Hi,

I'm new to these boards and have mystery shopped on and off for several agencies for several years. I'm about to tell a long story - sorry in advance! But I figured if I'm asking what you'd have done it would help if I didn't miss any part of it out.

I've recently joined a new MSC. My first impressions were positive as the application process used online forms in a similar format that many other MSC's use for the shop reports as well. I presumed that submitting a report with them would be similar.

Having been accepted and completed a training module for a specific brand with a test at the end I was all set and signed up for a mystery shop. It is one of the MSC's who give an outline of a brief before you sign up and then you get the full details after. Without giving too many details it was a shop that involved buying specific items, leaving and returning said items 10 minutes later. It was only having accepted the shop I discovered the list of items I had to buy. It's quite likely that if I had known the specific items earlier that I'd need to purchase I'd have passed on the assignment - most items in this store would fit in a regular trolley and the examples given in the training certainly would. However being my first shop for this MSC I was reluctant to start with a cancellation having accepted it, even if several of these items would need one of the spring loaded flatbed type trolley.

I did the shop as per the brief. The items turned out to be bulky and it was a pain to manoeuvre around the store. As they wouldn't fit in the car it meant I had to stand out in the car park in the rain taking all the photos requested. I returned said items and left the area.

I also had another mystery shop to do in a different town for a different MSC but I had taken my IPad to complete the report whilst all the information was as fresh in my mind as possible. So I stopped at a half way point - well away from anyone who could possibly have been connected to the shop to potentially peer in and see what I was typing. It's at this stage issues began as it turns out this MSC uses a different system to report than their application and training process - this one uses flash so can not run on apple products. I figured that it would have been a useful thing for them to mention before but it would have to wait untill I got home to the PC so carried on my way.

That evening after successfully completing the other visit I settled in to write this report and upload the requested photos (18 in total). I first opened Chrome and tried loading it there - no luck, so tried in another browser, Firefox, with still no luck. I spent quite a bit of time trying various different settings in both those browsers and sill the report will not load.

On the MSC's FAQ page it does say that there is no alternative way to submit a report other than using their system. It does however advise you the procedure if you can not get the report to load. So I follow that procedure and detail everything I had already tried to get this report to load. I got an onscreen ticket number and without a helpline number or email there was nothing else I figured I could do.

At this stage I was expecting to write this off as a mildly annoying assignment but with potential entertainment value in the retelling (the trolly suitable for such large items had a mind of its own and the shop layout was not really friendly for such turns!)

Later that night I got an automated email to tell me that the report was late. The instructions in this email said to reply and let them know why. So I did, explaining what had happened, that I had followed the instructions for this event and gave the ticket number I had submitted already. Over the next couple of days there was a delayed exchange via email which basically said try it on a laptop (which I don't have) and finally sending me a word version of the form.

I complete the form and query the instructions about uploading the photos into the word document. There were already several in the document because of the questions and I had another 18 to add. To me that sounded like it would be too big for most email servers not to take issue with. Having not heard anything back I emailed to chase it 24 hours later. At this stage I get told to upload the images and send the report via email.

As instructed I upload the images and send it via email. As I had suspicions it wouldn't reach them I asked them to confirm it had arrived - I heard nothing. Presuming that it hadn't reached them and mindful they wanted it with photos in the document rather than separate I then sent it as a zip file to make it smaller.
Again no acknowledgement- I did get a cancellation email saying please don't complete this shop, I replied to say too late it's already done and I've sent the report to you as instructed manually twice but no response.

At this stage I was mildely annoyed that I had spent all this time on a shop with no payment. Whilst it wasn't some of the rediculously small payments some MSC offer it still was only an average payment and was taking more work than other recent high paying assignments.

A few days later I get an email asking if I could help the MSC out and do a mystery shop for them - the same assignment detailed above. I replied explaining what had happened that I already done the shop, completed the form with images and sent it over. Whilst I wouldn't redo the shop again without solving the reporting issue I was happy to resend the manual report I'd already completed for them. Again no reply.

