@kal30314 wrote:

If you don't know an area well to know it crime is there you would not have know and the mystery shop company are not going to tell you to be careful they just want to be paid.

I agree that the scheduler acted atrociously, and I'm certainly as sympathtic to what happened to a fellow shopper as anyone here. However, it's not the MSC's responsibility to research the crime rates of every zip code in which they're offering every single one of their jobs. It's the shopper's responsibility to know the area they're going to--after all, they're much more local than the scheduler is--and, as we have discussed many times, weigh their own risks and make their own decisions. I say this as a shopper who is willing to go to certain sketchy neighborhoods as long as I know I'll be out before it gets dark, but even that point is moot as jackaroe said the assault occurred in a middle-class area that I assume he/she was comfortable in. Even if the scheduler HAD offered a perfunctory "Be careful," I believe this still would have happened. Sorry, but I reject the notion that MSCs are mercenary profiteers who knowingly send us into urban war zones, with no hazard pay, just to line their pockets.

Inevitable disclaimer: Due to my familiarity with this forum, I know there will be someone who reads this and infers that I'm saying what happened is jackaroe's fault. It isn't, and it's not the MSC's or the scheduler's either. It's the criminal's fault, and I hope that next time he tries something like this, somebody blows his brains out.

That is total bullshit for a scheduler to do that! he/she should be fired for sure!

This is a great warning from jackaroe that we should all be aware of our surroundings because crime can happen anywhere, anytime. Jackaroe apparently was not in a high-crime area.

It's unfortunate that his post included the response from the scheduler, because that detracted from the reason for his post, and everyone focused on WHO SHOULD WE BE MAD AT instead of his true message: that shoppers should be aware and careful.

It was a real wake-up call some time ago when Marjorie Hillerman was killed in a parking lot at a shopping center after arriving to do mystery shops.

Good reminder, jackaroe. Thank you.

I'll just quickly update here
Apparently the scheduler and MSC owner are reading what I have posted on this forum.

Last Thursday I received an email from the CEO of the MSC stating the MSC stands behind the schedulers actions since it took me more then 24 hours to notify the MSC of what happened and that the flake citation was justified. (I did not contact them to rectify this. )

On Friday Morning I received an angry call from CEO insisting that I remove this topic from the forum since in the CEOs opinion I was at fault for the incident( I stated I was looking at my phone) and because I did not contact the MSC quick enough. Apparently in between an MRI, Cat Scan, being stitched up and talking with police I should have borrowed a phone from a doctor.

Lets not forget the people that robbed me had my car, phone, wallet and house keys. And I was misguided to be worried about my house being robbed also. .

This morning I received another angry call from the CEO that I did not remove this topic and being accused of slandering the MSC and threatened with legal action.

The CEO stated that I have been deactivated from their MSC and if I do not remove this topic they will report me to the MSPA and have me deactivated from EVERY msc along with filing an action against me.

I WILL NOT BE REMOVING THIS TOPIC.
It is NOT about Any MSC, its about being careful when out working!

I wish them luck
I have already consulted with an attorney who has read this topic.
I may end up owning this MSC in the near future

Wow! In this thread you were very nice when you talked about the MSC. You even decided you would not report this crime to them. I find it crazy that they are now threatening you. How heartless of them. Just know, they cannot take legal action against you because you did not remove a post on a public forum. You never mentioned any names and did not post anything negative. You just stated the facts, like the MSC wants us to do in our reports.

I give this MSC a rating of 1 and issue them a fake citation.

If you end up owning the MSC in the future, be sure to fire all the current decision-makers, and remember your friends on the forum!

Best wishes. I hope you are feeling better and the keys, etc., have not been used to cause you further problems. No worries about deactivation - this is not an MSC you want to continue working with anyway, based on their actions.

I'm so sorry you are getting this treatment on top of everything else. You deserve so much better.

ETA: What I can't figure out is why the MSC is so mad (even if they think they are right). You have refused to name them, unless I missed something. So, there name and reputation isn't sullied, although I think it should be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2016 02:03AM by TeriW.

The CEO stated by my publically outing them they could lose clients.
I responded that I did not state who the MSC or scheduler was. I did not name the type of shop.
I wanted to keep this as a reminder to be careful when working and NOT about bashing an MSC.
The CEO did not agree with me and feels that it's clearly obvious which MSC I am talking about and feels they will lose clients over this.
I must have missed something said in all the posts??

I have no clue what MSC it is, or what client it is. Not a clue.

BTW
I never even told the police officer who the MSC was. I just said I was going to do mystery shop. I do not think the police officer understood what mystery shopping was. The police report states the area I was located and an address but not the specific business I was shopping.

I see nothing here after rereading all of your posts in this thread to indicate the client or MSC. It is probably a Sassie company if there is a flake citation. And you were shopping in a middle class area so that eliminates a few shops like check cashing. Beyond that, no information.

I have no idea who either the client or the MSC is. Maybe they'll come on here and tell us why they chose the path they did.

