Is anyone else doing the new merchandising jobs with Observa? I have noticed several issues with this job:

--They don't confirm shiping, and don't provide package tracking. FYI, it takes 1-2 weeks to get the display.
--They finally figured out how to post the job to individual accounts (as opposed to the general board) but must be having issues, as my first location was rejected as not being one of my locations
--I had to email the PM directly to get the geofence lifted so I could reserve jobs outside my area
--My first location did NOT have the product in the store, and without a UPC number or barcode there was no way to see if it had even shipped

I realize this is their first merchandising project, but there are glaring issues here. The worst one is their 24+ hour turnaround time on support emails (and no other contact option). I have participated in test projects with other companies, but they always provided multiple contact options because they knew there would be bugs to iron out.

If this is the one that involves "Shots", then I'm also having trouble.
The icon is not showing on Map for the three 3 reserved locations and no shipments have arrived.
Have notified support of the icon issue; they replied that it had been resolved, but not true -- still no icons.
Logged-out of app and back in -- no improvement.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2019 05:21PM by JSM2019.

The PM is Ben Wherrett, bwherrett@observanow.com. Try emailing him directly. Attach a screenshot of your reservations from the completed projects list. As for the shipments I was told it can take up to 2 weeks. Mine arrived after 10 days.

I got my display but it had no instructions inside on how to proceed.

In the app, I find the location I want to do, but it says it has to be completed within 2 hours of accepting it. But first I have to call and talk to a manager. No phone number is provided nor is the name of the store (it's a large strip mall). I am guessing it is Walmart since they anchor the center.

Yes, it is walmart. Just call the main number for the store and ask for the grocery manager. I don't know why they want us to call ahead. Frankly most managers will be very puzzled as to why you are bothering. You may still get declined when you get to the store, or the product may not be there yet. But call anyway so you can honestly say that you did.

As for the actual setup, once you have signed in go look at the cold juice section. You should find a pair of shelf tags near the Suja juices that say something about a scheduled replacement. This is where your display goes. If you don't see them, the grocery manager will let you know where to place the display. If the shots are already on the shelf, just move them to the display and place the display in that slot.

Once you have the display in place, you need to go to the back to get the shots (if they weren't already in the cooler). They will be in the dairy cooler in the back. Just ask someone in the back room to help you find them if you are unfamiliar with how to do thus. They will also need to "bin" the product (remove it from backstock in the computer system) for you. Take these back to the display and place them as shown in the picture.

You can decline the visit you just accepted and restart it once you get to the store. It will still be there. Just don't let the visit expire.

I just finished mine. I waited for 10 minutes waiting for a manager but nobody answered.

I then went to the back where the milk and orange juice is located and couldn't find it. I found the grocery manager who looked at the picture in the app and said those juices were organic and found in the produce department. I found them in the produce department but couldn't find a manager and the display would not fit on the shelf. Finally the grocery manager brought the produce manager to me and she told me not to leave the display because they would throw it out since there was no room on the shelf.

Walmart had two rows, front to back on the shelf, each allocated to a type of "shot". The width of these was probably four inches total and the display sent was probably over a foot wide.

I would redo this shop if I had been given all the information listed by stormraven above, but not with just the information provided by Observa. Total time in store 30 minutes and 10 minutes on the phone. If I had known they were in the organic produce area, it would have cut my in store time in half.

EDITED TO ADD: I just got paid. Submitted at 1:30 and pait at 2:15.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2019 06:23PM by wrosie.

Gokd to know that some stores put them in organic. And like you, I was told not to leave the display. I suspect that most of these jobs are going to be refusals.

Wow, talk about growing pains! There's a "sewing" job now that says in the instructions that it is a one week reservation, but the actual timer gives you 2 hours! And I don't even want to talk about the GIANT icons and screwed up timers for the phone job!

>>They will be in the dairy cooler in the back. Just ask someone in the back room to help you find them if you are unfamiliar with how to do thus. <<<<
Really ?? They let you in the back room ?
Walmart has instituted a strict - Approved Vendor List - last year and there are only 5 companies on it.

