What would you do?

My husband just found out he's going on a business trip next week and invited me to join him. I looked at my schedule and I only have one mystery shop scheduled during those 3 days. What would you do?!?

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Contact the scheduler and ask if the date can be extended to a later date or if she/he can find another shopper, explaining the situation. State that you fully intend on fulfilling your obligation if there is any problem with cancellation or extending the due date to a day after you return from the trip. It's early in the month, chances are the scheduler can find someone else or allow a different date for when you get back. As long as you clearly state your intentions and that you will not let her/him down, I am sure it will all work out.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Contact the scheduler and ask if the date can be extended to a later date or if she/he can find another shopper, explaining the situation. State that you fully intend on fulfilling your obligation if there is any problem with cancellation or extending the due date to a day after you return from the trip. It's early in the month, chances are the scheduler can find someone else or allow a different date for when you get back. As long as you clearly state your intentions and that you will not let her/him down, I am sure it will all work out.

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately it is for an audit of a Medicare presentation so it can't be rescheduled. I don't want to flake, but I would also love to spend time with my husband.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 01:19AM by AnneAshley.

I would ask if she can try to find someone else to do it and tell her if she can't, you will fulfill your obligation. It's not until next week so perhaps she can find someone else. If not, you're stuck at home.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I would ask if she can try to find someone else to do it and tell her if she can't, you will fulfill your obligation. It's not until next week so perhaps she can find someone else. If not, you're stuck at home.

If I'm going, I need to book a flight. Prices usually go up the closer you get to the trip. Ugh!!!

If you flake you are burning your bridge with this MSC and compromising your ethics as well. Chances of finding a flight with a decent price within 2 weeks of a trip is going to be difficult anyway, much less only a week away. Have you looked at flights?

I'd say don't go and let this be a lesson to your husband to not procrastinate when inviting you places.

Let the MSC know sooner than later that you have a conflict. This way, they will be able to find a replacement.

Enjoy your trip! Medicaid will be here when you get back.

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

Honny, that's bad advice to suggest someone flake on an assignment. If the MSC can't find a replacement, the OP has just burned a bridge with them. That's no way to start a business. Medicaid might still be here when she gets back, but the MSC may not want anything to do with her. The OP will still be here when her husband gets back. It's only 3 days and it's a business trip, and it's likely that she isn't going to find a good deal on a flight this late in the game anyway.

I'd cancel the shop ASAP. There's enough time for someone else to fill it; she might have to bonus it. You might offer to cover a $20 bonus or something to get it picked up. The time with your spouse is far more important. You never know how much you have left, and the memories you make are a lot more valuable.

It's not a flake to cancel something beforehand. It's a flake to not do it.

ETA: You might see if SQM has a mystery shop available for your flight (and, yes, I have written permission from the scheduler to post that they shop an airline, as long as I don't mention which one.)

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 02:05AM by PasswordNotFound.

I'd do the shop. It's a commitment.

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

I get what you are saying, but it's what I would do.

Plus I was under the impression that flaking was not doing an assignment you are assigned. This would be a reassign or a conflict. The MSCs have to be understanding of those situations, which is why they have back up shoppers.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Honny, that's bad advice to suggest someone flake on an assignment. If the MSC can't find a replacement, the OP has just burned a bridge with them. That's no way to start a business. Medicaid might still be here when she gets back, but the MSC may not want anything to do with her. The OP will still be here when her husband gets back. It's only 3 days and it's a business trip, and it's likely that she isn't going to find a good deal on a flight this late in the game anyway.

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

You're right, it was a poor choice of words. Flake wasn't the right word. But, the OP did make a commitment by accepting the shop and from what I understand, those shops are hard to fill. If the scheduler says no problem don't worry about it, that's one thing, but since the shop is time and date specific that might present a problem.

I once had a discussion with an MSC owner about exactly what constitutes a flake. The owner explained to me that a shopper thinks a flake means not doing an assigned shop, but the MSC may think a flake also includes cancellations.

