LOL at control freaks.

One of the most recent posts on the schedulers' forum on the V-God site is entitled, "Do not tell shoppers this forum exists. "

Oops, was I not supposed to mention that?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 01:24AM by Bay.

Well, you know, we're not very smart ....we're not schedulers/MSC owners .... even though we can see the scheduler's forum and threads on the scheduler's forum come up when we search (but we can't open them) I'm sure there are some who may believe we don't realize a scheduler's forum exists.....

If you just click on the scheduler name and view recent posts, you can see all the titles of all posts. Not much of a secret.....

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you just click on the scheduler name and view
> recent posts, you can see all the titles of all
> posts. Not much of a secret.....

That's why I find it so funny that they don't want anyone to tell us.

It's a little late for closing that barn door.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 02:27AM by Bay.

Wow, I guess I'm naive because I never realized they actually posted things like "DO NOT USE Mary Smith." Hey, how comes they can come here and we can't go there???? This should be a shoppers only forum then!!

How do you know there isn't a hidden forum for shoppers?

My position as a shopper has,is and will continue to be that any scheduler/editor/owner that doesn't wish to use Bob Engleman need only to pass on me. I never flake, compose business reports and give my all on an assignment, BUT, I neither need nor desire to work for little or no gain. I well understand though, it's the responsibility of the MSC to pay no more than necessary to have their work completed. If the pleading, citations and "fun & easy" approaches are successful, it's incumbent upon them to utilize those methods. As for me, I've but to recall the words of Clara Peller, she of the 80s Burger King commercial, with a slight paraphrasing: Where's the cash?"

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, you know, we're not very smart ....we're not
> schedulers/MSC owners .... even though we can see
> the scheduler's forum and threads on the
> scheduler's forum come up when we search (but we
> can't open them) I'm sure there are some who may
> believe we don't realize a scheduler's forum
> exists.....

*gasps, shakes her head, takes a deep breath to calm her shock* WHAT? There's a scheduler's forum? Oh my .......

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How do you know there isn't a hidden forum for
> shoppers?


Well, I don't...is there?

There is, but I can't tell you where. ;-)

It just demonstrates how the V GOD site is slanted in favor of the msc's and not the shoppers, otherwise, scheduler's would not ( and should not ) have access to the shopper message board.

I would certainly hope that they would take everything with a grain of salt, too. If one scheduler were to come on and complain about a shopper, ignore it. If several warned against the same shopper, maybe raise a red flag. I would also be wary if the same scheduler complained all the time.

Also, if a scheduler complained with "don't use X shopper", how do they know it's not because they just want to keep them to themselves to do their shops?

Ok when I scheduled I know we talked about shoppers just like shoppers talk about companies...and it seemed we all formed our own opinions. I remember reading about certain shoppers that I had an excellent relationship and vice versa. I made my own decisions as a scheduler just like I make my own decisions as a shopper. On occasion I shop for companies that have had less than stellar reviews; in fact there are companies I really like shopping for that others won't shop for at all.

I think its unrealistic to think schedulers never talk about shoppers. That said, there wasn't a lot of chat about particular shoppers anyway.

As far as schedulers not being on shopper boards...I think a majority of them do some shopping too.

Liz

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 09:07PM by Traveliz.

For just about every forum I've visited, I've known there was a "secret" schedulers or shoppers forum. No biggie. Just a place where people can talk freely without fear of retribution. Of course, if they were really supposed to be a secret, people wouldn't post about the one here and Ray would've made sure the schedulers one didn't show up in search results. The V mod who posted that could've come up with a more relevant title about informing fraudulent shoppers of threads since most the shoppers know the schedulers forum exists.

(Updated: Apparently Lorri Kern is the Schedulers Forum moderator who posted that. It certainly explains the ridiculousness of the title of the thread or not taking into consideration that shoppers can see that and are smarter than she gives them credit for being.)

