Wow, I got my first denied report. I was underwhelmed, to say the least. I spent about 3 hours on it as it entailed my visiting a very large Canadian department store with evaluations in four different areas plus a final evaluation of a cashier.

It is not MY fault that the store was dismally understaffed and that the associate I was attempting to get assistance from pointedly ignored me twice! And by ignored, I mean I actually 'chased' her across the department to try and get her attention as she zipped past me without as much as a sideways glance in my direction. She then disappeared into some other area of the store. Did I mention this store is large??

When the MSC sent me a note rejecting my report it said that I didn't follow the scenario as I did not approach the associate after five minutes and ask for help. I responded that the only way I would have been able to get her attention was if I physically tackled her in the aisle.

I was in the middle of completing three of these large assignments and two smaller ones for this MSC. I finished the report for the one I completed just before receiving the lovely email and then said I was canceling the other two jobs if an agreement regarding the declined shop wasn't reached. I haven't heard back so I requested they deactivate me.

I only do this as a fun hobby and to add a bit of extra cash to an almost-enough-but-not-quite monthly income. I refuse to work for any company that would immediately disqualify my work for them before contacting me for clarification.

This has left a really bad taste in my mouth and I won't be accepting any further work from ANY MSC for a while. I don't know how any of you keep your cool when you know you've done a shop to the best of your ability and it's still rejected, but I applaud your dedication.

Jude,
Since most MSCs that I work for would NOT have rejected the shop under those circumstances (so long as my narrative fully explained it) would you please name the MSC that rejected your report. That's part of what we are all here to learn. (Also, the MSC folks who say they are interested in what builds shopper loyalty, need to be more aware of what erodes shopper loyalty!)

I agree. Most MSCs will do almost anything to NOT reject a shop. This has a scam-my sound to it. If a shop were denied without even a request for clarification, I would probably also have canceled the other shops for them and would not work for them again. I hope you do not let this experience ruin mystery shopping for you. There are many fine MSPs run by nice folks with integrity. The trick is to work only for those MSPs that you can trust. A clue is whether they treat their shoppers with respect and present themselves honestly.

I also hope that you will name the MSP to warn other shoppers.

Sorry, Jude. I would have done everything you did up to the point of deactivating myself. That may have been hasty, but only time would tell. I would have wanted to pursue the matter to resolution, which could have taken several days, if not longer. If I weren't satisfied with the response from the initial contact person, I would have escalated (unless of course your contact person was the owner). Or, had you already pursued every avenue?

A bad experience, I know. Hope you'll shake it off and continue to shop.

I'm sorry that you got a shop rejected. It sounds like it certainly was not 'shopper error' yet was rejected based on 'shopper error'. I too have run into that and my reaction is that those companies are not worth working for because they are not working WITH shoppers. While things change over time, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, I don't generally terminate a relationship but just ignore their pleas for shoppers. Any wonder why they need to beg?

You are still fairly new and have other companies to explore. Don't let one group of jerks disillusion you about shopping overall. And we all know there are jerks out there, just as there are in any other business sector.

Thanks for the support. I wasn't sure what to expect in the way of responses.

Mert - yes, the person I was dealing with is the owner of the MSC. It's called SQM (Sensors Quality Management) and there are only a few posts here about them. They are based out of Toronto Canada.

I have decided to take a small break from shopping until I feel a bit more relaxed about this. I don't take rejection lightly as I never provide less than my absolute top work when doing any type of job.

As I said, this is just to add a small hobby and a few extra $$ to my life (and to force me to get out of the house after a pretty devastating year that culminated in the loss of two lifetime friends).

I'm going to work some overtime at my regular job for a while. I make a shade under 50 dollars an hour for OT. Although it definitely addresses the needed extra cash, it doesn't address my need to get out into the mainstream again.

Sorry, this is way too much information, I know. Just venting.

Venting helps, and indeed it will take a few days before you detox from an unfair rejection. But then start back with companies you are comfortable and happy to work with to restore your faith that the world is indeed round :^)

Jude...so sorry, but it happens to all of us. Looks like you took on a massive job, and I know this is a tough MSC. Please do jobs (for awhile) your comfortable with, and when something happens, speak directly to them, a little PR goes a long way. I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted to reshop. I recently had a large store short handed and no one reset the register to give the proper date. I was called out by the client on the date, and explained the understaff problem. I told them, and the MSC rechecked, I was right. Things do happen, you need to take a rest, re group and keep working. This MSC does some great hotels (if that's your goal), so, de-activating might not be in your best interest. I know your good at this, and enjoy it, so, as Tim Gunn would say...."carry on", make it work.

