So, I applied for 5 shops near me, saw that there was potential for a 2 or 3 day route for a bunch of other shops in a 75 mile radius, so I e-mailed the scheduler asking him to check the possibility of such a route. I also told him that I had requested several shops and I'd appreciate it if he could assign them.

The reply, a simple "I will assign based on shopper history beginning tomorrow." Yup, no comment on a route or on the requested shops.

Today, I get the e-mails from Sassie where I was not assigned any shops.

I guess I should move on to getting my shops directly from the MSCs. Is it just me or there was quite a bit of arrogance, and obviously lost opportunities dealing with a middleman?

I apologize to the moderator. Maybe I should have posted this under "Mystery Shopping Company Discussion".

Perhaps not arrogance but not enough time to personalized the email?

Don't some companies say that they like to distribute shops among their shoppers, in the interest of fairness, among other things? So, is it possible that the company itself didn't want someone to 'make a route of it?'

@LindaM - Maybe so...

@Ishmael - Could also be, still, that could have been a better answer to my mail... And well, I didn't get any shops. Not even 1.

Anyway...

That is about average for Kern...

This is my opinion:

The owner of KSS has not set a company culture whereby there is a requirement or mandate to give shoppers any import and/or courtesy beyond that which is absolutey necessary in order to get the job done. There seems to be a belief that shoppers are a commodity and are treated as such, and I believe that this attitude comes from the top down.

However, though the management culture is as such, that does NOT mean that there are not individual KSS schedulers that are awesome. They (for whatever reason) have determined that their job can be much more efficiently, effectively, and productively performed when treating shoppers as more than a widget to be placed into a peg. That is why you will often have vastly different experiences when dealing with different accounts/schedulers from KSS.

My guess is that perhaps the particular scheduler may not be of the belief that working closely with shoppers and developing relationships with shoppers will benefit him. I would not take it personally and it would not stop me from trying the same type of thing with a different KSS scheduler the next time the opportunity presents itself. You may have a different outcome.

@MickeyB - Thank you! Let's see what happens next...

MickeyB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is my opinion:
>
> The owner of KSS has not set a company culture
> whereby there is a requirement or mandate to give
> shoppers any import and/or courtesy beyond that
> which is absolutey necessary in order to get the
> job done. There seems to be a belief that
> shoppers are a commodity and are treated as such,
> and I believe that this attitude comes from the
> top down.
>
> However, though the management culture is as such,
> that does NOT mean that there are not individual
> KSS schedulers that are awesome. They (for
> whatever reason) have determined that their job
> can be much more efficiently, effectively, and
> productively performed when treating shoppers as
> more than a widget to be placed into a peg. That
> is why you will often have vastly different
> experiences when dealing with different
> accounts/schedulers from KSS.
>
> My guess is that perhaps the particular scheduler
> may not be of the belief that working closely with
> shoppers and developing relationships with
> shoppers will benefit him. I would not take it
> personally and it would not stop me from trying
> the same type of thing with a different KSS
> scheduler the next time the opportunity presents
> itself. You may have a different outcome.

Mickey B., I feel that you have offered a very good perspective regarding this scheduling company. Thank you for that.

I have always had a good experience with KSS. I have a great relationship with one of the schedulers. When he needs help, he calls me. If I need a shop to fill in some time on a route, I call him. That said, I have applied for other shops with another scheduler at KSS and have been turned down every time. I no longer apply for his shops.

My experience with Kern (KSS) is that I have as much chance getting them to schedule a shop as I do putting the request in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean.

Never deal with the middleman if you can avoid it. Best to go directly to the MCS.

I remember writing about a curt response I received from a KSS scheduler last year. When I wrote my post, I didn't give any information about the scheduler or the company. I indicated how I was a bit put off and surprised at the way the scheduler responded to me in their email. Up until that point, my interaction and expectation of most schedulers was that they were courteous and polite.

So, I posed a question in this forum asking if it was me, or if the response was a but short/rude. I added that I considered his attitude to be arrogant because the shopper/scheduler relationship is symbiotic because we both need and rely on one another to get jobs done accurately and to the client's expectations.

I'm glad to see the responses in this chain because I recall feeling kind of alone in my opinion back then because the general consensus from other shoppers was that the scheduler didn't have to be "nice" or "respectful" to me and that I shouldn't expect such behavior.

What thread was that? It seems odd members would say you shouldn't expect some courtesy or respect. The only thread I could find from you had just two responses.

Hi LisaSTL,

Thanks for correcting me. You are right. For some reason, I could not find the chain when I looked for it under my posts. After reviewing it again, I'm not sure why I thought the basic sentiment was that I shouldn't have expected more from the scheduler. Perhaps I was so offended, I was in a different place mentally. Interesting how one's own perspective clears up over time.

I'm glad you feel better better about it now It just seems most of here feel we should be treated with respect and courtesy. I certainly have been offended by some company reps over the years. One was so bad as to cause me to deactivate from the company because it was the owner. My sentiment was if the owner is so verbally abusive, what could I ever expect from their employees. Her attitude came through on two separate occasions. The first being a question about being short-paid and the second time was a question about shop guidelines. I try not to judge someone from only one response since it is impossible to know what is going on with them on that particular day. OTOH, if a pattern develops I will then avoid that scheduler or company.

An update to my initial post:

I e-mail the scheduler, as "brief and concise" as he was. Asked about not being assigned even 1 store. We exchanged several e-mails in which he started loosening up with my arguments.

He ended up scheduling 1 shop for me, with the promise that if that one went well, he would assign me more.

Today I shopped that assigned location, and have applied for 5 new shops. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a new route for later this week.