A friend of mine just got an invalidated shop notice from Marketforce. He went to do a shop, he got to the address and there was no FF place there. He googled 'shop name' near me and the closest one to that location was in the next town over. He reported this, took photos and instead of paying him for his time and efforts, they invalidated the shop...

As they SHOULD have. The rules are very clear if the address isn't accurate. He probably shopped a [client name deleted] assigned to someone else. Also, took photos of WHAT? As far as I know there isn't a photo requirement for the FF place you are discussing. Is your friend YOU?

Mod note: It's against forum rules and an ICA violation to link the client with the MSC which has already been named. Please refer to the posting guidelines.

I'm only speculating, but it may be the FF location really existed in that town, and your friend was not at the right place. Many variations of an address can exist in one town, especially if it is on a highway. For example, four different businesses might list their address as 100 Hwy 90, when in actuality they are at 100 Hwy 90, 100 Hwy 90 Business, 100 Old Highway 90, and 100 Highway 90 South. In my experience, MSCs expect us to figure this out on our own, or at least call the business for directions. Also, Google is really bad about correctly locating highway addresses outside of major cities, and almost always sends me to the wrong place. And I have found a few cases of newer FF restaurants not being listed in Google. On the other hand, if your friend was really at the right place and took photos to prove it, he should at least get something, IMO.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2015 08:52PM by mystery2me.

mystery2me...he writes he went to ANOTHER TOWN.... he wasn't at the right place. But, yah..if he was at the right place there wouldn't be any issue whatsoever.

@rasky wrote:

As they SHOULD have. The rules are very clear if the address isn't accurate. He probably shopped a [client name deleted] assigned to someone else. Also, took photos of WHAT? As far as I know there isn't a photo requirement for the FF place you are discussing. Is your friend YOU?

He is saying he took pictures of the location (whatever was there) for proof of visit...

Mod note: ICA violation in quote

I didn't read it that way. Just said "took photos." I thought the implication was of a meal or some such.
Anyway, the rules are clear for this with all MSCs, even the lousy ones, as far as I am aware. The narrative is too vague to really know what is going on. Needless to say, you don't just pick some near bye shop in another town and expect to get compensated for it unless you contact the scheduler first and they approve it.

The OP never said his friend did a shop in another location or went to another another town. The friend merely reported that the FF place was not at the listed address, and presumably took a picture at the listed address to show the business was not there, which is what I would have done.

Typically, reports will ask if the shopper called the phone number of the location to verify address, hours, or phone number. Almost always, I answer no that I did not call, and there has been no backlash. Maybe I should rethink this, and make the call to do some verifying.

If you say no, in this particular report there is another questions that asked about location..and if open during normal hours..so then you put no and continue with whatever happens. This hasn't happened to me with this particular MSC. I check beforehand on Google maps. If the restaurant didn't show up I'd then call to verify. But, if it never says I NEED to call I pretty much never do. I don't have any of those shops lined up right now otherwise I'd double check the paper work as it does change from time to time. I don't know of a single assignment for any MSC where they advise you to select the next closest restaurant/store/etc. and conduct it there....

There WAS an instance for one of these shops where when I went to the internet to look them up Google stated they were closed...so I did call them and they informed me they were open and google was wrong. That's as close as I've come to one of these restaurants being closed. It seems to me if one of them did close from the time the offer was made the building would still be standing there and not quickly demolished with or without something rebuilt....The whole scenario reads as suspect..but I'm also in a bit of a bad mood so sorry if I'm being overly harsh about it.

@rasky wrote:

I don't know of a single assignment for any MSC where they advise you to select the next closest restaurant/store/etc. and conduct it there....

I've been told to go to location down the street. The one they sent me to was closed & boarded up. They built new one down the street. The client did not update new address in system. I got paid full fee + 1/2 fee for my troubles.

Thats after you contacted them then. Its not in the paperwork to do that as far as i know.

Glad it worked out in your instance. The proximity in your example seems a lot closer.

