Okay, veteran shoppers, you know who you are.

With graduation to advanced, more complex shops comes the opportunity to make advanced, more complex mistakes, that will cause everyone at the MSC and the client level to grind their teeth before asking us if we would like to Confirm" the totally contradictory statements that we made in the narrative about paying cash or credit (credit) and whether or not we were given correct change, not to mention that the associate from location A of this client was named as the one at location B, and visa versa. I am guilty, guilty, guilty! Do you hear me! Bang head against wall. Find shop notes. Shop notes indicate that I somehow managed to mix-and-not-match my shop notes from 300 Street A and those from 301 Street A.

Wait a minute! That is not an advanced mistake at ALL. Clearly it is a fundamental, rookie shopper mistake. Made on a sort of shop that had all sorts of possibilities for making really "advanced" mistakes. Hang head, blush.

Seriously, if you are a new shopper, it really is the simple, fundamentals that will haunt you if you take your eye off the ball, as I most certainly did. Time for a deep breath and to be thankful that the project manager calmed down the client and is willing to have me continue.

Been there, done that! The same bank name, address same street, mixed up the report! I did not get paid for either.

I feel you...I just drove quite a way to an outlet mall. Did multiple shops. Profitable day. Then I start doing all my reports and I forgot to take a pic of the store front of one of the locations and had to drive all the way back for just this picture. duh. There was a short list of requirements and this was one of them. All my fault. There went another ten bucks in gas.

I"m pretty sure it's going to happen to everyone from time to time, no matter how seasoned we become. The phrase "human error" exists for a reason.

I had done 7 shops in one day (a lot for me) and the reports were all due by midnight. At 11:40 PM I realized I didn't have an exterior picture of an appliance store. I was ready for bed, but I had to get dressed again and drive back there. Luckily, it was only about a 10 minute drive each way. No traffic at that hour.

I shopped the wrong grocery store this week. Same street slightly different address, didnt catch it till I was uploading my receipt. Opps!

The chief cause of human errors is to be found in the prejudices picked up in childhood.
~Rene Descartes


Soooo... ummmm... does this mean we can blame our typos on our upbringing? ("Why, yes, madam or sir editor, I have an identified bias against the number five. While the story behind that is fascinating, it is lengthy, and I know that you have many other biases to emend. I won't take up any more of your valuable time with the explanation of how my childhood has produced an error which may have a statistical impact on the outcome of your work, at least to the extent that four is not the same as five as this relates to your scale of measurement. But may it be noted that both words have four letters. And talking of four, may I remind you that there is another fascinating story about four- letter words..."

That reminds me of some of the dumb things I did when beginning. Got home and finished entering reports from the previous day. When I got to the current day's shops. I kept entering the previous day's date. Oops.I sorted it out with the other MSCs, but Marketforce was not amused and did not pay me for three nicely bonused shops. I never made that mistake again.

My latest mistake is minor by comparison. I made a u-turn today and drove back 50 miles to do a 15-minute shop that was across the street from my last shop. I'm just glad it wasn't 150 miles, which is what it would have been if I hadn't snapped.

Just today, I messed up too. I drove to my assigned location and was about to enter the store. I quickly looked over the guidelines once more and 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM jumped out at me. It was 5:16 PM. OOPS..missed that little tidbit..drove 16 miles out of my way and wasted some time, but could have been worse. Luckily, the company was understanding and I was able to reschedule for next week. .

Today must be seasoned shop make simple mess up day. I have an airport with 3 different parking lots I shop every month. I had previously done what I will call LOT A earlier in the month. So today I plan to do what we shall call LOT B. So what does dummy do follows the signs to arrive at LOT A. Luckily I realize this drive straight to the exit which has luckily 10 minute free grace period and then go to LOT B to do the correct LOT. I will do LOT 3 tomorrow or Sunday. Then next month rinse and repeat without stupid mistake hopefully.

Edited for Grammar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2017 05:22AM by BuffaloNY101.

