I realize that schedulers have to deal with mystery shoppers who lie all the time, but lately I have had the reverse happen. Twice, within a week, I have had schedulers lie to me. I really don't know how to deal with this. My instinct is to call them on it. However, a scheduler who lies to get a shop done is likely to be a vindictive scheduler, too.

scheduler 1)
- Tuesday: called about a visit that had to be done on Saturday between 8 and 9. After determining that this is the only available time, I say that this isn't good for me, but call if you can't find anyone else.
- Thursday: Scheduler calls and leaves a message. I return the call, but am told the shop is filled. Great.
- Friday: Scheduler calls back in the afternoon and says that the person scheduled missed some parts of the evaluation. Can I go at 8 Saturday (tomorrow) morning?
[ How could parts not be done if the only available option was Saturday and it was not Saturday?]

scheduler 2)
- I ask to reschedule a shop and am told that the shops need to be done by a certain date.
- While waiting for the reply, I look at the job board and see other shops posted, I think about doing some of them to make up for being difficult and rescheduling.
- I get an email saying that ALL of the visits need to be done by the [certain date] of the month, so I cannot reschedule
- I email the scheduler saying that I will do the shop as originally scheduled. I also mention that it is too bad the dates don't go out further because I was thinking about picking up some if the date could be extended.
- Scheduler emails me back and informs me that those, can be extended and it is just the location already scheduled that cannot go after said date.
-[ funny, first it was all locations that cannot go past the date, now it is just the one]

I am not eager to do any shops for either of these two, because I do not like being deceived. Luckily, neither of these cost me either time or money, but it sure does leave a bad taste in my mouth.

What would you do?

I think you answered your own question, if you're not comfortable with those schedulers, don't do shops for them.

Well, my question was, "what would you do?" So I may have answered it, but I don't know since you didn't tell me what you would do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2016 07:23PM by TeriW.

I'd probably avoid those schedulers in the future. Not that I absolutely wouldn't do shops for them, but the fact that they were scheduling it instead of a neutral scheduler would be a tick mark on the "cons" column of the pros/cons list I make (mentally) for each shop I conduct or consider.

If I did not already have a trusting relationship with them I would not bother with them in the future. If I already had a trusting relationship I would be willing to give credit for what might appear to be lies to 1) their misunderstanding what I was asking, 2) my misunderstanding what they were saying, 3) changes that may have been made between the times of our conversations.

So the first scheduler may have had a shopper take a shop that HAD to be done on Wednesday and they screwed up. Thus they were going to absolutely have someone there on Saturday so they could reschedule the screwed up shop the required number of days between shops using Saturday as the base. I.e. the original shop sequence could have been A***B***C and now they were going to need to do B***C***A. If they can't get B scheduled on Saturday they are going to need to make C the first shop or reschedule it because now they are going to have to deal with C***A***B.

The second scheduler may have just been tired and misspoke or the communication was misinterpreted by one side or the other during the first conversation.

Of course there are going to be schedulers out there who are devious to get you to take shops. You can't be in this business long without running into them from time to time. There are also going to be folks who don't express themselves clearly and cause misunderstandings. Oh how often I have been in that position because I was thinking further ahead and not mentioning the groundwork on which the future depended.

Things DO change.

I'm sure scheduling is as stressful as shopping.

For some reason, people find it difficult to say - hey, I'm sorry. I screwed up. I misspoke. I erred. If you can fix this for me, I'll bonus the shop XXXX.

I know when I screw up, I always let the scheduler know immediately, I don't hesitate to grovel with apologetic phrases! But not everybody can say "I'm sorry, I screwed up. How can I make it up to you?"

I'd give 'em another chance. You never know if they've been screwed, too, with a sudden change in deadlines and/or rules, or especially by a shopper who flaked.

I think you are right, that it is easy to misspeak. Since they have so much to do, I think schedulers sometimes (often?) don't read whole emails or give full explanations. I'm sure I do the same, sometimes.


The first scheduler was for a one-off job. It was one of those insurance photos of a damaged vehicle. She insisted when we spoke that the only appointment time was for that day. Things could have changed, but she missed out on getting it filled when she didn't explain this.

The second one was just lying, I'm pretty sure. I can't say 100% of course.

The problem is that these are my first impression of both of these schedulers. If I had other experience, I could weigh the good with the bad. Now, I have this bad impression and it can't be changed unless I work with them again.

I think they'd move to the bottom of my list. I'd rather hear it straight. Did a job yesterday for a large bonus and the scheduler let me know up front that it would never, ever be bonused like that again (last second reshop). Another told me to ask again after the 25th because she couldn't bonus before then. And yesterday one said that she put it on the board with a due date of the 15th and really wanted it done before then, and if she moved it out I would owe her (someone I have a relationship with). Since 'owing' usually means a bundok shop with no bonus, I found a way to work it in.

