I am wondering what recourse we have as shoppers when we don't agree with something in our reviewer's comments. It really irritates me sometimes when I get my shop report back and the editor says something like, "A few grammatical and punctuation errors." I know I am not perfect, but I would love to know exactly what/where they found such errors. Many times I go over my shop narratives with a fine toothed comb to make sure I've dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's. Reviewers are just as prone to making errors as we are, but it seems like the edits they make to our reports is the final word without giving us a chance. If I'm not mistaken reviewers are freelance contractors just like us.

I wouldn't sweat it. I have had some Sassie companies come back at me with 8's or 9's and given no comments or reasoning whatsover. I have a major in English and have been an editor with two different MSCs in the past, so just let the water roll off of your feathers, duckie!

I agree, jasfla. Does anyone really care what an editor says? We always have the option of showing our displeasure by not taking shops or letting deactivate send a message.

Don't blame it on the MSC or the schedulers. Also, getting an 8 isn't bad. If you are getting 7's with no explanation, it can be frustrating. I understand how striving to be the best and coming up short can be irritating, though. Keep in mind that each editor is different. The same quality of work might get you an 8 with one and a 10 with a different person.

bestofbothworlds Wrote:
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> I agree, jasfla. Does anyone really care what an
> editor says? We always have the option of showing
> our displeasure by not taking shops or letting
> deactivate send a message.

I hate 8's and 9's, jasfla. I finally pretty much stopped looking. It didn't affect shop fee payment and I found beating myself up for someone's opinion to be counterproductive. I'm much happier now!

Can you imagine one editor writing 5,000 shoppers with comments like:

"Your sentence structure had 7 errors, 4 misspellings, 1 punctuation flaw, two run-on sentences, and one incorrect use of a prepositional phrase, as an adverb."

That's why they don't give you an individual break-down synopsis of your writing skills and errors.

one msc in their instructions says if you are not good
at writing narratives to have someone you know look
over your writing before submitting it to proof read it
for you. They do grade harshly.

I have had some that left the entire field blank with not a single comment for me to even imagine what errors were made!

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you imagine one editor writing 5,000 shoppers
> with comments like:
>
> "Your sentence structure had 7 errors, 4
> misspellings, 1 punctuation flaw, two run-on
> sentences, and one incorrect use of a
> prepositional phrase, as an adverb."
>
> That's why they don't give you an individual
> break-down synopsis of your writing skills and
> errors.

Dude, when you disagree with the shop reviewer, try chocolate, ice cream, wine, and bourbon, in that order. Nothing else works. Believe me, I know. Bless your heart, as long as they pay you it's all good.

techman01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> one msc in their instructions says if you are not
> good
> at writing narratives to have someone you know
> look
> over your writing before submitting it to proof
> read it
> for you. They do grade harshly.

Sounds like that would be a breach of an ICA. I find that rather interesting.

With one MSC (just ONE out of the 90 or so that I've worked for) has given me this comment several times, "A few grammatical errors were noted and corrected but for the most part this was done well. Thank you." Yes, written just like that, missing commas and all!

I think that this editor is the one confused about his spelling and grammar. Like everyone else, I know I make the occasional typo, but I know I'm not submitting reports to then repeatedly with these "errors." I still get 9's and 10's though, so it's really just more annoying than anything. Okay, rant over.

Everybody likes good feedback and nobody likes negative feedback. Getting feedback that annoys us and we kind of disagree with gives us an idea of how the manager of the client's location feels when reading one of our not-perfect mystery shop reports. The feedback doesn't even have to be really, really bad to hurt our feelings. Our annoyance with editor grading may be the same as the client's annoyance with a report. Unless it's a major issue, I'd advise you to let it go. Don't sweat the grades.....the Big Question is: Will I be paid?

I honestly couldn't care less what they grade a report.
As long as I get paid that is all that matters.

Are you still getting paid? If so then forget about it. I never did understand why so many people get so upset about scores and reviews. As long as my score is high enough to continue getting paid, then I don't care.

Yes, and it still needs to be high enough for you to continue to get shops. Sometimes they will send out a shop notice with a few restrictions and one of them might state that your average score needs to be a 7 or higher, which most of us have no problem with achieving.

jpgilham Wrote:
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> Are you still getting paid? If so then forget
> about it. I never did understand why so many
> people get so upset about scores and reviews. As
> long as my score is high enough to continue
> getting paid, then I don't care.

Just short question. Does all MSC score reports? Where do you find the scores of your reports? I am new in MS, but alredy done several for a few MSC (mostly car sales and junk food). Only once received a comment from the editor but I never saw any scores.

Not all companes give a score that is available to the shopper. For Sassie companies, IF the MSC scores the shop, the score is visible on the Shop Log. With many companies, like MarketForce, you get a response only if there are questions or there is a problem. With these, no news is good news.

