My pet peeve in mystery shopping is when a scheduler calls me and asks me to do a shop, usually a deadline shop...And I tell them I can't do it because

1) There's no time in my schedule.
2) I'm not headed in that direction.
3) I don't do that type of shop.

Never fails, the scheduler then says, "What would it take to get it on your schedule for tomorrow or even today?" Followed by, "Well, when could you do it?"

And suddenly, you, the shopper becomes the bad guy because you don't want to do the shop and tell the scheduler again, that you don't want to do it. And then the scheduler pushes to get the shop assigned. The scheduler, though, is never the bad person for pushing or trying to entrap a shopper to do a shop for them.

I find more and more, it's just simpler to say, "No," and just hang up... Though that doesn't deter some schedulers who will then call you back on your cell, then your home phone, then again on your cell, thinking that if they could just get their claws into you one more time, they could convince you to do something you don't want to do.

And all this while you earn something around minimum wage.

So what would it take for you to accept a shop one hour from your home when your schedule is full? Certainly, I am not the only shopper that faces this dilemma regularly. so how do you deal with it?

I don't answer the phone for that kind of scheduler.

I ask for $200.00 on top of the regular fee. That usually stops the phone calls. But it they agreed to it, I would do my juggling act that I am so good at, accept the shop with the $200 bonus and get it done within the deadline.

How about when you say, I know, I know; I have completed that shop successfully but I have vowed never to do it again? Then he says, "How much can I offer you to accept this shop?" Then you say, "Nothing!" Then he gets angry and asks again, "But what would it take for you to accept it?"

How I dealt with it? I just said, "Thank you. Bye."

I think Sybil's response is right. Give a date when you can do it and a price you can accept to make the profit you need. If you get the shop, great. If not it should get rid of the scheduler.

I'm a big fan of throwing out an unrealistic number. Once I did not want to leave my house let alone travel two hours each way to a shop and asked for $500 knowing the most they had paid before was $200 to $250. The "no thanks" was a relief, but if they had met my offer I would have done it in a heartbeat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2015 03:28AM by LisaSTL.

I use the ridiculous number strategy myself. Yes I'll fit it into my day, do this shop I despise, and drive an hour away for $250. That has always shut them down. Worst case scenario, I make $250.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

Worst case scenario, I make $250.

Absolute highlight of the thread!

I get these "what would it take" calls, and they counter offer with $30 for a 350 mile round trip drive. Maddening!

@mjt9598 I know how you're feeling. I got a call yesterday from a desperate-sounding scheduler saying they needed a shop done by tomorrow (which would be today). I used my formula to figure out my fee and then called back with my request. I requested $200 and was countered with $65. Sorry, but that would be nowhere near enough. I guess they weren't so desperate.

To echo others in this thread... If a scheduler says, "How much will it take?", ALWAYS give a crazy high number. I have had luck with $250, $500, and once a $750 (5 hour trip one way) bonus.

Of course, if they counter with a $10 bonus, say you are not interested and hang up.

It can be kind of maddening, though I also suspect it's a part of their job that many schedulers detest. Some mystery shopping companies simply have it in their contracts that they will not reimburse transportation costs, and if the scheduler is working for one of these companies, then their hands may be tied. Particularly if the scheduler is new, trying to acquire or secure a permanent hire, trying to make a quote, aware of being evaluated, or so on, they will be under pressure in order to perform a certain way. Some of them probably don't mind making calls like this, but I'm sure others hate it, just like how there are different things we all love or hate about our mystery shopping.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2015 08:38PM by OceanGirl.

I have great sympathy for schedulers. I know it's not their fault. They are under pressure to get the jobs done, but to get them done for low fees so they don't lose their clients to companies who promise to get them done cheaper. Some independent schedulers even have to pay the bonuses out of their own pay if they use up their allotted bonus money. Some companies can pay whatever it takes to get the job done, but others are paid a set fee per job, and would lose money on the project if they pay high bonuses. It all depends on the agreement they have with their client.

A smart company is going to have a Plan B for hard to fill locations which will include enough bonus money to get the job done. Keep in mind there are often completion bonuses for the company so that huge chunk of change they are willing to pay you to drive to Podunk is likely to still be less than their bonus. As to IC schedulers using their own money for bonuses, I'm not sure if that's an urban legend or not. I've read about it yet have not had one single scheduler ever tell me it actually happened. If it does, it's probably another case of the IC getting screwed over because the MSC can.

@Tlt14, What's your formula? Gas $$ + travel time = your acceptable hourly rate? (Sorry if you already said and I missed it.)

Some shoppers use a flat $20/hr. For example, suppose the job is 2 hrs away. You spend an hour to review the report/rules and prepare yourself and your car. Drive 2 hrs, 1 hr for the shop, 2 hrs back, and 1 hr to report. That's 9 hrs, so $180 bonus (bare minimum) plus the posted shop fee. Of course, you ask for $500 if you don't want it and $300 if you don't mind.

Other shoppers use different formulas based on their car's mileage, a lower rate for the drive/reporting time, or simply an added "aggravation factor"!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2015 11:17PM by Lisa4984.

This is all relative to the amount of shoppers in your area and how rural you are. If your in a high density populated area, then you won't be asked to travel more than 25 miles and pushing the boundary of asking too much can be $80 to have them want to make a note and hang up on you. If it's end of month and the job started at an under $10 fee, asking $60 is more realistic to get a rejection and possibly a call back if they hit the end of the shopper list of the area and have to come back to you. I have never drove more than an hour for a phone called shop request. There are just too many shoppers in my area to get those huge bonuses.

Years ago DSG offered me a fairly decent sum at the time (can't remember how much, but since I was in college, it looked like a lot!) to shop a fast food joint in a tiny town about 50 miles away. I can well imagine it being hard for any of these companies to find a shopper in towns with populations in the 4 digit range.

I didn't take it for reasons I can't recall. But these days, driving a hybrid, I can make money on many mileage deals.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2015 12:28AM by Documentarian.

@Lisa4984 wrote:

You spend an hour to review the report/rules and prepare yourself and your car.

An hour? I have never spent an hour reading the guidelines and the report. Prepare yourself? Do you mean taking a shower, shaving, styling your hair, putting on makeup and getting dressed?

There can be a lot of reading.... It's not uncommon to have to read 10-15 pages... and time to take and pass the "test", and then also time to print out the report. Most of the time, I would suggest about 20 minutes, but I don't think an hour would be too far out there, particularly for the first shop. And, some shops require that AFTER the shop, you move your car and sit there filling out a paper form (I record my notes on my cell)... but some people would sit and fill out the entire form, which all this takes time.

@Documentarian wrote:

I can well imagine it being hard for any of these companies to find a shopper in towns with populations in the 4 digit range.

Four digit? Many towns in this area have 3-digit populations, but they all have a gas station and a grocery. And many have a Dollar Store or cell store. I live in the second largest town/city in the county. Population 1700.

Yes, Sybil2, that's what I meant - the absolute outside max. As in, you get a call in the morning before you get ready for work or you weren't planning on working that day. You have to start from scratch on everything - you're still in your jammies! So now, you have to print/read the shop forms, get yourself ready, and make sure you have everything you need to make the trip - water, snacks, gas, etc. Unless you try to find a food shop along the way . . .

I've been personally told by schedulers that they do have to pay bonuses out of their own pay if they go over. This was when winter weather had caused many shoppers to cancel, and they were having a very tough time getting people to travel to remote South Dakota towns for urgent revealed audits. Another scheduler with a different company told me the same thing - they are allowed a certain amount for bonus pay. If they are under, they get to keep the difference. If they go over, it comes out of their pay for the project.

@LisaSTL wrote:

A smart company is going to have a Plan B for hard to fill locations which will include enough bonus money to get the job done. Keep in mind there are often completion bonuses for the company so that huge chunk of change they are willing to pay you to drive to Podunk is likely to still be less than their bonus. As to IC schedulers using their own money for bonuses, I'm not sure if that's an urban legend or not. I've read about it yet have not had one single scheduler ever tell me it actually happened. If it does, it's probably another case of the IC getting screwed over because the MSC can.

Many companies aren't smart, though. They are so desperate to get a client that they will put in a lowball bid, only to find out that no sane shopper will do the multi-part shop for $10.

@mjt9598 wrote:

Many companies aren't smart, though. They are so desperate to get a client that they will put in a lowball bid, only to find out that no sane shopper will do the multi-part shop for $10.

I have seen the purchase/return shops for $10-$12 bounce from one MSC to another without bonuses offered. If its not profitable for the shopper, then it will never be profitable for the MSC. I refuse to do a purchase and return for less than $40 as I consider it two shops and they better be on my beaten path.

What will it take to do this tomorrow/next day? Or what will it take to do this next week? That question will get entirely different answers from me.

If you call an MSC that is phone friendly and you say you can do the shop right now, as your heading in that direction right now, you will go from the applied status to the assigned shop status faster than the whiplash of being rear ended. There is nothing you could say to a scheduler that would make them any happier. They then have nothing to loose, as your not taking any time off the shop clock if you blow the shop.

If the shop is offering a date range to apply for the shop and if you offer to do it on the first day, you are much more likely to be accepted than if you offer to do it several days into the time frame of they have a five day window to apply for and it's not auto assigned. They will almost always take the fist day applicants unless they have a preferred favorite route shopper that is on the application list.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2015 01:38AM by scanman1.

I'm too much a much of a cynic to buy everything told me by people in this business. Based on your last sentence it sounds like they are misrepresenting at the very least. So they tell you if they come in under they get to keep the difference? Sounds like bonus money set aside for shoppers instead goes in their pocket.

@mjt9598 wrote:

I've been personally told by schedulers that they do have to pay bonuses out of their own pay if they go over. This was when winter weather had caused many shoppers to cancel, and they were having a very tough time getting people to travel to remote South Dakota towns for urgent revealed audits. Another scheduler with a different company told me the same thing - they are allowed a certain amount for bonus pay. If they are under, they get to keep the difference. If they go over, it comes out of their pay for the project.

Several years ago I accepted a bonused shop from a favorite scheduler via an email. When the shop was paid by the MSC there was no bonus included. After contacting the scheduler, I received a handwritten personal check from her for the bonus amount. I felt a little bad about that though after realizing she paid it herself. So, yes, it does happen that they pay a bonus personally.