Be aware of your surroundings

Be aware of your surroundings.
Not just when mystery shopping.
In general.
Last Saturday when exiting my car to perform a mystery shop I was assaulted. I was hit several times over the head with a bottle and knocked out.
I was robbed and car was stolen.
This was in broad day light in the view of witnesses.

And the lovely MSC scheduler that I was doing the shop for ONLY was concerned if I could go back and complete the shop.
(NO CHANCE!)
When i said healing/recovery was on the only thing on my foreseeable schedule I was issued a flake citation,
Apparently getting assaulted and robbed is not a justifiable reason for missing a shop!!

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Oh that's just so awful, I am so sorry to hear.

Ummm... what?! Name the company! Chances are someone on this site has a contact with the company for you to report this. No scheduler should ever react that way. I can't fault the scheduler for asking if you would be able to complete the shop, after all that's their job, even if it does sound cruel. The safety of shoppers should be paramount, and if schedulers don't believe that, their supervisors need to know.

I regret you were assaulted and hope you are on the road to recovery. I also regret you had such a lowlife unconcerned scheduler and I hope you take that flake citation right to the top of the company. That scheduler needs to go.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

So sorry to hear about such an awful experience! I wish you a very speedy recovery!!!

I agree with the other posters, contact the MSC owner and explain what happened. I'm sure an apology will be forthcoming and the flake citation will be removed. Offer to send a copy of the police report if they are at all skeptical and that will clears things up pronto,,,I hope...

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

How do people only be greedy not care about your injurys? Did your injury happen different part of World than America because Americans are not greedy like that? Kids in garmet shops get badly hurt and slave owner won't take child to doctor, devils of humans. I hate evil, how do they not have heart?

Akbar, I'm sorry to disillusion you, but Americans certainly can be as greedy as any other human.

OP, so sorry to hear about this. I hope your insurance covers everything and you get well quick!

Out that shitty scheduler and MSC.

I find it absolutely infuriating that there were witnesses present and no one did anything to help. Please tell me they at least caught the guy and recovered your car.

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

@pinchers81 wrote:

I find it absolutely infuriating that there were witnesses present and no one did anything to help. Please tell me they at least caught the guy and recovered your car.

Agreed. People are cowards. I hope someone at least called the cops and stepped in to help you afterwards until the ambulance came.
OP I wish you a swift recovery and a hell of a reckoning with that pissant scheduler. Please reveal the MSC and the scheduler's name/email so the rest of us can avoid them. They don't deserve anonymity even if you intend to shop for the MSC again.

jackaroe, I am so sorry that happened to you. I hope the thieves get caught.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I am so sorry to hear that you were assaulted and not a single person came to your rescue. I hope and pray that you recover soon. I wish to know the name of the scheduler so I can stay away from that person. As suggested by others, please contact the MSC. You do not deserve a citation and it should be removed asap. Get well soon.

The scheduler must have misunderstood. I can't imagine anything else. Hope you recover soon. What a horrible experience. You even took the time to tell us about it, thank you.

What mystery shopping company is this?

Please name the MSC.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

These companies get so many flakes giving so many different excuses, I'm not surprised that a scheduler doubted what happened. Some of them are so jaded, nothing short of a police report or death certificate in the case of a relative's death would suffice.

I'd definitely go up the food chain about it.

people in my area are so irresponsible and apathetic. there have been a couple emergency situations about a block from my home. one was a gas leak. i happened to be walking around my neighborhood and smelled it....I am the one that called...after that the neighbors came out and said they have been smelling if for days and did NOTHING.....there was a similar situation about a block in another direction where there was an audible carbon monoxide alarm that could be heard by numerous people...and no one called...until I happened to walk through the area and reported it. Luckily no one was in the house of they would be dead. It had been going off for at least 2 hours.

Contrary to what some may think, the Washington DC area is a great place to live, including that people seem to want to help out. If you stop and look around on the street, someone is very likely to ask if you need directions. Someone chased me down the street recently to return a debt card that I had dropped. My cell phone was found by a valet parker at a garage and he gave it to the security guard, who chased down the street to try to find me. It's not 100 percent like that, but the natives certainly are friendly.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

That's horrible! II hope you're recovering well.

We are all here on earth to help others....What on earth the others are here for I don't know.

--W. H. Auden

A friend and fellow shopper was brutally attacked in 2014 at an outlet mall and died from her injuries. The management had no security cameras in the area and there were no leads. Please, do be careful out there.

