Last night, I agreed to do a shop this afternoon with a scheduler with a company for which I have never shopped before. Immediately after having agreed to do so, I went online and found the assigned shop. However, it seems I was assigned to do the shop in the wrong location. The incorrect location is certain within my area, but not one I can visit this afternoon. I immediately emailed the scheduler. After not hearing back for 12 hours, I emailed again. I need to perform the shop in three hours if I am going to do it... The scheduler is the only contact I have for the MSC and the only phone number I have is international - and to a nation where business is closed for the day.

I looked over the email thread and it is very clear which shop I was agreeing to do - we did not even discuss the location assigned. So... Do I perform the shop anyway and hope that we can correct the location when business opens later this evening? Do I simply not do the shop as it has been assigned incorrectly?

Any thoughts?

Similar has happened to me. I'd say as long as you emailed, you are safe...it is up to the scheduler to check.
I know MSC's do things differently, but mistakes happened.I was lucky, my scheduler answered immediately and took it off for me. Good luck.

Oh. Hrm. That depends on several factors. Obviously if it was a company I work for a lot I would just do the shop I requested. Since it isn't, hrm. I would not do the location assigned. If it were a company I wanted to work for I might go ahead and do the shop I requested. If it was a company that didn't seem particularly easy to get along with I probably wouldn't.

If I could do the shop I requested, I would do so and hope the scheduler can correct the assignment the next business day. That seems to leave the most options open for you.

This has never happened to me, but if I were trying to make inroads with the MSC, I'd do it, just as a show of good faith.

This happened to me once, and I e-mailed the scheduler. I didn't hear back from him, but the job was "unassigned" to me within a day.

If you can't do the job this afternoon because the scheduler assigned you to the wrong location, I wouldn't do it and wouldn't worry about it, as long as you tried in good faith to correct the situation well prior to the shop, which you did.

I hate to say this, but I wonder if schedulers sometimes make this "mistake" on purpose in order to complete shops at hard-to-fill locations.

It's been 20 hours since I emailed the scheduler about the blunder... I have done the shop - though not written it up as I only have access to the form for the incorrect location. I emailed the scheduler again - this time to let her know that I had done the shop. I've not heard anything yet.... Now my question is: Do I write up the shop I did do on the form for the wrong location if I don't hear anything? Hmmm....

Completing the report for the wrong location might make it tough for the scheduler to make the correction. I'd hold off.

Do I write up the shop I did do on the form for the wrong location if I don't hear anything? Hmmm.... NO.
To deliberately write up information on the wrong form is like falsifying your report. The scheduler you spoke to may not know the editor. And may not be able to verify anything you stated in the report.

On that form what you should write --------->I was unable to preform this shop or go to this location because based on a conversation with scheduler (her name) I was given a different address for the shop. However I did perform the shop at (address).

Let them know that you tried to contact them but was unsuccessful. if questions are raise send them the emails.

Next time, get email confirmation for any shop agreed or negotiated over the phone.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2017 02:34AM by sojo917.

It happened to me and I refused to accept the shop. I did not hear from the scheduler until I received a past due shop notice. I advised the scheduler that it was an incorrect location and I did not get any response to my email. So I did not accept the shop. Nothing happened... Eventually, the shop was removed from my log but it took a while. Longer than I had hoped.

Our conversation was over email, so the entire exchange was clearly available for review.

If I were to write the report on the incorrect form, I would have a note on it saying exactly what happened....

@sojo917 wrote:

Do I write up the shop I did do on the form for the wrong location if I don't hear anything? Hmmm.... NO.
To deliberately write up information on the wrong form is like falsifying your report. The scheduler you spoke to may not know the editor. And may not be able to verify anything you stated in the report.

On that form what you should write --------->I was unable to preform this shop or go to this location because based on a conversation with scheduler (her name) I was given a different address for the shop. However I did perform the shop at (address).

Let them know that you tried to contact them but was unsuccessful. if questions are raise send them the emails.

Next time, get email confirmation for any shop agreed or negotiated over the phone.

So... some developments.... 22.5 hours after I sent the email explaining the problem, I got response that said that the shop I had requested did not exist - implying that, therefore, she assumed that I was talking about the shop she assigned me. I explained that I was responding to an email that she sent and on which the shop I requested was, in fact, listed. (Her original email was still in the chain.) She then responded with a nice apology and said that she had fixed it. I got an automated email confirmation from the MSC saying that I had been assigned the correct shop. (Yay!) However...

When I logged into the site to do my report, the incorrect report was still there, but the correct one was not.... I am now awaiting another reply from the scheduler....

I am starting to wonder if this is a bad omen?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2017 04:30AM by MFJohnston.

