Why do schedulers keep doing this?

I see a job posting or receive an e-mail. I e-mail the scheduler: Good morning. I see you have a shop XXXXX in XXXXXX, XX, and perhaps I can do this shop. The town is 90 miles away; I would consider the job for $45, which is base rate plus travel. I am available on the 17th. Would you check and see if you can get the travel pay? I can be a little flexible, especially if you have other shops in the area that I can pick up. Thank you.

Next thing I know, I get an e-mail assigning me the shop, at base pay, and not on the 17th. At some incredibly unreal rate, like $6 and $1 reimbursement for a shop that's gonna cost me to print, and time to prep, perform, and report.

Which wastes even more of my time (and the scheduler's!) e-mailing the scheduler, or maybe even with a flake report if I cancel.

Am I wording my initial e-mail poorly? I mean ONLY to express interest; if I wanted this crummy shop at base pay, I'd just apply on-line!

Or is it a bad idea to express interest?

Of course, my first thought is just to add to my e-mail: do NOT assign me this shop without e-mailing me first.

But that seems somewhat rude, and more than a little insulting.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Schedulers

That is a bad thing for a scheduler to do. You're not at fault as your e-mail was pretty clear.

I agree. There was NO ambiguity in your writing. You couldn't have made it much clearer. That was just wrong of the scheduler and more wrong if they won't remove the shop without affecting your record with the company.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

Your inquiry was clear and to the point. It just makes me wonder if the scheduler was even reading your request or was trying to pull a fast one. Either way it is poor business practice.

Perhaps forward that email back to her and say that you were only expressing interest and sorry for the confusion. Please remove shop from my log.

I would make your email as absolutely brief as possible while stating your points, at least by half or more. They get tons and tons of emails at all times, and when it's longer probably just glance through them quickly, leading up to thinking you just want the job.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Or is it a bad idea to express interest?

That depends. Are you responding to a personal e-mail asking you to do a particular shop? Or have you seen the shop posted for a long time without being assigned? Or did you just see a relatively recently-posted shop hit the job board? If the job is relatively new, the scheduler may not be ready to bonus it. I would hate to be a scheduler getting e-mails from shoppers everywhere showing interest in shops I just posted, but only at a bonus. Can you imagine how many e-mails I would get if more than just a couple of shoppers sent e-mails.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Of course, my first thought is just to add to my e-mail: do NOT assign me this shop without e-mailing me first.

But that seems somewhat rude, and more than a little insulting.

I agree that adding that would be rude and insulting. I think your e-mail was clear, but schedulers do get tons and tons of e-mails all the time, and we all want a speedy answer when we e-mail them. I give her points for seeing your e-mail and responding. Of course, she loses points for not reading what you wrote and responding that she is not bonusing the shop at this time instead of just assigning it to you..

I would never e-mail unless a shop had been hanging and the bonus creeping up...with no takers.

I called one scheduler and said I'd do a specific job on the job board for $30...she said she couldn't do that, I said OK. A few days later she called me back and offered me $50. For the same job. The last scheduler who called offered $75 -- and I took that. Strangely, I would have done it for the initial $30 I asked for. The shop itself takes less than 10 minutes, the report is simple and fast. The last scheduler offered me $75 because the shopper who accepted it at the lower rate flaked -- she called 10 AM, it had to be done that day!

Of course, in my e-mails, I'm also VERY clear in the subject line, so if they aren't interested, they can delete it.
It doesn't bother me if I indicate interest and never hear anything back. I assume no answer is a "no" answer!

I like the e-mails that say "you don't need to reply to this e-mail if you're not interested in doing the shop at the stated pay". I read that as politely saying "please don't send bonus requests for these shops".

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2016 12:47AM by ceasesmith.

I had one scheduler that sent out an email and said shop X at Y location for $z. So I accepted and I got assigned the shop but the pay was way less than what the email said. I emailed the schedular about this and she tells me, oh that was for another location, I cant offer you that amount. So I said I can send you the email which shows only one location and she still stalled. Then came back and give me the amount specified on.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Why do schedulers keep doing this?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine