How many MF Gas Stations in one day?

For those of you that have done the MarketForce gas station audits, how many would you say could be reasonably done in one day (including input)?

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I have done 11 in one day, and I entered them rather late so they went in quickly. I think it took me about 2 hours in total.

The problem with doing so many so close together is that I literally had to sit at the station and wait for time to elapse before I could start them to make sure I had my 30 minutes at each location.

I did take a chance and leave the one with 2 pumps about 15 minutes after I got there, and reported it that way. They require and explanation as to why you didn't take the required 30, and I said that the station only had 2 pumps so there was nothing to look at. It didn't come back to bite me, but I wouldn't take a chance on many more.

If you plan on getting home and entering during 'prime time' for server usage it would probably take twice as long as it takes after folks have finished up and logged off. After 10PM things tend to go quicker, particularly the photo uploads but also the page saves.

All gas stations I've done (for MF) require me to be there for about 1 hr, not 30 minutes and I don't know how you can upload all those pictures and answer everything in such a short time. That's amazing.....

I've done many with just 2 pumps, but so many things were wrong, that it took me forever to take the required pictures. You must be might fast and the stations must be compliant 100% and clean!

Right?

I find doing 3 or 4 is my limit. At least, with the ones where I live. Many things are not right with them. Ridiculous actually.

We must be doing different brands...the 'required' time is 30 minutes for the ones I'm doing.

I don't actually read the questions when I'm entering them, I keep my fingers on the page, and enter answers by simply going down my written notes one after the other. I can quickly check to make sure all is good on the summary page.

The pictures load more quickly if you size them to VGA or the smallest resolution you have on your camera.

It really doesn't take me very long to take the pictures of violations...I just snap as I walk. After you do several hundred of them, you become very streamlined in your approach.

I have had entering them take as long as 20 minutes during prime time, but I have never, ever had an actual audit take longer than 30 minutes.

Thanks quilter and Canuck. I have done three gas stations for MF and I could see how the on-site portion could become fairly quick on a route. It was the data input and uploading the pictures that was painful. If I make a route of them, I'll plan for late night input.

The most that I have done is 5. They are time consuming and uploading the piks takes forever.

I thought MF had a limit of 4 shops per day no matter what type or what client. Do they still?

As far as I know, I still see that on their website.

They will waive the restriction depending on the circumstance. I was allowed to complete eight GS audits in one day.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

MF does limit to 4 shops per day but you can talk to the scheduler and if they are desperate it can be waived.

The only ones I have done for them have never given me a required time... the say they usually take 20-30 minutes but if you are not familiar with the shop it could take up to an hour.

My first one took an hour (it was my first gas station shop ever, many, many moons ago) but now... about 15-20 minutes... if there are lots of non-compliant things, a half hour.

Input for each shop: I take the pics with my cell phone and immediately email them in bulk to myself, for each shop, labeled. I would say 15-20 minutes to input. I also have a spread sheet for gas stations so all my notes for the day go on one sheet.

O.o o.O

Happily shopping New England and beyond!!!!!

Good reads here, folks..especially about the amount of shops one can do in a day. Thanks for the tip!

Q. How many would you say could be reasonably done in one day (including input)?

A. Zero. I don't do gas stations any more

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Q. How many would you say could be reasonably done
> in one day (including input)?
>
> A. Zero. I don't do gas stations any more

I don't blame you. Since a certain MSC took over many of them I'm not sure I'll be doing any for a while.

I just can't get it out of my head (when I was newbie) how I got stuck in the driving rain, umbrella in one hand, camera in the other, papers getting soggy, all for $6.00 bucks!

Integrity of a MSC comes in question.
Maximum of 4 shops per day and maximum of 2 shops of the same type. People are doing 5 or 8 shops of the same type.

Willing to travel, Alberta, Canada

Thank you all so much for the great info! What a great resource this forum is.

pgl, you are questioning the integrity of the MSC for letting shoppers perform more than the standard? Since MF is a starter company, my impression has always been they have the restrictions because they do not know the quality of work that might be submitted and if a shopper can handle multiple shops without mixing them up. I had actually been with them and performed many audits prior to them waiving the restriction. There were also extenuating circumstances. I have found MF does not waive the restriction across the board just on a case by case basis.

That is accurate.....I shopped for them for over a year, and never asked if I could do more than 4-as I didn't know that I could be approved for more.

I happened to be on the phone with a scheduler who was trying to get me to take more than 4 shops in one day and told her that I couldn't because the limit was 4. She responded with surprise, and told me that I should have been informed previously that I was approved to take as many as I wanted each day due to my performance level.

Who knew....

I don't pay attention to the numbers of shops at this point, just the routing.

Also, if these are audits, one big issue is removed. You can, and should, have everything written on your paperwork, not in your memory. So, at the end of the day, they don't have to worry about whether you mixed up the names, or who said what when.

Maybe I missed something, but I don't see anything regarding a max shop limit on the 40-page audit paperwork. I have a ton of them to do coming up, so I guess I can't stay in Galveston too long. I'm going to break them up in regards to proximity, so I won't be doing a huge daily run.

I did do a tax shop the other day. The online form asked why it only took me 15 minutes (more or less) to do the shop. Yeah, well, that's what the paperwork said the shop would take. It helps when the guy is "scared" being a first-timer and they have everything in order!

At one time they listed the max number of daily shops on the potential assignments page. Now it just lists the restriction of only one FF assignment in the same meal period. The FAQ page talks about the overall number of assignments each month or for each project being limited, but it is vague and states the limit can vary from month to month. For some reason I keep thinking the limit five or six years ago was actually six shops then dropped to four. The limit did not include phone shops.

That's weird. I could swear that I'd seen the limit of 4 per day very recently, but when I just looked, I didn't see it.

I'm going there to look now. Besides, there's work still available.

See ya!

Okay. I don't see the limit of 4 anymore.

Perfect.

EDIT: I see a limit of 4 when I sign in.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2014 02:51PM by Canuck.

The client around here that they do these audits for takes too long to do. The fee starts out at $9! These audits tend to take me 45 minutes since there are always multiple things wrong, customers get in the way of pictures, and the wind here is always blowing things around.
Also, uploading and matching the high number of photos takes forever.
All that said, I haven't done one of these in forever. I contemplated one the other day when the fee went up to $18, but I would have had to do it at rush hour and that wouldn't have been fun.

For anyone who may find themselves with the opportunity to complete more than four in one day, I would keep an eye on the site and err on the side of caution by contacting them. If it was removed in error it may be put back at any time.

Right on. I don't think I could do 4 of these a day. They are time consuming and I'm old!

I don't know about YOU, but I'm TIRED of these MF snakes on this MF plane!!!!!

Yikes, now I look at the title of this thread in a new light.

To paraphrase the punchline of an old joke that my grandmother told me when I was little, "All them MF gas stations was Maritz!"

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2014 10:56PM by Ishmael.

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