Rant on:

This is so annoying. I get one of those emails saying hey we really need help with these shops. They must be done by tomorrow. Please help. The subject line says ***30+*** bonus. On their website it says the shopper fee is $30 and $0 bonus. (In previous messages the shopper fee was $25).

So I write to the scheduler and say hey, the email says $30+ bonus but the website says $30 shopper fee and no bonus is listed. Can you please let me know what the offer really is? If it works out, I can do X & Y locations if I rearrange my schedule.

The scheduler writes back and says sorry it should be just a $30 shopper fee. If you apply I will assign those two locations to you.

So 10 minutes later I apply then I go off and do my shopping for the day. I get home and they are still in the application state. I've spent time thinking of how I will rearrange my schedule, but fortunately I don't actually do it.

What happens? They scheduled me for one shop and not the other. Basically they promised and didn't deliver. Sounds like a flake to me!!!!

What do YOU do? Would you say something to the scheduler or just suck it up and not take jobs from him/her anymore or what? I like the company and the kind of jobs they have, and they have a lot of jobs in my area, but I found that downright annoying. What if I had actually rearranged my schedule on her say-so?

Okay, rant off. I feel better. But I am also really curious what you experienced shoppers would do.

Thanks!

I really dislike those situations. 1) A bonus was advertised and there is no bonus--I would walk away then; 2) The scheduler indicated two would be assigned--one was so I would contact the scheduler and have the following conversation: "Jane, when we talked, you told me two locations and I only see one assigned to me." Depending on what Jane came up with, I would be likely to say, "It is not worth rearranging my schedule for one shop, so just cancel it please."

In a situation like this I really don't mind if I mess up the scheduler because he/she has messed me up. If the scheduler is being deceitful I don't care to work with him/her again. If the scheduler is just disorganized, I'm not sure that I care to work with him/her again either.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2014 03:38PM by Flash.

If the scheduler is assigning you two shops for tomorrow, she has to know you will be working those into your day.

For her to tell you they are both yours and then to assign you only one, is plain rude.

I would write her and ask how she can make it up to you?

Maybe give you two shops for next week.

This I just another shinning example of how the shoppers that are out there doing the actual work are treated as nothing more than useless pogs with no value.

I had a recent similar experience.
The scheduler advertises in email to PLEASE take two shops in close proximity.
Schedules only one
I write back asking what happened to the other shop
NO RESPONSE
After submitting the shop
SHE THEN RESPONDS
can I go back for second location


I told her only if your paying all my round trip gas and bridge toll.
She did not respond

(The shops were 95 miles away and I was only accepting them because I was going to be in that area anyway for other work. I would never drive that far for one $28 shop. )

I signed up for the blue hardware stores with Maritz. Their scheduler calls me and we agree on a date. I wrote it on my calendar. May 12th. Then I get an e-mail last night telling me the assignment is overdue. The scheduler actually scheduled it for May 5th, not May 12th.

I wrote and asked if I could do it on May 12th, as we agreed on, and was told no. I was so mad that I cancelled the other shop I had scheduled with them.

well since this scheduler LIED in the original email...I would not have given her/him a second thought bec they obv were dishonest....would have just trashed it all.

i have a very strict policy when it comes to scheduling
because of my tight schedules and routes that are
routed with every minute and direction of traffic flow in mind.

Schedulers with poor communication I will not deal with
at all. No exception is ever made. If you claim a shop
is urgent, you better respond with that same urgency.
If I have to wait 5 hours after replying after you immediately
sent it, it's too late and I have moved on.

I'm really glad some of you are strict on these schedulers. They are very strict on me a lot of the time, even when there is an error they have committed, and I don't understand why they don't hold themselves to the same standards. SOME of them, bless, are super cool (for instance I have a shop coming up that I'm doing through two companies, and they're both fine with it and allowed me to reschedule as necessary!)

But then I've had situations like those above, where there has been either deceit or miscommunication, and they've taken it out on me. I'm not cool with that yo.

I don't know in this case whether the scheduler was with the MSP or was an outside scheduler. My experience says I am much better off with a scheduler who is an employee of the MSP rather than a contracted outside scheduler. An outside scheduler rarely has the authority to have any flexibility (or at least so they would indicate). My favorite outside scheduler story, however, had to do with a number of shops that could be taken from the MSP's job board by self assigning them. I took the ones I wanted. A few days later, in pops the outside scheduler with an email indicating that he had shops to fill including the ones I had already accepted off the MSP job board. I went to the MSP job board and my shops were safely assigned. I went to the scheduling company's job board and the jobs were all listed as open and available to request. I just wonder how many souls got frustrated that their 'pendings' never got a response.

