Have you ever thought "Just don't pay me"

When I finish a report and hit "Send," I'm done with that shop. If I get a simple question from the MSC for clarification, that's fine; but if I get an email that requests rewriting/adding more narrative I get annoyed to the point where I just want to say "so don't use the report and don't pay me." How do you get past that feeling of not wanting to do more work for a completed shop? I get that the MSC doesn't consider it completed, but I do. Once I send in a report, that shop is dead to me. It's like my 10th teacher just tracked me down and said I still owe her a book report. Any words of wisdom (besides 'poverty') to get over this?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Payment

I don't like kissing money goodbye so I am training myself to just see a follow up request as part of the job. And I make a point of really covering everything so I don't get many

Take shops where you can't afford the loss and you will have a different attitude

...and then there's also taking pride and your work and wanting to be sure the client and MSC are happy with what was submitted.

@prince, that makes sense. I have to re-train myself so that I don't consider the job to be done when I submit the report. I also stopped taking shops that I know require long narrative. This was a new type of shop for me, and is requiring more narrative than I initially thought; that's why I'm thinking of cutting my losses.
Thanks for the advise!

@SteveSoCal, yes! your second paragraph makes perfect sense...an appeal to my work ethic. Good one! But I have to admit, I'm so undisciplined that your first sentence barely makes sense to me

(that's a joke on me, no one else)

I meant to add that I am also thinking of future work with a company. I have to keep my record for doing a good job intact.

@prince wrote:

I meant to add that I am also thinking of future work with a company. I have to keep my record for doing a good job intact.

This, exactly. It's not so much an investment in the shop you completed, it's an investment in your future earnings with the company. And if you're talking of work with a new MSC to you, the more you do, the easier the reporting should become since you should begin to learn what the MSC (and client) is looking for.

Shopping central Arizona.

It has been my experience with new-to-me complex reports that the third one of its kind take at least50% less time and often 66% less time than the first one. So, those early reports, and any needed additions/adjustments, really have been an investment in a future stream of reasonable (to excellent) pay for the effort. (Emphasis on the "stream of income," concept!)

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.

In answer to the question posed in the subject line, you betcha. For all of the reasons stated above, I also get over it, make the corrections/additions and move on.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

I agree with LisaSTL, I make the corrections and move on. As others have pointed out it may take and it has taken me 3 reports to learn the flow of the MSC.

Unless these reports require multiple of hours, I find it a valuable learning experience.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

I can honestly say that I have never thought "Don't pay me"...lol!

I don't like getting the occasional clarification email or even rarer shop kickback for more info, but when they do come in, it is usually something that I needed to fix. Not to be confused with the rare times that an editor asks about something that I have already covered in the report - I find that really annoying. In these cases, instead of thinking don't pay me, I am usually thinking, "You should be paying me more" and plotting a higher bonus for future shops with this company.

Nope, can't say that "Don't pay me" has ever crossed my mind...LOL!

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

Thanks for the advice above. Apparently the report is designed to cover several different scenarios, so I had entered too much information initially. I had to delete text and do some cut/paste. It still might be returned, but I'm in a better frame of mind

PS: i just noticed my misspellings and omitted words in my posts above. I'm not editing them!

Yes! Remington rewrote my entire narrative. I wanted to tell them to stick it. Instead, I thanked them and told them I would use their rewrite as an example blah blah blah.

They are on my blacklist after that. I know you said it was a learning tool, but not me.

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

@HonnyBrown, yeah, I forgot about Remington. They rewrote a report for me, too, so hat tip to them for that!

I'm starting to think of the shops as either a sprint (Yes/No; short comments) or a marathon (long, detailed narratives). I'm the Usain Bolt of MSing

Give me 5 phone, appliance, and/or furniture shops vs 1 long narrative any day of the week.

I'm just the opposite. I'll take one long narrative $100+ pay shop over 5 cell phone/appliance/furniture shops.
I hand it to you road warriors who can do many shops in one day and keep all the reports straight and not get
so frazzled that you make stupid mistakes.

As for me, the job's not "done" until the report is accepted AND I get paid.

That being said, yes, I HAVE thought, well, just don't pay me. This was after a jewelry shop where I was so...impressed... by the salesman that I could not make myself write a negative report. He didn't hit a single
one of the things he was supposed to do, but he was so delightful, I couldn't write the report. When he
shook my hand and told me how wonderful it was to talk with me, I was a goner....

He was tall, dark, and handsome; I may be old, but I'm not dead....

It's a good thing MSers have different preferences or we would all be competing for the same shops. I've tried the long narrative shops several times because the fee enticed me. I finally came to the conclusion that they just aren't for me. I'll leave them to you @ceasesmith

Enjoyed your "puppy love" story. His sales skills needed improvement, but I'm sure you wrote a glowing report on his customer service skills!

I would never say don't pay me. I would make the necessary changes and not do the shop again. I try very hard to not have any shops sent back for revisions. It happens, but not often. It messes with my schedule when I have to redo a shop. I finished the shop, wrote the report, and am now working on my next report. It costs me money to have to interrupt my current shops to make revisions on one that I already put in the "finished" pile.