Since then I've had two other requests to do this same shop with the last one asking for a reply even if I couldn't complete the shop. I've given the same reply but am not holding out much hope of hearing back from this last one.

Needless to say this isn't a MSC I'll be accepting more assignments from - I don't see the point if there's no way for me to then submit the report. I've double checked to see if there was any mention in all earlier process about them using a flash based reporting system and there is nothing (e.g. I've had other MSC's in the past who use reports submitted via Excel so they checked if I have access to Excel)

In theory the PC I use is compatible with flash, as with many IT issues the theory and what's happening in practice does not appear to be the same! As far as I can see I did everything requested. I communicated with their support everything I tried. With some of my other MSC's I have help line numbers to speak in real time to someone, others a specific named contact to email - I had nothing in this instance.

I've yet to decide if I'll lodge a complaint with them - not because of the failure for the report to load. I'd question why they're using a reporting system that can't be opened on Apple products but IT issues happen it's the lack of communication after I've done what they've requested and tried to communicate with them that I find annoying.

Meanwhile I figured I'd see what learning I could take from this. So my question is what would you have done?

Jen

Were/are you out any $$ for this shop? Purchase/return sounds like you got it back, you may just be out the time and effort. If it's just icing on the cake you're after, I'd pursue it as much as it's worth to you, once or twice, then cut your losses and move on. If it's triple digit pay (please tell me who the MSC is!) then fight for it.

Time is worth more than the $$, every time.

Wow. You did your due diligence. And you can't be the first person who had trouble with a Mac who couldn't get the shop reported. There are some settings you. Can fix in safari that might fix it. I'll look it up when I'm not in the car. Were you able to talk to them over the phone? That needed to be a phone conversation. I think you did everything you could and did everything right not taking more of the same shops.

We want to know the name of the MSC so that we can make informed decisions!

No I'm not out of pocket, I was refunded exactly the same amount. I'm just out purely with the time aspect. No where near triple digit (I'm UK based and don't ever recall seeing 3 digit shops -unless you include a reimbursement fee for something you're keeping. Though that could also be down to the fact I don't do video shops and usually only accept shops that look like they'll be relatively straight forward. I know shops often don't flow the way the questions for the scenario expect
I won't name the MSC in case I do escalate and give them the chance to respond. I think it's recently merged into a multinational brand but I may be misinterpreting some info there. So perhaps I've just been really unlucky with hitting a period of re-organisation. It bemused me that a company that spends all its time reporting on others customer service was providing such terrible service themselves.

Oh didn't realise there were settings for that in Safari - that's potentially useful to know in the future. Mind you I seldom encounter things that use flash anymore. Until this shop I thought it had already been phased out
Thanks for the offer - they didn't seem to be paying above average for those sorts of shops so really not sure I'll mess with the setting just now. I find it hard to imagine I'll accept another shop for them in the near future.
I agree with your comment that I can't be the first with an apple product to have encountered it. I'm presuming that the issue with my PC was some random clash of programs installed already 'cos otherwise that's everyone using at least my version of windows and I can't imagine they'd stay in business if so many can't submit reports. I also know other people have shopped without issue for them so it's not some scam to get personal info.
I possibly noticed it more because the shop I did on the same day was for a company who I also recently signed up with and they were the complete opposite - they answered my emails quickly, even last thing on a Friday, and thanked me when I emailed to give a "heads up" about a quirk with their mystery shop visit. The comparison between the experience with the two MSC couldn't have been wider.
No I had no phone number for them, at least not one for the UK, so I couldn't call them or a named person to directly email as I had several different people responding over time during the email.

I must say that you need to start with a much smaller project and get used to the MSC first. If you are not fully sure of the Guidelines ask for them first. I have emailed my schedulers and stated that I could not except a shop without the complete Guidelines. I have almost always received them. If I don't get the Guidelines I won't do the shop. Most of the time for the money it is just not worth it. Each company is very different of their requirements.

@shopper8 wrote:

I must say that you need to start with a much smaller project and get used to the MSC first. If you are not fully sure of the Guidelines ask for them first. I have emailed my schedulers and stated that I could not except a shop without the complete Guidelines. I have almost always received them. If I don't get the Guidelines I won't do the shop. Most of the time for the money it is just not worth it. Each company is very different of their requirements.

