Do you get any bizarre or weird response when you ask for a high fee?

"JS Mystery Shopper ReachOut: Feeling Sporty? Why didn't you say so! $15.00 Outdoor/Sportwear Apparel shop due 7/11/16"

I get these daily mystery shop alerts in my email and this one was from seelevelhx. It was a $15 shop so I emailed back with a $45 rebuttal.

This was their response.

"Thank you Davis, but NO thanks!" (spelled my name wrong, idk if it was intentional since the s and d keys are close to each other.)

You get any funny or bizarre responses when you rebuttal with a really high fee?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2016 10:37PM by DavePi.

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Silence followed by, "Ummmmmm....."

Some days you just have to create your own sunshine.

I'm surprised you got a response. Now, however, it's going to cost her $50 when she calls back.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

Honestly with a response like that either she knows she'll find someone else or shes just gonna let that sucker tank. What irks me is when Im in the middle of a negotiation of a bonus, weve each been emailing back and forth almost right away and then scheduler just stops emailing me and I don't hear from them for hours. Im perfectly fine if I were told okay thanks for giving me your offer but I'd like to see if someone else will do it for cheaper is there a certain point I should let you know by? But when they just go silent its frustrating

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2016 01:03PM by DavePi.

The weirdest response I ever got was "We'll pay what you're asking, can you do it today?" I darn near fell over.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Recently, I asked for $50 (total) to do a shop that would have taken a minimum of three hours (and 60 miles r/t). I got dead silence for a few seconds. Then an exasperated whistle and "Wow, that's a lot of money." Huh?

I'd have asked for more, but I wanted to go to that area anyway.... The scheduler would've had a coronary if I'd asked for what I really think the shop is worth.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

@Cettie wrote:

The weirdest response I ever got was "We'll pay what you're asking, can you do it today?" I darn near fell over.

And did they pay you it? I've never negotiated.

the most bizarre thing that happened to me was getting deactivated by service sense for asking for a $20 bonus on a shop.

My god, who would think less than $17/hour before expenses is "a lot of money." Sheesh.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Uh. That's like 3x my average. :/

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@jay225 wrote:

the most bizarre thing that happened to me was getting deactivated by service sense for asking for a $20 bonus on a shop.

Actually, that is not completely true.

@jay225 wrote:

I went to apply to a shop today only to see that I have been deactivated, making this the first company whose given me the boot. I called them and spoke to a woman who said the reason for this was that I sent them an email asking for a bonus on a shop a month ago, saying at one point "$6 won't get me out the driveway." I know this wasn't the nicest thing to say , but I did not disrespect them or use any profane language whatsoever in the email, the driveway line was as bad as it got. Isn't it a little oversensitive to boot me for that one sentence? This is 100% why they are getting rid of me, no other reason.

I find your caustic attitude towards schedulers to be bizarre.

I have no issue asking for large amounts of money. I ask for what the shop is worth to me and what the market will bear. I live in a rural area without many shoppers. There are many shops in very out of the way places that are often left open until right up against the deadline. I ask for large bonuses, and am almost universally asked if I can do them for any less than that. There is often a lot of back and forth.

If they can find someone to do it for less, good for them! That is their job. But if they can't, they finally come crawling back to me. It is their job to get the evaluation completed with the lowest pay-out, and it is my job to maximize my pay/work ratio. They can say whatever they want....I will not waiver. Good negotiators learn to be personable and build rapport, but when it comes down to getting a certain price, emotion and empathy towards the scheduler must cease. You can be polite and professional at all times without wavering on your price. Schedulers are trained (or learn over time) how to pull at your emotions and get you to accept a lower price. "Can you help me out?" "I really need to get this shop done"... this is just the beginning, and we all know that it can get much worse than this. Do not fall for it!

thunder, there are schedulers who do remember that you've helped them out. I try to give them a chance to show that they're going to pay back the favor they owe. About a tenth of them do. For those, I will take a lower fee for a "desperate" shop - I know that they'll make it up to me later. My two favorite schedulers send me work that never makes it to the board BECAUSE I proved myself on other shops. But the other 90%, it's "fool me once..."

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

@mistry wrote:

@Cettie wrote:

The weirdest response I ever got was "We'll pay what you're asking, can you do it today?" I darn near fell over.

And did they pay you it? I've never negotiated.

Yes they not only paid me sooner than their normal time frame but because the scheduler personally offered to kick in for me to get this location done (totally bizarre in iteself) there was also a personal check sent to me FROM THE SCHEDULER. I was completely dumbfounded by this (and yes it was a good check.) This project netted me a $150 bonus. I still shake my head over that one.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

@LisaSTL wrote:

...who would think less than $17/hour before expenses is "a lot of money."

Not me!

If it were in town, that would be one thing. I'd have done it for less (but not a lot less), since it would've taken less time.

I wonder if schedulers who are employees and not ICs even know that we have to pay more in taxes because we don't have employers kicking in for us? I see so many jobs posted that, when the extra expenses are factored in, don't even pay minimum wage for my state--and my state has one of the lowest minimum wages in the country. If I wanted to make minimum wage, I could find easier ways to do it than mystery shopping. The "freedom" to work for myself and set my own schedule can't be offset by making less than $7/hour....

