Over the weekend I did a shop that was reimbursement-only. Actually almost all the shops for this particular msc are reimbursement-only. The report is lengthy and required photos of everything "amiss." In this instance I ended up submitting 12 photos. I do the report and submit it. I was actually pretty pleased with my report, as I put in quite a bit of detail.

I awake in the morning with 5, yes 5, emails from the editor. She also left a voicemail message but it said, "Unknown Caller" so I assumed it was a telemarketer and didn't pick up. The five emails were about....the server's uniform. One of the questions on the report was "Was the server's uniform clean and in good repair?" I checked the "yes" box and in the narrative I mentioned, "The uniform was clean." The editor was apparently freaking out because I didn't write "The uniform was clean and in good repair" (even though I clearly marked the "yes" box).

I emailed the editor back and said yes, the uniform was in good repair. An hour later I get a scathing review from the editor. Three paragraphs about not mentioning the "in good repair" aspect of the uniform. She then chastised me because one section of the narrative said, "8-10 sentences required." It was regarding the manager. I wrote that there was no manager present during my visit. I mentioned that I looked around the dining room throughout my visit, and that I only saw servers and bussers. My narrative had 5 sentences, which given the situation, even that was a stretch. I could not think of a reason why I needed to stretch it out to 8 sentences.

After criticizing me and beating me down for 3 paragraphs, she ends the email with, "I look forward to working with you in the future." Nope!

I can understand your frustration. It does seem like some editors are pickier than others.

Especially with this msc! I've never received such a scathing, lengthy review from an editor. I should've known to avoid reimbursement-only shops with this msc.

ugh, that sounds miserable. I'd definitely put them on my ten-foot pole list. In fact, if you wouldn't mind sharing the MSC, I'd appreciate it.

I am going to bet it was ACL. But not all of their editors are like that.

Ten foot pole list

I just did some grocery stores for them that reimbursed $28 each, and actually the beauty of it was that it was a flat payment so I didn't have to spend the whole $28. At one store I went over and at the other ones I spent $10-$15. I did one location that is only about 2 miles from my house and the others were all within a 15 mile radius of home. I love free groceries I must have gotten the nice editors.

"8-10 sentences required" 1.When I arrived, I did not see a manager. 2.While waiting for my drink, I did not see a manager. 3.While I ate my salad, I looked around the entire room and did not see a manager. 4.My entree was delivered and at the that time I had yet to see a manager. 5.We ordered dessert, no manager was seen. 6.While walking to the restroom, I did not see a manager. 6.I looked around the room throughtout my visit and never saw a manager. 7.As I walked out, I looked again and did not see a manager.

You can't pay the bills with "reimbursement only" shops. I only take sandwich shops that have lunch reimbursements and don't ask for a 15 page narrative of everything that happened.

My shops weren't reimbursement only, it was flat payment of $28 each with only one item required to be purchased (of my choosing). I chose to spend more than $28 on groceries at one of the stores and at the other four I spent $10-$15. I did five of them in two days, I thought it was a pretty good deal. Most grocery store shops with other MSCs don't pay well at all.

I recenty had the exact same experice, with i'm sure the same MSC. Maybe they have a new, gung-ho, inexperienced editor. I agree with you and thought the same thing...yeah, uh, nope, not until that editor get burned out and leaves. I hope they realize that an editor like that just makes shoppers go away.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2017 10:37PM by OCyou2.

The editor was doing their job. I have 11 years auditing experience so you know my background. I have also been a mystery shopper for 14 years. You are lucky that the editor did not give up on you. You should be thanking them as they gave you many chances to clarify your report.

Are you serious? So you would have harrassed her with 5 emails regarding the uniform the NEXT MORNING?
I would definitely add this shop to my TFP list.

I did one of these a few months back and now, I am not allowed to perform this particular shop. I still dunno why, but I'm not sweating it. I never see a manager, there is rarely as many staff members as they feel their ought to be and I have to explain there was no one to evaluate. Half the people aren't wearing name tags and I can only describe them how they are. I often go alone instead of taking a guest (which isn't required) and the staff just seem to ignore me, even when my water glass is empty... and sitting on the edge of the table about to fall off. The tables often need bused, and the restroom has had a broken & unbolted toilet and a leaky sink the last 6-8 visits -_- maybe the shopper who goes between times just fluffs everything up and they don't like my semi-negative reports.

@eyespy wrote:

The editor was doing their job. I have 11 years auditing experience so you know my background. I have also been a mystery shopper for 14 years. You are lucky that the editor did not give up on you. You should be thanking them as they gave you many chances to clarify your report.

Did you even read my post? I received a voicemail message and FIVE emails from the editor. This was less than 12 hours after I submitted my report. FYI, She sent the FIVE emails all within 10 minutes of each other. Boom, boom, boom, one right after the other. It's not like I hadn't responded and she emailed me a couple hours after her first email. So, yeah, I'm not "lucky" that the editor "did not give up on me." You have no idea what you're talking about.

@eyespy wrote:

The editor was doing their job..

:-( I thought you were being sarcastic in your previous post. Now it's evident you were being serious. It is ridiculous to stretch out five sentences to eight simply for the count of periods.

Oh....I've had that editor before! I've chosen not to pick up any shops for that msc anymore. It's just not worth it to me...no reason for her to be NASTY about it.

Yes, I had the similar thing happen recently with the "same" company. Sometimes you just have to be patient, this is probably a new editor who is going by the book. The company has a lot of new people so give it another chance. This is one of my favorite companies to work with.

Yikes! Sometimes I mirror the questions into my narratives, but I've heard from the only other shopper I've ever met not to do that. That may just be her style, but I agreed that it lacked flair and autonomy. So long as you touch on each no and skim over the rest, I'd think you would be okay. On another note of ACL's editor inconsistencies, I was told from one editor that I included too many photos for the "amiss" items... the way she explained it made me think these photos don't even get passed on to their client! They are still one of my favorite MSCs.

Most of my reports are mirroring the questions. I don't think they are looking for a lot of flair



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2017 01:48AM by LisaSTL.

No, that editor is not doing her job properly. I'd email and/or call a supervisor and explain what happened.

I had the same editor. It has to be ACL.

I write better reports now because of the tough editors.

I bet I have had an experience with the same editor. It took once or twice for me to learn to quote the exact phrasing back, even after checking yes or no. I also learned to chop longer, more information-filled sentences into several shorter ones to reach the magic number of 8.

That's a good tip, Richard. Simple sentences work much better than compound when trying to fill the required quota.

I do some because I want the product. I love reimbursement shoe shops. They only reimburse $35 but that saves me $35 off a $70 pair of shoes I really wanted. Restaurants just aren't worth it for me.

I'm pretty sure I had the same editor. I had her for my one and only high end dinner shop with them. I had over the minimum sentences required and she still asked for more. She asked for stuff that wasn't in the report. She wanted me to write details about the food like a food critic. She went on and on and on via email. Never again.

8-10 sentences? I'm sure I've had that same editor. I had an editor ask me to describe the taste of sprite in 2-3 sentences.

Editor: But why didnt you see a manager? lol. Sometimes I feel like chucking myself off a bridge.

Often why they are called editors when we do the editing.