I signed up with Marketforce a few months ago. I noticed that I didn't have any shops available for their biggest clients, but I did find one client that I enjoyed working with.

Recently I referred a friend to Marketforce, and what do you know, she has shops available for those big clients. I have NEVER seen a shop for those clients, and she has them on her job board all the time. We are both in the same geographic area. We tried both logging on at the same time...her job board has 10+ more available shops. She's never done a shop for them, and I've successfully completed many shops for them.

Any thoughts on this? Should I call/email and ask them why I don't have jobs available with these clients?

I have seen differences in what is available thru MF between friends and family members who shop depending on gender, age group, ethnic group and sometimes totally unexplainable .....

Their response will be that you should not be comparing jobs available to you with those of other shoppers. Yes, there are a lot of us who quietly ask a friend to see if they can see XYZ shops in our area. When a friend can see them in your zip code and you can't, you know that MF has dropped you from the shops for reasons they will not share or if you have never shopped the client, you may want to look at your profile and make sure everything is complete and accurate in hopes that a fuller profile will bring more opportunities.

MF, the good, bad and ugly - as well as unexplainable. I have seen the same thing, with known shoppers who see shops that I don't. It's worth questioning. I would suggest sending a query to the Help Desk. Keep it simple, and professional, coloring it to give them the benefit of the doubt.

A few years ago, I asked a question about one of their shops (i.e. the fast food giant). I was pretty new at this and thought it was crazy to have to do both a dine in and drive thru on the same visit.

Because I asked the question, I was banned from doing them anymore. I still did other shops for MF, though. One day, I received a call from MF asking about a shop. While on the phone, I asked about the fast food shops & they told me I was banned. They reinstated me when I asked & it's now one of my favorite shops.

If your friend sees the shop & you don't, you may have answered one of the screening questions differently. Give it a month or so before making a big deal out of it. Maybe they'll show up again & you can check your answers on the screening shops.

Once, when answering the grocery screening questions, I answered incorrectly and was excluded for a month or so. The shops appeared again in the next round & I haven't had any problems since.

Good luck!

I recall that this question is actually answered in the FAQ section on the website. Something like, "Why can my husband see available shops that I can't?" I will look it up next time I visit the site but it has to do with what Flash said, profile and such.

Edited to paste section from FAQ:

~ OBTAINING SHOPS / POTENTIAL SHOPS ~
1. Do you have any shops available for me? - or - Why haven’t I seen any shops on my list for a while? - or - Have I done something wrong and that’s why I don’t see any shops? - or - Why does my husband have 10 shops on his list and I don’t have any? - or - My friend sees shops that are in my area, but I don’t see them on my list.

Any available shop that fits your profile will be posted on your Potential Assignments list, which is available through the WebFC(tm): Select Shops menu option under the 'Shop Management' section. Under special circumstances (such as the end of the month or a phase during which we are trying to meet contractual deadlines), you might receive a call from a Scheduler asking about your availability to do a particular shop. We do limit the number and type of shops a Shopper can handle for us by project, month, quarter, and year. Each Shopper's potential assignments are unique to his/her history, so we ask that you not e-mail our Help Desk to question the potential shops you see versus those a friend of family member may be seeing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2012 03:04AM by sassyshopper.

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have seen differences in what is available thru
> MF between friends and family members who shop
> depending on gender, age group, ethnic group and
> sometimes totally unexplainable .....

What's funny is that we are both female, 10 days apart in age, and same ethnic group. I'll go with "totally unexplainable" here. I will double check my profile, though.

I've also noticed their search function can be really screwed up. The default setting will show certain jobs and then expanding it to the maximum of 200 will suddenly bring up previously invisible shops that are only 10 to 20 miles from me. Same thing if I change it from my zip code to the one for downtown St. Louis. Go figure.

I agree with Lisa. On my normal seach, a lot of shops do not show up. If I search by zip code (change it to a zip code very near me) and put in whatever radius I want (usually 30 miles), they show up.

cake, try searching using a neighboring zip code and/or city. See if you see other shops. If that does not work, then I would agree with the others, you might have been taken off as a potential shopper for that client.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2012 05:19PM by spaztck.

I used a different zip code and expanded the search to 200 miles...nothing. There are at least 3 clients whose shops I don't see. I guess it's not a huge deal, but I'm so curious! lol

Along the lines of the weirdness of MF, does anyone see the shops they picked up from TUAU anymore? I was getting them for the first 3-4 months after they bought the company but since then all have disappeared for me. I do not know if they shut me out of them or those TUAU shops all went elsewhere when their contract was up.
Specifically it was the beauty company and the Middle East food place. I see the Mexican place every quarter or so.