When you know in advance the station is closed...

Since I have nothing going on in the first week of September, I accepted a few gas station shops that are audits. After all, I didn't memorize all the guidelines just to do it a couple times.

Anyway, when I signed up for this one in particular, I did it with the complete intention that I would be going to a completely open and functioning gas station to perform an inspection. Today, I just happened to be driving down the road its on, and when I saw it, I noticed that the station is completely closed down. Drove into the parking look to take a closer look. Yep. Closed. And not about to be open in the first week of September unless someone performs a miracle.

I know I could just go there and report it closed, and get the fee. But is that the ethical thing to do? If I know its closed now, should I call this MSC who really likes to make phone calls, and let them know now?

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Since you accepted the shop believing that the location was open for business, I don't see an ethical problem. If you had known when you accepted the shop that the business was closed, I would say that might be unethical. You could call them and get them to remove the shop. Or you could go to perform the shop, take pictures, and do a closed shop report. I don't see a problem with either choice. I would probably visit the location, take pictures, and do a closed shop report so it could be provided to the client.

If the company appreciates phone calls by all means call them and let them know what the situation is. They may choose to cancel the shop for now or reschedule it to a week or two later. Because they will have deadlines and need to report certain number of shops, they may well want you to return on the date assigned and take photos to prove the location is closed.

No, do the job, submit the report and get paid. I do gas stations on a regular route. Currently I have one location that was demolished down to the ground and is now being rebuilt. So technically it has been closed for close to three months now. I go back every month, submit my very abbreviated report with POV construction photos since I can not make a purchase and I get paid. Easy peasy.

Do the shop as scheduled and report it. The MSC probably needs that information for the client. You will be fulfilling your responsibilities, getting paid for it and providing info to the MSC that they, in turn, can provide to the client.

I agree that you accepted the job under the pretenses that it was open and available. If there is a number for the shop, call it and double check. If you truly spend the effort trying to locate this shop, then I believe you are owed your pay even if it's reduced.

Do it. It probably won't help if you tell them. The Macy's in our nearby town closed in March. In June there are shops for it. I sent an email to the scheduler with links to the articles about it and he replied back, "really?" The shop stayed on the board. I also had this happen with another couple of places over the years and was told unless I go "do the shop" and report it as closed they can't take my word for it as being closed.

Liz

I recently did a gas shop where the station had been closed and there was evidence that it had been closed since 2009. This was a few months ago. It is a quarterly shop. I reported with pictures showing it as closed. Well same msp next quarter it show up again now i know damn well its still closed. I will shop it if the fee is right every quarter till they remove it. Unethical no I call it taking advantage of an idiot. The way some of these msps are its just evening the playing field.

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

This happened to me earlier this year when an MSC had several office supply shops to evaluate the placement of their anti-virus software. I signed up at both an OfficeMax and an Office Depot close to each other. Turns out one of them was closed/out of business. I took pictures of the closed signs and still got paid for it (since the company had not updated their closed list with the MSC).

It also has happened when I did airport shops...that one particular "service" would be closed by the time I did my shops. All I had to do is take pictures of where the service was (signage and so on) and I got paid half the fee for making the attempt.

So go for it....you will probably get paid the attempted/closed fee if the MSC has one.

Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.

For my closed gas station shop, I get paid the full fee but I don't get the reimbursement amount since I can't make any purchases. Makes sense.

When the MSC submits the report to the client, the client should then be aware the location is closed. Then again, the client may really, really, really wonder if it is "closed"... lol - yep... still closed. :-)

This is not unusual with this particular MSC. I too have done the same closed location more than once.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2016 02:51PM by mystery2me.

Back when CORI had lots of gas stations I took a route through the southern part of the state two different times. The first time I found a few closed locations. None were removed before my next route so I reported them closed again. My guess is the MSCs need the official reports and need them more than once just in case a station has opened again. I'm sure they charged the client the full fee because they paid me in full.

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.

Thanks for the responses, I will go there as planned!

