Yesterday, a scheduler sent an email with several available shops that need to be completed 12-21-13. I have done shops before for this scheduler in a pinch, so I emailed her and told her if she couldn't get all of her shops filled for 12-21-13 to let me know and I would see what I could do to help. I informed her that I would have to have similar compensation as the prior shop I did for her $50 total and I would have to be paid according to their current payment schedule.

I woke up this morning and already had the shop scheduled, due tomorrow, but at $25. I emailed the scheduler back and told her that the fee was unacceptable, so she cancelled the shop.

My question is; if the person emails me later asking me to do the shop for the $50 total, is it wrong to increase my request due to the scheduler not accepting my first offer and wasting my time? Keep in mind, I have done quite a few shops in a pinch for this company and all of my shop ratings have been a "9" or higher.

It's all negotiable. Ask what you think is fair and the MSC accepts or doesn't accept. Supply and demand governs the price of anything. She refused your $50 offer because she believed the supply of shoppers was sufficient to get the shop done at the price she wanted. If she comes back to you after refusing your first offer, the answer is that the supply of shoppers was NOT sufficient to get the job done at her rate. At that point, the negotiation begins again, and if you choose to up your salary requirement, go for it. She accepts or she doesn't accept. Up to you, up to her. She is free to make a counter-offer, too.

That would have ticked me off too, Dante. Was this shop for the same company that offered you the $50 shop fee?

Exact same company. I did two of them for the MSC a few weeks ago and got $100. I've also helped them out in a pinch on other shops, going somewhere to complete two shops where I know they have no shoppers and it's in an out of the way location on one day's notice.

I keep two lists of MSC's and schedulers. One list is "Favorable MSCs", where I will go out of my way to help them and the other is "Not Favorable MSCs", where I will do shops for them, but I ask for much more. I think this company is going to switch lists after this.

You can choose to increase your demand. She can choose to accept or say "no." I would weigh the value of my relationship with the scheduler though. I want my schedulers to like me and know they can count on me so that I'm the first person they call when they are desperate. I wouldn't increase my demand just to "get back" at the scheduler. If you are still able to do the job and your overhead hasn't changed, you have to decide how bad you want that $50.

I notified them that my offer was on the table until 3:30pm eastern. So now if they contact me, it's a new negotiation.

Three times now I have been offered a bonus on the phone from GAP and the bonus paid was lower than negotiated. Emailing does no good as they don't respond.

If I get offered a bonus on the phone, I always ask to see it in print before I commit to the shop. Just my own personal rule.

RMurp007 Wrote:
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> Three times now I have been offered a bonus on the
> phone from GAP and the bonus paid was lower than
> negotiated. Emailing does no good as they don't
> respond.

So....I had a call from Market Force once asking me to do a particular shop. They offered me less than I thought was my threshold, so I told them what I would take it for. The gal told me she would ask her supervisor and get back to me....never heard back. A week later, I get a call from another scheduler, who is now desperate to get the shop done and who offers me 20% more than I asked for to begin with.

This last week Maritz called me to ask if I could pick up a small route of shops that a shopper had flaked on. The gal asked me what I would need to do them, I told her, and she came back with an offer from the 'supervisor' that was $5 per shop less than I said I would need. Keep in mind, I'm not greedy, but I also did not want to work on a Sunday, and drive a 200 mile round trip at the last minute to do something that someone else committed to doing without making a decent return on it.

I stood firm, and they declined. I get a call this morning offering me what I asked for, with extended dates, and offering me 3 more shops in the same vicinity to tag on with the same bonus dollars.

Seems to me that schedulers make quite a bit of work for themselves trying to save relatively small amounts of money.....that they end up paying out plus some once all is said and done. Silly...

Unfortunately it's not the schedulers making that call. I made an offer on a shop at the beginning of the month that the MSC always has trouble filling because it's in the middle of nowhere. I made a reasonable offer because I was there anyway and it was early in the month. She wasn't able to get it approved and told me flat out that in 2 weeks she would be calling people trying to get it filled and would jump up and down if she got it done for the offer I made.

Dante: First off it was wrong for the scheduler to assign you the shop at 1/2 the price that you said you would do it. If she comes back to you later and offers you the price you asked for then you have to decide how desperately you want that shop. If it was me I would ask for at least $60 to compensate for having to email the scheduler again. Just be prepared that she may say no.

