Does anyone else out there question the training of some of the Editors?(I use this term lightly) I realize that when we are on this forum sounding off that we may not pay attention to spelling, grammar, etc. However, I have received point deductions several times from these "Editors" stating that my sentence structure was unusual, my grammar incorrect, etc. I have actually submitted reports with the grammar of a fifth grader to see what happens, perfect scores!!! I have submitted reports with more advanced sentence structure, etc. and have received deductions. I can't tell you how many of the emails from these "Editors" have contained spelling errors and sentences that were ended in prepositions. This just entertains me to no end. I think some of them get their training from "Editing For Dummies" or something!

I haved questioned the competence of some editors as well and wondered if there is any QA at some of these companies. I once saw something that said editors at one company get $3/report. If that's the case, I can't imagine that they're spending a whole lot of time per report and may be just scanning them which may explain why they miss things in the report and then send follow-up e-mails asking for clarification of something that was clarified in the report. Ya get what ya pay for and if the MSCs aren't paying much per report, that may be why the quality of the editors ain't so great. Bad grammar intentional, by the way.

I had two editors send me a follow-up e-mail stating a description of the emplyee was needed. However, this was in sentence 2 of my report. smh!

Sometimes I wonder if some need to find an error in a report even if one doesn't exist.

My reports have issues infrequently, and when an editor says something that is wrong, I always "fire back," and take it right to the top of the company.

One editor either last month or month before, flagged a report, a simple one, telling me I shopped the wrong location, did the wrong scenario, and something else was wrong so she was putting a payment hold on it.

All of which was untrue. I replied back to each question on the site saying read the report and it is the right location. If you can't take the time to verify on maps or just match the store # on the receipt to the store # in the report, you should not be editing.

That editor is no longer allowed to grade my reports.

I have zero toleration for stupidity.

techman -- Which goes back to my payment statement. If you're being paid a paltry amount of money to read a report, you are not going to go the extra mile to check receipts or carefully read a report (or, for that matter, read the guidelines so you know what the criteria is). If that is the case, then I lay the problem at the feet of the MSCs paying little to their editors.

But the editor knows what they are getting themselves into. If you don't like the pay, don't accept the job. Same as we do.

Certainly shopping has its own report 'style'. Simple sentences are not my preference, but they are what is needed. Not all editors can find their way through a complex sentence structure and not all clients can either. I am comfortable managing a sentence of more than 40 words but keep report sentences to under 20.

It drives me nuts when paragraph breaks are not allowed in some reports, because it MUST make it more difficult for an editor to read and it certainly makes it tougher for me to group related observations as efficiently.

techman -- But maybe they don't. Maybe they don't know how long the reports are. I still maintain that, if the MSCs are paying so little, I lay the blame at their feet. They have made a conscious choice to not pay enough to have the job done properly. I will not let employers slide because an employee or IC "should have known what they were getting into."

WE have another thread on this " Editors " The good, the bad and the ugly.

I will say one company that has good editors is ACE. i found them to be completeley fair.

I questioned one editor and asked for explanation so "I could write better." lol
Well, she cited some of my 'supposed' sentence construction as an example. So I told her I have a copy of all the reports I sent to them and my reports were not written that way. She could not explain. She said, maybe it happened in other reports. She said if I could send a copy, she would show me. I told her but she rated that particular report. The next thing I know, I could not make a copy of my reports anymore.

risinghorizon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I questioned one editor and asked for explanation
> so "I could write better." lol
> Well, she cited some of my 'supposed' sentence
> construction as an example. So I told her I have
> a copy of all the reports I sent to them and my
> reports were not written that way. She could not
> explain. She said, maybe it happened in other
> reports. She said if I could send a copy, she
> would show me. I told her but she rated that
> particular report. The next thing I know, I could
> not make a copy of my reports anymore.

I got told the same thing.

I'm always annoyed when an editor (usually from Intellishop) gives me a 9 for supposed minor grammatical mistakes. Yeah, editor, ding me because *you* don't understand when to use objective, subjective or subjunctive case. And like Flash said, if we don't write simply, they're apt to be confused.

Edited for a typo.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2012 03:53PM by Mantis.

Unless my report is for a high end shopping company I generally try to write fairly simple sentences. Some of these companies post the report for the employees to read and many of the jobs are minimum wage, no education needed types. I try to write so they will all understand what I am saying. I have not gotten dinged but perhaps I don't work for the mystery shop companies that do that.