It's not as ominous as it sounds. It's requests for help with locations, job offers, checking on good but MIA shoppers, letting others know about scam artists...the ones who insist they've done five shops in four states all over from CA to FL within an eight hour period. (Yes, that happened.) I don't mean those who are doing airport shops either. LOL

No, I don't have personal access to the schedulers forum at V. I don't think I could stomach asking Ray for access...*shudder*...and I don't care enough to bother. I do have a number of connections though.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2012 04:41AM by AlwaysAngie.

Something else that goes on in schedulers' forums is the sharing of the names of shoppers who have done a great job for a scheduler or have come through for them in a pinch.

As Angie stated, it's not "ominous" by any means and it's definitely not some great conspiracy against shoppers.

Not quite the point, JoanG, but thanks for the reassurance

I looked at this last night and the only advantage that I see is observing some of the topics that schedulers are talking about. I was not able to observe, however, the specifics on the topics.

That's not true. Some schedulers use this forum as a way to black-list a shopper, even when the shopper has never flaked. Sometimes, just because they are angry they were called out on lying to a shopper.

JoanG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Something else that goes on in schedulers' forums
> is the sharing of the names of shoppers who have
> done a great job for a scheduler or have come
> through for them in a pinch.
>
> As Angie stated, it's not "ominous" by any means
> and it's definitely not some great conspiracy
> against shoppers.

I have not been MS that long, but I had such a roller coaster ride in the brief time with one MSC, they would transfer me from one person to another on the same project until someone could answer a question, they did not return emails or calls, I could go on and on, finally after the last blunder they made I said, this is bullcrap while on the phone with one of the random ppl, after they fixed the problem, I received several nice calls and then one saying I used profanity and how it was not professional, and that I was going to be reported... if my roller coast ride is what they consider professional I think I will stick with the carousel however,this post now makes me wonder if I am now on the DO NOT SCHEDULE list. LOL!

Sounds like that MSC is no great loss, dmp!

thanks best of both worlds !

If shoppers can spot a complainer here and call them out on their posts, what makes you think it's not the same for schedulers?

Believe it or not, there are problems schedulers face that are more nefarious than some profanity or an occasional flake...and that makes it appropriate for the forum to stay hidden IMHO. If someone were to report all personality conflicts between shoppers and schedulers on a forum thread, I doubt that I would be able to keep up with it.

Hmm.. I don't think it's ethical to post a name of the shopper and ask schedulers from other MSC to share their experiences. I don't think I've seen shoppers here discussing a particular scheduler.

What I would be worried about is that a scheduler posts the name of a real flake, fraud, etc. Then someone with the same name unknowingly starts shopping. Their reputation would be ruined by the previous loser before they even started. I seriously hope there is some way for the schedulers to tell who is who for sure before posting their name all over. You can't really use email address as the loser would just simply sign up with a different free email. However, it would be a serious security breach for them to be posting our SSN's, EIN's, etc. on a forum.

Plusha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hmm.. I don't think it's ethical to post a name of
> the shopper and ask schedulers from other MSC to
> share their experiences. I don't think I've seen
> shoppers here discussing a particular scheduler.


Isn't there a thread on this forum about Dawn Hunt?...and why would it be unethical to ask a pier about their experiences with a particular shopper you are considering working with? Your experience as a small business working in the community is not protected information. We have an entire section of this forum dedicated to publicly discussing businesses (MSCs) and there is little to nothing they can do about what is said here.

I also don't understand the expectation from contractors to have their name uniquely identifiable for business purposes. If your birth name was Jeffrey Dahmer, I would not suggest that you set up a public business using that name. It's no fault of the potential clients that would be fearful of patronizing your business. On that same note, if you share the name with a notorious mystery shopping scammer, it's probably not the best business for you to engage in.

Shoppers are guaranteed the right to work for MSCs. We are independent contractors and if a company does not like how you spell your name, it's within their rights not to utilize your services. It may be unfortunate, but there is nothing criminal or unethical about that.

Should scheduler's ask a pier or their peers?

And there are two problems with saying someone sharing the name of a notorious mystery shopping scammer should not be in this business. First, how would someone know? Second, for this business we can only use our names.