The shop is still on the board. Now that it is a "same day shop" situation, my asking price automatically goes up because now it means I have to rearrange my schedule, if that's even possible. Thank you everyone for the great advice and your point of view. It's very helpful.

jwolpert Wrote:
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> Dante: First off it was wrong for the scheduler to
> assign you the shop at 1/2 the price that you said
> you would do it. If she comes back to you later
> and offers you the price you asked for then you
> have to decide how desperately you want that shop.
> If it was me I would ask for at least $60 to
> compensate for having to email the scheduler
> again. Just be prepared that she may say no.

quilter Wrote:
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>
> This last week Maritz called me to ask if I could
> pick up a small route of shops that a shopper had
> flaked on. The gal asked me what I would need to
> do them, I told her, and she came back with an
> offer from the 'supervisor' that was $5 per shop
> less than I said I would need.
>

> Seems to me that schedulers make quite a bit of
> work for themselves trying to save relatively
> small amounts of money.....that they end up paying
> out plus some once all is said and done. Silly...

It is silly and I suspect the supervisor enjoys the negotiating game a little too much. That's why I automatically ask for MORE than I need with Maritz. If I want a $20 bonus for each shop, I might tell them I need $27. They will almost always counter for less, regardless of how logical and reasonable your first offer to them was.

Early December I was heading on a route about 75 miles away and contacted Maritz with an offer to do several of their banks that often go for heavy bonuses end of month.They wouldn't have been too far out of my way as I chose carefully. I asked for a reasonable amount to do a total of 5 or 6. Response was there were several others in the area I could do to make that amount in a route and they weren't currently paying bonuses. (like my route should just be for them and their shops) Oh, so I should add another 4-5 to an already heavy day at their base pay and go out of my way to do it for them..I don't think so. That attitude left me a bit PO'ed and I took none of them as I was already very busy that day. Same day I received one of their "Premium banking assignment" emails. By taking two of their email offers I made 3/4 of what I would have if I had taken 9 of their cheapo shops. The others sat and some were still sitting last week. If they would only stop and think for a moment they could have had so many more done early in the month with reasonable bonuses I had requested. That's their business, however, I just wish they would understand the plus side of getting hard to fill shops done earlier, if a shopper is heading that way. With that being said, I still do like Maritz.

The sad part is that shop is still on their board and it's up to $35 now. They could have paid me $50 yesterday and the shop would have been done today, I would have gotten my usual high rating and both the MSC and I would have been pleased. Now, I'm not happy with this MSC, the shop is still on their board, and it would cost them substantially more for me to complete the shop.

Glad you are standing your ground.

I'm going higher than $60 if they ask though. More like $100. Basically, I'm taking today and spending it with my wife and if I do a shop, it's going to be well worth my time.

Hey Dante~

Since I am not scheduling in PA and know you are not talking about me, I feel safe to answer

Most schedulers don't have the power to accept just any offers for a shop. We have parameters that are set by the company we are working with or for.

Trust me when I tell you, schedulers are not looking to leave shops unfilled, or not pay what you are asking. If they were allowed to accept your offer, they would have.

Kristyn,

Thank you for the insight on this. I would have said something sooner, but alas, I have been busy. I didn't do those shops because, of course, $100 was too much to ask and after how I feel I was "jerked around", it soured me on this MSC and made me not want to accept shops from them for the time being. I didn't deactivate my account (it would take a lot to make me deactivate with any company), because you never know when the opportunity will present itself that they need me, which of course, will come at a premium price.

What upset me about the entire situation was that I discussed the shop with the scheduler and we agreed to the $50 rate and the next day she attempted to assign it to me for $25 without any email or explanation. I'm not upset about losing out on the $50, it's the point that she tried to assign the shop for something other than the compensation that was agreed to.

KristynScheduler Wrote:
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> Hey Dante~
>
> Since I am not scheduling in PA and know you are
> not talking about me, I feel safe to answer
>
> Most schedulers don't have the power to accept
> just any offers for a shop. We have parameters
> that are set by the company we are working with or
> for.
>
> Trust me when I tell you, schedulers are not
> looking to leave shops unfilled, or not pay what
> you are asking. If they were allowed to accept
> your offer, they would have.