(I'm not talking about route shopping where shoppers can make lower-paying shops pay off due to the efficiencies they build into the process, but individual shops, even if you can do them on your way to or from work, and things like that. Or shops that also have a reimbursement of something you need or want anyway. I do some food shops with low fees because I want to eat at the place!)

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2016 12:22AM by BirdyC.

@bgriffin wrote:

Uh. That's like 3x my average. :/

You mean your average is three times that, right?

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I'm sure employee scheduler's sitting in an office absolutely don't get it. One was incredulous I wouldn't take a $15 shop because, "That's a lot of money for 30 minutes." Well yes, on paper $30 an hour looked pretty good. Since she was just counting the time from when I walked in the door until walking back out she didn't get how it compared to the big picture. OTOH, I knew just getting off and on the highway would add 20 minutes. Parking in the area would easily have added an additional 20, then there was the time spent reading guidelines for a new to me shop and submitting a report later. So no, $10 an hour or less before expenses is not a lot of money. It really is hard to blame them sometimes when knowing some of my own friends/family/acquaintances who work in offices as employees think working at home and making your own hours is just the greatest thing since sliced bread.

@BirdyC - I might be wrong, but I think that most schedulers are IC's and not employees of the company.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@jay225 wrote:

the most bizarre thing that happened to me was getting deactivated by service sense for asking for a $20 bonus on a shop.

Actually, that is not completely true.

@jay225 wrote:

I went to apply to a shop today only to see that I have been deactivated, making this the first company whose given me the boot. I called them and spoke to a woman who said the reason for this was that I sent them an email asking for a bonus on a shop a month ago, saying at one point "$6 won't get me out the driveway." I know this wasn't the nicest thing to say , but I did not disrespect them or use any profane language whatsoever in the email, the driveway line was as bad as it got. Isn't it a little oversensitive to boot me for that one sentence? This is 100% why they are getting rid of me, no other reason.

I find your caustic attitude towards schedulers to be bizarre.

I find you following me around in threads to be bizarre. I find your use of the word caustic to be bizarre(especially considering i wasn't being caustic and I have no vendetta towards schedulers as my post history would reflect that. i give credit to the great ones, and i'll call out the ones that try to screw me over... which i think was one time) I find how biased you are to be bizarre. I find you having an agenda to be bizarre. I find you talking out of your ass to be obvious.

Maritz called me once asking me to perform a gas station assignment over an hour away, with a $5 bonus. When I replied that I would need more than $5, she refused and said that "shoppers were begging for these assignments." Ok, so why are you calling me with a bonus?

The weirdest response I've gotten was when I asked for forty dollars to do a shop. The scheduler countered with, "Would you do it for fifty?"

One time a scheduler from MF called to offer me a bonus on a burger shop. She offered me a $5 bonus. Since I was a newbie and didn't know any better (and I was going to be in the area anyway) I agreed. She then said, "Well, since you're so nice I'll throw in another $10."

A scheduler called yesterday for a rural area that is hard to fill. I have shopped that location previously but decided it was just too far to drive for the money. So they called with a generous $5.00 bonus which I declined politely explaining the location was 65 miles from where I live. The bonus was then raised to $10 with a little pleading thrown in. My final offer was $30 at which point the scheduler said she would call me back when the bonus was larger. OK wth me as I really did not want to do the shop however if it makes me money I will do it - but not just as a "favor" for an overseas scheduler.

I received a call asking to do a $10 (requires purchase but nothing is reimbursed) bakery shop. I had received a $10 bonus in the past so I asked for that. He told me no and seemed really outraged and upset that I had asked. Really? You are going to call me and offer no bonus, then act like I'm crazy when I've received it in the past?!?! I don't want to risk any relationships with my schedulers and this was one of my first times saying no when I actually could have done the shop (no conflicts, not out of town, etc). Oh well.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

0_0

@LateRain wrote:

0_0

Sorry, that was meant to be for DareWright's $5 special. People are begging for them!

I offered via email to do this one locations shop for a fair $50 and since I've done it a few times in the past, I know what it'll cost me in time/money and know what they'll eventually offer it at, I feel that I gave a fair offer.

I get an email telling me how the MSC's calculate the costs and how the current amount offered is the highest they can go for it.

A week later, bonused to $60...

Wait another 3 days and thee last day they can have it done.. $120!

And here I was... Not being greedy and everything. Lol

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2016 07:07PM by timgordon2448.

A couple of years ago, I took a bonused shop about 30 miles/45 minutes' drive away from where I lived. I can't remember what the bonus was, but I am pretty sure it was not more than $10. He thanked me profusely and told me that his wife would have had to drive 2.5 hours to do the shop if I hadn't helped out.

Gas was over $3 an hour at the time. I was frustrated at myself for not asking for the amount his wife would have had to pay for gas.

Happens to me all the time. I just reply that I won't get in my car for less the X$ for a particular type of shop. I usually get some snide reply from the scheduler, but have had some accept my price. Some schedulers don't understand that it's a 2-way street.

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