I guess those schedulers with lemons think they must lie in order to dupe shoppers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2016 06:03PM by PasswordNotFound.

I agree with you, PasswordNotFound, that it is better when schedulers are honest. If we both know the facts, we can work together to figure out a solution or realize that we can't come to an agreement. The better the communication, the better we can work together.

I don't know if I would consider the second scheduler to be "lying" so much as due dates are always (I would guess 99.9999% of the time) lies.

Edited to add I am obviously excluding time specific shops such as exit interviews they want done during a particular event and that type of thing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2016 08:53PM by bgriffin.

@TeriW wrote:

Well, my question was, "what would you do?" So I may have answered it, but I don't know since you didn't tell me what you would do.

Fair enough. Personally, I wouldn't bother with the scheduler. If I can schedule things by myself, I may still take shops scheduled by them, with the expectation that it is only for the date advertised and changes may be out of question. But I would avoid having to deal with them.

@bgriffin wrote:

I don't know if I would consider the second scheduler to be "lying" so much as due dates are always (I would guess 99.9999% of the time) lies.
.

It is the followup where I feel really lied to. I was told that all other locations can be schedule out, but mine could not. This, after telling me that all locations had to be done by a certain time.

I would have preferred to be told, "Hey, it looks bad for me if I reschedule" or something equally honest.

Funny, I just got an email for shop that rarely has a bonus. It's a shop I'm actually willing to do at base pay as long as it fits in with the rest of my day. Correction, it WAS a shop I would do. Because of the new scheduler on the project it will take a hefty bonus for me to consider. She jacked me around one too many times when I was trying to pick up a location several months ago.

I guess she has reaped what she sowed.

For #2, I would understand they most likely used a template for their response and made an honest mistake; they did not fully personalize the response. I've do that sometimes, it happens, people understand.

For #1, as Flash noted there may have been a rotation that the scheduler was juggling.

In general, labeling anyone should be based on a pattern, not a potentially one time inconsistency.

I am a very honest and hard working person. I've submitted reports that inadvertently included a contradiction. The editor asked for clarification, they did not label me a liar or dishonest.

@TeriW wrote:

I realize that schedulers have to deal with mystery shoppers who lie all the time, but lately I have had the reverse happen. Twice, within a week, I have had schedulers lie to me. I really don't know how to deal with this. My instinct is to call them on it. However, a scheduler who lies to get a shop done is likely to be a vindictive scheduler, too.

scheduler 1)
- Tuesday: called about a visit that had to be done on Saturday between 8 and 9. After determining that this is the only available time, I say that this isn't good for me, but call if you can't find anyone else.
- Thursday: Scheduler calls and leaves a message. I return the call, but am told the shop is filled. Great.
- Friday: Scheduler calls back in the afternoon and says that the person scheduled missed some parts of the evaluation. Can I go at 8 Saturday (tomorrow) morning?
[ How could parts not be done if the only available option was Saturday and it was not Saturday?]

scheduler 2)
- I ask to reschedule a shop and am told that the shops need to be done by a certain date.
- While waiting for the reply, I look at the job board and see other shops posted, I think about doing some of them to make up for being difficult and rescheduling.
- I get an email saying that ALL of the visits need to be done by the [certain date] of the month, so I cannot reschedule
- I email the scheduler saying that I will do the shop as originally scheduled. I also mention that it is too bad the dates don't go out further because I was thinking about picking up some if the date could be extended.
- Scheduler emails me back and informs me that those, can be extended and it is just the location already scheduled that cannot go after said date.
-[ funny, first it was all locations that cannot go past the date, now it is just the one]


I am not eager to do any shops for either of these two, because I do not like being deceived. Luckily, neither of these cost me either time or money, but it sure does leave a bad taste in my mouth.

What would you do?

Having previously scheduled I think I may be less likely to jump to the conclusion of lying. There are so may restrictions and then fluidity with projects that the scheduler themselves may not know on Monday that the shops that HAVE TO BE DONE BY THURSDAY OR ELSE are going to end up being extended by the client with the caveat that all previously scheduled shops are completed as scheduled (certainly a possibility with scenario 2)

The first scenario can go much the same way...a rotation originally scheduled isn't met and so another person is going to be able to go in earlier in the week (but you don't know that), well then that gets messed up and the scheduler sees your request, remembers you could go Saturday, etc and decides to try and get you to finish off the project.

Scheduling is far more complicated that what the shopper sees. I would assume something is going on that I don't know about (and really don't need to) and not jump to the conclusion of lying.

Liz

Due dates can sometimes change. For example, with one self-assign shop I signed up for, initially the "reschedule" feature said it could only be rescheduled to 2 other dates. A few days later, there were 9 days it could be rescheduled to.

I agree with everyone who cautioned that the schedulers might not be lying. Of course, a very complicated string of things might have happened in either of the sample scenarios that the OP gave that would explain the schedulers' actions without a lie from the scheduler. Since no one who responded suggested that the OP call up the scheduler, chastise him or her for lying and slam the phone down in anger, I don't think the issue is whether the scheduler actually lied or not. The fact is that the OP felt that each scheduler hadn't been completely honest.

It comes down to this: if I feel that a scheduler hasn't been honest with me, whether I'm right or wrong, I'm going to work with that scheduler differently than I would with someone I trusted inherently. I expect any scheduler who thinks I've lied about something (I'm sick today and can't complete that shop for you, my car broke down, my dog ate my homework) would do the same. Part of being a reliable shopper means being honest and doing what you say you're going to do. The same goes for schedulers in my opinion.

I would possibly write back to the scheduler to clarify before assuming he or she is lying. Like asking something just like what you are wondering: "You previously said the shop could only be done on Saturday from 8-9. It sounds like the evaluator you scheduled went in on a day other than Saturday. Did the guidelines change? Can I go another day than Saturday, too? That day/time is not the best day for me."

Then evaluate the scheduler's response to see if it sounds legit or if they are being weasely.

I tend to trust that people are being honest. It isn't the first thing I think of, usually. I think I have had only one other issue like this with a scheduler, in fact, in the 6 years I have been doing this, four full-time.

I understand that circumstances change. This could have happened here, but in both cases, isn't what was relayed to me by the scheduler.

As I said before, the first situation is a one-off. No rotation. This is not an issue of rotation.

The second happened over a nine minute period, not a period of days where things may have changed. And I was told at the end that only this location (of all locations in the chain) had to be done early.
Edited to add email quotes:
response to reschedule request: 12:10 pm: My deadline to have all these done is the 10th so i really cannot go to the 11th.
response to question about other locations: 12:19 pm, same day: It is only the location you are assigned that the client requested an early shop. Maybe they are going to be closed for remodeling or something,. I do not know. I have until the 20th to get the others done.


Sure I could try to find a way that what they said made sense in another way. But, really, this is the most obvious conclusion. I will avoid shops from these schedulers if there isn't a great reason to take them. I don't feel as if I can trust them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2016 06:53PM by TeriW.

I would just mark it up to confusion in both cases but I'd keep it in mind in case there were more problems in the future. I don't consider one experience per scheduler indicative of their overall performance. I'd give both of them another chance and hope for the best. I'd sure hate to make a list of all the schedulers who've been disappointed in something I did and I'd really hate to think where I'd be if they all dropped me like a dead rat.

So here's my take on messages that state a shop "MUST be done by X date!!!!" or similar: Why should I care about your work load? Why are you sharing this part of your problem with me?

If you just tell me nicely, or list on your site, that the Acme Retailer shop is available on April 1, 2, 4, or 5, then that is enough for me to decide, especially if I am only available April 3. Or, if I email or call you to ask if it's possible to be done another day (which I have done in the past), just calmly say yes or no (which has been done in the past). Pressure on the scheduler does not mean pressure on the shoppers, the real reason the shops get done. I don't appreciate yelling via email, shopper instructions, or over the phone. If I can help, and choose to, it's a win-win. If I can't, then I can't. Also, a wonderful word to use, instead of "MUST!!!" is "only." As in, "This shop can only be done on Saturday or Sunday, March 12 or 13." So much nicer.

Personally, I tend to ignore the all caps or hyperbolic emails. And I think twice after a first shop, if a MSC uses large, red, all-cap text in its instructions.

Now, I realize that there are all sorts or other shoppers out there, to whom the schedulers might be responding, or not. But treating everyone like a flake because other shoppers flaked, is rude and unnecessary. Choosing to use thoughtful word selection (and checking spelling and punctuation, btw), is considerate and productive. I really appreciate the MSCs that are clear in their instructions (you can tell there may have been issues in the past) in a calm manner, and those that require confirmation of assignments so that there are no misunderstandings.

IMO, I think there are a lot more liars and cheats on the shopper end of MS'ing than with schedulers. Look how many of them have come and gone through this forum.

In my experience, young schedulers or new to an MS as in house scheduler are more prone to lie, lie, lie. I recently had to deal with a couple of them. Lying through their teeth about bonuses offered and agreed. That's why keep all emails and do not do anything if it is not sent in writing. Many of them do not understand the importance of building trust so shoppers would be really willing to help you in case of real need.

people lie. shoppers lie. schedulers lie. editors lie. even your mother lies. if u feel guilty, go confess to preacher, priest, rabbi or whatever.

@MSNinja wrote:

people lie. shoppers lie. schedulers lie. editors lie. even your mother lies. if u feel guilty, go confess to preacher, priest, rabbi or whatever.

Wasn't that a House episode?