I shop for Intellishop to improve my writing skills. Neither the money, grades nor my time really matters. What matters is the report that comes back explaining the way it was submitted. I honestley appreciate this sidebar. The small fee for shopping the shop and the real feel of the shop is not important. Where other companies want to know exactly what happened when you approached their employees, if you would send friends or family there, if you were treated properly, what you saw while you were there, and the other things we do for other companies, I might spell there or their wrong and it be the THRUST of the shop? Do a few per month just cause "dang it", it's the wrong thing to do!

I was asked if I would like to buy one of these DVD players for a real deep discount and if I would pull round back to get it. Yes if the price is right!

"Yes if the price is right" shows very poor gramar and sentence structure. We may not be able to use this for our client. They are looking for professional sentence stucture.

richraynor. Well, the only thing I see wrong with your statement "Yes if the price is right" is that you are missing a comma after the word "yes." Otherwise, I don't see how a direct quote would not be a "professional sentence structure." Obviously, someone doesn't know what prose is supposed to look like or understand that you were providing a direct quote. Again, makes me wonder about the quality of the editors some MSCs hire.

It took me a long time to realize that editors make very little and are often or mostly paid per report. If it is a minor issue I just go ahead and fix it to the editors satisfaction. Otherwise, you are just raising your blood pressure and wasting valuable time.Unless it is a pay issue, I would not take time with it. My opion only.

I have a shop in a city on the 14th, and another shop in the same place on the 13th.
So I e mailed the scheduler asking if it was possible to change her shop to the 14th in the interest of saving gas. Her answer was she understands but "no".
And no offer to pay for the gas.

Comments ?

Why would the scheduler offer to pay for gas? You accepted her shop for the 13th with no agreement to pay for your gas, right? You accepted the other shop for the 14th? After accepting both shops, you decided it would be nice to do them on the same day to save gas. It was nice that the scheduler said she understands but she was not willing to re-schedule the shop to the 14th. So why would she offer to pay for your gas? If I were the scheduler, I would expect you to do the shop under the agreed terms....I certainly wouldn't offer to pay for gas. Maybe the MSC with shop scheduled for the 14th will let you re-schedule it to the 13th.

Shoppinalong - Very surprised to hear this! As y'all know I how far out of the city I live, I've never had a problem asking for - and receiving - a change if I explained in a nice enough way. However, if by chance I DO schedule jobs like you did on two different days - I will search for hours to find something to add to the single shop.

I will also email all of the schedulers I've developed a good rapport with and ask them if by chance they have something for those days. If I have their phone numbers, I'll call them and ask.

For the handful of times I haven't been able to reschedule, I just go and do the shop. Griping about it on the drive, but realizing I'm the dummy who scheduled these!

MANTIS WROTE------- don't understand when to use objective, subjective or subjunctive case.

BOB'S REPLY---------When I slip and type in the subjunctive mode, my mind is programmed to re-write the sentence because experience, in this business, has taught me I'll probably receive a correction request.

As a former 'editor', I can tell you that we were paid a salary and no per shop bonus.

My company was VERY particular and, even as a former English teacher, I did find some shopper reports laughable. That being said, I also find editors for MY shops now, must definately have too much time on their hands. Their 'comments' are neither constructive nor helpful.

Oh my, when I become Queen, all of this will be abolished! LOL

techman01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sometimes I wonder if some need to find an error
> in a report even if one doesn't exist.
>
> My reports have issues infrequently, and when an
> editor says something that is wrong, I always
> "fire back," and take it right to the top of the
> company.
>
> One editor either last month or month before,
> flagged a report, a simple one, telling me I
> shopped the wrong location, did the wrong
> scenario, and something else was wrong so she was
> putting a payment hold on it.
>
> All of which was untrue. I replied back to each
> question on the site saying read the report and it
> is the right location. If you can't take the time
> to verify on maps or just match the store # on the
> receipt to the store # in the report, you should
> not be editing.
>
> That editor is no longer allowed to grade my
> reports.
>
> I have zero toleration for stupidity.

Ahem. "...zero toleration for stupidity." How about, "zero tolerance?" You may want to edit before you cast stones.

1980dory -- You have more courage than I do. I often read some of these posts with the bad grammar and spelling and wonder how the reports written by some are ever accepted. Not saying that I have perfect spelling and grammar but the above is an example.