I consider myself fairly intelligent and I haven't been able to figure out who the company is either.

This blows my mind, especially since 99.9% of the interactions I've had with any scheduler or CEO have been very positive. I'd have been absolutely floored to receive those threats. I agree with TeriW that I figured it for a Sassie platform, but beyond that there's nothing at all to identify the MSC. You've done nothing wrong here, so stick to your guns.

Once again, this MSC does not give a "rats behind" about you. They are showing this in their actions, by how you were treated and "timing" you with how long you took to contact them after your assault, never-mind that you were in the emergency room and suffer emotional trauma (as anyone would who was attacked and robbed) I strongly urge you to reconsider EVER working for this company again.

I don't know who they are. I don't understand why they would threaten to sue you over this thread since you haven't named them or named the scheduler. Their threat to sue rather than attempt a reconciliation seems abrupt and reactionary. Genuine concern for your situation would have been a normal human response.

Now then, the rest of this is to the MSC.

This is a sad example of how to do business. We've never sure we get 100% of the complete story, but apparently you deactivated this shopper because he posted a thread in which he did not name the scheduler or the company. That's a deplorable knee jerk unprofessional reaction on your part.

And here's another deplorable knee jerk unprofessional reaction. Deactivate me, too. That's Mary Davis Nowell shopping out of Weatherford, Texas. Send me that notice. I can't wait to find out who you are.

@MDavisnowell wrote:

This is a sad example of how to do business. We've never sure we get 100% of the complete story, but apparently you deactivated this shopper because he posted a thread in which he did not name the scheduler or the company. That's a deplorable knee jerk unprofessional reaction on your part.

And here's another deplorable knee jerk unprofessional reaction. Deactivate me, too. That's Mary Davis Nowell shopping out of Weatherford, Texas. Send me that notice. I can't wait to find out who you are.

Right. While we should all make our own decisions about who we shop for, I know in advance I don't want to shop for such a company. In fact, I hope that nobody else is ever treated in such a manner. I'd hate for other people to sign up not knowing they were signing on with such an uncaring company. Please let us know Mary who deactivates you.

Wow that is crazy! You think they would be concerned about you.

I completed a mystery shop this weekend. The shop usually takes me about 20 minutes at the most to complete and I was out with a cop friend when we happened to drive by a location that I had due this week. I asked if he could stop and wait in the car while I did the shop so that I could get it out of the way. When I got back to the car, he was standing outside and on his phone. We suddenly hear some yelling and realize that loss prevention is walking behind a shoplifter. These guys are like 5'6" while the shoplifter is 6'4". He was wearing a thick coat and items fell out every time loss prevention pulled on the coat. Loss prevention cannot chase shoplifters once they are a certain distance outside of the store, which isn't very far. I'm not sure if there's a legal reason behind this, but I think most stores would rather not risk any lawsuit resulting from injuries to the shoplifter by someone who is not law enforcement.

I go out with this cop friend a lot so I already knew what to do. If we are in the city where I live/he works, then I am to call the dispatch line directly. I gave them his badge number and told them that he was off-duty and was going to approach what he thought was a suspected shoplifter. During this time, he approaches the shoplifter and identifies himself as a police officer. The shoplifter throws a punch at him and my cop friend pulls out his gun. I tell the dispatcher what is going on and 7 officers arrive within a minute.

I mentioned this to my scheduler and she said not to report it since the products I was to inquire about were actually no longer being sold at this location, so the store was not going to going to be given any details about my visit.

I have my own idea of who this company is. There is a scheduler who says that you cannot cancel a shop under any circumstances. No extensions will be granted and they don't want any excuses. This used to be in the e-mail blast that they would send out informing shoppers of available shops. I don't bother reading those e-mails anymore so I'm not sure if they've changed. I also know that they are on this forum.

eta: I am also bothered that this CEO says that you are at fault for a crime committed against you. Where does this CEO live? I'd like to go on a vacation and could use some of the valuables in their home to pawn for cash to fund this trip. Based on their logic, it would be their fault if I entered their home and took their belongings, since I suspect that they don't have land mines protecting their property from intruders.

This is like my college professor who blamed me for someone grabbing my book bag from under the stall when I was using the restroom. This prevented me from turning my report in on time. She said that it was irresponsible of me to not hold on to my book bag when in a public space. She was already tenured so my complaint didn't do anything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2016 09:38PM by AnonymousGirl.

I applaud your decisions on what to post and what details you're giving to us here on the forums, jackaroe.

As you stated, you did nothing wrong, did not out any names / companies, etc.

With that being said, let's not point fingers on any 'wild guesses.' That would definitely be in bad taste, ESPECIALLY if it's inaccurate or something we can't verify....

I am all too aware of my surroundings. I have seen way too many penises (is that the plural of penis?) while performing gas station and C-store shops. Not all of these "men" were homeless drug addicts and booze hounds. They were either too lazy to go ask for the key for the public restroom or they were going for shock value. Believe me, there was nothing shocking; they were too small to make an impression!