This exact thing happened to me but it was a grocery store. I was grabbing a lot of them and took this one. It was later that I realized the grocery store had closed down permanently. I contacted the MSC and she said to go to the grocery store, verify it is closed and I would received a closed fee.

@Jessica525 wrote:

I know I could just go there and report it closed, and get the fee. But is that the ethical thing to do? If I know its closed now, should I call this MSC who really likes to make phone calls, and let them know now?

No, it is not the ethical thing to do.
Let them know and find out how they would like you to proceed.

Joan Gingras
Senior Project Director~BarStoolie Mystery Shopping

Barstoolie@insideevaluators.com

I have a slightly different view of this question. I have several times called a msc when I found out by passing by or by noticing on yelp etc and then verifying the info that the place was closed ahead of the due date. In these cases they have removed the shop from my assignments without paying me. I always felt I should get a small fee for the work I did to verify but have never asked for one. In all these cases I never felt it would be worth my while for the small shop is closed fee (usually around $3) to drive to that shop, no matter how close or far, and do even a short report on the due date. Perhaps in the unlikely case I had a shop next door to the closed shop I would do it. Those of you who get higher fees for closed shops might feel differently.

"Those of you who get higher fees for closed shops might feel differently." That would be those of us who work for virtually any company except the few tightwads who pocket the difference and pay shoppers a piddly fee.

@sandyf wrote:

I have a slightly different view of this question. I have several times called a msc when I found out by passing by or by noticing on yelp etc and then verifying the info that the place was closed ahead of the due date. In these cases they have removed the shop from my assignments without paying me. I always felt I should get a small fee for the work I did to verify but have never asked for one. In all these cases I never felt it would be worth my while for the small shop is closed fee (usually around $3) to drive to that shop, no matter how close or far, and do even a short report on the due date. Perhaps in the unlikely case I had a shop next door to the closed shop I would do it. Those of you who get higher fees for closed shops might feel differently.

Actually, I found the Yelp "CLOSED" was not always accurate ....."Yelpers report this location has closed".... I can think of a few times where it said CLOSED or Closed Permanently but I called and somebody answered!

When I see CLOSED status on Yelp, I still go over there and call the store.

I've done many money transfer shops. Lately I've found some where the transfer company no longer has a shop in the store. I got paid just to checking it out. I asked the MSC why the company doesn't just call the store to see if the agent is still there. I was told there are so many agents for this company, they don't have time to track them. I've thought about calling the store BEFORE accepting the assignment to see if they still do money orders for this company. If they said "no", I would apply for a very easy shop. I'm being paid to check out the store for their agent. Knowing before hand doesn't matter. I would still go to the store and take a picture, but the report would be very short. Easy money.

@Inside Evaluators wrote:

No, it is not the ethical thing to do.
Let them know and find out how they would like you to proceed.

Couldn't disagree more.

First, saying that the OP is unethical is way too harsh for the subject at hand.

Why is it the shopper's responsibility to keep the MSC apprised of their client's business? That's backwards. The MSC and client should know if locations are open or closed and they should inform the shopper, not the other way around. If MSC and client don't know the status of their business, then that is what the shopper is paid for. To provide feedback to them.

The shopper will not be compensated for time spent phoning or emailing the MSC to alert them that the location is closed. No shopper should feel that they need to donate their time in this way. If MSCs want to know such facts before a shop, then they can offer a fee for providing that information.

I agree with those who say to do the shop and report it as per your guidelines.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2016 04:28PM by ChrisCooper.

Companies have to pay in some way to clean up lists. IMO, it would be much more cost effective to have someone sit down with the phone all day long calling the locations. Why should the client or the MSC expect a shopper to do it for free? How many times do we see it in the guidelines, call first and if there is no answer notify the MSC and BTW, you don't get paid for it?

I've had this issue with gas station/store closed in both mystery shopping and merchandising. I use to call in and always received the same answer to complete with pictures to prove it's closed. Plus, if you can get any information as to whether it's permanently closed or temporarily. The company wants to be paid and they need your report. Calling and not getting them to answer doesn't mean their closed, they could be busy. A disconnected number might be different in mystery shopping, if they request you to call first.

