Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/16/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  EPMS aka Ellis, Partners In Management Solutions aka ********** is a mystery shopping company. They hire people such as myself to follow a script and directions to gather information on sales **** at apartment communities. This involves several recorded phone calls, video recorded onsite visits, audio on site recorded visits, photos, and extremely lengthy time-consuming reports. I recently did two mystery shops for them. I spent several long days and many, many hours making the calls, reviewing the calls and transcribing them into reports, scheduling appointments to tour the communities, secretly recording the tours, collecting brochures and business cards, uploading the videos, uploading photos, and then again transcribing all this into very long, thorough, detailed reports, and answering many questions from EPMS. The reports are very extensive and extremely time-consuming.EPMS informed me that they have "cancelled my shops because my video camera was backwards."This is not true. I can clearly see and hear all of the videos.They refuse to pay me. I trusted them to pay me for my time and efforts. You can only reach them by email and most of the time they do not respond.I believe they are using people like myself to do their mystery shopping without having to pay us.There are numerous similar complaints on sites like Yelp from other mystery shoppers who have not gotten paid despite putting in their best efforts.I find their many silly excuses for not paying me to be totally outrageous.I demand to be paid.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/21/2024

  When accepting contracts for Video Shop, the contractor was bound to provide a written report of and an audio/video recording of their apartment mystery shop as required by the client in the contract specifications. Shop contracts are paid a flat fee for executing the contract fully. The contractor is responsible for ensuring the flat compensation covers their costs and nets a payment that is satisfactory to them to be perceived as profitable. Neither of the two contracts were completed properly. On one, the shopper's camera was facing behind themselves and the leasing agent so the only viable images were of their back sides from a couple of mirrors (images attached from the video footage). On the other shop, our team advised the shopper on more than one occasion that the recordings were incomplete: "The video is incomplete. It ends on the tour. I received two videos. First is one minute and thirty-nine seconds long,  it begins with you in the parking lot and ends with you walking into the restroom. The second video is twenty-four minutes and forty-one seconds long.  It begins in the restroom and ends on the tour with the agent." The videos are required to be complete from prior to entering the leasing office until the visit has concluded and the contractor has walked back out of the leasing office. The contractor did not provide the client-required recordings on either shop; therefore the contracts were cancelled for non-completion. The Independent Contractor Agreement electronically signed by this individual clearly states that when the contract is not completed fully not payment will be issued. We must hire a different contractor to complete the assignment, as an existing contractor cannot return to the same property to complete a "secret shop".
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2024

  The answer from EPMS is a lie. I have viewed the videos I captured, and they are not backwards. They show the entire visit from the time I exited my car and walked into the apartment complex until I left and got back into my car.

  They are lying so they don't have to pay me.

  Many other people have complained of the same thievery being conducted by EPMS on sites such as Yelp.

  I would like to be paid for my time and effort, as I have correctly performed the shops and submitted full and complete videos.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/22/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: The answer from EPMS is a lie. I have viewed the videos I captured, and they are not backwards. They show the entire visit from the time I exited my car and walked into the apartment complex until I left and got back into my car.
  
  They are lying so they don't have to pay me.
  
  Many other people have complained of the same thievery being conducted by EPMS on sites such as Yelp.
  
  I would like to be paid for my time and effort, as I have correctly performed the shops and submitted full and complete videos.  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/22/2024

  The entire video recordings for both of these shops are linked below.The first link is the video where the camera was pointing backwards. You can see the leasing professional in the still shots I previously sent where there is a mirror behind the contractor (mystery shopper) and agent and for the last 30 seconds or so of the shop. Otherwise the camera is pointing at walls and other objects behind them and the leasing professional and what is actually being shown are not in view, and the client will not accept the shop with the compromised video. (**************************). The second shop was facing forward but ends while the shopper is on the tour of the property, and the client will not accept the shop with the missing video. The contractor was advised of the missing video and did not submit the additional footage. (**************************) These links will expire in 7 days, so they need to be viewed before that. All shops that are completely fully to the clients' specifications by the contractor are paid; these were not, and therefore they were cancelled with no payment issued.
  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/13/2024

  EPMS last answer says: "what is actually being shown are not in view".

  Does that make any sense to anyone? 

  Again, none of the videos I submitted are backwards. You can clearly see everything that was required. 

  They are lying. They are devious. They are cheaters and thieves.

  To those thinking of doing mystery shops for them, look at all of the complaints on Yelp and other review sites.

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/27/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Details I went out on assignments that have to do with employee evaluations.I expected to be paid in exchange for the work I did.I actually thought I was being paid.I took it for granted that I was being paid. $40. here and there. Gas money.I just went to my bank account. My ledgers for the past 3 months bear no witness or facts to my ever having worked for GRACEHILL/ ELLIS PARTNERS.I have not ever been paid by either of these companies. I have screen shots of my banking as well as my work schedule listing completed work I supposedly have been paid for and work to be paid for.GRACE HILL /ELLIS PARTNERS responds vaguely to my inquires with requests for payment. I would like to see them put out of business or an end put to their false advertisement. I did not pay them anything. They promised to pay me!

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2024

  The claimant is required to submit their banking information directly into their account within our system, which they have done 3 times now with the same last 4 digits of the account. The second time payment information was submitted, they marked it as a Savings account, and the other two times they marked it as a Checking account. Our company has made payments on time for all shops completed by the claimant and have received no returns from any bank for any payments. Payment for work are made on the 22nd or closest business day of the month following when the work was completed fully, submitted, and accepted by our team. Example: a shop contract completed and accepted by Ellis | ******************* in June 2024, will be paid on July 22nd (or closest business day). Shopper has already submitted their payment register to you, which is accessible to them and is updated live. Payments for shops completed and accepted in July 2024 will be paid on or about August 22nd. I have attached the screen shots of the 3 submissions of banking details to represent the differences. These show the banking details were entered by three different email addresses, as the claimant has changed their email address with us multiple times. Our team members do not have access to enter, edit, or view full back account details. Only our controller can pull that data from the bank as needed. I have also attached the screen prints from our bank records for the payments made (these are redacted to a degree to protect PII). Finally, I have attached our payments policy as stated above, which is also available to the shopper at any time they need to reference it.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/25/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Based on experiences shared on You Tube regarding being a mystery shopper with EPMS by ************************* and *********. I was intrigued by the positive reviews and made the decision to sign up with EPMS as I have been a secret shopper since 2012 and felt I would be a great fit for this company.I completed the online application and received a Welcome email on July 15th.I completed all of the requirements and watched the training videos before I would become eligible to complete shops as an independent contractor.There was an opportunity to complete a shop in my area and I was assigned to complete the shop.The instructions weren't clear, and I emailed as requested for clarification.I waited on a response and after 3 days still no response.I then requested an extension for the assignment via email as instructed to do.I received an email granting the extension but no response to my original concern which I thought was strangely odd.I sent an email to *********** on 7-17-2024 @ 9:54am.As of today, I've not heard back.Another email was sent to *********** on 7-17-2024 @3:55pm.As of today, still no response.A message was sent to EPMS on 7-18-2024 @ 11:14am asking for my personal information and my profile be deleted from their database as I feel like I have been scammed.I also asked for verification stating that my information has been removed with no intentions to sell, trade, or share with any other party.As of today, I have only received automated emails about mystery shopping opportunities and not what I have requested now over a week ago.Thank you for your time and effort to help me get this resolved.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/26/2024

  The complainant's IC account was removed from our system. That being the case, there is no way to prove an account was deleted that is no longer in existence. If they did not receive notification their request had been completed, they can use this response as that confirmation. As the Director of the Mystery Shopping program, I have personally verified the action was taken. On a related note, the request to be removed mentioned nothing about having any issue with a team member regarding any contracts they had accepted; only that for personal reasons they did not wish to conduct work.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/26/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE FRAUDULENT THIEVES WHO OWE ME FOR WORK THAT I COMPLETED IN JULY. IT IS SEPTEMBER AND THEY REFUSE TO PAY ME. THEY WILL NOT RETURN YOUR EMAILS NOR WILL THEY ACCEPT ACCOUNTABILITY. THE 5-STAR REVIEWS ARE FROM INTERNAL MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY AS THEY HOLD THE SAME NAMES IRONICALLY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2023

  Our company pays contractors on the 22nd of the month via ACH (or closest business day) for contracts completed the previous calendar month. This contractor is asking about payment for a contract completed on 7/27/2023, which was paid in the amount of $5 on 8/22 to the account she has on file with our company. We are notified by our bank any time an ACH payment is rejected, and this contract payment was accepted by the contractor's bank. The contractor seems to mistakenly think we pay via Paypal, which we do not. The attached screenshot reflects the date and time the shopper entered their own bank account information into our system for payment. The shopper needs to check the account ending in **** for their $5 payment.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/26/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   THE STATEMENT MADE IS FALSE. I RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM EPMS STATING THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE MY BANK ON FILE & THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO PAY ME. FUNNY HOW NOW, ALL OF A SUDDEN, MY ACCOUNT INFO HAS BEEN FOUND. PLEASE STOP WITH THE LIES. ALTHOUGH SMALL, I AM OWED WHAT I AM OWED AND I WORKED FOR THIS. THIS COMPANY IS FRAUDULENT AND REFUSES TO PAY THEIR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS FOR THEIR WORK. PLEASE BE CAREFUL & CONSIDER ANOTHER OPTION FOR WORK!!!!!!!

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2023

  This contractor is providing bits and pieces of information that make it seem our company has been misrepresenting information, when this is inaccurate. I have uploaded the entire conversation to this record. The work completed in "July" was as I originally stated completed after pay would have been processed in July. When our representative mentioned the ** had entered bank information on 7/25, this was accurate (screenshot from ** account uploaded). However that fact was irrelevant as the ** was owed no monies in July due to when the work was completed. Our ** facing information about payments is clear (screenshot from website is uploaded). The payment for a shop on 7/27 would not be paid until 8/22. And the contract fee of $5 was paid via ACH on 8/21 (a day early) to the account ending in **** thay/y was entered by the ** into their contractor account to receive payments.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/04/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   
  

  THIS COMPANY IS LYING, AND IS FRAUDULENT. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN CONSIDERING TO WORK FOR SAID COMPANY. THEY WILL NOT PAY YOU. WHEN YOU ASK FOR PAYMENT, THEY WILL NO LONGER RESPOND. I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE PAYMENT AND MY PREVIOUS SCREENSHOT SHOWS THE COMPANYS EMPLOYEE PROVIDING INFORMATION AS TO WHY I WAS NOT PAID CONTRARY TO WHAT THIS INDIVIDUAL IS STATING. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. LOOK INTO OTHER APARTMENT-BASED MYSTERY SHOPS, THERE ARE PLENTY THAT ARE RELIABLE AND WILL PAY YOU ON TIME ON TOP OF PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. THIS ONE IS NOT IT. ALL OF THESE LIES OVER $5.00 IMAGINE $500. BEWARE!