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

I suppose that would depend on what type of cancellation as well. A severe illness either personally or with a close family member would be acceptable, or a car breaking down, etc. I once had an MSC rep tell me that she had shoppers whose mother had died several times, LOL. That's pretty flaky.

I decided to stay home. However, now I'm going to start planning a "real" vacation with him.

I think that family is more important than work, including a single mystery shop. Especially since you would be giving several days' notice. If this is an opportunity that you won't get again, I'd go. If it's a regular thing that your husband does and you can take advantage of another time, that might make a difference.

Life is too short, and nobody knows what the future will bring. Mystery shopping will always be there. Your husband (friends, kids, family--take your pick) may not be. Not trying to be morbid, but work is not the be-all and end-all of everything. We in this country seem to have skewed priorities, because it seems that many people put work first and family time second. In the last two or three years, I've lost (as in, they died) three dear friends that I hadn't seen in awhile because I was "too busy working." And now it's too late. I'm never going to make that mistake again, and if it meant getting booted from an MSC, so be it.

I'd at least contact the scheduler and see what he/she says....

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 11:44PM by BirdyC.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I suppose that would depend on what type of cancellation as well. A severe illness either personally or with a close family member would be acceptable, or a car breaking down, etc. I once had an MSC rep tell me that she had shoppers whose mother had died several times, LOL. That's pretty flaky.

I asked to reschedule a shop when my mother passed away. The scheduler wrote back and said no, she wouldn't reschedule because everyone's mother or grandmother dies every six months. I was shocked because losing a parent is obviously a traumatic event, and I wasn't even canceling, just asking to reschedule. I said her attitude was unsympathetic. She wrote back immediately and said something to the effect of not being a personal friend and therefore didn't need to sympathize. But she did say, verbatim, "All shoppers are liars." In a business where relationships are built on trust, her comments were appalling.

Wonder if the clients knew that the MSC was selling reports from "liars." Also, with most folks having extended families these days, it really isn't so hard to understand multiple parents or grandparents. My nephew has 6 living grandparents and 3 parents due to remarriages.

Sorry, I know this was supposed to be a lighthearted thread. But schedulers are not above reproach, and that particular peccadillo of schedulers calling shoppers liars due to a death in the family still rankles.

I am sorry, Chris. That is just awful. What a horrible attitude she had. I could not imagine NOT giving someone the benefit of the doubt (at least at first), especially if they had a good track record. I could understand if the shopper had repeatedly rescheduled/cancelled with a bunch of different reasons it might be hard to trust.

I am sorry for your loss. I too lost my mother, just last year. Maybe this scheduler does not have a good relationship with her mother and/or has never suffered the pain of losing someone close. Still no excuse for not having empathy. Honestly, that borderilnes with sociopathy, no ability to feel empathy for others is abnormal.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 06:35PM by JASFLALMT.

I agree with BirdyC 100%.There comes a time when personal life takes precedence over commitments. I stopped shopping for an MSC because of my principle.

If a shopper is a habitual flaker, I can understand. But MSC should be able to handle a serious cancellation. Afterall, why are we mystery shopping? To earn, but not over and above our health and our life. I have never flaked but I have cancelled about 4 shops when the MSC decided to change the Guidelines and make the shopper pay the rewards. I was against that policy and I told them that was the reason.

They had more than a week or so to reassign. They persuaded me to do them promising they would reimburse immediately. I had Elite membership but I sacrificed it for principle. They did not deactivate me but I have not done any shop for them since then.

Recently, I tripped and had a hard time walking. With every step, the pain was excruciating even with pain killers so I asked to reschedule. The scheduler did not even reply to my messages. I completed the shop with great difficulty and pain. But that relationship is gone.

I think each shopper has to make their own decisions about cancelling at times...and it it's worth it, but it's definitely not the same as flaking. If a shopper routinely cancelled or asked to reschedule, I can see calling them a flake, but we all have things that come up at times. I have never flaked on a shop, but have cancelled a few for various reasons.

I would tend to put personal stuff aside (like cancelling to travel for fun), but sometimes schedule conflicts occur with my main job. That job earns me a considerable degree more money than MSing so it almost always takes precedence over a shop. That said, I am also aware of the fact that I may be putting my status with the MSC in danger, and don't take that lightly.

Sometimes an MSC bites off its nose to spite its face. I've cancelled maybe two jobs in the three-plus years I've been shopping. The last one was when my car was in the shop for a major repair, and I found out it wouldn't be done by the day I had a shop scheduled. So I had no way to get there. I let the MSC know two days ahead of time and offered to reschedule for the day after it was due (due on Friday; I offered to do it on Saturday, when I'd have a car to use, even if mine wasn't done). The scheduler said no, that she absolutely couldn't extend the deadline and she'd have to find someone else to do it. I totally understood. But I could tell she was really miffed.

But, as it turns out, she apparently couldn't find anyone else, and the job was still on the board the following Monday, with a bonus on it. If she had let me do it on Saturday, it would have gotten done, and at base fee.

We don't all lie, and it might behoove schedulers to realize that.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Overall, MSC's recognize that we are all human and have lives outside of mystery shopping. Moreover, most shoppers do not do this as their primary source of income. So long as you let the scheduler know about the issue right away and don't have this happen with any sort of frequency, you should be fine.

You could also offer to do a shop in the city where you will be traveling which would leave no doubt about the veracity of your conflict.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

That might work if it was more than a 3-day trip, but seeing as how the OP might likely not have transportation other than whatever transportation her husband has arranged for his business trip, might be hard to pull off--unless it was a shop that happened to be in walking distance of the hotel.

I'm not trying to be rude, but why are you so focused on her transportation? You've mentioned it multiple times as well as the cost.

At this point it's moot. I was pointing this out because I travel frequently and the cost of airfare can be quite expensive.

If I really wanted to join my husband on a trip, the cost of transportation would not matter to me, most especially if the opportunity seldom arises. My commitment to the MSC would matter more and I would try everything possible to comply with it. But since it happened to be a something impossible to reschedule, I would contact the scheduler and say so. And if she knows my record, I expect that she would try to resolve it without penalizing me.

After having mshopped this long, I am reminded of my first employment. My manager always called me and pressured me to accept extra assignments, even to the point that I had to cancel my medical appointments. When I could not do it anymore, they found a way. No one can maintain a business for a length of time without anyway of solving a problem.

I think since it was only a 3-day trip and her husband was going to be working most of the time, planning a vacation in the future is more logical. Airfare will be a lot less expensive if the tickets are bought well in advance, and if you're going to pony up money for airfare, might as well go somewhere for a week or two instead of only three days!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2016 08:21PM by JASFLALMT.

Hi, my dad just past away 3 days ago so my input is as it always is God, family, country. Keep priorities straight. As long as you do that your work won't suffer. 2 week notice unless it is in the middle of nowhere should not make a huge problem and the 20 bucks good idea to offer it may smooth the way.

In the Hill Country of Texas where mustangs are my passion. MS feeds them.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Honny, that's bad advice to suggest someone flake on an assignment. If the MSC can't find a replacement, the OP has just burned a bridge with them. That's no way to start a business. Medicaid might still be here when she gets back, but the MSC may not want anything to do with her. The OP will still be here when her husband gets back. It's only 3 days and it's a business trip, and it's likely that she isn't going to find a good deal on a flight this late in the game anyway.

I agreed with Honny without reading the meaning into the post. If I could take back my like I would.

I have a shop due within the next 3 days. I messed up when accepting the shop. I asked if accepting this shop would disqualify me for a different type that pays more, shopping the same brand with this company. I got bad information, so now I'm stuck.

I'm brand new with this MSC, so I will suck it up. Hopefully, I'll remember this kick in the head for future shops.

I wish I could say I was naive at this point in my shopping experiences. Unfortunately, I'm not and I've read enough posts that say before accepting shops when schedulers call; get it the pertinent facts by email before making the commitment.

I plan on making lemonade out of my lemon, but I could've made hay with the other type of shop. Oh well, live and learn.

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!

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