You can be sure I'll make a comment on any change in my work relationships.

@TeriW wrote:

. Please let us know Mary who deactivates you.

The MSC in question is not Sentry. Outside of the fact that we are not on a platform that includes citations, we would never, ever, handle a situation in this manner. The suggestion that we would handle a situation in this manner is offensive. The person who posted the comment is not a registered shopper with Sentry and has no first hand experience with our company.

jackaroe - I am very sorry that this happened to you and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Several people named a first name only of a very common male name in the USA. A different member decided to actually guess at the MSC name. Maybe blame should go to the appropriate person.

The best thing we can do is not point fingers at anyone. The OP has not mentioned any MSC or name and I cannot figure out who they are. He does not deserve being deactivated on top of the crimes committed to him much less getting a very nasty, angry call from a very unprofessional CEO. I hope Mary will tell us when she finds out.

OP, hang in there. Hopefully, there will be a silver lining after all these. You deserve better. Good Luck!

To clarify: No, Dave's company is not on Sassie. Dave's company is on Shopmetrics. I hope that makes it clear that Dave's company is not on Sassie, which some of you may not know if you don't shop for Dave. I thought that I was clarifying that Dave's company is not on Sassie for those who might not be aware he is on Shopmetrics. I did not realize that some might interpret my comment some other way. Apparently I did not make myself entirely clear. I do shop for Dave, and his company is on Shopmetrics. Yes, Dave is a rather common first name for a male. However, the only Dave I know in mystery shopping is the one we're talking about and I'm pretty sure we are all talking about the same Dave. There's only one of them we talk to and about on this board. I have not seen any references to any other Dave. Referring to Dave in a post and then claiming to only be referring to some generic Dave and not to Dave at Sentry is bizarre.

Dave, thank you for jumping in here and commenting.

@MDavisnowell wrote:

Sentry is on Shopmetrics.

Oh my. Just caught up with this thread. Absolutely insane. I hope @jackaroe recovers with the quickness!
My initial thought after OMG that sucks was OMG what is this crappy company. Then I read the issue with the CEO and was completely flabbergasted. However, I don't understand how they are claiming slander. Slander is when you say something untrue. It appears from the post that they do not disagree with the facts. They appear to only state that they were within their legal rights to react to the facts in the manner they did. I would be interested to know if they indeed are saying that jackaroe is lying, as that would be considered slander itself.

As to who the company is, Dave was not someone I thought of at all, not even considering that it's obviously a sassie company and Dave's company uses shopmetrics. I see nothing in any posts that indicate at all who the company may be other than that though.

@jackaroe wrote:

The CEO stated by my publically outing them they could lose clients.
I responded that I did not state who the MSC or scheduler was. I did not name the type of shop.
I wanted to keep this as a reminder to be careful when working and NOT about bashing an MSC.
The CEO did not agree with me and feels that it's clearly obvious which MSC I am talking about and feels they will lose clients over this.
I must have missed something said in all the posts??

Wait.

Um. The CEO feels they will lose clients over something that the CEO feels they did completely legitimately? I'm confused.

To me that's like me doing something assholelike and then when someone else mentions it I try to tell them that I was within my rights being an @#$%& and that by them telling it people may think I'm an @#$%&.

I REALLY wish the MSC would chime in publicly, even if anonymous, as I would be interested to know if perhaps they have a different view. Although if they did I'm not sure why they haven't said so already?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2016 03:05AM by bgriffin.

@jackaroe wrote:

they will report me to the MSPA and have me deactivated from EVERY msc

Also I would be VERY interested if perhaps @dcrector or one of the other MSPA officials could comment on this statement.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2016 03:12AM by bgriffin.

I don't expect to see a comment made publicly but it would certainly be interesting to know how they feel about having a person who would make those threats as a member of their organization. This CEO is supposedly claiming to have the power to control the shopper roster of all the other MSPA members. Wonder how he got that kind of stroke? I'm wondering if maybe we're dealing with some kind of drug induced hallucination here. Or maybe a touch of temporary insanity. There's all sorts of possibilities to consider.

In this thread I asked for this MSC to deactivate me. I haven't heard anything, but perhaps if I was with the company they just erased me without notification and I'll find out at some future time when I try to sign in. Sassie says they have over 150 companies so I have no hope of finding out who it is through a winnowing process.
I'm truly disappointed I didn't get a phone call complete with threats and promises. Then there's always the possibility I'm such a lucky duck I never signed up with them. Not likely.

I'm sure I'm going to lose a company over this. I wouldn't want to work for anyone who'd act like this and I also wouldn't want to be hooked up with someone who's so delusional he thinks he controls the shopping roster of all the MSPA members. You never know when someone like that will go completely berserk. Separation is the best policy.

@bgriffin wrote:

@jackaroe wrote:

they will report me to the MSPA and have me deactivated from EVERY msc

Also I would be VERY interested if perhaps @dcrector or one of the other MSPA officials could comment on this statement.