Don't you just love redundance? You just went through a form and answered yes or no and gave a reason in the each questions spot for the reason of your answer and then you scroll down and there is a blasted narrative. So you fill it in with all of the information about the shop. When it comes time to do the edit, you find that you failed to explicity state that each question was answered. So you find yourself, typing out the question and the answer in the most prolonged way that no matter what there should be no question that each and every question was answered, several times.

I am sorry but I have 12 reports due each day. Must I type out the report like a sloth will be reading it? How much farther must I spell out that I went into the location and the location had a broken tile. Shall I restated it like: I went into the location. The location had a broken tile that was the 4th from the door on the left side. When I entered the location I saw that there was a broken tile on the left side, 4th from the door. Upon entering the location there was a broken tile. It was on the left side. It was 4th from the door. This answers question 1, 2 and 3.

I had 8 reports due that were like that. I mean do I really have time and patience to be retyping for those with limited comprehension.

Sorry for the rant. I am exhusted with achy feet and working on a 7" tablet to do my reports.
I am now getting off my rant box. The rant box I am vacating. I am departing the box on which I spouted my rant. The box on which I spoke of my displeasure is now empty. This should answere question 5, 8, and I forget the blasted number.

Hi, Gypsy. Tomorrow is a new day. Tonight is supposed to have a nice moon if you don't have clouds, but it will obscure the Perseids meteor shower.

Totally agree. Hey MSC, you pick- individual questions or detailed narrative. Love when they write back and tell you to change more of the wording so it varies from the narrative. Hang in there

It's so annoying when you answer every question with details, as requested, and then they ask you for a narrative or a bunch of narratives as well. WTF???? I am thinking it must be like this in case a client wants quick access to just the narrative portions, the answer portions, or an entire report later, and that the answers and narratives can be sorted separately later somehow so they client has as many options as possible.

Otherwise, how stupid do MSCs think the people reading these reports could possibly be, and how much time do they have to be reading the same things over and over?

Mystery shopping reports are too redundant, that's for sure!

Gypsymonkey,

I feel your pain.
Your pain I feel.
Pain of yours I feel.
Not my pain - but yours - I feel.
I'm feeling no pain - Thank you Chardonnay! - I wish you felt the same.

Hang in there!

I got 3 emails from a scheduler asking for more detail in the narrative---well, I gave all the detail I had, sorry, but when the person being shopped doesn't give you any information, what part of "he did not discuss, x, y, z nor did he talk about 1, 2, 3" don't you get I added 3 more lines about how they did not give me any information and emailed the scheduler back telling her so....now lets see if I get paid.....

I just got an email that they weren't sure if I answered the questions! So I threw a quick tantrum and then went through each and every bleeping line of text and put: (question 1)(question 2)
I really feel like singing the wheels on the bus song. You know as in the small yellow bus...
Forgive me as my 'tude is showing.

now DCM you mentioned Chardonnay? We need to know where it came from. How much was present. Why it was imbibed. and any other details you have. - thank you for opening a can of worms that we get to over annalyze.

Did you ride the "Short Bus" to school? You need to clarify.
Cheer up! We all go thru spells like this...

Oh, Kuzco's poison! The poison meant for Kuzco. That poison.

lol - I've found I can't do reports like that at the end of a hard day. If ican't do the report early in the day or they can't be done the next day, I can't take those shops

Well, I had a report where I gave more details than anything I had ever done before and I received an email advising that I did not give enough detail. So I started responding to his long, long email. While I was doing that, he called and told me he needed more detail. We had a long telephone conversation and I told him exactly what I said in the report. He was very happy but I realized I had spent more time on that shop and the info he needed were all there, including the photos, in the report. I wonder how much I was docked because he called me.

The local supermarkets are like that for me. They pay $12 + 10 reimbursement, and that sounded good to me when I first started shopping. That is the shop I learned NEVER to take more than one of the same location until you have seen the report. Seven employees, and I had to state three different times for each one of them the question I asked and their response. Generally, this MSC is my favorite and the reports are short, but this one is out of control!

There is one msc with narratives after each question, then a overall narrative box at the end of the section. AND an additional detail box, after the overall narrative box. What is there left to write about?

Thanks for the heads-up on those GfK smartphone shops, Billy. I was wondering why nobody is taking them around here.

All I can say is, "Yikes!"

