Mostly frustrated which is why I decided to write. I received an email asking if I would take a shop(s) that was close to being due. I accepted and did the shops on Saturday. The drive was about 45 minutes 1-way. I followed the instructions, completed both shops, returned home, completed the report. I took pictures of business cards and other documents required and uploaded to the report. Ooops! I forgot to take the picture of the store from the outside. I immediately sent an email to the scheduler and asked if I could still go back the next day (Sunday) and take the missing pictures (had submitted both reports). I did not hear back, so I was under the impression all was good until the next business day (Monday). I received an email on that Monday morning advising that both shops had been removed and that I would NOT be paid. All that work, the drive, time, gas, and not get paid? i contacted the scheduler and was told there was nothing that she could do.

Have any of you been through something like this? I enjoy mystery shopping and interacting with people. Sometimes, people make mistakes, but to not be paid because of (1) missing picture, in my opinion, is not right. I believe that the shopper should at least be paid a percentage of the shop. When a person is trying to make some extra money to meet financial need and does not get paid, is tough. Please, any advice or is there any recourse? The company still gets a full report with proof of visit, just not that (1) picture. So ultimately, the client still benefits and doesn't have to pay out. It's just wrong, in my opinion. Thanks.....mezimmie

While there are some unscrupulous people in any business, in general most companies want to pay you if they can. In this case, it is doubtful they were able to send the shop to their client. Since they did not get paid for the shop, you would not get paid either. Because the shop was not complete they now have to go out and find someone else to go do the shop. Most companies had much, MUCH rather get your shop accepted by the client than go through the trouble of getting someone else to do the shop.

That's a tough situation though as some clients would accept that shop and some would not. And it's really the client not the MSC. I have done video shops for 2 different clients for the same MSC that I forgot to check the restroom. One accepted the shop, the other would not. Since it was a weekend that also makes it tough considering unless it's a company you're familiar with you have no idea if the scheduler would be checking mail on a weekend or not. I'm not sure what I would have done. If the fees were good, I would have gone on Sunday to take the photos and emailed them to the scheduler or editing team if I knew how to get in contact with them.

@mezimmie wrote:

Mostly frustrated which is why I decided to write. I received an email asking if I would take a shop(s) that was close to being due. I accepted and did the shops on Saturday. The drive was about 45 minutes 1-way. I followed the instructions, completed both shops, returned home, completed the report. I took pictures of business cards and other documents required and uploaded to the report. Ooops! I forgot to take the picture of the store from the outside. I immediately sent an email to the scheduler and asked if I could still go back the next day (Sunday) and take the missing pictures (had submitted both reports). I did not hear back, so I was under the impression all was good until the next business day (Monday). I received an email on that Monday morning advising that both shops had been removed and that I would NOT be paid. All that work, the drive, time, gas, and not get paid? i contacted the scheduler and was told there was nothing that she could do.

Have any of you been through something like this? I enjoy mystery shopping and interacting with people. Sometimes, people make mistakes, but to not be paid because of (1) missing picture, in my opinion, is not right. I believe that the shopper should at least be paid a percentage of the shop. When a person is trying to make some extra money to meet financial need and does not get paid, is tough. Please, any advice or is there any recourse? The company still gets a full report with proof of visit, just not that (1) picture. So ultimately, the client still benefits and doesn't have to pay out. It's just wrong, in my opinion. Thanks.....mezimmie

Sorry to hear your frustration and I'm sorry you won't get paid because because you made an ooops.

The problem here is that you are an independent contractor not an employee. You are running a small business.
While I know you are upset that you spent a lot of time doing the the report, you are trying to make extra money to meet financial need, and it frustrates you that you made a mistake, none of that matters. If you do the assignment wrong, you don't get paid. I doubt it will help you feel less frustrated, but the client probably did not benefit from your report. Since you did not provide all the client requirements, and the MSC did not approve your report, the report was almost certainly not shared with the client. Most MSCs know their client's requirements and they know if the client is likely to accept a mistake or not. If a mistake is not something their client will accept, the MSC will not make themselves look bad by sending the report to the client. It's a pretty good bet that they trash-canned your report and that another mystery shopper was assigned to do it over. That's who will get paid.

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

That is frustrating but it would be hard for the MSC to pay you a percentage of the fee because they had to assign the shop to someone else and will have to pay that person the whole fee. I almost had an oops yesterday as well. I did a shop at a restaurant and accidentally threw away the receipt. Fortunately I realized what I did while driving home; I turned around and went back. The cashier was able to find my receipt in their system and print me a new one.

i drove away from a shop site and had to zoom back in a mini-panic as i had missed my photo.

You have my sympathy, but I imagine you learned the value of jotting down a checklist, as did I that day.

I agree it would not be possible for MSCs to constantly pay contractors a partial fee for incorrect shops. Let's say you hire a plumber to install a toilet. They install it but leave out a crucial part which makes it unusable. You now have to pay another plumber to redo the installation. The first plumber bills you because he had to drive 45 minutes each way. Would you pay him?

I know your frustration. Been there done that. We all learn from our mistakes. I did have a shop close to my home and they allowed me to go back and take a picture that I missed, but it was the same day. I guess it depends on the MSC. I agree with the above answers, I don't believe that the MSC would turn in your reports and get paid, that pic is probably the most important.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I agree it would not be possible for MSCs to constantly pay contractors a partial fee for incorrect shops. Let's say you hire a plumber to install a toilet. They install it but leave out a crucial part which makes it unusable. You now have to pay another plumber to redo the installation. The first plumber bills you because he had to drive 45 minutes each way. Would you pay him?

