Just thought it would be fair for schedulers to let off some steam about their own pet peeves about us....

I was just thinking what if the schedulers had a board of their own. LOL.

The schedulers do have a board of their own on the V GOD site and shoppers cannot access it, yet the schedulers can access the mystery shoppers board. Ray Sola has no issue with this this, it just demonstrates how he is too cozy with the msc's.

Who is Ray Sola?

Ray Sola is the webmaster for volition.com.

He does not want the name of his web site mentioned on this board
and once told me with all seriousness that he was "God" so hence the
name "V-GOD" is used to reference his website in respect to him.

He did not like it either when I posted the name IMAX in all capital letters as it does appear
this way in their trademarks. And after all IMAX is the BIG screen forum. LOL

This site is steadily surpassing his in postings, but his site remains a valuable reference
for shoppers. I do not totally disagree with him all of the time either...it is his website to do
as he pleases.

I think this is a great thread even when schedulers have their own forum(s). As a shopper, I would love to learn from schedulers what they want and don't want shoppers to do. I would also like to get an idea of which schedulers/MSCs I may or may not want to work with, based on what and how schedulers say.

Ok...I'll bite

I have 2 main pet peeves, but they go hand in hand.
1. Shoppers who don't/won't communicate
2. Shoppers who lie to me (white or otherwise)

I'll explain them both together.
1. If I send an email (to acknowledge being assigned to a shop, to confirm the completion of a shop, etc., etc.), it's because it's important. I need and expect a response within a reasonable amount of time. Please don't just blow it off and fall off the face of the earth. Being able to meet our deadlines depends on timely communications.

2. If you didn't complete a shop (or just decide you don't want the shop anymore) just frickin' tell me the truth instead of making up lame excuses or, again, falling off the face of the earth. I have much more respect for someone who tells me they don't think a shop they've been assigned to is right for them, or that they think they've gotten in over their head, than for someone who emails me 2 hours before the shop time to say (for the 4th time this month) they've had an "emergency" come up. Odd how this emergency came up immediately after they had opened and read the shop's instructions for the very first time, but had been assigned to the shop days ago.

Bottom line...stay in communication and be upfront with all your schedulers.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2012 11:36PM by Inside Evaluators.

^Makes sense. I suspect that's how most people (schedulers and shoppers included) feel.

BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ^Makes sense. I suspect that's how most people
> (schedulers and shoppers included) feel.

Schedulers, absolutely. Many shoppers, not so much...especially newer shoppers.

Inside Evaluators Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ^Makes sense. I suspect that's how most people
> > (schedulers and shoppers included) feel.
>
> Schedulers, absolutely. Many shoppers, not so
> much...especially newer shoppers.

Huh? Shoppers and especially new shoppers don't mind when schedulers don't communicate or when schedulers lie?

BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Inside Evaluators Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > ^Makes sense. I suspect that's how most
> people
> > > (schedulers and shoppers included) feel.
> >
> > Schedulers, absolutely. Many shoppers, not so
> > much...especially newer shoppers.
>
> Huh? Shoppers and especially new shoppers don't
> mind when schedulers don't communicate or when
> schedulers lie?

I guess I misunderstood your comment.
I thought your comment meant that most people (schedulers and shoppers) probably feel that same way I do (from a scheduler's point of view) about the importance of communicating and being upfront with your schedulers.

I had to ask for an extension on a shop today. Ugh! It nearly killed me to even ask. I plotted, and I planned. I went through every possible thing I could come up with to find a way to still do the shop, but the truck broke down, and I'm relying on family to cart me to and from work. I just couldn't fit a shop in too. The scheduler extended the shop for me, but I wonder if she actually believed my story or not. I know the flake rate on shops can be high, and I'm sure schedulers have hear more excuses than the High School teachers. Luckily it wasn't my first time shopping for this company, and it wasn't my first time with this specific shop. I'm still stressing out thinking that the next time the shop comes up I won't get it because of this! I love that shop! Ok well, I don't love the shop, but I love my free pork loin. The shop doesn't suck, but being stuck in a freezer checking the expiration dates of hot dogs and hamburgers isn't the highlight of my day.

I would appreciate if schedulers who come on here are honest and post that they are a scheduler. I recently was sent an email with a copy and paste of a post I had made a few weeks earlier in it, and thought that was crappy. If schedulers are going to be on here and snoop- please honestly post you are a scheduler. I wont post the company or employee name- if you want it, PM me.

Joasmom - Sorry that happened to you. That's a good reminder for all of us that this is a PUBLIC forum, not a one-on-one discussion over coffee in the kitchen.

Joasmom,

Your experience is why I never comment about any person, place or situation upon which I would have any reservations attaching my name. I understand the need some folks feel toward posting anonymously, but it is not for me.