@LisaSTL wrote:

"Those of you who get higher fees for closed shops might feel differently." That would be those of us who work for virtually any company except the few tightwads who pocket the difference and pay shoppers a piddly fee.

You made me laugh! Yes, I do mostly reimbursement shops where the item I get for "free" is the biggest part of my pay. And I live in a city with generally no bonuses.. On the flip side I do not have to drive far to my shops although I do need to deal with ugly traffic so it takes me just as long to get somewhere 5 miles away as it might take many to drive 25-30 miles.
I find it mind bending that the client does not update the msc when one of their places is closed. They should know which stores they closed. And if they are franchises I would think they would notice when their monthly payments stop coming in. Haven't they ever heard of computers and communication? If the corporate office is so bad at keeping track it is no wonder so many companies have financial issues.

@Jessica525 wrote:

Since I have nothing going on in the first week of September, I accepted a few gas station shops that are audits. After all, I didn't memorize all the guidelines just to do it a couple times.

Anyway, when I signed up for this one in particular, I did it with the complete intention that I would be going to a completely open and functioning gas station to perform an inspection. Today, I just happened to be driving down the road its on, and when I saw it, I noticed that the station is completely closed down. Drove into the parking look to take a closer look. Yep. Closed. And not about to be open in the first week of September unless someone performs a miracle.

I know I could just go there and report it closed, and get the fee. But is that the ethical thing to do? If I know its closed now, should I call this MSC who really likes to make phone calls, and let them know now?

1. The OP just happened to discover the location is closed...well before the shop date.
2. The OP, herself, asked if doing the shop with prior knowledge that the location was closed was the ethical thing to do.

My response was based on those facts, as stated by the OP.
I will hold with my prior statement that going ahead with the shop without contacting the MSP with the information she has and asking them how they want her to proceed is not ethical.
Most likely, the MSP will have her go ahead with the shop so the client will have proof of the closure. But it should be the MSP's call, not hers.

Joan Gingras
Senior Project Director~BarStoolie Mystery Shopping

Barstoolie@insideevaluators.com

I was paid to go and take photos of a closed gas station for 4 months in a row. After that, the location stopped showing up. It was even bonused, because everyone knew it was closed and no one wanted to go there. I decided that I might as well collect the fees. So I did.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

@Inside Evaluators wrote:

1. The OP just happened to discover the location is closed...well before the shop date.

I still agree with my original stance, though I want to add one thing. Given this logic and applied to other shops, that tells me that I can't go into any store before my shop date because I might discover information regarding it beforehand. For instance, I went inside a store once and discovered that the shop I will be doing in a few days will not be opened during the listed time/date. So I have to call and report that even though it is outside of the time-date range? I think not. I am there on my own personal time and therefor will not be writing anything up until it's the official time. I wouldn't have even known it was closed if I hadn't gone in already. When it is time, I will return to the store and attempt to complete the shop as agreed.

If the information was discovered BEFORE accepting the shop, then I agree with calling the MSC for clarification. If the information isn't discovered until AFTER I accept a shop, I am entitled to my reduced fee as long as I attempt to complete this shop no matter the circumstances.

sigh...

Joan Gingras
Senior Project Director~BarStoolie Mystery Shopping

Barstoolie@insideevaluators.com

The ethical thing to do would be to complete the requirements of the shop, not to do the company a favor. I can't see how the OP would be behaving unethically in the least by completing the shop and receiving the appropriate fee. Seems simple to me.

Mystery shopping around Georgia.

@ggm2016 wrote:

...not to do the company a favor...

I don't know how long you've been shopping, but I find the "me vs. them" attitude you have to be very sad. MSPs are not your adversaries.

Joan Gingras
Senior Project Director~BarStoolie Mystery Shopping

Barstoolie@insideevaluators.com

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