I sit on pending all the time with certain companies, and now I wonder if they're outside schedulers. Hm.

Today I got home and check my e-mail before going on a 5 hour road trip. One e-mail from a scheduler said, your shop for today has been cancelled. It was $140.00 for 10 minutes shop and 15 minutes report. I know exactly what happen. They got somebody else cheaper. This is the second time this MSC or scheduler have done this to me within the last 6 months. We agreed to it over a week ago and I have built a route base on that shop. Do I flake all the other shops which are for different MSC? I am not happy at the moment but shops comes and goes just like some MSC!

I can't see how they can possibly get away with cancelling a shop on you the same day you are going to do it!
You are an independent contractor and when you agree to complete a shop for a fee, that's a contract between you and them - and they broke it.
I would definitely be getting hold of upper management, and after I was compensated accordingly I would be leaving and never coming back!
This company obviously could care less about treating you properly.

I am glad that this thread was started. While I have had few problems with schedulers, it is interesting to have schedulers called flakes. It gives a whole different perspective on the situation if I ever do have these problems.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know in this case whether the scheduler
> was with the MSP or was an outside scheduler. My
> experience says I am much better off with a
> scheduler who is an employee of the MSP rather
> than a contracted outside scheduler. An outside
> scheduler rarely has the authority to have any
> flexibility (or at least so they would indicate).
> My favorite outside scheduler story, however, had
> to do with a number of shops that could be taken
> from the MSP's job board by self assigning them.
> I took the ones I wanted. A few days later, in
> pops the outside scheduler with an email
> indicating that he had shops to fill including the
> ones I had already accepted off the MSP job board.
> I went to the MSP job board and my shops were
> safely assigned. I went to the scheduling
> company's job board and the jobs were all listed
> as open and available to request. I just wonder
> how many souls got frustrated that their
> 'pendings' never got a response.

I have had the same situation from an outside scheduling firm when I responded to a bonus and received a "Sounds good" from the scheduler while I noticed that the job was still posted. I asked the scheduler for written confirmation twice with no response. Several days later, I received an "ACCEPTED" e-mail with the shop due the same day and no mention of the bonus. I e-mailed the scheduler explaining that I had no formal confirmation and, therefore, had to move on in the interest of making a living. The response: "I had to look for the most qualified candidate" (in other words, one that would work without a bonus). This is a ruthless independent scheduler who works for several companies and has a long history of less than honest scheduling tactics. I won't name her, but it's late and time to take some Z's.

I would write the scheduler. What might have happened is that in the intervening time another scheduler scheduled one of the shops with another shopper. I have seen this happen. Of course, if that is the case it would be nice if the scheduler lets you know that this happened.

junk1958 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rant on:
>
> This is so annoying. I get one of those emails
> saying hey we really need help with these shops.
> They must be done by tomorrow. Please help. The
> subject line says ***30+*** bonus. On their
> website it says the shopper fee is $30 and $0
> bonus. (In previous messages the shopper fee was
> $25).
>
> So I write to the scheduler and say hey, the email
> says $30+ bonus but the website says $30 shopper
> fee and no bonus is listed. Can you please let me
> know what the offer really is? If it works out,
> I can do X & Y locations if I rearrange my
> schedule.
>
> The scheduler writes back and says sorry it should
> be just a $30 shopper fee. If you apply I will
> assign those two locations to you.
>
> So 10 minutes later I apply then I go off and do
> my shopping for the day. I get home and they are
> still in the application state. I've spent time
> thinking of how I will rearrange my schedule, but
> fortunately I don't actually do it.
>
> What happens? They scheduled me for one shop and
> not the other. Basically they promised and didn't
> deliver. Sounds like a flake to me!!!!
>
> What do YOU do? Would you say something to the
> scheduler or just suck it up and not take jobs
> from him/her anymore or what? I like the company
> and the kind of jobs they have, and they have a
> lot of jobs in my area, but I found that downright
> annoying. What if I had actually rearranged my
> schedule on her say-so?
>
> Okay, rant off. I feel better. But I am also
> really curious what you experienced shoppers would
> do.
>
> Thanks!