I rarely get reports returned and 9 out of 10 on the ones returned is because the picture upload was blurry or not clear enough. The other ones very rare is usually add a sentence on this or that. I like short reports but don't mind narrative that pay more. My only reports I dislike are apartment shops which I rarely do.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

It's a good thing MSers have different preferences or we would all be competing for the same shops. I've tried the long narrative shops several times because the fee enticed me. I finally came to the conclusion that they just aren't for me. I'll leave them to you @ceasesmith

Enjoyed your "puppy love" story. His sales skills needed improvement, but I'm sure you wrote a glowing report on his customer service skills!

Oh, no. There was no way to write the report. I called the scheduler and told her what happened and asked her to cancel the shop. She did.

I think she still laughs about it, and it's been two years!

I've never accepted another jewelry shop.

I have more than once thought that. I have once said it.
Did I live to regret it? Nope. Was it a pain to get back in with that MSC? Yep.
Normally I just suck it up but that was an unusual circumstance.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

No, I have never thought, "Don't pay me." Once I sign a contract, I would want a clean record so I would definitely do all I could to keep that record unblemished, as much as I could. I want to complete every shop to the best of my knowledge, even if it means doing extra work.

I could say, "I will try to correct my error to avoid spoiling my record. If it is my fault, you don't have to pay me." However, I would never back out from completing a job correctly. I would bend over backwards just to avoid blemishing my record. I know, sometimes it's not worth it. However, I would never drop something I started because I am required to do more work for it to be acceptable to the client. Unless I find that the project was really disorganized and I am required to salvage it. Then, if it becomes too unreasonable, time to give up.

I think it every time I get contacted for a follow up of any kind. It's the first thought that enters my head, although the more correct terminology would be "screw you". I'd never say it, I always fix everything to the best of my ability but I do have to get past the smart ass voice in my head.

^^ Yup. That was my attitude exactly! It helped getting other MSers' perspectives.

@ceasesmith wrote:

@ChrisCooper wrote:

It's a good thing MSers have different preferences or we would all be competing for the same shops. I've tried the long narrative shops several times because the fee enticed me. I finally came to the conclusion that they just aren't for me. I'll leave them to you @ceasesmith

Enjoyed your "puppy love" story. His sales skills needed improvement, but I'm sure you wrote a glowing report on his customer service skills!

Oh, no. There was no way to write the report. I called the scheduler and told her what happened and asked her to cancel the shop. She did.

I think she still laughs about it, and it's been two years!

I've never accepted another jewelry shop.

That has to be the most unique and memorable reason for not submitting a report! I'll bet when schedulers or editors get together and share "war stories" stories, this one comes up as one of the nice ones.

I agree. When the shop pay is low and their expectations are Sky High I get frustrated. I dislike the times when they expect paragraph after paragraph when just a few sentences can paint the picture.

This happened to me on a shop I've done several times with no problems. Some editors are more picky than others. I just received a note from an editor asking me to explain something that wasn't even on the report.

I did this just last week. I had done several shops for the same client at the same MSC and accepted one that was slightly different and paid about half because it looked like fun. I did the shop and got back a huge list of silliness about clarification and insistence that I rewrite the narrative. I pointed out that I had done several shops for the same client and always received a score of 9 or 10 and that I would not rewrite the narrative. I did change a couple of things to make it a little clearer but told the editor I wouldn't do anymore work for that assignment. I didn't get a negative rating but I won't get paid either.

So it sounds like you did make errors. You need to realize....editors are trained to have an eye for what a specific client wants. It is that client that is paying you. If they need something done a certain way, do it. On the next report, you'll know better. Most of they companies are merit based. The better you do, the better shops you get. Learn from it.

I have thought that. Slightly different was an audit I went to last week. The app was missing sections, I couldn't log into another tech gadget that Must be used and Help was super busy helping others. I tried the suggestion from help.. no worky! Went online, offline restart everything and then realized i couldn't find my phone. Panic time! Over 4 hours and not much accomplished. I said this isnt worth it I will come back.

Oh but now the app has a fixed form, info in other form, emailing questions about what i finished and no answers to the questions I had asked. So I could start it all over again for no additional compensation yesterday. Realized this is not my problem and I had enough and didn't go back. I emailed two people, one has 10 replies. Seriously, this was stuck on stupid. I told them in advance that they needed to get another person. I happily stayed home and said it was worth it. If they dont value me, answer my questions and try to sneak past some reimbursement for the extra time, gas and wear and tear on me, find someone else till I get over it.. It was their tech issues not my stuff.

Sorry, I guess that needed to come out. So, what should I have done? Still feel very new to this world..

Some of the editors are real Nazis..lol

I missed a period in a sentence on a report and got deducted a couple of points.

But seriously though, I have been e-mailed only twice for some type of clarification so far. That is no big deal.... part of the job I guess.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Have you ever thought "Just don't pay me"

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine