I used to deal with great schedulers at this one MSC. It was a pleasure to work with them. But the last two months or so there have been new schedulers who are terrible! I only do restaurant shops with them where I only get reimbursement for the meal and sometimes a bonus. These reports take anywhere from two to three hours to do a good job on them. (not just checking boxes, having to provide detailed narrative).

For example, one sent a broadcast email to shoppers giving the wrong guidelines! At first I thought that they had changed but I checked and they hadn't. With the ordering guidelines that this scheduler gave, it would have made us order more when not necessary! So I sent her an email asking about it. She checked and still didn't notice her two errors! She apologized and said that she was sorry but she was new, but when I emailed a second time to point out her errors, she didn't get it!

Then, another new scheduler called me twice and asked me if I would take a shop. I told her that I couldn't take the shop because it was too far from me and I'd have to pay parking. I said that I would only take it with a bonus, to cover those costs. And yet she tried to contact me again to get me to take another shop even though it was the same kind of situation.

Today, I got an email from another new scheduler and again, she gave the wrong times for the shop. She wrote down 6 to 8 PM but the correct times are 5 to 10 PM.

I'm getting frustrated with these schedulers for these little mistakes. I'm scared to book a shop with them in case they 'make a mistake'. And don't get me started on their inane descriptions about how this shop will be a Valentine's day treat or a date night on them!

Is anybody else finding this happening lately? It's so frustrating...

Rant over...

I would say lately, I have noticed a few rude schedulers, who are less than willing to work with snow days, errors on their part, wrong instructions, failure to return emails and so forth. It seems to be a mix of companies but narrowed down to two more prominent offending companies. Does this mean there was an "abandon ship" and we are dealing with more inexperienced new schedulers?

I would say, in all the years I have been shopping, "incompetence" has reared it's ugly head in the last 6 months, proportionately higher than normal.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2016 12:26AM by SunnyDays2.

I have noticed that I seem to be dealing with some new editors as well.

@Darlmam wrote:

I have noticed that I seem to be dealing with some new editors as well.

It's no wonder when MSCs that are recruiting editors are advertising $8/hr -- as an IC, that's really $5. What do they expect to get for that? Same with the schedulers. I'm very thankful for the good ones who remember me and with whom I've built solid relationships; most of them I'm betting are well over 40. I wonder how much of the rudeness is generational.

I think that since an entire generation, or two, of people have grown up using the internet and texting as their primary means of communication, they have no clue how to interact with people in the "real world." So many think they can just say whatever the hell they please--because they're texting their friends and don't think they need to be polite, they're hiding behind anonymity (e.g., on message boards and the like), or are posting to FB the first thing that enters their minds (not realizing or not caring that the entire world can see the stuff they're writing)--they don't know how to behave and communicate professionally. Not by phone, not in e-mails, and not in person. And, unfortunately, the parents of many of these people don't seem to have taught them basic manners.

And, yes, I probably sound like an old lady, but politeness and professionalism are never passé or irrelevant. Although I have had people try to tell me that it's OK to say whatever you want, however you want, to somebody. The pretext being that, "Oh, I'm just being honest." Well, yeah, you can be honest, but you don't have to be rude and/or mean while doing it....

Regarding the anonymity aspect, I think you nailed that, Birdy. I deal with one MSC whose personnel use the same email account -- rarely signed. Those that are unsigned are considerably ruder, less professional, nastier, and condescending (another trait of those in their 20s).

...and then there are the wonderful, professional, appreciative notes from people like Katie, Josh, and Helena at Mintel, that restore my faith in MSC personnel. I can only surmise that this MSC pays better and has a much higher standard for hiring than some others.

I just received a "nasty" from a [insert the worst word imaginable here] half my age. It's enough for me to cut ties with the MSC once I finish the jobs in my queue -- to their loss. I won't be answering her, but I will be letting her superiors know about it when I leave. It's doubtful that it will make a difference, but no amount of money is worth abuse.