I've been a MS quite awhile, but I mostly lurk on here. Something happened recently that has been perplexing me, so I wanted feedback.

I do grocery store shops for North Fork. I'm in an area where some of these are extremely hard for them to fill, so my scheduler has me do them frequently. One of them is in my small town, and I end up doing more shopping than required, including my regular shopping in the process of evaluating multiple sections of the store. Other customers and at times employees can get chatty, so I usually spend quite awhile in the store. I record my times beginning with when I enter the foyer and ending when the sacker leaves my car after unloading my groceries. Time before last, I was in the store over an hour. The register I used had WRONG times on the receipt--off by 15 minutes or so. I clearly stated this in my report. I double and triple checked this with notes I made on my phone during the shop.

The reviewer told me I must be mistaken, because I was in the store too long and my time out was later than the receipt by too much. I explained, but the reviewer persisted. I contacted my scheduler and explained that my times were accurate, and he contacted the reviewer and explained. In the end, I somewhat altered my report and included more description about the erroneous register.

I just did the shop again, being extremely careful with my timings. The register was correct, but my time out was a few minutes after the receipt, because I consider time out to be when I conclude my interaction with the sacker...since that is part of my report. I think the difference was about 4-5 minutes.

Again, the reviewer told me that my time out didn't match the receipt and that I must have recorded the wrong time. I was asked to correct it, so I just ended up using the time on the receipt as out time, even though I was at the register a minute or so AFTER the receipt was finished, and then was still interacting with the sacker for several minutes.

I am told in materials that these shops are videotaped, and I'm assuming the manager can verify footage that i was indeed in their store for X minutes. Should I just always put time out as exactly what is on the receipt?? My scheduler seemed supportive, but I'm really not sure if he ranks above or below the reviewer when it comes to giving me instructions regarding this.

I put my correct timings in the report and make note of the register timing being off. You did that and you were right. The editor contacting you and contesting what you reported is beyond me. I never hear a peep back if I report the correct times (and) report incorrect register times.

I don't do grocery stores for North Fork but have found that several MSCs seem to prefer time out matches the receipt.

Liz

Hello. I am very experienced with this company and theIr grocery stores. Your time out is the time on the receipt. You write that time down. You will no longer have a problem.

I was told by an editor at this company that you are to leave the store a soon as you are done checking out. I was doing the customer service inquiry after checking out and they kept coming back to me and asking why there was a difference between the receipt and the time I said I left.

Yep, I used to do the superstores for North Fork a lot, and at first, I would put my end time as the time I actually left the store, which was usually a minute or two after the receipt time. I was (firmly) told by an editor to use the receipt time. Must be a company preference!

Gosh...I wonder if the editors differ between states. I have NEVER had an editor email me about this and I always used the time I physically exited as my end time...

Thanks for the feedback, all. It seems the consensus is to just use the register time out.

I have done these very same shops you are discussing! The come across as being a real pain. The times and if you do it any time of the day which is allowed at the end of the month it won't let you submit it like needed. So, it sits until the scheduler submits it or an editor sees it sitting in Que to be submitted! Also, I do all of my narratives in Word and then copy it over. For some reason my final report from the editor always says I should do a better job next time with my grammar, etc. How can that be when it is done in Word? I will be passing on these in the future. Like you said, they want what they want not reality, IMHO!

By the way, if we are not to tell who we do shops for then why does it say at the bottom or the guidelines we are not to do shops on the same days and/or times as friends and relatives. How do I know if they are doing theirs then or not? My friends don't share their details with me. They say a bank or store but we have plenty of them.

I am the operations manager for North Fork Research and wanted to provide you with some clarification on the time stamp issue. The shop time will only be questioned by the reviewer if the shop end time and receipt time stamp are not within a few minutes of each other.Typically, a shopper exits the store immediately after the purchase transaction. However, if a shopper does not (for example, he or she visits the customer service desk after the purchase transaction), by making note of this in the report, it will provide the clarification to the client on the time discrepancy. In addition, if the shopper notes that the receipt time stamp is incorrect, as this sometimes occurs, making a note of this in the report will also provide the clarification to the client on the time discrepancy.

