What drives you nuts on shop forms

1. Having to explain yes answers that are self-explanatory (i.e. was the shop open for business?, Did they carry the product you were shopping?)
2. Having the same question asked more than once (sometimes slightly different wording, sometimes the same wording)
3. Being asked for detail on something with NO real indication of desired length of narrative (I had one today that asked for this and the required lengths were either 2 or 15 characters)
4. Required narrative that basically wants you to repeat back the answers you already gave in the multiple choice questions.

That's good to start with. I'll probably think of more later. lol

What's done is done. An egg cracked cannot be cured.
There are 3 kinds of lies. Lies, Damn lies, and statistics.

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I hate narrative boxes that give no indication of the character count limit until AFTER you submit a lengthy narrative only to be informed that you exceeded the character limit by thousands! It is a royal pain to have to rewrite a narrative by reducing things and still make it coherent.

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

When you are doing a 4 pump gas station audit, but still have to tick off a box for 20 pumps that do not exist.

Having to input more data every year, like now we have to input the tracking number also, even though the pay doesn't go up for us.

1 and 2 are definitely annoying. 3 doesn't bother me and I love 4. Those are the absolute easiest reports!

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

One more:

Being asked for comments but it doesn't say what they want comments about. They only say what you can't talk about And there's more than one comment box so you can't just talk about the whole shop leaving out the no-no's (I'm talkin bout you Intelli-Shop).

What's done is done. An egg cracked cannot be cured.
There are 3 kinds of lies. Lies, Damn lies, and statistics.

@bgriffin wrote:

1 and 2 are definitely annoying. 3 doesn't bother me and I love 4. Those are the absolute easiest reports!

Maybe but it seems pointless. 3 bothers me because I never know if I put enough information in. It asks for DETAIL but only requires a minimum of 2 or 15 characters? How much detail can you put in in 2 characters (or even 15). And while we're on the subject, how about unrealistically long required narratives. You've already done several narratives detailing parts of the shop and then they want a minimum 500 character narrative about the whole shop? I guess I can cut and paste but what a waste of time and effort.

What's done is done. An egg cracked cannot be cured.
There are 3 kinds of lies. Lies, Damn lies, and statistics.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2018 04:15AM by sassymmmm.

I also dislike reports that ask for things not covered in the shop guidelines/comments/emails/sticky notes. If the training materials don't cover it, then don't ask me about it in the report.

I'm probably not legally bound to answer those questions, but why leave it up to the whims of the MSC to reject my shop because of this.

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

uh, amyly what are you talking about? We are referring to shop guidelines that were related to mystery shopping and not regular shopping.

A question that does not have N/A as an answer when Yes or No clearly don’t apply.

The instructions at the very beginning of the form that tell me I have to perform the shop when they are open. When else would I shop???

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I may need therapy all these are questions that bug me. I answer them anyway for the $$$. (for my therapist)

@sassymmmm wrote:

4. Required narrative that basically wants you to repeat back the answers you already gave in the multiple choice questions.

Always this one!

Where to start....

Contradictory instructions.
Vague & ambiguous instructions.
Questions whose answers don't align with the shop instructions.
Questions that don't account for the response that matches what you observed, with no "notes" section to explain that.
Questions on the survey that weren't in the guidelines as well as questions in the guidelines that aren't in the survey. I hate preparing for three or four questions that end up not being on the report.

They all bother me just about equally, except #1, which is maddening as well as frustrating..

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

@sassymmmm wrote:

1. Having to explain yes answers that are self-explanatory (i.e. was the shop open for business?, Did they carry the product you were shopping?)
2. Having the same question asked more than once (sometimes slightly different wording, sometimes the same wording)
3. Being asked for detail on something with NO real indication of desired length of narrative (I had one today that asked for this and the required lengths were either 2 or 15 characters)
4. Required narrative that basically wants you to repeat back the answers you already gave in the multiple choice questions.

That's good to start with. I'll probably think of more later. lol

Shops that pay below minimum yet expect above maximum with too much narrative. I did a shop that didn't pay much but they wanted an explanation for every field. I gave the explanations but I won't be accepting any more shops from them. If you want that kind of detail then at least be willing to pay for it, don't take advantage of people.

****************

Motivation increases when we assume large responsibilities with a short deadline.

I have done some shops for one of the biggest USA based MSPC in India. I pay in INR, they pay me in US$.They calculate at the highest exchange rate whereas my bank gives me a much lower rate. Each time I lose $ 10 minimum. What is the solution? It's annoying to lose money .I end up doing the report for $5 instead of $15 .
Any input appreciated .

