If you really want to get frustrated with Maritz....do some Yellow Gas shops and take photos at night, in the rain, with traffic, next to a freeway and have them tell you that "... A photo taken from across the street often works well...." blah blah blah.
Or, the top six inches of one corner of a forty foot tall sign is not included in the photo, and they ask you to go back take the photo again. Ha!
Or....there's a million stories about MaritzCX, folks!

Oh the problems I have with Maritz....lol
Basically they just simply don't work the way I do.

The only schedulers I talk to on the phone are ones I have a great relationship with. I think last year I spoke to 3,maybe 4, on the phone besides Maritz. I don't want to talk to you on the phone. I'm sorry. Send me an email. Especially considering you have to banter back and forth 5 times to get a shop assigned. And if you're going to insist on doing things over the phone, at least have the person who can make a decision call me, so I don't have to have them hang up, go ask the person that makes the decision, that person gives them a number lower than what they will pay, they call me back, I reiterate the amount I gave them first time, and then they hang up to go ask once again, and then call back with a yes or no. You know what. If you made it easy you would save tons of money because not only would I take less for shops you would save scheduler time doing it.

And speaking of taking less for shops, there are shops I would take for them. Sometimes I drive by shops that I absolutely know in 2 months they will give me $75 to go there but won't give me $10 now. Why? You're saving $65 and you won't have to spend an hour calling shoppers in two months.

And then there's the whole shop window. Uh, this gas station mystery shop is a quarterly shop. It's Jan 14th. You have literally 2.5 months left to get this shop done. Why is it so dang important that I do it today and not tomorrow? And heaven forbid something happens and you have to reschedule. Um. Seriously? You have 75 days to get this shop done and all I want is 3 extra! But oh hell no you can't reassign.

I plan my routes weeks in advance. I know where I am going to be for the rest of the first quarter already. I just don't know what days I'm going to be where exactly. I would seriously take 100 gas station mystery shops a quarter if they would drop them on my board and let me have the whole quarter to do them in. And if they would do that I wouldn't even ask for a bonus on them at all. But they are so rigid that will never happen.

Never say never. I have received deadline extensions, flexible due dates beyond the norm and assigned blocks of shops in advance while planning a route. You do need to be talking to the right people though. I don't bother with the "regular" team members. They are fine if you want to chit chat about their cat but I don't have time for that nonsense.

I have been telling them not to bother calling me back with their counter offers as it is a huge waste of time.

I get annoyed when they call me to reply to a question in my email. If I miss the call, it takes a 10 minute phone call to get ahold of the person who left the message. Why can't they reply to my email, or leave the response in my voicemail?

I specifically tell them to reply to me by voicemail or email depending on what the situation is and how urgent it is. I tell them that I can not answer the phone most of the time when they call me back because I have a FT job. I have mentioned to them that playing "phone tag" is a waste of time for all of us and many of the team members agree. The older ones are still stuck in the past though. The younger ones don't seem to stay with the company very long probably due to frustration.

haha yea, i relate with a bunch of these responses. the phone calls they make responding to incentive requests I sent through email 3 weeks earlier, are ridiculous. and then they want to make me look bad almost. they'll do a sarcastic chuckle, and say they're not going to be able to go anywhere near that high for a location that close to your home, or whatever. you don't need to call me to tell me that. email "no thanks, not at this time", or something of that nature, or just don't respond at all. the reports keep getting longer, and longer... don't expect me to touch them for base.

I laugh when they decline my bonus request, and then two weeks later, the same shop is posted as urgent with a bonus higher than what I had requested.

I also have a full time job, so I cant always answer the phone.

@jay225 wrote:

just finished the report for the kitchen sink scenario. would've rather had someone hit me with a kitchen sink.

Your experience may explain why I get bonuses to do these sometimes. The bonus is needed for the amount of time required in store to get someone to assist you.

I have a full time job as well, but I can answer my cell phone at any time if I want to. I see that 800# and ignore. There are no 5 minute conversations with Maritz. They will spend the day on the phone with you, if you let them.

@christinereed wrote:

@jay225 wrote:

just finished the report for the kitchen sink scenario. would've rather had someone hit me with a kitchen sink.

