I have done probably 100 shops for MF and never had any issues or problems whatsoever. But I just cancelled a shop for the first time today. It was one I signed up for this morning and due to circumstances out of my control, I won't be able to do it at all. There were 2 more days left and it's in a popular area so I am sure it will get picked up by someone, but am just curious if anyone has had any negative fallout from cancelling a single shop.

It depends on the whim at the time on their end. They are famous for canceling shoppers for less of a reason!

I have had to cancel far more than one shop in my over ten years with them. I realize they cut loose shoppers on a schedule we as shoppers don't understand but I don't think one cancelled shop is anything to worry about.

Liz

I have cancelled shops before....still shopping for them

In all the years I've worked for the purple portal, I've cancelled three times for legitimate reasons (scheduling conflicts, a sprained ankle) and they've never penalized me. I've never had problems getting jobs either.

I've cancelled a shop or two with no consequences. I've also tried to reschedule a shop TWICE. On the 2nd try, they cancelled me with a canned "if you can't do it, don't schedule it" sort of warning. There was plenty of time to do the shop, I just ended up out of town longer than I anticipated.

I'm still shopping for them too. I wasn't penalized at all.

I've cancelled shops for them. It didn't seem to affect my ability to select assignments.

I was going thru problems a few years ago and got cancelled... until recently I emailed them my story and assured that I would be a good shopper again if they took me back... Now I am on probation with them.. they accepted me back but if I cancel I will be sure to be banned for life! LOL

I have had to cancel with them a couple times. As far as I noticed, there were no repercussions for it.

I had to cancel once, it was a round of three in a day. It was a death in my immediate family. They banned me. I even helped them out with an hour notice a couple of times. Still, banned me on the purple portal. At least I no longer get a phone call every other day from their mechanical schedulers.

I always get the colors mixed up but isn't purple the merchandising side? If so then yes they banned me there too when I chose to spend the night in the hospital with a friend and had to cancel. My friend was more important than the price of product I was checking. The mystery shopping side though I have canceled on through the years due to a variety of reasons and I am still there.

Liz

No worries from my experience so long as you do so in advance.

I don't have issues on their end when cancelling--have done it a lot, too--but, I don't recall leaving them hanging at literally the last minute. Something comes up, something comes up. Whether it be my real job or vehicle issues...that matters.

Did you ever get a call from the "off shore" scheduler that misreprsents the shop. Insted of being a single shop they want you to do a comparison shop for the same money. I told them I am not canceling the shop as I never agreed to it. You can withdraw it and blame it on your scheduler for misleading me or you can pay me the proper rate for that type of shop. I was not penalized.

When I've had to cancel a shop, I just send the help desk an email and let them know why.

I have cancelled without being deactivated from the blue...not sure what purple does, as I don't do merchandising.

I have never had an issue with them, or at least I thought, and they deactivated me today. And they want me to finish up the 10 assignments that I already had scheduled. They said I had three errors on reports that had been discussed with me and listed on my file so that I should have been aware of them. I have never been sent an email or gotten a phone call regarding any of my 100's of reports that I have done for them. I have never cancelled, never been called or emailed except to pick up shops at the last minute for them, never been late on an assignment, don't even know where on my file I would've seen these errors listed for me to see.

I'm not going to do the scheduled asignments for them, should I tell them that? If they don't want me working for them, I won't but I don't think I have a responsibility to finish the scheduled shops since I'm now deactivated or do I?

I'm sorry that happened. I know it feels like a slap in the face and it's never pleasant to be the one dumped. Given the choice, I would prefer to the the dumper. I know a lot of shoppers who have been deactivated by MF, although, cross-my-fingers, not me YET. I say YET because I believe sooner or later it all MF shoppers will be deactivated unless they live in an area with no competition and have some skill that no one else in the area has (for example, being able to do a shop in another language).

If they had deactivated you for some "bad" reason (like they thought they had caught you in fraud), they would have removed all pending shops and not allowed you to do them. Since they did not, they are deactivating you for some reason of their own. I'm surprised they gave you that much answer. Usually they just say it's confidential and they can't release the reason. In the case of the shopper not doing anything fraudulent, I think MF actually believes they are doing you a favor by allowing you to continue with any shops you have already scheduled. Even though you are blocked from current assignments, you will get paid for any shops you do. Do them or don't. Some friends have continued because the shops they had scheduled were shops they wanted to do. Others have canceled. If you don't want to do the shops, don't. If I didn't want to do the shops, I would probably send them an e-mail telling them if I was unable to continue working for them, I thought it best to end immediately and ask that they cancel the shops. Or go in and cancel them. It's really totally us to you at this point how you handle the next shops - after all, what are they going to do - deactivate you? If the money is good or the shops interesting, I would do them. If you were lukewarm about the shops, I'd cancel.