I agree with all of these! It also is very annoying when shop guidelines/forms have spelling and grammar inaccuracies. On at least a couple of projects, the MSCs have simply "copied-and-pasted" the guidelines from a previous project, only to have forgotten to double-check that all references to previous projects (i.e. required purchase) have been removed.

@Nikkik wrote:

I have done some shops for one of the biggest USA based MSPC in India. I pay in INR, they pay me in US$.They calculate at the highest exchange rate whereas my bank gives me a much lower rate. Each time I lose $ 10 minimum. What is the solution? It's annoying to lose money .I end up doing the report for $5 instead of $15 .
Any input appreciated .

Establish a USD account - either at a bank or on Paypal - and pay the merchant with a debit card out of that USD account. Then submit to the MSC, along with your INR receipt from the merchant, a .pdf of the transaction as it posted against your USD account. The MSC should be willing to reimburse at the USD amount which you were charged.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2018 04:09PM by Rousseau.

My biggest pet peeves are 1) when the input survey has one or more narrative boxes that are only one line in size. I cannot see what I am typing, and 2) when MSC programmers' do not verify that the printable survey actually fits the screen and be printed on one page. Jancyn and The Source are the worst offenders I have found.

@kenasch wrote:

A question that does not have N/A as an answer when Yes or No clearly don’t apply.

YES!

Papa John's reports have this situation. I also agree with the OP about putting YES and then having to do a detailed description on why you said YES!

When the report questions are out of sequence. It's really annoying when writing a narrative and I am referring back to the report form to substantiate "no" answers, and I have to jump all over the report to write a narrative that flows properly.

Guidelines that don't say how to refer to an associate whether by name or generic reference.

Report forms that don't have the proper drop down boxes options to align with what you observed...the cashier had green hair but my choices are red, brown, black, and blonde. No "other" choice (pun intended). Or if you can't figure out someone's gender and your only choices are male and female. They need to have an "unsure" selection. Especially if the report has no narrative to explain this.

I had a shop a few weeks back where I was not sure about the gender of an associate. It felt like a SNL skit. I was hoping when looking at the name tag I would have a little help on that, but the associate's name was Taylor. I chose female even though it could have been a slender male in his late teens.

Narratives which I have to explain why I would or would not recommend this location to my friends. For a restaurant, I might have recommended one once or twice in my lifetime, but when is the last time you called a friend and told them to check out a gas station?

And how did the employee make you feel? "I felt fine". Please explain. "OK. I had warm fuzzies crawling up my backside. What else would you like to know?"

Nikkik wrote :I have done some shops for one of the biggest USA based MSPC in India. I pay in INR, they pay me in US$.They calculate at the highest exchange rate whereas my bank gives me a much lower rate. Each time I lose $ 10 minimum. What is the solution? It's annoying to lose money .I end up doing the report for $5 instead of $15 .
Any input appreciated .

Shop around at different banks. In the US there are some banks that have much better rates than others and some that do not charge a foreign exchange fee. Use your search engine to find banks with best/lowest/highest exchange rates and you might find a nearby bank that is better than your current one.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2018 06:22PM by sandyf.

Yes for me on narrative boxes that are one line, peek at surveys prior to doing the job that are different from the one you ultimately fill out, instructions that require names of managers and lots of other staff and then no questions at all about them and updated instructions that are not dated and do not highlight the changes especially when they are more than one page long.

Editors that don't follow instructions, and all the above.....

Live consciously....

@JASFLALMT wrote:

When the report questions are out of sequence. It's really annoying when writing a narrative and I am referring back to the report form to substantiate "no" answers, and I have to jump all over the report to write a narrative that flows properly.

Confero has their report for a grocery Client in my area that does this. When you get to the cashier & bagger sections, the questions get all out of sync and don't have any sort of flow! Bugs the snot out of me so much that I've quit doing them unless I can get a good bonus on them....which is rare.

1. Comment boxes that have hidden character limits. I ****hate**** it when I've taken the time and effort to write a detailed description of what happened, only to find out I have to delete most of what I wrote when I try to save or submit the report. It is particularly ridiculous when the character limit does not allow me to paint an adequate picture of what happened ****and then an editor emails me, asking for more details****. <<silent screams>>

2. Questions that only allow you to choose a "Yes" or "No" answer when it is foreseeable that the correct answer is "N/A."

3. Forms that don't let you save or print your report in any way. Do you hear me, Prophet???

4. Forms with too many hidden questions. One MSC is infamous for doing that. A form should NOT be a hydra. Answer one question and a whole bunch of more questions pop up? That is ridiculous!

5. Forms that have multiple pages AND there is no simple "back" button.

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What drives you nuts on shop forms

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