Hopefully you didn't have to risk any of your own money on the shop. It sounds like they'll do the right thing so it may be just a system thing. You may want to ask the scheduler if there is a quicker way to contact her/them quicker when these issues arise. If not, i'd be very cautious of future jobs.

Well.... Three hours after I notified the scheduler that I still did not have the correct form online, I had to make a decision: Go to bed and miss the deadline for turning in the report or fill out the report for the incorrect location...

I filled out the report for the wrong location (the only form available to me) and left a note for the editor about the situation, being very clear that I knew that the report form was for a location different than the site which I was assigned and, therefore, visited. I went to bed.

This morning I woke to an email from the editor asking for an explanation for why my proof of visit did not match the location of the report form. The email also cc'd the scheduler and somebody else who I did not recognize. I sent a courteous response to all three, including a snip showing my confirmation email with the correct location and briefly explaining the issue.

As of this message, we are 34.5 hours past the time when I initially emailed the scheduler about being assigned to the incorrect location and 12 hours past the time when it was "fixed." I have put more effort into begging for the correct form to fill out than performing the shop or writing the report. My hope is to escape with the whopping $25 I am being paid for this shop... When that happens (I can be a stubborn PITA), I will decide whether or not this company is worth my time in the future.

Keep at it. That's the chance we all take when we work with a new company. So far, not impressive with the company responses. They sound uncoordinated.

Not saying the OP did anything wrong, but I would have approached this differently.

I would not have performed a shop at either location unless and until the correct location was listed in my shop log. This would be a new (to me) company and scheduler. So, no trust or goodwill had been built up and I would not be confident how the company would want me to proceed. If I had a long and healthy relationship with either the company or scheduler, I would be more likely to take a risk.

I would certainty not have filed a report using the wrong form. That would be compounding one person's mistake with my own, and making more work (e.g. for the editor) and complicating things more than necessary.

I performed the shop because I had already scheduled another stop next door. I was there and realized that, if I did not perform it then, I'd have to throw it back. ...

The write-up: I debated this... The MSC is very clear that shops cannot be accepted after the deadline had passed as the client would not accept them. I had a choice: fill out the report and hope or don't fill out the report and forgo the shop completely. I certainly would not be able to return to the location and repeat the shop.

My thinking: It was clear through email that I was assigned the shop and that I had agreed to do it on the specific day. The form online was identical to the one I needed, aside from the shop number. The form confusion is completely on the MSC. In the long run, it would be more work for the MSC to find another shopper to do they work than to take the form I submitted and simply change the shop number and location. Moreover, I wanted to make it clear that I did everything possible on my end to complete the work. I believe that the scheduler only checks email once every 24 hours, meaning that we'd be in a third day before this could possibly be resolved.

"The MSC is very clear that shops cannot be accepted after the deadline had passed as the client would not accept them." As you can see, that is not exactly the truth.

I can understand why you completed the location without clarification if it was only your time and you were there anyway. Reports completed on the wrong form usually are not as simple as just changing the shop number. The extra layer of confusion and additional emails was caused by submitting the wrong form. While I had not thought about this before, it makes sense for the POV to be compared to the location first to verify the correct location was shopped. The editor would not have seen your note until he or she was nearing the end of the report.

Honestly, I agree with gotshops and would not have completed the assignment until everything was verified and clarified in writing. If it meant the shop was late or I had to cancel the ultimate responsibility was on the MSC and scheduler. Ironically, a similar situation happened to me just this past Saturday morning. The scheduler did not respond with clarifications until 9 pm Saturday night. I had been close to the store Saturday afternoon. Since the shop was just a filler, I told her it would not be possible for me to return the following day.

Actually it is my understanding that switching shop locations within a form is very easy in sassie, but cannot be done in shopmetrics. So it really depends on the company.

I didn't say always because my experience with inputting into the wrong form was Prophet. Prophet was a PITA for the scheduler.

I filled out a form for a shop on the wrong form and then I had to completely redo it on the correct form. The report itself is no different, just the assignment info at the top of the form was different. And I had to have a lot of back and forth between the editor, the scheduler and me before getting the "opportunity" to redo the report.

It was for a similar mix up. I said I could do a restaurant at a particular time frame (end of month type of - please could I do it) The scheduler agreed on the meal time, but then assigned the wrong meal time. It was the weekend and I couldn't get an answer. So, I did it and e-mailed again. Finally entered the report which was at first rejected due to being the wrong meal time.

So, I would hesitate to do it again for any company.

And the saga goes on.....

I have not heard anything back from the scheduler or editor since my last post. It has now been almost 58 hours since I was assigned the wrong shop; 34 hours since my assignment was changed to the correct shop, but with the wrong evaluation form; and 26 hours since I responded to the editor's email clarifying the situation.

