I just completed my second shop for Amusement Advantage. My first one I totally bombed. I got home and realized that I forgot a few MAJOR steps and didn't even begin to fill out the report until I talked with the scheduler. Neither of us were certain that it would pass. I was shocked when I got my grade back and received a 94%. I figured that they must be easy graders. Well, I just did my second shop for them. The employees at this shop were not very helpful in my interactions. Literally, I was told "over there" when I asked where the location of something was. We were sitting in a restaurant and he pointed outside the restaurant. Several other employees got answers wrong when I asked simple questions (location of park exits, park hours, etc). So naturally, I scored them accordingly. I was genuinely frustrated because this was the first time I had been to the location and we really did need to know the location of some places and received either no help or incorrect help (one employee told us the location was on the other side of the park when it was mere steps away). I tried to be positive about the things they did right but I was very clear that they were unhelpful. Well, I got my score back today and despite having no grammar mistakes and thorough details, I received an 88%! What? They said my scoring was inconsistent but I felt like I was very clear about why I scored some employees so low. Am I not supposed to write negative things in these reports? They said my report had a negative tone. Has anyone else experienced this with this company? Moving forward, I feel like I'm lost about how to report on these shops if I have a bad experience.

I have 100% rating with this MSC with positive comments on each grading criteria. Maybe you could copy and paste the actual grading criteria removing any identifying info to the client or to your real name. I believe you should have eight different comments with a possible editor's comment at the bottom of the page.

The only thing they scored me down on was the grading:
1) ALL results, receipts & pictures submitted on due date
2) Excellent Writing - No grammar, punctuation or spelling issues
3) No details missing / ALL required details included
4) Scores often inconsistent / no correlation to explanation **This is where I'm confused. I thought I provided clear explanations for any and all low scores (they didn't ALL receive low scores)
5) All instructions were followed, there were no issues
6) Did everything possible to complete high quality evaluation
7) All explanations were thorough / adequately described observations
8) All employee interactions were detailed and thorough

Here were some notes included in the email I received: Some scores were inconsistent and narratives had a negative/critical tone. Please balance negative comments with positive. Also, when scoring, consider whether the employee would or should know the answer to the type of question asked and base your scores on that as well as their friendliness, etc.

Shouldn't an employee know where the location of the park exit is? Shouldn't the employee know what the park hours are? These were the two biggest questions employees got wrong. When I asked the employee at the restaurant what was included on a sandwich, she showed me the menu instead of just telling me. My husband and I both thought that was odd (he said something even before I did). I did comment on how friendly the employees were and whether the smiled, greeted, etc. If they didn't do that, I can't just lie and said they did!

It just seemed like a really low grade for a thorough, detailed report and I felt like I was scored negatively because I scored them negatively. Wouldn't the park want to know details about how their employees couldn't answer basic questions?

IMO employees should know where exits are and the hours of operation.

I probably would have given the server credit for providing the answer regardless of how she went about getting it, either the menu or even getting someone else to help. The details could then have been provided in the narrative. I am assuming she didn't throw the menu down in front of you or say, "Here it is, moron."

No she didn't. She wasn't rude. From what I remember, I gave her a score of 2 which according to their guidelines is average. Nothing wrong but nothing exceptional. I gave most 2s since most interactions were average. I gave one or two 1s and a 3 and 4 for above average service. They stressed in the guidelines to give 3s and 4s sparingly, and for truly exceptional service so I did. The employee who said "over there" when I asked where the exit is I gave 1. If he was rude I would gave given him a zero but since he was friendly, I gave him a one. I guess maybe according to them an average answer is an incorrect/not helpful, yet friendly answer?

First of all, an 88% is not a bad score for your second shop with the MSC. It is like a B+. Sounds like the editor gave you awesome feedback. It is A LOT more than you will get with most MSCs.

Without us being able to read exactly what the editor read in your report, it will be hard to say who is right and who is wrong in this situation. It seems to me that you may have been a bit harsh. When the employee said "over there," did he/she use a hand gesture pointing you in the right direction? Did they make eye contact, smile, greet you or say goodbye? Did they ask if you needed further assistance? There are many variables and since none of us were actually there, you need to explain every little detail even though in may sound mundane.

Perhaps I was a bit harsh. I didn't feel like I was. When a customer asks the location of where something is, it seems a bit lazy to say "over there" without being a bit more specific. He wasn't rude but there was no way for me to know where exactly he was pointing to because the entire rest of the park was in the direction he was pointing. He didn't make any effort to ensure I knew where to go. I asked him to clarify hand he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. We left the restaurant and still had no idea where to go. The other employee told us to go to the other end of the park. Had we listened to her instructions, we would have dragged our 5, 3 and 1 year old to the other side of the park for nothing. Thankfully, my husband checked the map before we went there and saw where we were supposed to go. It was just really frustrating how neither employee knew the answer to such a simple question.

I have not done this shop. I am guessing that it is some sort of amusement park/zoo/tourist attraction with a restaurant on the property. Just wondering...are the restaurant personnel employees of that particular restaurant or are they employees of the park itself? Restaurant employees could be totally separate from park employees. Are you sure that all the employees you "communicated" with spoke English? The shoulder shrug is a typical body movement when there is a language barrier. The blank stare is another one.

He definitely spoke English well. He was a teenager though. When I first asked him he said something along the lines of "I'm not sure" or "I don't know". I asked him if there was someone he could ask. He went and asked his manager--twice. Both times he came back with, "He said over there". The instructions for the assignment stated I was supposed to ask each employee a question related to something about the park--hours, locations, etc. I really don't feel like I could have asked a much simpler question than that. My husband and I were both really surprised how many employees couldn't answer basic questions about the park. We did another shop very similar to this and all of the employees answered all questions correctly with full confidence (it was in a neighboring park). Maybe I just let that affect my scoring too much. The whole thing was just so bizarre and frustrating.

Don't feel bad, their directions are inconsistent. When I followed their directions, they said I should have known the directions were wrong and contacted them for clarification (even though they did work as written)....I gave up on them.

nm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2016 06:18PM by PasswordNotFound.

I have done many shops for Amusement advantage and mostly I get good answers from employees so I have not run into this. I do, however, usually ask them questions about the place they are working such as if it is a gift shop at the venue I might ask something about an item in the gift shop, not about general park info. In the last venue I did I was at a very large zoo but I was evaluating the vendors who do not work for the zoo but they work for the company that provides the food and gift shops. I did have to evaluate a few zoo employees but for the gift shop and food vendors I would not be surprised if some of them did not have full knowledge of everything zoo. Any general questions to them would be something nearby such as closest restroom. The instructions do say to ask an easy question. And like Lisa, if someone showed me a menu with explanations written on it as long as they were nice about it and were available should I have further questions I would not grade them down.