Most reasonable people would give the first plumber the opportunity to correct his mistake before hiring a second plumber. Assuming they did a good job otherwise and there weren't any other issues with the plumber. There is a very common thing in the construction trade called a "punch list" which is a list of things that weren't done correctly the first time and need to be redone before calling the project complete.

Unfortunately for us mystery shoppers, we rarely get the opportunity to correct mistakes. We have to be perfect on the first go-round. That is just the nature of the beast in this business.

Don't get discouraged and use it as a learning point. I bet you won't forget to take that photo again! It sucks that you will not be paid, but put your energy in trying to make sure the mistake never happens again. Many of us have been in the same position.

Did you take the picture of one of them? You should get paid for that one. Yea, I know, it blows when we make a mistake. I would have turned around and ate the time and gas and got the pic if it was still daylight. Could the assignment have been completed the next day? I've had to re-do a shop the next day, lucky I could.

As I shared in my original email, I did send an email to the scheduler as soon as I realized I had not taken that crucial picture. However, I did not hear back from her until Monday morning when she told me that they (the Client) had removed the (2) shops. She also said that Saturday was the last day of that series of shops. That is why I guess I question whether these shops were given to someone else. I have checked back on their Job site, but those jobs have not shown back up. I also asked her if she could go to bat for me and she said "No" that could not be done because Saturday was the last day. In her Monday morning email, she did however tell me that I should have gone back to get that picture and re-submitted the shop. Being naive and all, I thought that I would need permission before re-submitting, but by that time, it was too late. I will definitely know better next time and keep my check list close by. Thank you..................

What I really really hate is if you have to make a purchase, get a business card, use the Geoverfy App and take a picture of the place that is date and time stamped.

how were you able to submit your report if you were missing a photo since most report software would not allow you submit the incomplete report? Here's a suggestion of how you could have handled it. Drive back to location even though it was a pain in the ass to do so. Email scheduler to inform her of your goof and attach the photo to the email if it was possible. By the way, the MSC cannot submit an incomplete report to their client. It would make the MSC look incompetent in the client's eyes. The client is relying on getting a full completed report. So if the MSC has a record of submitting incomplete reports to the client then the client would go elsewhere to another MSC.

If you kept track of your mileage and any other expenses the good news is you can still claim it on your taxes as a business loss.

I agree under most circumstances the original contractor would be given the chance to correct the error, but was responding to this statement from the OP, "I believe that the shopper should at least be paid a percentage of the shop."

Maybe I'm lucky, assuming the mistake can be corrected I have always been given the opportunity.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Most reasonable people would give the first plumber the opportunity to correct his mistake before hiring a second plumber. Assuming they did a good job otherwise and there weren't any other issues with the plumber. ........

Unfortunately for us mystery shoppers, we rarely get the opportunity to correct mistakes. We have to be perfect on the first go-round. That is just the nature of the beast in this business.

This is a bummer not getting paid however we have all been there. I did a Business Verification with 10 pic's and when finished the client decided he wanted a couple more specific pictures. i had to again set up an appt. and return to take pic...didn't get a cent more and spent another 40 minutes. I did get paid, but it wasn't what I signed up for. Just lean from experience and hope it will be the last. This isn't a perfect gig, learn to swallow and move on.....

I can sympathize with Irene's situation. Irene did the job and did it according to the guidelines and then the client decided they wanted additional photos, which Irene did and it required another appointment. She was paid the agreed amount, despite making another trip and doing additional work. I think when the client asked for additional photos after the report was completed, that should have involved another fee for that second visit. Basically, the client got two mystery shops for the price of one.

The OP was not paid because she did not complete the requirements of the assignment. Her report was not usable and could not be submitted to the client. I'm confused by the OP's post. She's been doing this for 5+ years and she doesn't get that she won't be paid for not correctly completing an assignment?

I don't swallow any of that! If I did the shop according to the guidelines they need to pay me. If they want extra work they have to pay for it. If I forgot a photo then I need to get the photo or eat the shop and possibly future work.

I didn't want to risk losing this company and client as I work for them in my town. Instead of risking losing all the work and fee. I did swallow it and continued but it hurt....I did get paid, this was an error in the clients instructions and I the shopper paid for it, sometimes that happens.....I'm not sure what I'd do if it happens again.

That's really weird that the *client* would have removed a shop on the weekend. Smells fishy to me. If they truly didn't get paid, I can see why you wouldn't. I would, however, ask them to send you documentation stating that the report was not going to be used. A long time ago, I had a report that was rejected for something that seemed okay to me. After repeatedly asking for a statement that the report was not going to be used and escalating the situation, it miraculously became "able to be salvaged." Most MSCs are ethical; unfortunately, not all.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I get it.

Glad to be of service.....

It sounds like: The client did not "remove" the shop, the MSC did. When it became apparent the shop did not include the location photo, the MSC might have contacted the client, to find that they would not accept the shop without the photo.

It sucks, but you didn't follow the guidelines by missing a required photo. The MSC can and did reject your shop for that.

I can't imagine this MSC having to ask if its ok to not have the photo.

What am I missing? Two shops, both rejected, because of ONE missing photo?

I can't imagine a scenario where 2 shops would accept the same photo.

I reread the thread...I must be missing something.

I understood she did two identical shops that both required an external photo. She did not take the external photo for either shop. So she was missing one photo for each shop and both shops were not accepted.