I got an email the other day from an editor who told me I didn't describe a side dish. Well? I did and it's there in black and white. I checked the printed survey I kept. I got irritated for a split second. Just a second. I will get paid for it anyway. I was going to say something, but decided against it.

True!

I appreciate the MSC's that take the time (and have the time) to write me but I understand if they don't. Every MSC is different with their report standards too so you may be absolutely right with one company but "just a 7" with another. I'd just brush it off.. I would only say anything if the shop was rejected.

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you imagine one editor writing 5,000 shoppers
> with comments like:
>
> "Your sentence structure had 7 errors, 4
> misspellings, 1 punctuation flaw, two run-on
> sentences, and one incorrect use of a
> prepositional phrase, as an adverb."
>
> That's why they don't give you an individual
> break-down synopsis of your writing skills and
> errors.

techman01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> one msc in their instructions says if you are not
> good
> at writing narratives to have someone you know
> look
> over your writing before submitting it to proof
> read it
> for you. They do grade harshly.


Thank you so much, techman01 for offering your proofreading services. Let's see how many reports show up in your mailbox. ;-)

I recently reported "they flat out ran out of food"...and got dinged for redundancy.

I guess it's really a good thing I didn't write "I was loster than a hound dog chasing its own tail".....



cease

The only thing that really bothers me about "grading" and/or being edited is when an editor's comments are ALL negative, without any "but you did a great job at (whatever)." If they want you to give the best report possible, you need to know what things you did really well (so you can continue to do them) and what you need to improve on. The worst thing an editor can do to a writer is give only negative feedback.... It's even worse when the editor's comments are full of errors, as people have commented on in different threads on this forum.

I don't mind only pointing out the negatives, I figure that whatever they didn't comment on must have been OK.

However, I am a bit annoyed when their email is full of spelling/grammar & usage/punctuation errors, especially when you can tell they weren't just a typo (like transposed letters, or a letter left off/out, or something like that).

Also, when they say I didn't include or comment on "X", when I very clearly did. Did you *really* read it, or not? Sheesh!

But, I don't run into either of those two situations that often, so that's nice.

I'm really in the camp of, if I get paid and continue getting assignments without issue, I'm good.

I did two shops for the same MSC--similar facilities and similar reports. One got a 10 and the other an 8. I got the 8 because I didn't specifically repeat the wording in three of the questions. I didn't specifically repeat them in the report I got the 10 on either. Different editors I guess. It bothers me because I always get 10's from this MSC. But I'll get over it by the end of the day.

I just replied to the editor asking for clarification. I could have sworn that the instructions said one thing but I was rated down for another reason. Can't wait for the response. If I am wrong then I am wrong but I would like to know so I won't be baffled.

Rare is it that an MSC will elaborate on editorial markdowns to the point of actually being helpful to the shopper. "Your report required little editing. 9/10." Bah. I can tell you that recently, there have been two different feedbacks. One editor clearly explained why I received a 98.29. The other clearly explained why she changed my answers, and gave me a 9. So appreciated by me, as I realize the time involved, on their end.

If you continue to be able to accept assignments, and if you continue to get paid, try to grin and bear the less than perfect scores.

I must be only working with exceptional companies and editors, anytime I've ever received less than a 10 I've always had detailed feedback as to why. Only one time have I disagreed with them it was only a 9 instead of a 10 and it wasn't a big deal.

The reason those scores don't "bear weight" with me, is because you get highly critical editors that will give you a 8-9 no matter what, just nit-picking your report (thankfully, not that common) and then you get the "fairest editors" who give you glowing reviews and even correct minor flaws, thus leaving you a score of 10!

Sometimes you will get an editor who finds a fault and nit picks. For example, I had an editor tell me my receipt was not the correct one. I email and asked for clarification because if I am wrong then I need to know what I did so that I can learn from it. The editor emailed back and apologized saying it was her error.

My case last night, the instructions said one thing but the editor says another. I got a response saying that they would let the scheduler know that the instructions were confusing. In actuality they weren't confusing because I was told to complete two transactions, 1.) order 2 alcoholic drinks and pay in cash then 2.)order a meal and non alcoholic drinks and pay in cash.
I did just that, got 2 receipts and then when I submitted the report was told that I should have started a tab and paid for it altogether.

So I think some of us get upset and maybe even offended when the editors don't know the instructions and then try to grade us down.

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I must be only working with exceptional companies
> and editors, anytime I've ever received less than
> a 10 I've always had detailed feedback as to why.
> Only one time have I disagreed with them it was
> only a 9 instead of a 10 and it wasn't a big deal.

I'm not very good with spelling and punctuation, so if I get a 9 without explanation, I'll chalk it up to that. I'm fine with that. But there is one company that highly amuses me. Most of my scores are 9 & 10's with other companies, but with this one company, they seem to be harsh and I get 7 & 8's. Even a six one time. All with no comments. The thing that highly amuses me about this company is the President sells herself as a Life Coach and sells a program for her to be a Life Coach. What are coaches suppose to do? - provide feedback on performances. smh