When I sign up with a company I sign confidentiality agreement, don't schedulers do to? If MSC wants me to keep certain information private, why my personal information is used on some forum that I'm not aware of?

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Plusha Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hmm.. I don't think it's ethical to post a name
> of
> > the shopper and ask schedulers from other MSC
> to
> > share their experiences. I don't think I've
> seen
> > shoppers here discussing a particular
> scheduler.
>
>
> Isn't there a thread on this forum about Dawn
> Hunt?...and why would it be unethical to ask a
> pier about their experiences with a particular
> shopper you are considering working with? Your
> experience as a small business working in the
> community is not protected information. We have
> an entire section of this forum dedicated to
> publicly discussing businesses (MSCs) and there is
> little to nothing they can do about what is said
> here.
>
> I also don't understand the expectation from
> contractors to have their name uniquely
> identifiable for business purposes. If your birth
> name was Jeffrey Dahmer, I would not suggest that
> you set up a public business using that name.
> It's no fault of the potential clients that would
> be fearful of patronizing your business. On that
> same note, if you share the name with a notorious
> mystery shopping scammer, it's probably not the
> best business for you to engage in.
>
> Shoppers are guaranteed the right to work for
> MSCs. We are independent contractors and if a
> company does not like how you spell your name,
> it's within their rights not to utilize your
> services. It may be unfortunate, but there is
> nothing criminal or unethical about that.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Should scheduler's ask a pier or their peers?
>
> And there are two problems with saying someone
> sharing the name of a notorious mystery shopping
> scammer should not be in this business. First, how
> would someone know? Second, for this business we
> can only use our names.

LOL...of course I meant peers. Gotta love the auto-correct feature in my browser

As far as the name issue goes; You would never know. You career in MSing may simply never take and you might not know why.

If you did somehow manage to find out, I guess the only thing to do would be to legally change your name. If you just graduated med school and your name is Jeff Dahmer, that might make financial sense. If you want to get into MSing...perhaps it's just not meant to be. That's a lot of effort to get a FF shop when you are starting out. Right?

Plusha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I sign up with a company I sign
> confidentiality agreement, don't schedulers do to?
> If MSC wants me to keep certain information
> private, why my personal information is used on
> some forum that I'm not aware of?

The short answer to this is; I don't think that most ICA's afford that much protection to shoppers.

You have to understand the point of confidentiality agreements. They are there to protect the issuer of the agreement. Not both sides. The business puts it out to you, and you sign it in order to be allowed to do business with them. MSCs maintain that they have a right to some amount of secrecy because of the nature of their business. Shoppers request certain rights on the forum (like not giving their identity away) that are never afforded to MSCs because of the nature of our businesses. It's not a 2-way street where equal rights are extended on both sides. You need to read the ICA's that you sign in order to know what protections may be offered to you. It varies, but in general you have agreed to one with every MSC you work for, so it's good business to understand what you have agreed to.

I fear that these type of questions point toward one of the bigger issues that MSC have with shoppers, which is; Many shoppers do not understand the difference between and IC relationship and an employee relationship.

In this case, you need to understand that you are operating as a business, and you are engaging a business transaction with another business. This is why consumer protection agencies have no interest in problems with shopper-MSC transactions. If you want your information protected as a business, you would need to create your own agreement and have a company sign it before doing business with you.

The MS industry is not really structured to work that way, however, so you stand about as much change of success in the MS industry with your own agreement as the newbie shopper with a similar name to a notorious MSC scammer. Except in that case, you should at least know why you are not able to secure any work.

I would also say that your name and the fact that you worked for a company (and perhaps a recommendation to use or not use your services) is not something I would consider to be highly personal information. It's pretty basic business-to-business information.

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I fear that these type of questions point toward
> one of the bigger issues that MSC have with
> shoppers, which is; Many shoppers do not
> understand the difference between and IC
> relationship and an employee relationship.
>

Based on the way some of our guidelines are written, I would have to say that some MSC's don't understand the difference, either. Many seem to cross the line.