Online, my shop (with the wrong evaluation form) is in my "completed assignments" list, but does not have any notes, markings, etc. to clarify if it has been approved or not. I received a mass email from the scheduler 10 hours ago advertising "urgent" job openings. The list included the shop that I was assigned, but not the incorrect shop (whose form I used)....

I think I'll wait until Monday and see if anything progresses.... This is just weird. I am two days past the shop due date and still don't have access to the correct evaluation form.... I'm pretty tolerant of MSC's imperfections, but this one just might end up being the first on my 10' pole list...

If it was me, I'd absolutely stay away from them. They do not respond promptly and did not close out your situation. All it takes is one screwed up shop from them for $$$ and it hurts. It's not worth the aggravation.

I learned the hard way and am only speaking for myself. Working with about 8 MSC's for many years....we understand one another, and they are truly there to help. Making a mistake and scheduling a job that doesn't
work, has never been a problem. Relationship with your MSC is important, knowing your scheduler and having her regard you with value makes this easier. Selfish motivations on the part of a scheduler makes for an unhappy shopper, a desperate company, and (for me), I couldn't work for them. Moral of this post, be careful
who you work for, listen to the clues and if assigning yourself a job, do it. I receive thank you emails from wonderful companies like Customer Impact that truly appreciate a good loyal shopper. The ten foot pole is there for a reason.....

edited to add....I was with NSS, and now owed $$, nothing's perfect!!!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2017 03:01PM by Irene_L.A..

OP
It all began on June 7, a working weekday. I would have done an Internet search for the company phone number and relentlessly worked to find the right office to talk with them. Now it's the weekend, and I would have had to be concerned my entire weekend. Nooooooo

There are those shops with the yellow sticky notes. Just take care to read them.

While the report sits in limbo on the Clients desk, the MSC is trying to sort out the "problem". The Client will be in the position to accept the shop as is or reject it. Looking for answers from a MSC is not reporting a shop or submitting with "wrong" information. The "complete" analysis at the MSC reporting level might as well be a stall tactic.

Past due to Us, Shoppers, is not necessarily past due for the Client. Maybe this shop/MSC should be on a 10 foot pole until the relationship between Schedulers and Shoppers become a better cohesive feature.

A MSC or Client has not been mentioned. Perhaps the OP could inform of us as to "warn" us of the delinquencies of the MSC.

Hoping for the best for the Shopper/OP.

@Melody7 wrote:

OP
It all began on June 7, a working weekday. I would have done an Internet search for the company phone number and relentlessly worked to find the right office to talk with them. Now it's the weekend, and I would have had to be concerned my entire weekend. Nooooooo

There are those shops with the yellow sticky notes. Just take care to read them.

1) As mentioned above, I found two international phone numbers for the company.
2) It's $25. I was not going to spend my weekend consumed with it.
3) I prefer email communication for the most part for difficult situations because that documents our exchanges.

I'll mention the MSC once it has been resolved. Mistakes happen with every company. How we view them really depends on the resolution to the error. As this exchange is still very active, I'm waiting to name the company until all facts are in... (There is no need to skewer the company at this point. I have posted here with the idea of bouncing ideas off folks as I think through my approach.)

@sojo917 wrote:

While the report sits in limbo on the Clients desk, the MSC is trying to sort out the "problem". The Client will be in the position to accept the shop as is or reject it. Looking for answers from a MSC is not reporting a shop or submitting with "wrong" information. The "complete" analysis at the MSC reporting level might as well be a stall tactic.

Past due to Us, Shoppers, is not necessarily past due for the Client. Maybe this shop/MSC should be on a 10 foot pole until the relationship between Schedulers and Shoppers become a better cohesive feature.

A MSC or Client has not been mentioned. Perhaps the OP could inform of us as to "warn" us of the delinquencies of the MSC.

Hoping for the best for the Shopper/OP.

UPDATE:
Over the weekend, I received multiple "emergency" requests to do the shop that I had already done. Most were on a mass email with a list of shops available up and down the West Coast. The shop I performed was still listed. The shop whose form I used was not. This morning, I received a personal invite to do the shop that I actually performed - for almost double the price for which I actually did it.

My read: I scored well on the shop that I actually did and have been given a positive mark as a shopper - and, perhaps, the only one in the area. However, internally, the paperwork is still crossed and there is a disconnect between the project manager, editor, scheduler and database. If this is resolved, I am hoping to pick up the second shop with a large bonus. If it is not resolved, the MSC becomes the first on my 10' pole list.

So, I sent two very polite emails this morning. The first was to the scheduler, asking if she actually wanted the shop done that I did not complete. The second was to the editor, scheduler and project manager, reminding them of the confusing and asking if there was something more to be done. (As of this morning, I still don't have the correct evaluation form..)

MF - You are a glutton for punishment ! Hope it gets worked out for ya !