A MSC Editor replies about Grammar and Speilling issues!
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We share your pain, incognito!
The only grammar-check that I know of is in MS Word. It will underline grammar problems, then you right-click for a suggested fix. It is not perfect, either, but it can help. Some people write in a word doc, then copy, paste. I, too, get frustrated with vague feedback. They'd never put up with that from shoppers, would they? ;-)
Which MSC? Some MSCs do not give out scores. Some edit tougher than others.
"Speilling"?
incognito, some MSC editors use canned responses. . . . . Oops, the wrong can was checked. Editor needed edited.
Do not lose any sleep. Possibly, their mistake, not yours.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2015 01:58AM by Mert.
incognito, some MSC editors use canned responses. . . . . Oops, the wrong can was checked. Editor needed edited.
Do not lose any sleep. Possibly, their mistake, not yours.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2015 01:58AM by Mert.
I know at least one MSC has a style guide. The guide lists the way they want certain things written. It doesn't mean your way of writing is wrong, but the company for whatever reason has decided they want reports written using a certain style. You indicate a link was provided "to help (you) out with their correct use of grammar," so I suspect this was the case. On the other hand, it could have just been an editor needing to give out a certain number of deductions to justify their job. In either case, I agree it would be helpful to get better feedback, but I doubt the editors get paid for that.
Try to not take offense to comments like that. Sometimes an MSC has a writing style they want their shoppers to follow. As to whether it's correct? You can argue that. But that's not the point. You're contracting for the MSC, and they are your client. Just take notice of their comments (in this case, the link the editor provided you) and keep it in mind for future projects with the MSC, especially if it's a specific writing style the MSC prefers / requires.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I got the same thing back from an MSC that I do plenty of shops for. What is funny is it was a big box store that I shopped 2 of them in 2 days. I got a rating of 5 for not doublespacing between paragraphs on 1 of the 2. WTF??? I've never gotten such a low mark!
Have you noticed that with some platforms, spacing is crunched? Double spacing after a period, or a paragraph, is compressed. Fine and dandy, except my small motor skills do not work that way. However, I've learned with those MSCs to compose only one paragraph, in the interest of time.
You mean an MSC editor right? 
There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
At the moment only demons come to mind
Yes. Just had to work through a few, to know who likes what.
I know what you are saying! Frustrating is the word here. That is why I brought this topic up. I did find grammarly also today. But, still it really hit a nerve with me under the circumstances. It is odd, the same writing style with another company and I had more paragraphs to write out, from beginning to end of what happened when I walked in to when I left and I got a 10! Go figure.
Incognito
silver certified
silver certified
I wrote for newspapers and magazines for 20+ years and I learned that, regardless of what we learned in Advanced English Grammar, a lot about editing is subjective. I learned to conform to the editor I was working for at the moment. Mystery shopping makes that more difficult, because you seldom know who will be editing you. All we can do is the best we can do, with a little help from the tools we have available.
So when I got similar feedback, this OCD writer also got frustrated. In my next report, in the box for the MSC comments only, I asked how they recommended eliminating errors they cited, such as errant punctuation marks, double paragraph spacing, etc. They suggested creating narratives in a text editor, not Word. Word applies formatting "behind the scenes" and is not read by all systems the same way. My Word text looked correct when I pasted it in the correct boxes, but when saved, it was crazy. A text editor, such as Notepad, does not add formatting, so you get straight up text exactly as it's typed. I tried that, and it worked. However, typing into Notepad was not comfortable for me. Since then I've been typing my narratives right into the report, then copying from the report to a Word document and saving it there for reference. Hope this helps someone.
I agree - Notepad is difficult to use. Those are all good ideas. Thanks for sharing!
My pet peeve about this...For fine dining shops there is always a question about the busser (the msc name and spelling). In my answer I always write busser just like they do. As you can see it is even underlined in my reply. So for the companies that have their own spell check that you have to use in order to save it always stops at busser and asks me if I want to say...bustamante, or bubbles or pizza pie or a bunch of nonsensical words. So far I have never been dinged but it really bothers me every time.
On my own I never use spell check as I find the suggestions to almost always be silly. I am not sure about grammar check.
I get your frustration when you are sent something about an error without an explanation, especially when you are graded lower for it. How are you ever supposed to improve if you cannot figure out what went wrong?
On my own I never use spell check as I find the suggestions to almost always be silly. I am not sure about grammar check.
I get your frustration when you are sent something about an error without an explanation, especially when you are graded lower for it. How are you ever supposed to improve if you cannot figure out what went wrong?
You know, I suspect sometimes, the editor could also be confused. I once got a point deduction for some errors which the editor told me I committed. It happened earlier in my rookie days. I was so upset and asked the editor exactly when I did that and she gave me an example. I told her I had a copy of every report and it was not my style to write that way. She did not say anything. The next thing I knew she became easier to work with but I could not make a copy of my reports anymore. It does not matter because I am not too concerned about a point deduction nowadays. I am more concerned about the next shops.
My editor friend told me that he had to scan many reports in a day and sometimes it was possible to get confused as to who did what. There were times when he had to rewrite a lot. He said editors are human.
My editor friend told me that he had to scan many reports in a day and sometimes it was possible to get confused as to who did what. There were times when he had to rewrite a lot. He said editors are human.
@incognito wrote:
Yes, that is what I meant... a MSC editor!
An
There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
At the moment only demons come to mind
Icognito, I can understand your concern and frustration. Some of the MSc's hire editors that seem to delight in being very very picky. There are some who far too often criticize but then leave you hanging and never help you by being specific. My suggestion is to grit your teeth and bear it and remember there are many very nice and very helpful editors and there are some who need to take a course in being helpful and respectful. Just swallow hard and wait for your fee!
I actually got the opportunity to view an edited report of mine. It was returned to me to add a detail after it had been edited. I was dinged for "multiple grammatical and spelling mistakes"
I read through the entire report and compared everything. The ONLY changes were changing "she" to "Pat" 3 times. It really sounded dumb the way it was edited.
I read through the entire report and compared everything. The ONLY changes were changing "she" to "Pat" 3 times. It really sounded dumb the way it was edited.
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