Your experience may explain why I get bonuses to do these sometimes. The bonus is needed for the amount of time required in store to get someone to assist you.

I got a $30 bonus to do it, and the location is 5 minutes away from me... any less would have been a rip off in my opinion.

@COMystery wrote:

I have a full time job as well, but I can answer my cell phone at any time if I want to. I see that 800# and ignore. There are no 5 minute conversations with Maritz. They will spend the day on the phone with you, if you let them.

if you want to get them off the phone fast, just ask for big bonuses.

@COMystery wrote:

There are no 5 minute conversations with Maritz. They will spend the day on the phone with you, if you let them.

I agree 100%. Those Midwesterners are a chatty bunch. Or is it because of their age? Maybe a bit of both.

@jay225 wrote:

if you want to get them off the phone fast, just ask for big bonuses.

That is just a temporary fix. Later on, they will call you again to try to talk you down.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@jay225 wrote:

if you want to get them off the phone fast, just ask for big bonuses.

That is just a temporary fix. Later on, they will call you again to try to talk you down.

just don't budge from your offer, and it'll end soon. using the word "alright" with an ending tone of voice is always a good way to get a phone call to end within 15 seconds. there are a few girls there with pleasant voices who i don't mind listening to, but other than that, pay me, or peace out.

I don't have a problem with Maritz calls since they are usually calling with a vaguely decent incentive. I do have a problem with calling them back. They only have 1-2 clients in my area, so I know which teams I'm calling back for. But I have to know who called me because the first person to answer my call cannot find my profile.

I actually had them add "Do no negotiate" to my profile. So far it's worked. I get yes or no answers now instead of a lowball offer in reply.

@bgriffin wrote:

I actually had them add "Do no negotiate" to my profile. So far it's worked. I get yes or no answers now instead of a lowball offer in reply.

That's a good idea. I recently decided that their hardware stores aren't worth less than my "favourite" bonus, so next time they try to talk me down, maybe I will try your way.

Every time I think of Maritz, the Flintstones cartoon theme runs through my head. They still call me a lot for the home improvement shops, but never like my bonus requests. Oh well, won't do them for any less.

@DanteScheduler wrote:

Every time I think of Maritz, the Flintstones cartoon theme runs through my head. They still call me a lot for the home improvement shops, but never like my bonus requests. Oh well, won't do them for any less.

This is great. Last time they called me was the first time the scheduler asked if I meant $50, fee included or plus the $12 fee. I said that I would take either, but to please ask for $50 + fee first. So the scheduler even knew that I was willing to go a little lower, but let me stick to my guns.

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
Been shopping for 2 years. Just ventured into the world of Maritz. (everyone else is slow in my market thus far in 2017).
Applied for a couple of gas shops and they won't assign them to me until I send them a "test photo" that is sized 640x480 pixel.
I have an Iphone6S plus....and it beats the heck out of me how to get that size pixel count out of it.
They've returned 2 tests to me already with a try again.

Am I SOL with the Iphone?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2017 09:20AM by Islander505.

@Islander505 wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
Been shopping for 2 years. Just ventured into the world of Maritz. (everyone else is slow in my market thus far in 2017).
Applied for a couple of gas shops and they won't assign them to me until I send them a "test photo" that is sized 640x480 pixel.
I have an Iphone6S plus....and it beats the heck out of me how to get that size pixel count out of it.
They've returned 2 tests to me already with a try again.

Am I SOL with the Iphone?

For me, I use a digital camera and set it for the correct size. AAMOF, I carry three cameras with me, fully charged at all times. You can buy them used on various online sites as well as many resale shops such as Salvation Army and Goodwill.
Or, email them to your computer and use an online resizer that can be downloaded for free. Just google the specific need (Iphone pic resizer software). Usually, they're free.

Islander505 New Participant New MemberNewJanuary 20, 2017 09:12AM
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
Been shopping for 2 years. Just ventured into the world of Maritz. (everyone else is slow in my market thus far in 2017).
Applied for a couple of gas shops and they won't assign them to me until I send them a "test photo" that is sized 640x480 pixel.
I have an Iphone6S plus....and it beats the heck out of me how to get that size pixel count out of it.
They've returned 2 tests to me already with a try again.

