Wow, 2012??? THREE posts? I can't say I can guess what's going on there. I gave it a shot!

I have to agree that certain MSC's DO deserve that what goes around comes back around to them!



sisterstrollin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You got it, I have had to take my elderly Father
> to the hospital since I am the only caregiver for
> him on numerous occasions and I let them know the
> next day. Some are supportive and some are not
> and once again, if we all were not independent
> contractors the company would have to obey Federal
> Laws but instead we get black balled out of
> companies. Good Luck getting these companies to
> understand that what comes around will come back
> to them also.

okay Doctor

I was working retail a number of years ago and had been hired on in October as an employee for the holiday season. During this time, I was also working almost full time at a group home on the 10 pm to 8am shift with 7 nights on every 2 weeks and pregnant.

Mid December, I was called I into the managers office and told what an amazing employee I was and offered a permanent full time position at the retail store which would allow me to work more normal hours. Then mother-in-law passed away on Christmas Eve. I called in for one shift and my supervisor was very sympathetic sounding on the phone. When I worked my next shift, I was called in and it was explained that since I had shown a lack of commitment and responsibility that they had rethought having me continue on permanently and my last day would be Jan 3.

Of course, the nearly full time position I had been working at was now filled with someone else since I had resigned. I did not qualify for unemployment as I had resigned my position at one job and was only considered seasonal at the new one.

So no, the non IC world does not always offer amazing benefits and allow you to skip a shift whenever you feel like.

Being an IC may be better in some regards because even if one company chooses not to work with you for many people this may be only 5-10% of their income and it may be possible to add on a few shops with another company to make up the difference, rather than a company job which may be your whole income.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2014 06:25AM by Shelly.

Wow, Shelly no one should have to go through that. ...but it's true that some employers don't have a sympathetic (or logical) bone in their body. When I was in charge of hiring and firing I worked extra hours (my pay was monthly, no overtime) to cover employees whom I knew had legitimate hardship. No employer has done the same for me. I learned to work with pneumonia, with being yelled at for being slow when they knew my dad had died days earlier "He was 70, he had his time. Get over it!", while my daughter was fighting in Iraq and I had not heard from her for a month, and other difficult situations. The first real job I had was Bob's Candies. I devised my own system of doing things faster and better. My position was temporary but my supervisor petitioned her supervisor to keep me on. In turn, her supervisor had me teach other employees the method; then I was laid off.

Present day; no one wants to hire me because I took care of my mom for 8 years. I can't understand why so many employers think that once a person "hasn't worked" for six months, that person should not be hired.

**sigh!** Now I fear the only thing I can do is MS-ing. God has always taken care of me though, I don't need to fret.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2014 02:38PM by LadyAcappella.

Lady,

So sorry that you have dealt with so many insensitive employers. I really hate it when you come up with an innovation, train others, and get laid off. Have taken tome off for family obligations should not be such a barrier to future employment.

My son was also in Iraq for 9 months. Thankfully my boss at the time was sympathetic. We had a no cell phone policy but I said that carrying my phone and answering it if I believed it might be him was non negotiable.

I was in retail management for 10+ years. From personal experience, I think most employers want to believe employees when there's a problem. Unfortunately, there are employees who want to take advantage of things. I remember one time a barista called in sick, so I had to run the coffee shop for the opening shift. On my way home, I thought I saw the employee's car outside a bar. I went inside to check and sure enough, she was on the dance floor dancing up a storm. Needless to say, she had a lot of explaining to do the next morning.

I think most schedulers want to believe us when we back out at the last minute with a legitimate problem, but I'm sure enough have been stung that they have had to become cynical in order to get the jobs done.

The anonymity of the internet makes so many more people willing to lie and makes it so much harder to get caught. There are so many people out there taking advantage of this, it makes it challenging for the honest people. I think it is a small minority of shoppers, but they are the ones who make everyone's life more interesting.

I think you guys are absolutely right. The horrible minority makes it bad for the reliable majority. Nobody said life was fair.

Well, I had my hospital situation last night. Rushed my 8 year old son the to ER about 11:30, severe vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. He was in so much pain he was delirious. I'm driving like a bat out of hell to get there, they get him checked in, gave him an IV and some morphine for the pain. Start running blood tests and CT scans.

Eight hours later we were still there, they had run 3 CT scans and numerous blood tests. The doc's prelim though when we first walked in was appendicitis. The doctors were perplexed, his white blood cell count was off the charts high, but they couldn't find anything in his scans. After a night spent at the hospital, with fluids and meds, his wbc count was down to almost normal this morning. The doctor said we could go home, but to keep a very close eye on him to make sure he doesn't get sick again.

The whole night I was sitting there thinking he was going to have to have surgery today to remove his appendix. I picked up a $40 FF shop for today. I never, and I mean never MS on the weekends. That is my family time. However, I took this very first one because my husband and older son were going to be out of town, so not a huge deal on the family time.

Anyway, a couple of times that shop crossed my mind and I thought I might have to flake on it. This thread was fresh on my brain, and I thought to myself that if I cancelled this shop and they said anything similar to what I have read above, I wouldn't hesitate for one second to tell them where they can stick the shop. And this is my favorite company with my large bonuses and I would hate to burn that bridge. But, when you are so overcome with emotion and fear, a negative comment to me about a mystery shop would have immediately ended our relationship.

I don't think for a second that is the response I would have gotten, but I would have been prepared in the event I had to make that call. I was terrified all night not knowing what was wrong with my boy. There is not a worse feeling in the world.

Bottom line, we came home around 8:30 and slept for a few hours. He seems to be fine, if not weak and thirsty, but hopefully it was a nasty virus that came and went. I should be able to complete the shop after all with no issues.

OMG, Bearclaw, you narrowly dodged that bullet. Thank goodness! Thank goodness!

(heart)

PS
I'm talking about your son and not talking about flaking on a shop, because who the hell would care?

Thank goodness your son is okay. There is no pain in the world like watching one of your children in pain. I'm thinking of you.

Thank you stilllearning & Austinmom, I appreciate the thoughts.

Apparently I posted my story a bit too soon. Just after posting, ended up taking him back to the ER with the same symptoms. This time were only there about 2 hours. Apparently they did not send us with the medication we were supposed to have earlier today. He is even more confident all he had was a virus, his white blood cell count was even lower. THANK GOD!!!

So.....................I called Market Force and told them I would be unable to complete my shop today and why. The gentleman I spoke with was very nice and told me he would get it cancelled. He did not indicate it would be a problem. I have four other shops scheduled this week, so hopefully I won't have any issues with shops being cancelled by them.

I am impressed with the response and offer MF a shout out for not giving me any grief.

Addition: I just checked my email and they have sent me a cancellation notice stating this will not be counted against my record. Market Force is a stand up company!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2014 12:48AM by Bearclaw14.

Over the past few years I've had to cancel work with Market Force and Maritz because of health issues, and both companies have been great. I can't say enough good things about the way they've worked with me. I've also cancelled with other companies who've treated me well, not sure I can remember which ones but I've never had any problems until I ran into one recently with a scheduling company. All the MSCs have been great.