It happens. I booked a ticket (international) one day later to arrive than I needed last year. $200 change fee (eaten by my partner - bless him). Still frustrating when you make silly little mistakes.

Just breathe.

I had a rookie day today! I have two phone shops on the same street. I did one today and submitted the report, before I noticed that I submitted the data into the wrong report. I later submitted the data into the correct report and got it completed. But, it will take an act of God to get Maritz to understand why I need the other report released back to me.

I did a third phone shop today, 15 miles from home. Leslie - I too forgot the picture and had to return. It was a rough day for sure. It's 1:00 AM and I'm winding down from writing reports all night by visiting the forum.

Been there too. I did a Ross P & R shop but performed it at the wrong location that I did not get assigned to. There were 2 Ross stores within a 10 minute drive and in the same city. Luckily the scheduler was nice enough to give me the wrong location as my shop and had my assigned shop placed onto the job board for someone else to do that location.

I didn't pay attention to my time input on back to back shops and overlapped the times. My second shop was invalidated. I haven't done that for almost 10 years. Check times carefully

Today only got better. I did a breakfast shop this morning at my favorite restaurant. Totally spaced on taking pictures of the food before I eat it. Hell, I didn't take any pictures of the food at all. Hopefully, the scheduler will let me repeat next Saturday.

I have a good idea why I've made so many mistakes the last few days. I'm overworking myself. I work full-time and I shop what hours are left in the day. By the time I finish the reports it's bedtime. I'm fried.

1) I walked into a Computer Store. Had an interaction with an associate. He hit all his marks. He ended with giving me his business card. I geo-verfied my location and headed home. Later that night I sat down to begin my report. It was then and only then I realized I had been in an Apple store when I was supposed to be next door at the Microsoft store. --- After a good laugh at my own mistake, I asked for and was given an extension for this one.

2) My first shop with a new to me company. I completed the shop, and the report, when as I was uploading the reciept I realized I had gone to the wrong location (same street name, different street number). --- Amazingly I got paid for that one and I still do shops for them to this day.

3) Same company as above. Travelled 6.5 hours (due to a snow storm which was not predicted) to and from the location (3.5 there, 3 back). I did the shop. Then left the bag with my receipt in it on the bus before taking a photo of it. --- Thankfully they accepted my Credit Card Receipt in lieu of my Itemized Receipt for this one. I think my scheduler took pity on me.

And finally,

4) I was conducting a Credit Card Inquiry Shop. When the Credit Card Representative asked me for ID, I handed her my copy of the Credit Card she was trying to get me to sign up for, instead of my Photo ID. --- Luckily she believed me when I told her it was my friends' Credit Card, not mine.

Gas station mystery shop today. Bought my 2 gallons of gas, went inside and did my thing there and left. As I enter the interstate heading to the next shop it dawns on me I didn't press the button to get the pump receipt. I drive to the next exit, turn around, come back, and buy 2 more gallons of gas. The cashier looked like an aging stoner (no proof either way...just appearance). I'm wondering if I blew his mind thinking he was having a deja vu moment.

Must have been a bad day for a lot of us. I did a restaurant shop in the airport and forgot to take a picture of my food. I'm not sure if I will have to re-shop or not.

Did a walk-in fast casual, had a nice lunch, and the location did a great job. Get home and start report only to remember that this was a phone ahead shop and not a walk-in. After feeling like a complete idiot for awhile, I checked the MSC website and was relieved to find out I could self reschedule the shop for the next day. Ended up completing the shop the following day, at a net loss, just to complete my obligation to the MSC. I guess it wasn't a total loss since I got decent lunches for two days.

I tend to be pretty hard on myself when I make a mistake. I just have to take a deep breath and remind myself that "Stuff Happens" in life!

Update on my gas shop: I entered it, uploaded pictures....AND FORGOT TO SUBMIT IT!

Got an email from the MSC today saying that they had submitted it for me. Derp.