Yes GFK phone store shops are tidiously stupid. Most other phone store shops at other msps have checkboxes with one overall narrative they want you to put detail in if their is any narrative at all. As far as the redundant repeat questions ctrl c ctrl v go screw yourself. if they email back they just tell me next time don't repeat info from one narrative section or question into the overall narrative. I disregard it and usually get the same response the next shop of that type.

Sounds like an Intellishop experience. Once and done.

The GFK audits are also ONLY $10! sometimes you can find them for a whole $14 or $15! Wow you want what?! for WHAT!!??

Hrm. The last one I did was $62.

How about when you fill out all of the detail in the question area and than you have to do a narrative answering all of the questions you have answered and submit it. You get it back because you used over 1000 characters and have to remove about 1/2 of what you put in.

I had an editor tell me I needed 'exact quotes'. When I put in the exact quotes she replied, "How could you possibly remember all the 'exact quotes?" You win some and you loose some.

shopper8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How about when you fill out all of the detail in
> the question area and than you have to do a
> narrative answering all of the questions you have
> answered and submit it. You get it back because
> you used over 1000 characters and have to remove
> about 1/2 of what you put in.
>


Yes. This. Having to edit it to high hell because of character limits, then receiving an email stating that you left details out of your overall summary.

I can so relate, Gypsy Monkey. I have taken jobs that I knew the reports were horrendous, but I needed the money. Sometimes it seems that you will never get through and is it really worth it. Hope your next day is much better.

Intellishop has the most critical editors in the MSC biz.

To gypsymonkey

Wow, you just read my mind. I was trying to decide how to reword this report all night because of the redundancy factor. You know what I mean, capeche, comprende, ju' no, for sure, for sure?

I had been out of the loop after shopping for several year back to 2007. Went back to school to finish my education and reinvent myself once again. So looking over my "ancient" shop logs, notes, Excel spreadsheets, I was trying to remember which shops were the seemingly reasonable with yes or no and short phrases or simple 1-3 sentence shop narratives. Drive over, do shop, take notes, do route, grab bite, drive home, do small collateral, write short report and submit. Plus remember to try for higher paying shop next time! But really, let's get in and get out and get done.

I was trying to avoid that really long narrative like you describe. When reading the guidelines it showed yes/no and easy peasy right before accepting it. Then get in there and see the FORM...suddenly it has drop down menus, with flow sheets and narrative boxes for nearly every single yes/no....oh the pain and sorrow and the joy when they quit asking the same question over and over! Under my breath, I vow never, never, never again. And all this for peanuts...what are we talking under $20 bucks!? Oops or was that $10, let me look again. Those cheapskates, I try not to think of what the marketing department makes! But oh, well once again the servants must pay for their living quarters and such is the life of a chamber maid...LOL! Just kidding, I love this crazy lifestyle, does anyone else find it slightly addicting?

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hrm. The last one I did was $62.


They only *start* that asininely low. Wait 'em out, they go up astronomically. At least compared to what they started at. Unfortunately, around here, a lot of the ones that go up astronomically are really, really, really far away. Like five hours one way. But sometimes the closer-in ones go up really nicely, too.

I too have a report with the question "What did they ask for some form of I.D. And, when you answer, Yes. your driver license. It comes back not acceptable. They want a 100 words filled in. I started just filling the rest in with xxxxxxxxx.
And they now tell me this is not acceptable. How the ???? do you fill in with a 100 spaces. NUTS...

angel3245 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I too have a report with the question "What did
> they ask for some form of I.D. And, when you
> answer, Yes. your driver license. It comes back
> not acceptable. They want a 100 words filled in. I.
> started just filling the rest in with xxxxxxxxx.
> And they now tell me this is not acceptable. How
> the ???? do you fill in with a 100 spaces. NUTS...

How did she ask for the license? Did she smile and specifically request a drivers license ....or did she frown and say "I need to see some ID here, why would you think I'd approve this without proof?" Did she actually look at the ID and compare the picture to you? Did she make a copy of the license? What did she say when she handed it back? Did she smile? Did she thank you? There's actually a lot you can say, and 100 spaces is very little. Even 100 words is not much - the above post is about 65 words.

I concur with AustinMom. 100 spaces is nothing. I am checking my wallet right now to make sure that I have my drivers license with me.


***This post (not counting what I am writing now) is 26 words, 109 characters without spaces and 136 characters with spaces. Like I said, 100 spaces is nothing.***