Ha! I had to laugh at this one Avi!

I am raising my hand to admit to a love affair with commas - and every now and then a semi-colon just for the halibut!

I will go back and read a post of mine (a few days later) and shake my head at my obvious errors (and then be too lazy to go in and edit the post).



avitoots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1980dory -- You have more courage than I do. I
> often read some of these posts with the bad
> grammar and spelling and wonder how the reports
> written by some are ever accepted. Not saying
> that I have perfect spelling and grammar but the
> above is an example.

It takes substantial willpower for me to resist correcting the semi-literate. I have to remind myself that I'm not being paid to edit this forum.

As an editor, I see the best and the worst of shoppers and their reports. I LOVE editing; I love seeing your visit through your eyes. I think your reports help owners and managers really understand how their businesses are perceived by the average customer. But, I spend hours wading through reports that must have been written by a second grader . . . in another country! Do great shoppers make silly mistakes? Heck yeah. Do we still love them? You bet! Great shoppers are GEMS!

There is nothing worse than having to reject a report that my company NEEDS! We have deadlines, too. I spend an average of three hours on a report that needs to be rejected. We desperately try to save each and every shop. For that three hours, I am paid absolutely nothing. I am paid if YOU are paid.

I love mystery shopping and have been in this industry since 2001. I still shop for a few of my favorite companies and hold my breath after every shop. Was it enough? Did I make stupid grammatical mistakes? Even though I know better, I forget that the editor reading my report is just another person trying hard to make a living.

For anyone that has ever received a perfect 10, you are the STARS of this industry. Editors LOVE you! Schedulers love you. We see your names come up on our boards and we whoop in joy. If you consistently receive 5's or less, please consider a different occupation.

For you newbies, remember to read all shop documentation and understand it before you start your shop. Never be afraid to ask questions. We WANT you to succeed! There is nothing better in my day than to give out perfect scores!

shume Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As an editor, I see the best and the worst of
> shoppers and their reports. I LOVE editing; I love
> seeing your visit through your eyes. I think your
> reports help owners and managers really understand
> how their businesses are perceived by the average
> customer. But, I spend hours wading through
> reports that must have been written by a second
> grader . . . in another country! Do great shoppers
> make silly mistakes? Heck yeah. Do we still love
> them? You bet! Great shoppers are GEMS!
>
> There is nothing worse than having to reject a
> report that my company NEEDS! We have deadlines,
> too. I spend an average of three hours on a report
> that needs to be rejected. We desperately try to
> save each and every shop. For that three hours, I
> am paid absolutely nothing. I am paid if YOU are
> paid.
>
> I love mystery shopping and have been in this
> industry since 2001. I still shop for a few of my
> favorite companies and hold my breath after every
> shop. Was it enough? Did I make stupid grammatical
> mistakes? Even though I know better, I forget that
> the editor reading my report is just another
> person trying hard to make a living.
>
> For anyone that has ever received a perfect 10,
> you are the STARS of this industry. Editors LOVE
> you! Schedulers love you. We see your names come
> up on our boards and we whoop in joy. If you
> consistently receive 5's or less, please consider
> a different occupation.
>
> For you newbies, remember to read all shop
> documentation and understand it before you start
> your shop. Never be afraid to ask questions. We
> WANT you to succeed! There is nothing better in my
> day than to give out perfect scores!

You can edit my reports any time ! What MSC are you with? Thank you for your post.

My gripe is an editor who requests information that was there . It makes me wonder if Reading for Comprehension is still taught in school or am I showing my age ? Editors who ask for information not required per the guidelines completely baffle me . Are words incorrectly spelled in the questionnaire to be used "as is" in my narrative? Lastly, I am completely frustrated by the inability to access my errors so that I can correct them, as I do love those tens.

LOL . . . I'm working with the new team at Inside Hospitality/Inside Evaluators now. I completely understand your frustration though. Some of my shoppers over the years knew me so well that they'd sneak in comments in ALL CAPS to tell me something funny that had happened during their evaluations. I could just picture them chucking as they wrote it, knowing that I'd be cracking up too. I'd also be hitting the delete button. Another editor at the same company would have been "furious" if a shopper had done that. Two different people, two different ways of looking at life!

For me, this is a team effort. You shoppers are our core. Now if only we could get rid of all the scams that promise the shoppers thousands of dollars for doing nothing. Yeah . . . no. This is hard work for everyone!