@incognito wrote:

Also, I do all of my narratives in Word and then copy it over. For some reason my final report from the editor always says I should do a better job next time with my grammar, etc. How can that be when it is done in Word? I will be passing on these in the future. Like you said, they want what they want not reality, IMHO!

Incognito, someone mentioned on another thread that sometimes narratives created in Word, then copied and pasted into a report, have code and odd characters that show up. Sometimes, for example, special characters such as apostrophes and quote marks end up showing up as bizarre sequences of characters! I just type my narratives directly into the reports, myself, but you could type them into Notepad as plain text. Then you won't get weird characters.

Beyond that, though, it sounds as if you think because they're created in Word, they can't contain grammar errors? I'm confused about that. Please, please don't tell me you rely on spell check? Oh, please....

As all of our reports get sent directly to the clients, the grammar and punctuation need to be accurate. You can ensure accuracy by viewing our writing resource guide on www.northforkresearch.com.

I just had a terrible experience with NorthFork (the editor). I notified them with an issue (GeoVerify time vs. wrong time on receipt) and we went back and forth in anonymity and nothing was resolved. They kept sending me form email to correct the time. Well I could do that if I LIED! I am not going to do that. GeoVerify gave the correct time I entered the store and the receipt when I exited 30 minutes later was incorrect. Not only was it wrong, the store was not even open - it opened late because of the storm. Time is valuable to me and well, the favor I did for the scheduler turned out to be a nightmare by the editor. So I told them to remove me from any notifications. I am not quite sure how they can do business with no names, no communication and no cohesive response!

Mod note: KimCarvente and Savana23 are the same poster

I would suggest you read my post and a couple of Consumer Rip-off reports about NorthFork. Your lack of communication is ridiculous. How do you keep justifying this crazy stuff?

We heard you yesterday. Many folks pointed out yesterday that was not their experience. Now that you have deactivated yourself you can let this traumatic event in your life go.

Not true, I had an incorrect time on the receipt when I left. If I brought it to the attention of the sales person it would of sent up a red flag. However, I did contact scheduler who said it was okay and the editor did everything but call me a liar. Done with NorthFork. There was a storm the day I went to this assignment and they opened late, so the time on the receipt was before the time on GeoVerify when I entered. As long as I have been doing this I have never had such lack of communication and downright arrogance with NorthFork. I looked on Consumer Rip-Off and a number of other complaint boards and they are at the top of the list. I think from this day forward I will research a company if I plan on trying a new one. I am glad your experience was a good one, however, like everything else no one has the same experience all the time. Cordially,

Kim,

I am the operations manager at North Fork Research and I responded to your previous complaint on this forum in a different thread. However, since you did not respond there, I have also provided you with my response here in this thread. Please see below.

Please note that we value all of our shoppers at North Fork Research and we do our best to maintain constant and professional contact with them. It is important to recognize that while our reviewers work over the weekend, our office is closed. Therefore any communication sent on either Saturday or Sunday, will be addressed on Monday.

In reference to the Geo Verify code, while that is something that our system offers, we do not utilize it. Therefore when the editors review the reports, they are checking the time stamp on the receipt versus the time frame of the shop. If you do utilize the Geo Verify code and notice that there is a discrepancy between your receipt time stamp and the Geo Verify code, please note that in your report.

After reviewing this situation, I wanted to clarify that the time stamp update was not the only update that we needed in order to finalize the report. A request was sent to you regarding these updates, in which you responded with a blank email. I am sure that email was sent in error, however that did not change the fact that we still needed the updates to submit the report.

As I am sure you can understand, accuracy is extremely important in reference to the submission of the reports. All of the reports are sent directly to our clients, for their review. Therefore we cannot send a report to a client if there are any inconsistencies. For this reason our editors will send the shoppers reminders regarding updates that are needed. This practice was implemented in your case as well.

Our goal is to resolve this situation and come out with a positive outcome for all parties involved. In addition to my response on this site, you have also received a response from our director of quality assurance, explaining the updates that are needed to submit your report.

I also wanted to clarify that we have successfully been in business servicing the retail community for over 35 years. We pride ourselves on offering unmatched customer service and the always increasing longevity of both our clients and thousands of shoppers. In further clarification we employ over 25 reviewers and that is the reason for the anonymous setting on their email.

