MSC Reporting Inaccurate Mileage

The mileage shown for the majority shops is inaccurate information. Most of the scheduler's, I have conversed with has acknowledged this as truth.
Therefore, I hope fellow shoppers are mindful of this known fact when planning your routes or only shopping!

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Nobody really listens to the MSC when they suggest the mileage of a shop. Really the MSC is not reporting inaccurate mileage. It is just ignored. My mileage is from my residence to the shop based on the speedometer. To leave it up to the MSC, we are a half a mile from Timbuktu.

Accurate mileage is part of our business records not the MSCs.

I never go by their information. Unfortunately, they go by their information when giving bonuses.

The MSCs use the same distance calculator as is found on most job boards. It's a straight line on a map. Driving distance will always be more. Savvy schedulers will use a driving app to determine the driving distance between your address and the shop location, but this cannot be done for mass emails, only for individual communications. Truth be known, most bonuses are not dependent on distance. They are dependent upon the supply of shoppers available to complete specific locations. If you are the only shopper willing or available, even if you live next-door to the location you can set the price. However, the MSC still has the prerogative of simply not getting that location done for the client, and taking any attendant financial loss resulting from their failure, which may be more cost-effective than paying a lone shopper's exorbitant bonus demand.

I had a scheduler tell me that based on Google Maps, the city location from my suburban location was an easy 18 miles during rush hour.

I live here. I know what the traffic is like. $50 bonus.

I haven't heard from her since.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

You can turn on the traffic in Google Maps, and google will give a very accurate mileage and time result. The mileage given by MSCs is often from zip code to zip code, and that is approximate. I used to (and still do on long routes) use MS Streets and Trips which is pretty accurate, but I find that using Google Maps on the smartphone is very, very accurate and even accounts for traffic conditions and construction.

As has been noted, the majority of the platforms are 'zip code to zip code' based or linear. The distance is not based on a shoppers address, but whatever the generic start point is for ones zip code.

We all adjust our search distance based on trial and error. Shop Metrics is different than Sassie. A number of companies have their own platforms. Identify several known locations and use them to dial in the perimeter that works best for you.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2017 12:17PM by isaiah58.

I live in a area that surrounds a lake. As the crow flies, it might be 4 miles. My lake doesn't have a bridge and the dam wasn't built for vehicle traffic.

So yeah, my house is 8 miles from your location and I saw pigs fly yesterday.

My zip code and area code don't help. 17 years ago, you had to find out what the first 3 digits were in the 7 digit phone numbers. It wasn't unusual for the neighbor who only lived a couple of miles down the road to be long distance.

But in the scheduler's defense, my Garmin has now decided that the shortest and fastest distance for one of my routes takes me 20 miles north and on a road with slower speed limits.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!

It's all about them crow miles... I have some understanding schedulers in the rural areas. They don't understand that 75 miles is actually a 2.5 hour drive for me due to one lane roads without lines, gravel, and 25mph speed limits in many of the small towns. Hit a cow, pig, deer, elk, fowl, etc at 55 and you will have issues. Hit one at 25 and it may not be as bad. *shrugs*

MegglesKat

I had a scheduler argue with me that I was only 25 miles from the business location in Canada. I told her there were no bridges across the middle of Lake Erie.

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

Those 18 easy miles must have been for one of the easy and fun shops!

There are no easy miles where I live..every single mile is hard. But we do not often get offered bonuses and our city bonuses would have to be by time, not by mileage. If the scheduler uses an app to see the traffic (at 8 PM lets say) if they should happen to call me with a 25 c bonus that traffic will be much different the next day at 4 PM if I do the job then.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I had a scheduler tell me that based on Google Maps, the city location from my suburban location was an easy 18 miles during rush hour.

I live here. I know what the traffic is like. $50 bonus.

I haven't heard from her since.

I'm amazed by what some scheduler's think is close in distance. I've reminded more than one that 60 miles one way is not worth my while for anything less then $50 (and reimbursed fees on top of that). They almost always wish I still would do it anyways, I tell them it's out in the middle of nowhere, which is why no one else accepted their request either.

I don't think $50 is anywhere near enough for 120 miles round trip.

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.

I've had the same issue. A scheduler calls and wants me to do a shop with a $5 bonus and it's 120 miles away - one way! When I tell this person, the reaction is, "Really? It shows that it's ten miles from you." I just pull up google maps when I'm on the phone with schedulers.

The schedulers have no idea where we work or what our day to day activities are. They are trained to allow us to determine if the distance works for our situation.

I do feel that when it is the MSC reaching out to fill a hard to fill assessment, they need to be more flexible and understanding. When a shopper calls, asking for a bonus on a shop that is not hard to fill, how far away we are is meaninglessness to the scheduler. That's the area most shoppers have difficulty understanding, asking for a bonus just because....

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

Most of them seem to use the "center of this zip code to center of that zip code". That's why they keep trying to get me to do a shop that's 18.2 miles of bad road under construction from my house. I live on the far side of my zip code and it's on the far side of its zip code. They assure me it's under 15 miles. I mention the number of traffic lights and the miles of construction and the fact that there is no easy way to get there, and demand a sum that's three or four times the base pay. Lately, I've been getting it! Need to raise the price - it's not worth it, even at that.

The way they figure mileage is with a straight line, that is why never right!

I get those all the time saying it's only "12 miles to Seattle" Yes, across the Puget Sound on a ferry the shop won't even cover one way. Only one company I know pays tolls and ferry costs and I've been with them the longest.

I've had schedulers tell me the mileage the msc has is usually wrong. However, the other day a scheduler checked the mileage to one of my shops while on the phone. She said it was 31 miles one way. I thought that was low but trusted her. Looked it up later and it's 55 miles. BIG difference, and she even talked me into dropping the fee I usually get by $5. Not doing it next time. It's going to have to go up that $5 and maybe even a little more before I do it again.

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MSC Reporting Inaccurate Mileage

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