It's only the second time I've worked with this MSC. After reading discussions on this board I knew not everyone felt warm and fuzzy about them so I only have myself to blame (in my defense, they gave me a 10 on my first report so I felt a false sense of security). The job I signed up for was business checking, the confirmation email said business checking, the top of the shopper log said to inquire about a business checking account so I'm confused why the job was rejected because I did not ask about a personal checking account.

I can only think that maybe I misread the instructions and somewhere in them it told me I was supposed to pivot the conversation from business accounts to personal but I just don't remember reading that anywhere. That seems like something I would have included in my reminder notes. I'm not feeling hopeful this is going to break my way given other's experiences. Oh well, live and learn.

Interesting. Over time I have done a lot of business checking, though since I haven't done one recently I can't comment about what your instructions may or may not have said. What I have always found happens is that the banker will ask, "And where do you do your personal banking, Ms. X?" They then suggest that they would like to 'build a relationship' and mention personal checking, safety deposit boxes, CDs, savings, lines of credit etc.

wwin, you have to check the Comments section on your Shop Board. There are sometimes additional requirements there that are not addressed in the Guidelines.

HonnyBrown, thanks for the suggestion. I just checked, the comments say I should go in wishing to open a business checking account nothing else. The report looks like it is designed for business, personal and actual account opening scenarios. I'm assuming opening a personal account is another job they shop but maybe I missed something in my instructions. I agree Flash, that is how these shops usually go. This was an odd one, it was more informative than relationship building. The banker did actually mention something about a personal account at the end of the conversation but I didn't focus on it in my comments since I wasn't asked and it was just one of many things the banker listed to me.

Do you have a copy of the guidelines that accompanied your shop? Is the shop still up on your job board, and can you open the description? If you have any documentation that confirms you were to do a business-account inquiry, you should e-mail it to the MSC.

This is odd, because banking-inquiry shops are usually very clear and specific as to what kind(s) of account to ask about. They will usually also ask you to specify what other products and services the banker mentioned, so they may have wanted to see that the banker discussed or mentioned personal checking. But I agree that it would be difficult to miss the scenario you were supposed to do!

I would investigate further on this. If it's the MSC who does primarily bank shops and recently had a gaffe with shopper payments, they sometimes have conflicting instructions and other issues.

Recently I was sent an email posting for an assignment at a bank where I was supposed to pose as a NON customer. The dates didn't work for me, so I emailed the scheduler and asked if I could do a different date for the noncustomer scenario. She responded that they were scheduling customers of the bank only at the time. I emailed her back to ask why I received an email offer for a noncustomer scenario, and she never responded.

Several months ago the same MSC wanted me to do a credit card opening for a particular bank card at a hardware store. I was supposed to go in and select an item of $200 or more and see if they offered the card. If they didn't offer the card, I was supposed to ask for it. I went in and followed the instructions. Financing was not offered. When I got to the register to make the purchase, I asked about the card when the cashier did not suggest it. I was told they did not offer any credit cards. I asked them if they had previously offered this credit card (by name) and was told that they had never offered any sort of credit cards but that they took Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. I went out to the parking lot and called the MSC and asked the account manager what to do next, and they told me to abandon the shop. I was not paid anything for my time or trouble.

So yeah, I would definitely look into it because it sounds to me like you followed the instructions correctly and the editor may have made a huge mistake. Contact your scheduler first, and then follow up with any other contacts at the MSC you can find. Good luck.

I would very politely ask them where in the instructions I was to inquire about a personal account since my scenario was a business account. I would also mention that the banker mentioned personal accounts but I did not focus attention on them as my scenario was a business account.