I hope that you have found this information helpful and if you have any further questions, you can find my contact information on www.northforkresearch.com.

There are always two sides. NCharron's posts have been professional and level-headed while KimC's posts have been an emotional rant. I'll take professional over emotional any day.

Personal attack deleted by mod

Kim/Savana, please do not sign up under multiple aliases to use this forum

If you check your past records you will see I worked for a long time when you were ICCDS and maintained a high score, never flaked and did not have any issues. Maybe, just maybe you might want to take a look at the reviewer and the communication between the scheduler and reviewer. The only employee I had access to was the scheduler so I notified her. I did not finish the report because I kept getting the same rhetoric email from the reviewer about the time. Instead of communicating with me (instead of form email) or at least the scheduler all this would not have ensued. Feedback should be an essential part of mystery shopping not only the way the company sees things.

Kim,. it's unfortunate that you had a distressing experience with North Fork. There have been a couple of times that I have not enjoyed working with a particular company. When that happens, I don't work with them again. North Fork has been one that I have always enjoyed working with.

You are spending way too much time stressing over this bad experience. Let it go and move on. Your experience with North Fork has not been the experience of most of us here on the forum.

Life is too short to spend being upset or angry or trying to get revenge. Do what makes you happy the way it makes you happy in the place that makes you happy with the companies that make you happy. Happy, Happy, Happy. Life is short. Live and let live. Enjoy life.

Wow I haven't been on this forum in sometime, however, this guy "Flash" evidently doesn't have a life. The girl Kim C. posted her experience and you and Sybil (The many faces of Sybil) slam-dunked her. No wonder, this site is now getting a reputation for violent opinions like theirs. I guess, when you have nothing to do this is what you do. So sorry that someone cannot even express some frustratioin without all this! BTW I have researched North Fork/ICCDS there are definitely some issues no one seems to know about and complaints with the FCC. So needless to say before you open your mouth or should I say type do some background research.

Mod note: KimCarvente and Savana23 are the same poster

scraping repetitive troll off of my shoe...

@Savana23, please show me where my above post is slam-dunking the poster. My short and sweet post was about professional vs. emotional. This is a business. There is no room for being emotional.

Savana23,

As an established business in the retail community for over 35 years, NorthFork Research and ICCDS have never been informed or alerted of any complaint lodged with the FCC. I am confident that had there been a legitimate complaint filed with an organization such as the FCC, we would have been contacted by them.

Thank you.

FCC? Are you talking about the Federal Communications Commission? Or a different FCC?

GOT YOU HACK J!

@Savana23 wrote:

BTW I have researched North Fork/ICCDS there are definitely some issues no one seems to know about and complaints with the FCC. So needless to say before you open your mouth or should I say type do some background research.

Mod note: KimCarvente and Savana23 are the same poster

There are major problems with Savana23/KimCarvente's research. It's all bullshit. I researched as well. I find absolutely NO FCC complaints being investigated about the North Fork we are discussing here. Either the poster has a very active imagination or this is a deliberate fabrication. There has been public communication about FCC complaints against a Northfork Electric Cooperative, which, of course, is not the same company.

I also researched consumer complaints and rip-off reports. While I found a couple of rip-off reports about companies named "North Fork," these companies included a bank, a resort, a ranch, a campground, a couple of inns, etc. None of these companies is affiliated in any way with the North Fork being discussed here, and there are no rip-off reports about the North Fork company that the poster is bashing.

I'm not sure if this glitch in Kim/Savana's research is incompetence or if she is just totally desperate to blacken a company's name and she is either jumping to incorrect conclusions or deliberately posting lies. I think she owes North Fork a big apology.

Since North Fork seems to know who Savana23/KimCarvente is, if I were in their place, I might think about suing her for her untrue posts on this forum that appear designed to hurt the company's reputation.

AustinMom,

Thank you for conducting your own research. We very much appreciate your backing in regards to our reputation. As I have stated previously, we have been serving the retail community for over 25 years and pride ourselves on our long lasting relationships with both the clients and shoppers. If you are not already signed up with us and are interested in mystery shopping with North Fork Research, please go to our site www.northforkresearch.com and click on 'become a shopper'.