I too am sorry about how completely unfairly and unjustly you were treated.

Yes, Jude - take time to reflect. Weigh the pros and cons of what shopping offers. Hanging out here amid sparkling conversation (for the most part) is hopefully a pro

Sorry to hear about this Jude! I'm surprised that this MSC behaved like that. I've done and do many shops for them every month. Whenever an issue has come up, they've always emailed or phoned me. Last month, I did 3 shops for a large dept. store and reported all 3 shops in the wrong language. They returned all 3 reports to me and asked me to translate them. I did but all 3 reports were graded as being entered late ~ my bad.

Your shop got rejected because one interaction out of the 4 was not done in a timely manner? Is that what I'm understanding? I've done these shops too and, like you, have had to chase down staff in order to be served. I've always reported exactly what happened and no shops have been rejected.

Don't be discouraged. This MSC is very picky. Have you gotten far in their steps?

Good morning/afternoon to all.

I'm feeling a bit less tense about this, especially after stepping back and reading further on the forum about other experiences shoppers have had that mirror mine (albeit with different MSCs). I am still taking a bit of time away though.

Thanks Carol and Mert, it's comforting to have empathy from experienced shoppers.

MtlShopper - the one interaction was impossible to have. The associate ignored me twice during the 5 minute time frame I could wait before approaching her to directly ask for assistance. She took off out of the area and disappeared. If you know the store, you know how big it is! I didn't see her again during the rest of the shop. It's done now, and there is a sense of relief that I've requested deactivation. My regular job has enough stress, I don't need it in the MS world as well.

Sometimes we just have to realize that we are not a good fit with a particular company, and there is NOTHING wrong with that - even if that company is well-loved by others.

I am not a good fit with Customer Impact. Yes, I know that most people love them, but we just do not mesh. I believe it is to no fault of mine or theirs. I do a few shops for them, but only those that are old SG Marketing shops.

I agree, as with people...some of us mesh with certain people and other's dont...one man's steak is another's poison, no one's fault, develop a tougher skin and move on. After the first rejection, the rest are easier....

Jude, did the shop instructions give you specific questions to ask the employees, or was it simply to have an interaction? I'm curious, because unless this was an assessment of employee knowledge, it sounds like the MSC would have gotten the answer they needed regarding customer service!

If that's the case and you were able to provide a good description of the employee and situation, I probably would have pressed the issue. But, that's just me, and I can definitely understand you wanting to take a breather. As said above, not all MSCs are a match for everyone. And neither are just certain shops!

Nope, no specific question to be asked other than for assistance to buy shoes. The associate was supposed to offer me a minimum of three different pairs of shoes as well as prepare them properly for trying on.

I got a response to my request for deactivation. I won't have to worry about doing anything further for this MSC. I can't describe the relief! LOL

Off to do my regular job...where my employers honestly appreciate hard work and dedication to detail.

Boy am I discouraged this morning. I visited five banks last Friday morning. I received identical CD rates/credit card rates sheets plus a banker's card. I submitted all this (both sides of two papers needed to be photographed, plus the cover of the materials, plus the card) so spent at least two hours on the project. It is not acceptable because I didn't write the project number on each paper. I didn't see that part at all. Now all of the identical materials lie in my recycling, and there is no way I could tell which sheet is from which bank. All of this for $7, so I told them there is no way I can go through and figure out which paper was for which bank. I told them this is too much stress and to take me off the project. I was about to visit four more banks today so what a relief to be free of that knowing that I lost out on my $35 already. But is is so disappointing. I feel very discouraged.

Carol

Sorry, I'm missing something. If the materials are identical, why can't you just write the project number on each set?

Re: collateral in general, I keep many things for 90 days, or minimally, until I'm paid for the shop.

Sorry this happened!

I was told that they could tell by the resolution whether or not it was from the correct bank. I guess it is possible to just get one set and use it for everything. I said, what about the bank cards for each location? Well, the reply came, you can go in and just ask for a card. It is the client's requirements, and I thought I had covered everything and put in a good chunk of time on it. So in the recycle pile of identical bank rate sheets, I am not going to spend my time trying to figure out what number to put on one, and only get a 1/5 chance of getting it right. Simply too much stress.

Wow, how crazy. The resolution? I don't blame you one bit for not dishing it out of the bin!

Carol, sorry...real bummer.....have a nice lunch, this too shall pass!!

Telling by the resolution is bunk. What they can tell if they are good is if you are using the same scanned file over and over with different job numbers copied and pasted. I assume these are printed materials and chances are the were printed by similar printers if they were printed in the branch or if they are pre-printed materials they came off the same printing press.