I wouldn't do the shops unless there was a condition that if I did them all correctly they would reinstate me.

csportsman, what I would do is call them and try to resolve the situation. I would ask for a manager if possible. I would let them know what you have said here about not being told, not receiving any sort of notice and doing hundreds of shops for them. Double check to see if they have you mixed up with someone else. If they won't budge I would hang up the phone. I would not spent one minute of my time doing them any favors by telling them my plans about not doing the shops nor would I cancel the shops through the web site. I definitely would not do the shops.

I would feel absolutely no responsibility or remorse towards a company that screws up, doesn't fix their mistakes, and treated me like crap after I had been a loyal, long-term worker for them.

We're all supposedly professionals here. Yet there are times when we let our emotions get in the way of our better judgment. Personally, I would take the high road and notify MF that I wasn't going to complete the outstanding shops since they chose to deactivate me.

Wow, that is rough csportsman. I THINK when it happens to me, I will probably do the shops because market force is one of my best moneymakers. If when it happens I feel differently I plan to tell them something like Austinmom said, that it's best to just make a clean break.

I guess it's a good thing that I have been signing up with lots of companies. Hopefully I'll find enough to replace Market Force when the time comes. I expect them to get rid of me as soon as someone starts shopping close to the areas they give me large bonuses to go to.

James Bond 007.5 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We're all supposedly professionals here. Yet there
> are times when we let our emotions get in the way
> of our better judgment. Personally, I would take
> the high road and notify MF that I wasn't going to
> complete the outstanding shops since they chose to
> deactivate me.


Hopefully it can be resolved, but if not, I understand that some folks would take the time to notify Marketforce about not completing the shops. That is perfectly understandable. I am not "emotional" over it, however (if you were referring to my post.) It's a calm, thought-out decision. It's simple. You can choose to allow or not allow people and/or companies to treat you like dirt and still treat them respectfully. I choose not to allow it.

I've cancelled several times without repercussions.

Robinv

I've been fired from Marketforce 3 times total, twice from the merchandising side and once from the ms side. The stories are somewhat laughable but they really don't pertain to the topic. On the merchandising side I actually went through the registration process after some time went by and I was able to get back in. On the ms side I was fired about 5 years ago for 3 shops submitted after the deadline. I exchanged emails with someone (sorry I don't recall the name) and convinced him/her that 3 shops submitted after the deadline (but always by 7am the next morning) over a 2 year period where I did about 300 shops for them was a 99% "on time" rate and that my performance was better than the vast, vast majority of their shoppers. The reply was that if I promised to be a good boy and perform shops to the specs that they would let me back in. I've shopped for them ever since. I've had to cancel once in that time, and have had 1 shop rejected due to bad data reporting (I lost the notes, my fault), but I'm still active with them. So it it possible to get reactivated. On the merchandising side, I was actually glad to be deactivated.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. My feelings were hurt and I was shocked, so hearing some other opinions helped me get back on focus. I decided to do the shops I had scheduled, because I was taught that if you say you will do something, you better do it. Not only do you do it, you do it to the best of your ability. So they are going to get some of the mosterror free, detailed shop reports that they have ever read.
"Resentment is one burden that is incompatible with your success. Always be the first to forgive; and forgive yourself first always. " -Dan Zadra

MF have a 3 errors and you're out policy. I had to fight for an error that they claimed I did not follow the guideline, but I did. Luckily, I printed out the CPI with the specific guideline and they resolved it in my favor, after running the wording through their supervisor/manager. They were very nice about it and said they fully understand why I wanted the error resolved, due to their 3 errors policy.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 02:08PM by CAscotch.

MF is pretty good to work with with one caveat: READ ALL DETAILS OF ASSIGNMENTS, AND FOLLOW THEM TO A "T."

If the shop had alternate dates, it is better to reschedule than to cancel. Schedulers HATE cancelations, especially at crunch time, near their client's deadlines.

Keep in mind, the MSCs answer to their clients, so oftentimes what we think is an MSC issue is really a pet peeve of their client. I have never been treated unfarily by MF as long as I followed the instructions exactly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2013 02:01PM by IMTrashman.

Hi IMTrashman
We don't put the client's name in the same thread as the mystery shopping company. There is an edit button on the lower right side of your post, so you can easily fix that.
I did it too when I was new.