Unless you are a bread, chips or soda vendor you are NOT allowed in the backroom for anything. In fact Walmart does not allow outside vendors to be moving anything around in the stores at all. I used to work for a 3rd party merchandising co. that did not make it on the final approved list so all jobs done at Walmart ceased.

I walked up and opened the vendor sign in book, asked for a pen, signed in and put on a vendor badge. Walked into the shipping area and asked for the grocery manager. The first employee said to walk over to receiving, the second asked a third to page the grocery manager.

Nobody questioned me until I spoke to the grocery manager on the floor.

@Boutique wrote:

>>They will be in the dairy cooler in the back. Just ask someone in the back room to help you find them if you are unfamiliar with how to do thus. <<<<
Really ?? They let you in the back room ?
Walmart has instituted a strict - Approved Vendor List - last year and there are only 5 companies on it.

Unless you are a bread, chips or soda vendor you are NOT allowed in the backroom for anything. In fact Walmart does not allow outside vendors to be moving anything around in the stores at all. I used to work for a 3rd party merchandising co. that did not make it on the final approved list so all jobs done at Walmart ceased.

Not true. Approved vendors are allowed to skip the vendor log so long as they have their WM badge. 3rd party can still go in back with a paper badge from the vendor log, they just can't bin their own product.

Ok.
I guess the company I used to work for just gave up on servicing them - or maybe lost the contract to one of the 5 (more likely).

Quite possibly. The 5 approved did pick up quite a bit.

Does Observa EVER get bonused? is says like 28 days left here...WTF does that mean? Does the shop just expire???? or do they add some $ to it because there are no takers where I live, I don't see anyone rushing out to do them.

Observa support or anyone who knows please explain. I love them did only 9 shops for them last month but will do more if they get bonused. The same shops have been sitting for at least 3 weeks last I checked lol I see demand isn't high (:

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2019 03:35AM by Mysteriousways.

They may or may not get bonused. If they don't hit their quota by the expiration date, sometimes they just extend them. Other times they bonus them fairly quickly.

I got paid and now Observa is harassing me telling me my account will be closed because the store wouldn't let me place the display.

"You are receiving this message because you signed up to complete KOR Display Placement opportunities and our records indicate you have not completed ALL of them.

When you signed up to complete this opportunity a display was sent to your address. There is a limited quantity of these displays which means we are relying on you to honor your commitment."

I've got the dipslay in my house and don't know what to do with it.

@wrosie
Yes, this Observa opp has turned out to be quite the mess.
You have an extra display. I have not received any for the 4 reserved locations (reserved before Memorial Day).

I would hold on to the display for now; store it out where it doesn't get in your way in case they arrange to have it shipped back at their expense.

I got the same aggressive email about the possibility of account being suspended and subsequently replied to multiple specific people via email, voice mail messageS (including a message left for Mr. Holman, CEO), and submitted the Google Form sent to me on June 3 asking for status update.

Those of us still willing to wait for this to be resolved are great candidates for a STILL HANGING IN THERE bonus. : )

Just be sure to respond to the email with what happened. They know they are having issues, and should not have taken such an aggressive tone. Hopefully they will get it fixed soon, but if you have a paper trail I seriously doubt they will suspend you.

Did you submit the shop as a refusal? There was an option for that.

Hello, Jake from Observa here. As some of you probably already notice I will be trying to post here and there when I see confusion regarding Observa on this forum. This being said, I will not be able to answer every single question but I hope to be able to clear some things up.
1. We are taking note of everything we are finding with the KOR campaign to ensure that future observations are much smoother and easier for you to complete. This is one of our first and most complicated merchandising opportunities and we are learning a lot along the way.
2. Our current KOR opportunity has run in to some issues. We are getting push back from locations as well as shipping issues from our customer. I assure you we are working to clear this up ASAP.
3. If you are having issues with any of the following...
- No Shipment or broken shipment
- No opportunity on map
..... do NOT worry about your account being suspended. Many recipients of this email were incorrectly included because of the shipping inconsistencies. We rarely suspend or ban an account and if we do we ensure that it is a deliberate issue caused by the observer. You will never be banned or suspended because of a logistical issue on our end.

We will be in contact when we figure out the best way to handle the current issues with the KOR campaign and appreciate all of you continuing to be excellent observers.

Thank you for the update, Jake.