Obviously you would like the correct materials to go with the correct business card and the chances are good that you junked them in the recycle bin together. I would be concerned, however, if they were preprinted materials and one branch was using an obsolete version (branch A has a revision date of 2/2010 while branch B has a revision date of 6/2010). Some of our materials collections are to make certain that each bank is presenting customers with current materials while some are just wanting to know if the material is available. If your job appears to be the second type and the materials are indeed identical you are shooting yourself in the foot in your annoyance.

Like Nicelytwicely, I retain collateral with the notes, though I keep stuff a whole lot longer than Nicely. It is important to keep one shopper's disillusionment from feeding into annoyance of your own. Most situations can be salvaged. I had one blow up this morning and contacted my scheduler immediately suggesting alternatives for salvaging it. She came back with further salvage suggestions. I tried them all and got mediocre results, which I reported back to her. I am completely expecting to be paid because the problem was not mine but the location's, yet I owned it and tried to save it. The salvage operations took longer than the shop itself should have taken yet it was worthwhile to let the scheduler know I was being dogged about saving the shop rather than throwing up my hands and saying 'oops!' (which was, of course, my first instinct).

I tend to agree, Flash. I'm not sure that Carol wasn't told that just as a deterrent, in case she was a shopper who was trying to fudge the shops (which we all know she was not!). If the material was the same and no watermarks could be detected, I would have tried to submit.

Certainly the way I handle such stuff is paperclips in the car as I collect it, do whatever annotations and tape ups I need to do before scanning and then stapling the 'pack' together. Usually on the redundant pickups I have done I have needed to mail or overnight them in, otherwise the stuff just goes in the month's paperwork/notes/collateral. But certainly when we hit the wall there is a strong desire to just chuck it and walk away. That really does us no good at all.

Well Flash, as much as I admire you, I have to disagree that I was "shooting myself in the foot". The papers were each printed on the bank branch's copy machine; they were completely identical, same dates, exact same copies. It is too much stress for me to try and figure out which one is from which bank. I am just not as organized as you yet (and probably never will be- I am a SHE, sidetracked home executive, have you ever heard of Flylady?) and the stress was too great. I have an anxiety disorder and cannot push myself to the point it would cause it to flare up. I cannot imagine how a "resolution" would show in a copied paper that would tell which branch it came from. So, I took my friend out to lunch today on another secret shop, and except for the unbearable blaring music (which gave me an excuse to have the manager stop by my table), we had a delightful time. Then tonight, I have worked at my real job. And frankly, my dear, I am very happy to be rid of the bank shops from "you know where". I made the right decision for me.

ok now I'm not sure I want to do this ;( Any experienced shoppers please help me with advise.

Carol, somehow my sense is that this episode was a 'final straw' with the company rather than a single issue, and that is fine. I am not criticizing that, for sure! I ditched Maritz on what superficially was a minor issue but was a culmination of just a whole lot of garbage.

When we hear other shoppers unhappy it does tend to make us see our own aggravation and irritation with a company in a whole different light. At the time I ditched Maritz I know that there were a whole lot of other folks having problems with companies and that may have put the 'final straw' a little closer than it normally would have been. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater is a real concern, but obviously you are still shopping and getting on with it. My email is loaded with old shopper friends who gave up in disgust after one hellacious battle with one company or other, so although we have remained friends, we don't discuss shops because they have completely stopped shopping. Companies are like anything else, some of them you will like and some you will wish you never encountered.

Thank you for clarifying and understanding my decision. At firs I felt you were being critical, and I am sure that is not the case.

Carol

No, there is absolutely no percentage in criticizing someone else's decisions. I will play devil's advocate--you know, that old and annoying thing of you say 'yes' and I say 'yes, but' or you say 'no' and I say, 'on the other hand'. The issue posed was the inability to retrieve stuff from a recycling bin. I don't know about your bin, but my paper one is dry and something within the past few days would be easy to retrieve. Of course the much bigger issue here is a company that would dishonor a shop because of an omission of a job number. Their right, I understand, but certainly not something that in most cases would/should cause a shop to reject unless someone was in a power struggle. I suspect that if you wanted to keep working with the company the recycling bin would not have been an issue. But I did want to 'yes, but . . .' you to make sure you were acting with logic rather than pique. The former is usually healthy self preservation, the later is not always so.

It's not like you are losing much, carol. $7 is not a lot for a bank shop. And then having to collect and upload paperwork in addition to the business card would make this not worth it to me.