Am I SOL with the Iphone

Take the photo. Email it to yourself medium size. The photo will be the tight size. Save it and you are all set.

Thanks

Hahaha... I've actually found a great cash cow shop with them... especially now that they are offering incentives on it. It sucks that program is almost up because I am making $15 a shop for about 15 minutes worth of work (and yes, that includes the PITA reporting system!)

I don't work for Maritz anymore. I liked doing the gas stations in my area but now they don't allow taking photos with cell phones. They told me they were getting new software to make reporting easier. I also would get multiple calls when I was out of state. I told them I would be gone until a certain date but they must not do any data entry to record that information. I kept getting calls.

If you don't pass the quiz, the team members will help. I always printout the quiz with my first answers, so if I miss any, I at least have some or most of the right answers.

I used to get freaked out when the shop said overdue ahead of the due date, but that disappears immediately when the quiz is taken, and removes it from any of the same shops in the list you have due for that time frame.

As to the security code, I just print out the 1st page of the questionnaire, and it is there. The system also remembers the security codes when you enter it the first time. I guess since I am not as tech savvy as most of you, I find Maritz easy, friendly and helpful.

I downloaded the resizer app and did it that way with my phone. They were a pain to please. I did hundreds of shops for them and then had a bunch of my work deleted and they told me I had to redo them because my camera messed up. I took the pictures and it took closeups. I turned them in and they deleted all of my info. I ended up having to do 10 shops over. It threw me off in getting my shops completed. They took me off the list from picking up shops for that Team! I drove thousands of miles for them and they even called me three months after I completed some calls to question the entire scenario for one city where I had done 3 shops. They said they wanted to verify for their client. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with the supervisor and I had been paid more than two months before. Now they only show me gas shops 3 states away. Not going there!

Hi everyone!!

Although there seems to be mixed feelings about working for this company, can anyone provide me with a valid phone number for Maritz? I have applied as a shopper over two weeks ago and they have given me no reply at all, either way. Meanwhile, I have KSS ready to assign me Maritz jobs because I have been a successful shopper many times for them.

I have emailed Maritz twice through their system and no response either. If they have phoned me with a response, they are not leaving a message for a missed call.

If for some reason, they have rejected my application, I want to know why.

Any input and a phone number would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

@Islander505 wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
Been shopping for 2 years. Just ventured into the world of Maritz. (everyone else is slow in my market thus far in 2017).
Applied for a couple of gas shops and they won't assign them to me until I send them a "test photo" that is sized 640x480 pixel.
I have an Iphone6S plus....and it beats the heck out of me how to get that size pixel count out of it.
They've returned 2 tests to me already with a try again.

Am I SOL with the Iphone?

For the ones where they insist on 640X480, I used my tablet (Samsung Galaxy 4). My phone takes much better photos than the tablet, so that's why I usually use my phone for work. But, hey, if they want a lower resolution, that's what they want, I guess.

I like Linlam's suggestion of emailing it to yourself. Also, if you have Windows on your computer, Photo Gallery allows you to edit your photos to medium pretty quickly. I have one company that insists on lower resolution photos for inspections, so I use the editor for that. I would not want to edit all the photos required for some of the gas station audits, though, so that's why I just decided to use the tablet. Then, the photos are already 640X480 and I don't have to re-size before uploading.

@dinky692 wrote:

Hi everyone!!

Although there seems to be mixed feelings about working for this company, can anyone provide me with a valid phone number for Maritz? I have applied as a shopper over two weeks ago and they have given me no reply at all, either way. Meanwhile, I have KSS ready to assign me Maritz jobs because I have been a successful shopper many times for them.

I have emailed Maritz twice through their system and no response either. If they have phoned me with a response, they are not leaving a message for a missed call.

If for some reason, they have rejected my application, I want to know why.

Any input and a phone number would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

When I signed up with Maritz to do a KSS shop, the KSS scheduler activated my Maritz account. I just had to email her to let her know.