled that ACL's scheduling folks were right about losing reward points and lost.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2013 04:17PM by CAscotch.