I don't think this was my mistake but the MSC will not pay me. I had a shop at a hospital cafe....& the hospital has 2 cafes. I called the scheduler & emailed her asking "which cafe?" I asked a few days before so she would have time to respond. She never answered. So I went to the hospital & saw that 1 cafe was really small but the other was a good size, so I shopped the good sized one. After I turned in the report the scheduler said it was the wrong cafe. But she NEVER told me the correct one! So I never got paid. Or rembursed for my lunch I had to buy there.

I did not get paid for my Restaurant shop at the airport. Pictures are now needed. My fault! I asked to reschedule.

A couple of Fridays ago, I had the kind of day where with everything I did, something went wrong. I was telling my husband on the phone about my bad day as I stopped at my gas station audit. I said, "What else could possibly go wrong?" I hung up, and got halfway through the audit before it dawned on me that I was at the wrong location. Jumped back in the truck and headed to the correct location. But, I wished I had not scheduled anything for that day and just stayed home.

@nc wrote:

I don't think this was my mistake but the MSC will not pay me. I had a shop at a hospital cafe....& the hospital has 2 cafes. I called the scheduler & emailed her asking "which cafe?" I asked a few days before so she would have time to respond. She never answered. So I went to the hospital & saw that 1 cafe was really small but the other was a good size, so I shopped the good sized one. After I turned in the report the scheduler said it was the wrong cafe. But she NEVER told me the correct one! So I never got paid. Or rembursed for my lunch I had to buy there.

I would have kept contacting the scheduler and would have rescheduled if necessary due to a late response. Clearly it was not reasonable for the MSC to fail to specify the target location, but it was also not smart for you to just guess--as you have already discovered. Live and learn.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Did a walk-in fast casual, had a nice lunch, and the location did a great job. Get home and start report only to remember that this was a phone ahead shop and not a walk-in. After feeling like a complete idiot for awhile, I checked the MSC website and was relieved to find out I could self reschedule the shop for the next day. Ended up completing the shop the following day, at a net loss, just to complete my obligation to the MSC. I guess it wasn't a total loss since I got decent lunches for two days.

I tend to be pretty hard on myself when I make a mistake. I just have to take a deep breath and remind myself that "Stuff Happens" in life!

I keep all of my basic shop information on a spreadsheet, including the location, date(s), and any unusual specifics like call-ahead or drive-through. I find it's easier to have this sort of thing all in one place rather than having to read through the paperwork to remind myself.

@silver12 wrote:

@nc wrote:

I don't think this was my mistake but the MSC will not pay me. I had a shop at a hospital cafe....& the hospital has 2 cafes. I called the scheduler & emailed her asking "which cafe?" I asked a few days before so she would have time to respond. She never answered. So I went to the hospital & saw that 1 cafe was really small but the other was a good size, so I shopped the good sized one. After I turned in the report the scheduler said it was the wrong cafe. But she NEVER told me the correct one! So I never got paid. Or rembursed for my lunch I had to buy there.

I would have kept contacting the scheduler and would have rescheduled if necessary due to a late response. Clearly it was not reasonable for the MSC to fail to specify the target location, but it was also not smart for you to just guess--as you have already discovered. Live and learn.

You're right---I shouldn't have just guessed. But after contacting her many times WITH NO ANSWER, there wasn't any more time left. The shop was due. So, I think it was BOTH our faults. After the shop the scheduler wrote back to me & said she couldn't get it clarified...so she never wrote to me. This whole thing was a fiasco.

@Lady Marius wrote:

4) I was conducting a Credit Card Inquiry Shop. When the Credit Card Representative asked me for ID, I handed her my copy of the Credit Card she was trying to get me to sign up for, instead of my Photo ID. --- Luckily she believed me when I told her it was my friends' Credit Card, not mine.

Ha, Ha, or maybe instead of believing you your target did not want to give up a commission after spending all that time with you...and she had to drive through a snowstorm that day to get to work and wanted to make it worthwhile so she let that little issue slide and hoped for the best.