Bob Engleman

Jaosmom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would appreciate if schedulers who come on here
> are honest and post that they are a scheduler. I
> recently was sent an email with a copy and paste
> of a post I had made a few weeks earlier in it,
> and thought that was crappy. If schedulers are
> going to be on here and snoop- please honestly
> post you are a scheduler. I wont post the company
> or employee name- if you want it, PM me.

It could be that, or a shopper could have sent your post to a scheduler.

@Joasmom:
I am not a scheduler. but after four months of being hooked up with the job boards: I actually found one shop with a company that looked interesting. I got really sick one night the day before the shop. It was at an airport. My thought was if I am contageous, where will my virus go, how many people?
I emailed the scheduler and the person would not reschedule for the following day because I could not assure the person I would be better. The company had someone set up to get me behind security.

Long story short, the scheduler would not reschedule AND promised to deactivate me.

I was actually happy about that and a week later I decided to see if I could get into the website--I could so I emailed her for curiosity. I got another promise that I was deactivated.

Anyway, my reason for reading this thread in the first place--any other schedulers out there think that scheduler was rude?

I have rescheduled shops many times by emailing schedulers what was going on. I have done over 100 shops in my first four months of shopping, and a couple of times have had to ask for a shop to be taken off my account. I hated doing that because the it really puts the scheduler out if they don't or can't get another shopper.
EVERY other scheduler has been so polite and nice even on the phone.....

Appreciate this thread. I'm sure I have a lot to learn about performing shops and writing reports.

@kattyk

I'm not a scheduler. It's difficult to say whether your scheduler was rude. However, given the circumstances, I think it was reasonable and predicatable that the scheduler acted the way she did.

You asked to reschedule an airport shop the night before the shop. The MSC arranged for someone to take you through security. It appears that you were able to do the shop. You just did not want to do the shop in case you were contagious.

When you ask to reschedule a shop and the scheduler agrees, he/she has to do extra work but it is often less work for him/her than to find another shopper to do the shop. However, there is no incentive to grant you an extension if it is questionable whether you will indeed do the shop as rescheduled.

Also, your shop requires the scheduler to arrange someone to take you through airport security. I've done that type of shop before (unbadged shopper shopping in secured areas). It takes quite a bit of coordination between the scheduler and the person at the airport. If you reschedule this kind of shop, the scheduler has to do much more work than when someone wants to reschedule another type of shop. This is one of the reasons why some MSCs take a tough stance with certain types of shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2012 06:47PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Joasmom - How did the scheduler know who you are since you don't have your real name on your profile? I haven't posted anything that I would feel questionable about but I'm at this forum under the assumption that I am anonymous as far as schedulers go since I'm not using my real name. It's scary that happened to you - rather Big Brotherish isn't it?

Hey everyone- I posted about the company, but did not mention any specifics or names. I have her forum name as part of the copy and paste, so now I know she is on,here, and after going through and reading her posts, I dont see any where. . she has identified herself as being an employee of this company. Even though I was mad, I was factual and asked.for opinions and was truthful.

I noticed this thread pop up the other day but didn't have time to respond, however, I did have a lot of time to think about it throughout the day. I couldn't really come up with any pet peeves because every time I thought of a bad experience with a shopper it reminded me of all the other shoppers who were better and would never do anything like that. There really are just a few shoppers I don't like having to deal with and it’s always just because of basic things like dishonesty, laziness, harassment, and stupidity.

Mystery shopping generally isn't that complicated when it comes down to it - you accept the shop, complete it, write up the report, and get paid. Now like I said that’s nothing but a generalization - I know that it can be complicated, but in essence it shouldn't be. That’s generally how my shops go along. Most of the time I don’t even really speak with the shoppers, they do their work and it all just gets done. If you can't complete it for whatever reason, have an emergency, didn't receive your payment, or made a small contradiction in your report - that’s fine. That’s how the business works and we just have to deal with it. I will see if I can reschedule it but if I can't then I just have to find another shopper and the original shopper has to accept that. It’s not necessarily a pet peeve, it’s just business. Not necessarily the shopper's fault nor mine. Things happen - especially if there was an emergency or something out of the shopper's hands. If you didn't receive your payment then you should contact me and ask me what is going on - of course I'll respond appropriately and do whatever I have to do to fix the issue. Maybe their address was incorrect, maybe my coworker missed the payment, maybe the check got delayed because of some sort of natural disaster - things happen. Not always their fault or mine. If the shopper made a small contradiction in their report or accidentally missed something, that's fine. That is why our company hired a team of editors to check the reports. We'll just contact the shopper about it to fix it, hopefully in a timely manner. Then the shopper will respond - hopefully in a timely manner. Things like this are not that difficult. Both schedulers and shoppers just need to do what they need to do.

What ruins the shopper to scheduler relationship are the basic things like I mentioned earlier - dishonesty, laziness, harassment, and stupidity. Very basic things. From BOTH sides. If a shopper lies to me then that’s not a pet peeve, that’s just a bad person. If a shopper doesn't do what they are supposed to then they most likely just did not read the instructions or perhaps the scheduler gave them the wrong information. Once again, those are not peeves, those are just bad people. But these are things that a scheduler is expected and hired to deal with, it’s not like the system is perfect. Shoppers ought to take responsibility for it, too. I shouldn't have to feel bad or awkward about having to tell a shopper that they did something wrong or need to do something differently. Its business. Our work depends on yours.

There are infinite possibilities as to why a shopper or scheduler does not respond in a timely manner. Maybe they are just lazy or careless. Maybe their email client broke down. Or even worse, maybe there was a serious emergency. Things happen. We all just need to deal with it, take responsibility for our actions, and work together. The fact that many schedulers and shoppers don't is the most major problem with mystery shopping if you ask me. I hate having to deal with a shopper who will not try to work with me when something happens - whether it is their fault or mine. I hate hearing about a scheduler doing the same just as much.

Keep in mind that the ratio of shoppers to schedulers has to be like 10,000:1. We deal with many shoppers on a daily basis, most likely more than however many schedulers you might deal with in a month. We are just as likely to make a mistake as any shopper - we are all human. We also rarely have any control over payments, let alone anything really. It is the MSC and their clients that determine everything, schedulers just manage the people who do the shops.

I guess my only pet peeve is shoppers who wrongfully attack MSC’s and schedulers. I have seen my company, Informa Research Services, wrongfully attacked in mystery shop forums – even this one. We found one on here just yesterday and were not sure how to respond. My coworkers said that they had evidence that the shopper lied about doing their shops and faked the whole report. It is one thing to be lazy and dishonest, but another to try and defame a company to defend yourself when you are caught. If an MSC kicks a mystery shopper out of their database then they can just start anew with another MSC, whereas people who work at the MSC can lose their jobs entirely. Be sure to address any issues with an MSC before posting to a forum with an attack. If you are a shopper and see a post about a company you have worked with, please give your input. Protect the companies you trust and constructively criticize the ones you have issues with.

I’m sure I left a lot of holes in this so please feel free to ask any questions or give any comments. We’re in this industry together – so please work with me, don’t attack me. Not that I think most of you would though, many of you seem to be quite professional on here and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2015 11:00PM by DLerner.

Informar has always been good tome and they pay as promised.

prettygul1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Informar has always been good tome and they pay as
> promised.


Glad to hear that! I appreciate your response - I must have scared everyone else off with the novel I wrote up there.

Wait... is this for ALL schedulers from different types of companies? I can post my own jobs here for Merchandising opportunities? that's fantastic!

Where do I post them for Merchandising?

I jumped on this topic because I saw PET PEEVES... lol .... where to begin? not following directions and not showing up.

All schedulers are welcome. =)

The merchandising forum is relatively new. I'm not sure but I suspect the MS job board here is currently the best place for you to post merchandising jobs, since there isn't (yet) a separate job board here for merchandising jobs. It may be helpful if you state in your thread headers that yours are merchandisng, not MS, jobs.

got it Thank you! Merchandising works

You're welcome. =D

@buzybeebuzzbuzzbuzz

My issue is not that the scheduler refused to reassign or reschedule the shop to me at all.
I understood that part since I did not know if I would feel better enough the following day to walk all through the airport up and down to 7 different coffee shops in one morning. since she could not count on me, she removed the shop from my account.
If I were the scheduler I would do the same. I did call the escort that they arranged to accompany me to cancel the night before, but emailed the scheduler first.

My issue is the rudeness. It turns out I am not contagious, but two months later am still having issues that are not yet diagnosed. I am going on best I can, and cutting down on the number of shops I do each week.

The scheduler was obviously angry and smug, with no compassion at all. She even wrote that she was emailing other schedulers! I get that people call in sick when they are not really sick, but I had nausea, fever and chills, and I let her know it. I could not stand up, let alone walk all through an airport. I thought it better to cancel the night before than wait till morning when I was supposed to meet the escort.

@kattyk

I hope you get well soon.

Can you please explain HOW the scheduler was rude? Saying she was rude is a conclusion. So is saying she was obviously angry and smug.

I am not saying she was not rude, angry or smug. I am saying I can't telling whether she was or not, based on your posts.

Pretend you shopped her. How would you report that experience objectively?

Thanks.