Me too! I had to mf shops in one day
Accidently posted the wrong time in one shop (the time fir the other). After submitting it, i realized my mistake and quickly emailed the "help desk"... 4 emails layer (all from me) i get an email saying they can't alter the report after it has been entered... which we all know is bs because editors do it all the time. I'm not happy with market force right now. If i get a declined so then i missed doing something in the shop, my fault I'll take it. .. but I correctly did the shop and contacted them. Ugh.

I've had serious issues with some of their editors before. When they wrote back and made the claim of not being able to alter it..ahem..they should have also at least stated they're going to add your e-mails or what you are stating to the report to make it valid. I don't "get" these editors who invalidate a report for such idiotic reasons and end up costing market force more money and tick off their I.C.s....

@wakingupkk wrote:

Me too! I had to mf shops in one day
Accidently posted the wrong time in one shop (the time fir the other). After submitting it, i realized my mistake and quickly emailed the "help desk"... 4 emails layer (all from me) i get an email saying they can't alter the report after it has been entered... which we all know is bs because editors do it all the time. I'm not happy with market force right now. If i get a declined so then i missed doing something in the shop, my fault I'll take it. .. but I correctly did the shop and contacted them. Ugh.

Maybe you did shop right but you didn't do report right which you didn't because if wrong time. I uploaded wrong receipt one time & contacted help desk right away. They didn't fix receipt but they reopened report or something. I had to remove wrong one & put in right one. Doing thr report right is still part of doing the shop right.

@rasky wrote:

Thats after you contacted them then. Its not in the paperwork to do that as far as i know.

Things happen in life. They can't all be written in guidelines. It is common sense to contact someone for help when there is a issue. By going extra step & contacting them I saved the shop & got extra $ for it.

I agree! And the person who posted this original thread clearly did not do that.

I shop MF a lot--mostly gas/convenience store and FF shops, but the client being discussed here has been a frustrating experience for me. I also noticed recently that another MSC instead of MF was shopping this location, but then MF had it back again. I shopped this client this weekend and had the same situation happen which others are mentioning. I ordered correctly, but my receipt said L instead of M, and I was given a L beverage. I thought I explained this carefully in my report, but my shop was invalidated because I "did not order a medium drink."

Here is what I emailed them in response. I am waiting to hear back from MF:

"The CPI Instructions state, "Instead, say, 'I'll have a Medium **************** Meal,'" which is exactly what I said. I said I wanted a "Medium ******************** Meal."

When I received my receipt and my order, they had listed Large instead of Medium. First, I ordered a Medium meal and was not even offered a Large. Additionally, the default size is a Medium, so unless I specifically stated I wanted Large or unless they offered to upsize the combo and I accepted, they should NOT have given me a Large.

The CPI Instructions also state, "If you order a medium beverage but are given a small or large beverage or fries, you should mark Q9a, 9b, 31a, or 31b 'No' to
indicate what was incorrect." I am unable to review my report to look at my response on that question, but I'm pretty sure that I did answer "No" and did explain that I ordered a Medium meal yet was given a large.

The order taker never said at any point that I was to receive a large, so I was unaware until I looked at the receipt. The CPI Instructions also state not to correct mistakes unless I am missing an item, so I did not correct the Large drink size.

In my opinion, I followed the instructions exactly on this issue. Please explain further to me if that is not correct."

Thoughts?

If as explained the editor screwed up. They have have a question where it asked if your receipt is correct for what you ordered. You needed to answer no and then indicate the receipt is incorrect because you ordered a medium and received a large. There are then questions about it (I ordered a medium and was given a large without asking for it). If you stated the receipt was correct then there are issues...but the editor should have contacted you for clarification.

If they give you a large and you hand it back and say you want a medium it is against the guidelines and also revealing as most nobody does anything like that. I've ordered a medium before at some locations and told a large is the same price...as well as seen L on the screen at the Drive Thru in which instance I say, "I only want a medium because the rest will just go to waste."

I know they're on deadline but there should be a policy with editors if there is conflicting information on a report where they email you and you are given some time to explain/correct the report to make it consistent.