OP, I'm so sorry for you. I know you didn't say that no one helped you, and I hope someone did. There have been some very bold attacks all over the place, in broad daylight, regardless of witnesses. (((hugs)))

The scheduler who told you this should be terminated. If she is an IC, then she needs to have all scheduling rights removed from her title.

Very sad. I hope you are doing better.

First
I did not post this as a way to bash an MSC or scheduler.

And I don't see it as important to post that information. Its in their conscious if they are comfortable with their actions.
For me to state who it is irrelevant because no one should made a decision as to which MSC or scheduler to work with based upon someone elses interaction.

It should be based upon your own interactions.
We've all had a good experience with an MSC or scheduler that someone else said they had a bad experience with. And vice versa where we had a bad experience where someone else would rave.

Without becoming political we live in a society that is becoming increasingly more violent.
So..use someone elses misfortunes here to think about your own safety next time your out!!!

. And as far as the witnesses.
It was them that called 911
No one tried to stop the assault or stop him from stealing my car .
But some did stay with me until an ambulance arrived and One did film the person that attacked as he was driving off with my car that was turned over to the police.

I'll just add
Over the years I've done SO SO MANY MANY shops in sketchy neighborhoods where I wanted to get out quickly without ever having an issue.
And my guard was probably down to much.
I was in a middle class area and looking at my phone as I was exiting my car and walking.
Teach me to not keep my eyes up in the future.
BUT this does have me questioning if I would do a shop in sketchy areas again??
can't answer that right know

Jackaroe, while you are correct in that other shoppers should not base their decision to work for a MSC or a scheduler based on the experience you had, knowing the MSC or scheduler allows shoppers to make an informed decision as to whether or not they may want to work for the company or scheduler. While it’s not the same, it is very much akin to shoppers not getting paid by the Fly-by-night MSC and not posting here that they are not getting paid. Even more so as you stated that the event happened in a middle class neighborhood. As you said, “Its in their conscious if they are comfortable with their actions.” If something like this happens to another shopper, I hope that you, likewise, are comfortable with your actions.

GMooneyhan, maybe it's because I haven't had my coffee yet, but I don't understand what you just said. Could you clarify? I say this in all seriousness, not to be snarky.

I think GMooneyhan was saying that Shoppers should make an informed decision about working for a MSC or scheduler. An informed decision requires all the facts. jackaroe's experience would be included in "all the facts," but would not comprise the whole facts to consider.

I hope that makes sense. I have not had my first cup of coffee yet either.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

I'm in the middle of my first cup. I'd like to know who the company and scheduler are but more than that, I'd like to know if the company takes any action on this to remove the flake. Yes, the scheduler can be a low life but more important is whether the MSC backs up the scheduler or backs up the shopper in this case. I'm not after anyone's job but that scheduler needs training and needs to understand that stuff happens out here on the streets and we cannot always control the situation and finish the shop.

I respect Jackaroe's decision not to out if that's what appears the best action. That's a very wise decision if the MSC corrects the flake and retrains or fires the scheduler, whatever is most appropriate.

Here hoping the very best outcome on this is a complete recovery for Jackaroe and the smallest possible financial loss on medical expenses and car repair/replacement. Jackaroe, please let us know how you're doing.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

@jackaroe wrote:

I was in a middle class area and looking at my phone as I was exiting my car and walking.
Teach me to not keep my eyes up in the future.
BUT this does have me questioning if I would do a shop in sketchy areas again??
can't answer that right know

If you were in a middle class area, why would you question doing a shop in a sketchy area? The crime happened in the middle class area. You yourself admitted that you were distracted by your cell phone. If you were shopping in a sketchy area, you probably would not be checking your cell phone and you would be paying more attention to your surroundings. But then again, crimes happen anywhere and everywhere.

Phones! People, ya gotta stop being addicted to the dang cell phone. I really feel bad about what happened; it shouldn't ever happen to anyone. At the same time, I'm just shaking my head because the generation and way of the world today has people addicted to the phone. People walk into ponds and get hit by cars because they are staring at their cell phones ... and too many still do it while driving and get other people killed. Yes, be very aware ... but stop the addiction. Keep your phones in your purse unless you're sitting down in a safe location.

.... and I, too, would contact a higher up in the company. The scheduler was wrong for responding as they did.

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