Oh I can quote! That's really valid point. As it happens in this instance this was the smallest project I could do (there was a burger buying one but as I can't eat gluten and that brand doesn't offer a gluten free alternative I didn't even look at that one) I'd deliberately hadn't chosen a much higher paying but more involved project till I saw what they were like. It's a good point about asking for more details, I'll think I'll be doing that in future, thanks shopper8. Most of the companies I regularly shop with show the full brief, some even the questionnaire so you can make an informed decision but for the ones who don't I'll now be emailing.

There are MANY companies I have reporting problems with. Mostly on the SASSIE platform. Pages won't load, lines of text are missing, I hit submit & get a screen that says I'm trying to send "too big" of whatever it is...etc., etc.

Have you fully explored the website for the company? Many have a "help" section. Many give more details (like who the scheduler is, and how to contact support) sort of hidden in the shop info -- you have to go through different screens to find the info.

As for me, by now I would have cut & run.

Best of luck.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2017 02:35AM by Robin2.

I feel for you. I didn't know anyone used Apple products to do mystery shopping; I would assume you would need android / windows for this work.

@spicy1 wrote:

I feel for you. I didn't know anyone used Apple products to do mystery shopping; I would assume you would need android / windows for this work.

Hi spicy1, I use an iphone and ipad and have not had any problems. She said the MSC that makes you accept the shop to see the guidelines so I'm assuming MF? I've had my share of issues with them over the past month and I never have real issues with any jobs.

@ceasesmith wrote:

There are MANY companies I have reporting problems with. Mostly on the SASSIE platform. Pages won't load, lines of text are missing, I hit submit & get a screen that says I'm trying to send "too big" of whatever it is...etc., etc.

Have you fully explored the website for the company? Many have a "help" section. Many give more details (like who the scheduler is, and how to contact support) sort of hidden in the shop info -- you have to go through different screens to find the info.

As for me, by now I would have cut & run.

Best of luck.

I sort of expect that with anything IT related that from time to time issues will crop up. I used to work in a company as a trainer and could guarantee when training new starters on the computer systems that at some stage the computer system would do something unexpected. I used to use it as a learning opportunity to show how we'd handle it if something unexpected happened when with a customer!

But so far SASSIE I've not had any trouble with. Not having been able to load it I can't confirm that this isn't that but from some of screenshots in their FAQ section it looks different to the SASSIE system, it looks more bespoke.

Had a hunt on the website and couldn't locate any additional info that wasn't in the brief. Each time I've been emailed to ask if I can help do this assignment it's been by a different person. I can only guess that there isn't a specific person in charge of this allication which is probably why there's very little ownership being taken at their end.

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

@spicy1 wrote:

I feel for you. I didn't know anyone used Apple products to do mystery shopping; I would assume you would need android / windows for this work.

Hi spicy1, I use an iphone and ipad and have not had any problems. She said the MSC that makes you accept the shop to see the guidelines so I'm assuming MF? I've had my share of issues with them over the past month and I never have real issues with any jobs.

I enter most shops via my IPad with minimal issues, if it's an Excel spreadsheet my preference is to use a PC but that's just me. I can usually enter the details in sooner via an IPad, especially if I have more than one physical shop scheduled on a day - it means I can enter the details whilst the info is still fresh in my memory. Usually sat in my car in a car park in a different town!

MF is MarketForce? I ask because being in the UK I am registered on the Market Force European system. I seldom shop for them because their pay seldom covers full reimbursement so I'll only do shops for stuff I'd be getting anyway. But on the European system we can see the full brief and the questionnaire before we accept. (This situation isn't them)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2017 11:49AM by Anotherjen.

If it isn't Market Force, it would help if you provided the name of the mystery shop company. You didn't name the client so it should be alright to name the mystery company. In the states here, MF doesn't let us see the assignment details until after we accept it.
I use iMac to enter reports and between chrome and safari I am able to enter all different company reports but there are quirks occassionally.