I did a shop last week (one of many I've done for this MSC) that was supposed to be a carrier store. When I got there it turned out to be a Radio Shack with the signs for the carrier inside. so I emailed the scheduler and asked if she wanted me to follow the instructions for closed/changed locations or do the shop at the wrongly listed store. After a few minutes, I decided to go in and attempt the shop but couldn't get anyone to help me. Over 10 min. into waiting, I got an email from the scheduler saying to take a picture of the outside and treat the shop like a changed location so I walked out and filed the report as instructed.

This weekend the report was kicked back and I got an email from an editor saying the location was in the Radio Shack and did I want to go shop it again. I wrote back immediately explaining what happened but got no response from her. Today the shop has been removed from my lists of assigned and completed jobs. What should I do?

I've had a good working relationship with this MSC but am really frustrated. The week before, I didn't complain when I did a bonused of the same shop where the store wasn't at the location. When I filed the report I notified the scheduler for her info and she went back and changed the pay from $17 to $6 and put the shop on hold (even though these shops pay full for closed locations). The other "Hold" I have for this MSC has never been paid, so I doubt I'm getting anything for that job as well.

You puzzle me. When you say 'carrier' I assume you are doing cell phone shops. Depending on the brand, some cell services are ONLY sold inside other stores, some are sold inside other stores as well as with their own stores and very few are sold only in their own stores. I've done many cell shops at Radio Shacks over the years--in fact I found a knowledgeable enough rep at Radio Shack that after the stop I went back to him for his recommendations of carrier, plan, equipment and accessories and have been very pleased.

But seriously, I suspect your communication with the scheduler got scrambled. If Radio Shack carried the brand then then am sure that IS the place they wanted you to do the shop.

Radio Shack finally went bankrupt last year (March 31, 2015) and were taken over by General Wireless which immediately leased them to Spring. All Radio Shack locations (which were not franchises) were either closed or converted to joint locations. I did at least a dozen of them last year. Certainly the MSC which was doing them for Sprint understood this last year. Maybe this was a shop for a cell phone company (I have done those recently) which has you go to places which sell a particular brand of cell phone. Rather than this being a case of Sprint turning into Radio Shack, it is the other way around. A Radio Shack turned into a Sprint (usually at least half of the store is devoted to Sprint). Sometimes, the two halves even have different hours, which is really weird. Every location I have gone to has large yellow Sprint signs in the window (doesn't your photo show Sprint signage at the bottom of the store window?). I personally would have completed the shop and would not have given the fact that it was also a Radio Shack location a second thought. I know that doesn't help you, but this perspective might assist someone else in the future.

I have done many phone carrier shops that are located inside Radio Shack, Target, Sam's and Costco. Usually, when assigned, the Sam's/Costco/Target shops identify that they are inside the store, many times the Radio Shacks do not clarify that the carrier is inside the Radio Shack. Radio Shack is irritating, also, because the carrier is not necessarily open the same hours as the Radio Shack. Usually Radio Shack is open 9-9 and the carrier is open 12-8 or 12-9 or sometimes later.

When assigned a cell carrier shop, I usually Google the location, along with its address, and I usually get the name, phone number, a map, and the hours. If it is a Radio Shack, I always call to see what the carrier service hours are, having made a couple of visits early in my career and being told "no, those guys don't come in til noon" ..... and having to make another trip. I do the carrier shops that are located inside another store just the same as those that have their own store, the only difference being the problem of figuring what hours the carrier will be staffed.

I'm not sure what you should do about the shop that was removed from your job list. How I would handle it would probably depend on what MSC. I interact differently with different MSCs.

The job itself is for a phone manufacturer, not carrier. All of the other shops for this round of jobs have been at different stand-alone carrier stores and there was no phone number listed on the job to call. This is why I immediately contacted the scheduler when it wasn't a stand-alone store. I couldn't tell if the site had changed (which the directions say to take a photo and answer to question X on the survey and submit the job) or it was a store in a store that needed to be shopped. The scheduler told me what to do, I followed her directions and then the job was removed, presumably for not doing the job.

Just to clarify the schedulers note
"I suggest you take a picture of the storefront that shows Radio Shack and answer the questions regarding that and notate it in the comment section as they sell Sprint but this is a Radio Shack location."

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2016 04:09PM by wwin.

If I got that scheduler note I would continue with the shop, take a photo of the Radio Shack store front, report the shop with all questions about the phone product in question and mention in the comment section that this was a Radio Shack location selling Sprint. Nothing in that comment would indicate to report it as a closed location.

I guess we read it differently. I asked do you want me to take a photo of the front and answer the questions to x per guidelines for or should I go ahead with the shop.

It is actually a Sprint location (they hold the lease) which sells Radio Shack. But the bottom line is that the OP encountered a scheduler who did not bother to quickly Google "Radio Shack". It would have been immediately apparent that Radio Shack had gone bankrupt and that Sprint was leasing the stores. I did a Verizon Wireless store that was actually inside a BJ's last week. Nowhere in the instructions did it say anything about BJ's. It just gave the name of the authorized Verizon re-seller. I never hesitated a moment. I completed the shop. I do cell phone shops inside Costco, Target, Walmart and other places all the time. This has become SOP. My suggestion is to digest what I and particularly AustinMom have shared with you so that you will be better prepared in the future. I mean that sincerely. I have made some real blunders myself, and I have avoided some real blunders due to what I have read in this Forum.