I had a very unpleasant experience with a scheduler last week. I am still thinking about it and just want to know if anyone has exercised poor judgement like me. I requested and was awarded a $25 mattress shop that had been on the board for weeks. The day before I was scheduled to complete the shop, the scheduler posts a new shop for the same dates and same mattress company that paid $40. The shop was identical.

So I'm thinking, this is a really hard shop to schedule and the scheduler is being proactive for the next round. I emailed the scheduler at 8:00am the day before and asked if they would modify my shop pay to match the newly posted pay rate. Keep in mind, the new shop was for the same date as my currently scheduled shop.

Hours passed and I heard nothing. So around 3:30pm, I email the scheduler and withdrew my shop. I did this for two reasons, one, the shop must be hell to complete because it was on the board forever (and still is) and two, the new pay rate was not offered to me. The scheduler immediately emailed me back and blasted me for wanting more money and assuming she wasn't going to respond. She said she had not even opened my email from earlier that morning yet. I went into crazy @#$%& mode and emailed her back claiming she had no intention of emailing me back and good luck finding someone else for the shop.

I know I was wrong to unleash on her and I know I have burned a bridge with that company. But does it not make sense to wait until a currently scheduled shopper completes their $25 shop before posting the new shops for $40 for the same shop days? To me that is a no-brainer. Any thoughts?

I wouldn't be angry over this.

Last month, I accepted a bunch of gs for a certain fee.

The next day or two, the fees were increased. So what? I contracted to do them at a certain fee.

I am an independent contractor. I will honor the shop fee I accepted.

That's business.

The higher paid shop may have been a reshop that got thrown at the scheduler on an extremely hectic day when she didn't even have time to get through all her email. (Maybe the subject line in your second message led her to realize that it was very urgent?) There may have been other requirements on the $40 shop (maybe a particular employee had to be shopped ("targetted" and there was a very small window during which that employee would be working alone or something along that line.

By withdrawing from the shop so late in the day, you probably ratcheted up that scheduler's stress level considerably. I do know that most schedulers resent being asked to up the pay on a shop after a shopper's accepted it and especially on the date the shop is due. It tends to make them feel their shop is being held hostage.

I'm not taking sides but only trying to point out that we don't always know what unknown factors are affecting something that seems clear-cut from our end.

I don't know if it's the same mattress shop but I've done several at the same location and they are time-consuming if the salesperson does their job. On the plus side, I've learned an awful lot about mattresses! And pillows. And mattress pads! There's a 6-month rotation on the shops I've done so that probably helps account for why they sit so long on the boards, too.

If you feel badly about unleashing on the scheduler, why not email her and tell her so. There's no guarantee that it'll help your relationship with the MSC but there's a good chance it will be appreciated and at least you'll feel better about it. You may also learn the background on the two different shops on the same day for differing amounts.

Just mho, for what it's worth.

This did happen to me awhile ago. I was given the updated fee based on your same experience. I guess it depends on the scheduler, which it shouldn't.

You agreed to complete a shop for a certain price ($25). If you weren't willing to do it for that price, you should have never taken the job. Then you cancelled the shop. The new shop on the board is irrelevant to your agreement. I would be upset with you too, if I was the scheduler.

I appreciate everyone's comments. As a result of that incident, I made a firm resolution never to accept a shop unless I was willing to follow through, regardless of the price or other circumstances. It must have just hit me wrong on that particular day and I reacted very negatively. Hard life lessons learned every day. Thanks again.

I agree that it's best to honor our original commitments. However, there's nothing wrong with asking for the higher pay once it's been offered to others. We may or may not get the higher rate, but unless we ask, we generally will not get it. It's probably never a good idea to cancel a shop and tell a scheduler it's because we don't like the pay rate, even though that's the real reason. There's always a better sounding excuse that won't hurt us later! LOL

I feel your pain most definitely. I have seen this and even gotten a glimpse of what the client is paying for the shop versus how much they offer me. I do think that we have to honor our word since we are IC.
Hang in there!
Are these video? I do the video mattress shops.

Well if I agree to a rate I will do it for that rate . If something like what you experienced happened I may inquire in a nice way if I can get that new rate. I may also cancel my current shop using an excuse such as overbooked or family emergency then re apply for the shop if still there a few days later at the new rate. Now yes we are human and get upset so what I usually do is write an real nasty email to get if off my chest then I delete the email as I would never actually send it. I may then try to write a more polite and professional email. Which email would you respond to better of these two

Kim:
How dare you put the exact same shop up at a higher rate as a new shop when I agreed to do it for less on a overdue shop. I demand you raise my shop rate to the new rate of this new shop. You are a piece of trash con artist and if you don't raise my fee to the new current shop fee then cancel my shop and you will never get this shop completed by anyone.

or

Kim:
I happened to see you posted the next round of the same shop you just assigned me but at a higher pay than mine. I understand you are probably being proactive do to the difficulty in filling this shop. Is there any way you could raise my shop fee on the one you assigned me to match the new shop as they are the exact same shop. Let me know asap.


I may write the first one then delete it and write and send the 2nd one.

BuffaloNY101: My first email to the scheduler was almost identical to your second example. I think that is why I reacted the way I did when she did not respond. Even my second email was nothing like the first example. When I withdrew, i simply explained that I believed there may be more to the shop than I initially thought and it would not be a good investment in my time. I apologized for cancelling and said thank you. She immediately responded to this and said "Wow, you are cancelling because I won't give you more money?". I immediately responded with my last and final email (which is when I lost my self control), "yes, good luck finding the next sucker". Believe me, I know not to say these things, but I did it and it is done and can't be taken back.

She did email me back and went on a tirade of how hectic her work day had been and I had no idea what she did in the course of a day. I internally agreed, but I manage a full time job in addition to my part-time shopping and I know exactly how hectic a day in the life really is, but I still have to respond to issues that may have a time frame (in this case, my shop on the next day).

I understand she had no obligation to respond to my request, but these jobs are still on the board. Over the last two weeks they have gone up to $50, back down to $15 and then to $20 yesterday. I would have responded to my request to get the shop done.

mshoulders: No it was not a video shop.

Not sure what MSC it is, but I do a lot of mattress shops for one company. The shops are very easy and the reports are not bad either--narrative but not repetitive narrative. They usually end up being very highly bonused, often going for more than double what you accepted at, so the do sit on the board for a while but the real issue is the cycle and repeat shopping. I wish they had more places in my area to shop because they are one of my favorite shops!!

I will put it as plainly and gently as I can when I found the same assignment for a higher pay from a different msc then the company I signed up for. The general consensus was to suck it up, do the shop, chalk it up as a learning experience and keep your reputation as flexible/tolerant/more educated shopper.

forgive me if that wasn't gentle enough.

Several times I saw it mentioned the higher paying shop was new. How does anyone know it wasn't actually an even older shop which had rejected or flaked and then became the higher priority?

" I may also cancel my current shop using an excuse such as overbooked or family emergency "

Do shoppers really do that? No wonder schedulers are suspicious of us; apparently they have a right to be.

I understand your frustration. That has happened to me also and when I asked for the current rate on the board I was told that my rate was what I had accepted. I got the game pretty quickly and did the shop but never signed up at it for that fee again.

I'd be highly offended if someone told me what my intentions were unless they could prove to me they were psychic. Just respectfully cancel.

I lost it with a sheduler once. I had a bank shop where I had to contact a certain individual. Called day after day, left a call back number, and got no response. I emailed the scheduler to tell her the issue. Two days later, the scheduler contacted me with a warning that if I did not get the shop done it would be cancelled and I would get a citation. She had not even looked at my prior email.

I emailed her back and explained the situation and she extended the date. So I continued calling, then finally one person told me that my target was not in, had been on vacation, and would be in the following day. So I emailed the scheduler, updated her on the situation, and told her that I would most likely be able to contact the target the next day.

Well, the next day comes, and what do I see in my email but a shop cancellation and a FLAKE citation. Let me tell you I saw red. I sent off an email asking hadn't she seen my email the previous day and how was I expected to talk to the target if he wasn't there and no one had ever told me that he was on vacation as I certainly wouldn't waste my time calling day after day had I known this. Then I thought about it a few more minutes, saw a deeper shade of red, and sent another email telling her that I didn't want to do shops for her anymore in not very nice terms.

This scheduler did also have a pattern of this sort of thing where I would send emails that were unread and then get an email from her a couple days later regarding what I'd already emailed about. I know they are busy, but I just lost it with her and in retrospect am sorry for it.

Yes, once I lost it with an arrogant, snot nosed kid who got smart with me. No, I'm not sorry at all.